Tagged with: Venue
Posts (21)
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Dylan Thomas Centre staff to be redeployed
Laura Chamberlain
Staff at the Dylan Thomas Centre have been told by Swansea City Council that they will be redeployed should planned changes for the venue go ahead. The Dylan Thomas Centre. Image courtesy of Swansea City Council The city council has said it is close to finalising a deal to lease the b...
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Glynn Vivian gets set for redevelopment
Laura Chamberlain
The Glynn Vivian Art Gallery in Swansea will close its doors to the public at the end of the month as preparations begin for a multi million pound redevelopment. Though the structural work isn't set to begin until the new year, its necessary for the gallery to close on Sunday 30 October as pre...
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Future of Dylan Thomas Centre close to being secured
Laura Chamberlain
The future of Swansea's Dylan Thomas Centre looks a little brighter as the University of Wales has agreed to lease the venue from Swansea Council, subject to the agreement of legal details that will now be discussed. The partnership venture will see the Dylan Thomas Exhibition stay on site, w...
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National Museum of Art opens its doors
Laura Chamberlain
The best of Wales' contemporary visual art now has a new, fresh and modern home at the National Museum of Art in Cardiff. The new National Museum of Art occupies the entire first floor of the National Museum Cardiff in Cathays Park. Us press types were allowed a sneaky peek round yesterday morning before it opens to the general public tomorrow, Saturday 9 July. Now, let's get this straight. This may not be the most objective blog post as I've always loved going to the National Museum in Cardiff. One of my fondest memories from my childhood is one of my little sister being scared witless by the roaring woolly mammoth, mean as that may sound. A gallery in the West Wing, the contemporary arts space at the National Museum of Art. Photo: Amgueddfa Cymru -- National Museum Wales It's been a while since I paid a visit so I was really looking forward to the opportunity to see the new gallery space. And though I'm certainly not an expert in the field of visual art, it really didn't disappoint. Whereas previously it had only one gallery to showcase its contemporary art, the museum now has six enormous interconnecting galleries to show its modern wares. Before we were shown the contemporary wing we were given a tour of the entire gallery space at the museum. We started on the balcony area, which now houses the museum's British and European ceramics and silver collection, before being guided into the Historic Galleries. This is where you can see art that explores Tudor and Stuart Wales and European Old Master paintings of the 16th and 17th centuries. The historic galleries at the museum. Photo 漏 Amgueddfa Cymru -- National Museum Wales We then moved into the 'art in 18th century Britain gallery', which features the work of Wales-born painter Richard Wilson and the collection of Sir Watkins Williams-Wynn, before taking a look in the Welsh landscapes gallery. In here, the 2002 contemporary work by Welsh artist Carwyn Evans, Unlliw, has been reconstructed amongst the paintings and ornate columns of the gallery. Unlliw is an installation of 6,500 cardboard bird boxes that addresses the debate about how planning policies can impact on the cultural balance of rural areas - a direct reaction by the artist to the then proposed building of 6,500 new homes in his home county of Ceredigion. Carwyn Evans, Unlliw, 2002-2005. Image 漏 the artist The installation even obscures one of the paintings - hitting home the idea of a housing development flooding into the Welsh landscape. After this we had a brief walk through the centre galleries, which were refurbished and redisplayed last year. (During this a slightly late Ivor Davies stumbled through, interrupting the keeper of art Oliver Fairclough's talk with the enquiry of whether he was too late for the breakfast that had been laid on as part of the event!) The centre galleries are where the Davies' sisters collection of art proudly sits. The French Impressionism and Post Impressionism gallery. Photo 漏 Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales There's a lovely timeline that tells visitors when the sisters bought notable paintings and also a screen that displays some of their family photos. It's a nice touch, and visitors can get a real sense of who these remarkable women - who went on to amass one of the greatest collections of French Impressionist paintings - really were. We then headed to the pi猫ce de r茅sistance: the West Wing, the new home for contemporary art. No Martin Sheen jokes please. The light is the first thing that hits you: it's bright and impressive, and the lightboxes in the ceiling makes the space look even fresher. The West Wing. Photo 漏 Amgueddfa Cymru -- National Museum Wales The clean white walls really accentuate the art works and there's a lovely flow to the place too, as the different gallery spaces are all interconnected through flights of stairs and open large double doors. Nick Thornton is the head of modern and contemporary art at National Museum Wales. He explained a little about the lay-out of the West Wing, told me what he thinks is one of the must-see exhibits in the new contemporary gallery and explained how the National Museum of Art is working with emerging new artists: All images in the slideshow are courtesy of Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales and copyright of the respective artists I also spoke to emerging contemporary artists Manon Awst and Benjamin Walther, collaborators who share their time between Caernarfon and Berlin. They have a sculpture and a painting on show in the West Wing, and Benjamin told me more about the latter, entitled Shine For Me: "The painting is a piece in its own right, even though it strongly corresponds with the sculpture on display, and talks about the absence of the body. If you look on to it you see a shadow or a ghostly figure marked out with fragile, tender marker pen lines and there is a piece of clothing applied onto the canvas which suggests a three dimensional aspect of it, and the materialisation of something which was there." Manon added: "I also think it talks about the breaking down of the body, and in a way it connects it to our work in general as it talks about the individual in our current society. So in relation to the exhibition, which talks of roots and identity, in a world where we're moving around so much it's questioning where our base is." Manon Awst and Benjamin's Walther's work on display at the National Museum of Art. Image copyright of the artists and courtesy of Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales Benjamin also gave his opinion on the National Museum of Art: "The interconnection between contemporary art practice coming out of Wales and the connection with international artists not living in Wales, that's something quite unique and new for Wales and very important." There is also a dedicated learning space in the gallery for the first time, where schoolchildren and families will be able to get creative and learn about the exhibits in the museum. Arts learning officer, Eleri Evans, told me more about it and encouraged families to turn up for the opening day activities on Saturday: And before I left, Mike Tooby (the director of learning, programmes and development) told me a little of what National Museum Wales has planned for the future: Visit the museum's website, www.museumwales.ac.uk, for more - and if you do visit the National Museum of Art in the near future, tell us what you think of it by leaving a comment below.
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Norwegian Church Arts Centre reopens after revamp
Laura Chamberlain
The Norwegian Church Arts Centre in Cardiff reopens today after undergoing a revamp costing almost 拢500,000. The refurbishments include a redesigned interior plus new features such as a pinewood terrace, an extension to the coffee shop, a lifting platform and new toilet facilities. The reo...
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BigLittleCity celebrates Cardiff's creativity
Laura Chamberlain
A new exhibition celebrating Wales' capital city and its creative talent will open tomorrow, and will occupy the first floor of the newly opened Cardiff Story museum in the city centre. BigLittleCity is the brainchild of Cardiff-based photographer Dan Green. The project started out as his own series of photographs of local traders, street musicians and other characters from around the city. He decided to expand the idea and invited artists to submit ideas reflecting their own perception of Cardiff. He said: "We put a call out for artists to submit any work they felt reflected their city, and we were truly overwhelmed by the response. There's something magical here that makes people feel passionate about Cardiff." The exhibition will include photography, film, writing, music, animation, illustration, painting and more to showcase all that is special about Cardiff. Photo taken at the BigLittleCity exhibition, courtesy of Dan Green The exhibition will be divided loosely into four categories - people, places, stories and music - with work by established artists such as photographer David Hurn going on show together with pieces by emerging artists. Photograph of a painting of the Old Library building in Cardiff. Photo courtesy of Dan Green One lovely element to the whole idea is that the exhibition will evolve during the run: the display of solo work will change every five weeks, while the interactive projects will be displayed for the full duration. The initiative also has projects for the wider public to get involved with, such as designing a new coat of arms for the capital city, or penning thoughts on favourite places in Cardiff. Work on show at the BigLittleCity exhibition. Photograph: Dan Green BigLittleCity is at The Cardiff Story, The Old Library from Thursday 14 April until Friday 22 July 2011. For further information on this exciting project, visit biglittlecity.com.
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Art Fund Prize judges pay a visit to Mostyn
Laura Chamberlain
Judges from the Art Fund Prize paid a visit to the Mostyn gallery in Llandudno earlier this week, one of the 10 musuems and galleries that have been longlisted for the coveted 拢100,000 award. The newly redeveloped art gallery is the only Welsh institution included on the prize's longlist. Ch...
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Mostyn gallery in Llandudno up for 拢100,000 prize
Laura Chamberlain
A north Wales art gallery is in the running for the Art Fund Prize 2011, the UK's largest arts prize. The Mostyn gallery in Llandudno has been longlisted for this year's 拢100,000 prize, which rewards excellence and innovation in museums and galleries across the UK for a project completed or un...
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Mostyn wins prestigious Civic Trust Award
Laura Chamberlain
A recently refurbished art gallery in Llandudno has won a prestigious 2011 Civic Trust Award - the only building in Wales to receive the honour this year. Mostyn reopened in May 2010 following a massive transformation in a three-year redevelopment that cost 拢5.1 million. Mostyn in Llandudn...
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Wales Millennium Centre's artistic director stands down
Laura Chamberlain
Fiona Allan, the artistic director of the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff, is standing down from her post to take up a role in Leicester. Fiona Allan inside the Wales Millennium Centre Allan has been appointed chief executive of Leicester Theatre Trust, which manages the city's Cur...
