Friday 1st October 2010
Creativity in Hard Times
Supported by Arts Council of Wales and Cardiff School of Art & Design
9.00am – 4.00pm, Pierhead Building Cardiff Bay
In recent decades the link between artistic endeavour and the creative industries have become recognised as central to the economic as well as cultural health of the country. As Wales braces itself for another period of austerity and financial stringency in the second decade of the 21st Century, how should policy makers respond? How can sector organisations such as the Arts Council of Wales help in turning a period of adversity to our advantage?
In the 1930s the visual arts took on a new lease of life and there was also the ‘first flowering’ of Welsh writing in English, through the work of such authors as Rhys Davies, Jack Jones, Idris Davies, Gwyn Thomas and, of course, the poets Vernon Watkins and Dylan Thomas. The 1980s, another period of hardship in Welsh economic life, witnessed a further burst of creativity, this time associated with television, the launch of S4C, the production of a number of landmark television series on Welsh history, and the emergence of influential Welsh rock bands such as the Stereophonics and the Manic Street Preachers.
Can we anticipate a comparable artistic response to hard times in the 2010s to the one that occurred in the 1930s and 1980s? This conference marks the launch of the 2010 Cardiff Design Festival.
Key note speaker: Peter Lord: Wales’s leading art historian, Cardiff Design Fortnight Launch, Senedd, 4.00pm – 6.00pm
Conference tickets are:
£52 for IWA members
£65 for non-members
£85 for a conference place and 1 years IWA membership, which includes unlimited digital access to all IWA publications
For a full conference programme please visit our website for more information
Tickets can either be booked on our secure website
or alternatively if you prefer to contact us directly please email or telephone 029 2066 0820
1 year, 5 months ago at 14:38. add
Participation is at the heart of Art At.
For visitors it is an opportunity to explore their creative side and take away not necessarily an object but certainly an inspiration. The project was set up in response to discussion initially among artists who were excited by the proposal to show a high standard of work and to benefit by working together to maximize the success of the project. The immediate response of the owner of Rhos-y-gilwen to this entirely new event for West Wales was extremely encouraging. The need is there for a wider cross section of our community to integrate and enjoy the arts and environmental issues.
The first ART AT Rhosygilwen, in 2008, took place in brilliant sunshine which definitely enhanced the pleasure of all who came to participate in the creative workshops – skill building from using recycled materials making sunhats, collaborative paintings, found object sculptural construction, portrait painting, and many more diverse activities.
The four master-classes in Print-making, Life Drawing, Sculpture and Water-based painting lead by top professionals in their field, were well attended.
The main exhibition showing works of 42 artists from all over Wales, was shown in the main house and the Oak Hall and astounded people with its high standard and presentation of work.
People came to enjoy the whole event were also to be surprised and delighted by impromptu music and performance within the hall and around the grounds, and while wandering they would come across a family of life-sized figures standing in the shade of the trees; huge figures created from willow; large ceramic hollow “pebbles” for plants to grow in, displayed on the decking; quirky heads and busts that made everyone smile; beautiful hand made furniture made from recycled wood and slate and much, much more.
All in all, the week-end had an air of enchantment about it, and there were many voices saying, “lets make this into a yearly event!”
Artists will be exhibiting work, running demonstrations and workshops.
There will be some performance art and pieces created that are site
specific.
The contributors will be drawn mainly from Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion, and
Carmarthenshire but it will also include some “names” known nationally and
internationally.
There will be a selected of 2D and 3D art in the main hall.
In the marquee there will be a range of art and craft stalls chosen for
their quality.
There will be short workshops and demonstrations where visitors can work with
artists.
Also day long master classes.
Video and film: there will be screenings of a selection of entries from this year’s Manchester Film Fesival.
Poetry
Childrens activities
Catering provided by Rhosygilwen
Entry £3, children free.
Art At Map
Please see website at http://www.artat.org.uk
1 year, 7 months ago at 15:11. add
Ivor Davies
Departure | Ymadawiad
16th January - February 20th 2010
Painter, art historian and activist, Ivor Davies – Vice President of the Royal Cambrian Academy – is one of Wales’ most celebrated artists. He has had over 60 one man shows, exhibiting internationally, including Blast to Freeze: Bristish Artists of the Twentieth Century (France and Germany). In 1966 he helped to organize the Destruction in Art Symposium in London and he was an early member of the activist art movement BECA the 1980s. In 2004 his work was included in Art In The 1960s at the Tate Britain. Much of his work is stimulated by Welsh culture and politics and this show is tailor made for Cardigan. Ivor’s family have their roots in the Cardigan and we are delighted that this exhibition will be the first to open here in the town’s 900th year.
Last day today to see this exhibition!.
Exhibition at Oriel Mwldan Gallery Cardigan
Website: www.mwldan.co.uk
Tel: 01239 621 200
Free
Disabled Access
1 year, 11 months ago at 10:16. add
Nine Artists Films (PG)
17 Jan 2010 – 16:15 (opens at 15:55) at Theatr Mwldan
Penny Jones (’Taith Cranogwen’ & ‘Rant’) | Ruth Jones (Vigil) | Reuben Knutson and Pete Judge (1000 Days) | Rowan O’Neill (Menyw a ddaeth o Gatraeth) | Jake Whittaker (’Taith Cranogwen’ + Three Vinyl) | Simon Whitehead (Anemos) | Sean Vicary (’Sea of Glass’ & Haiku).
In recent years technological advances in film and video have proven to be fertile ground for many contemporary artists, whose work blurs the boundaries between film-making and art. This programme of short films represents the work of seven artists from West Wales and is a unique opportunity to see their work together on the cinema screen.
Rant
“People and communication; what they say and what they mean, to question the “notion of what a person is… involves setting up a situation which welcomes this perhaps anarchic, non-volitional stage of awareness”. Susan Hiller 1996.
Resistance and opposition; the resonance of feminism and struggles of the powerless in relation to the powerful?
Can one be heard and say what one feels?” Penny Jones
Taith Cranogwen
A film by Jake Whittaker based on ideas by Penny Jones that came about during a residency in Llangrannog.
Vigil
Recent work by Ruth Jones has focused on relationships between humans, animals and the land in Pembrokeshire and explores the magnetic pull that particular places have for people. Drawing on mythological crossings between humans and other animals, Ruth’s video installations and public art projects look towards greater fluidity between self, others and the environment.
Vigil explores the presence that Strumble Head Lighthouse has on the surrounding landscape in North Pembrokeshire. Strumble Head was built in 1908, and its rotating beam can be seen for thirty miles in all directions. Every lighthouse has its own distinctive “character”, recognised by a pattern and duration of flashes, in this case one flash every two seconds four times followed by seven seconds of darkness. Vigil explores how this rhythm has permeated the land for over a hundred years, seeping into the psyche of its inhabitants.
The installation also represents the lighthouse as a threshold place, situated between land and sea, day and night and human and animal kingdoms. Using Strumble’s regulated light pattern as a guide for editing both picture and sound, the film invites a quiet contemplation of the internal and external rhythms that influence our daily experiences, rituals and memories.
Menyw a Ddaeth o Gatraeth / A Woman Came from Catterick
“This film was made in response to the artist’s book In Debatable Lands… which takes as its starting point the land between England and Scotland and the tradition of the border ballads. The book is an exploration of identity and conflicting notions of home. My film draws on the medieval Welsh epic Y Gododdin which tells of a battle that took place at Catterick in the 6th century. Catterick remains a site of military significance to today. My Grandmother moved from the area close to Catterick in the mid 50s to settle in rural West Wales.
In my Grandmother’s suitcase I keep the relics of a long forgotten strife…” Rowan O’Neill
3 Vinyl
“Tying Tone Arms (02:42)
(This film was made in response to a call for short films on the theme of restriction and first shown as part of the Real Institute’s ‘Really Restrictive Shorts’ event, Llangollen, 13/01/07. Subsequently it has also screened at Shunt Vaults, London, Projektor at Café Gallery, London, Mission Gallery Open 08 in Swansea.)
Restrictions are fundamental to my work. This film focuses on the most obvious physical restriction. My work generally uses found objects, and my aim is to use them, as much as is possible, in the state in which they are found. Basic repairs are made merely to achieve some sound, with any problems leading to their being discarded playing an important part of the composing process. With turntables I often then intervene further by tying the tone arm back in order to interrupt normal play. The work is then produced live without headphones or post-production, using randomly selected loops from often randomly selected records. By making work in this way I hope to reassess the nature of the objects and their ‘useful’ life, explore memory and notions of musical consistency and examine the ontology of recorded sound.
This study (Tying Tone Arms) of a fundamental part of my composing process is accompanied by a mix of randomly selected loops from records selected by Louise Bird.
Shaky (03:22)
Looks at a particular fault of an old Alba hifi found by a friend some years ago. The audio is from the camera mic.
Panaround (05:14)
A single long pan around the studio, cutting to details on the beat of the loop. The audio is the stuck record shown playing, Bauhaus 79-83 Side 1 (a ‘natural’ loop, ie not tied) recorded on camera mic.
These films document processes and activity in the studio. They provide a nostalgic look at found and faulty hifi equipment, questioning our sentimentality and reverence towards music and past technology.” Jake Whittaker
Anemos
“Anemos” explores the evolution of nature’s breath, the Wind. Personified in the performer, and related to Mankind’s utilisation of it’s power, the Wind is symbolised by the environment that ‘Anemos’ dwells within, where light is generated. This combination of themes; Light, Energy, Wind and Landscape, both external and internal, are blended into a journey from darkness to lightness. The transient, and ethereal nature of the Wind contrasts with the substance of it’s energy and effect, this is translated into both the movement of the performer and the film’s language and structure.
A film by Choreographer Simon Whitehead and Film Maker Margaret Constantas, Performer Stirling Steward
BBC Dance Film Wales commission 2000.
Sea of Glass
Director Sean Vicary
Music Tom Middleton
Sea of Glass from the album Lifetracks released through Big Chill Recordings
Produced by Sean Vicary at Creative Mwldan Creadigidol
The coastal landscape of West Wales provides the setting for this short film.
Organic detritus is manipulated and juxtaposed with music and photography in order to explore the liminal space between land and sea.
The animation has evolved from an original piece produced as part of an audio visual performance with the composer Tom Middleton at the National Film Theatre, London.
Tickets from Theatr Mwldan £4.20 / £5.50
2 years, 2 months ago at 18:13. add1
