8/9/2005

As part of the Cardiff 2005 Centenary celebrations, a month of arts exhibitions and events will take place across the city in October and a new map is being launched to generate long term interest in Cardiff’s visual arts venues.

A first for Cardiff in 2005, the Cardiff Contemporary Visual Arts Festival programme features more than 25 exhibitions and events with work by over 200 national and international artists and is supported by Cardiff Council and the Millennium Commission’s Urban Cultural Programme.

Recognising the city’s strong tradition of developing contemporary culture and international collaborations, the month complements and contrasts Wales’ representation at the 51st Venice Biennale and the 2nd Artes Mundi International Art Prize in 2006. The month is an opportunity to discover the state of contemporary art in the capital and experience first hand the ways in which local and international artists work as a response to the changing face of a vibrant capital city.

In recognition of the Festival, Artupdate.com is publishing a new map of the capital with listings and details of visual arts venues, along with a website for more details for Cardiff and Wales. Cardiff’s will be only their fourth city map, the first three being New York, London and Venice. This will provide a strong legacy for the arts month, and for Welsh creative talents, being available in galleries across the UK and Europe.

Yvette Vaughan-Jones, Director of the Cardiff 2005 cultural programme, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have been able to bring together and support such a wide variety of visual arts events to celebrate our centenary. The breadth and depth of the work being displayed is quite extraordinary, with national and international names involved alongside local artists. This is the first time art has been brought to the people on this scale and I hope that this will allow everyone to appreciate the wealth of talent in our city.�

Councillor Nigel Howells, Executive Member for Culture, Leisure and Sport, said: “Cardiff has a vibrant visual arts scene, from the art studios across the city, internationally acknowledged artist run galleries such as g39 and Tactile Bosch and venues such as Chapter and the National Museum & Gallery enhancing further the current cultural profile of the city. Art is important as it is an expression and observation of our lives and society today and we can all celebrate the cities creativity through Cardiff Contemporary. “

Programme highlights

The festival is heralded by On Leaving and Arriving where artists from cities linked to Cardiff’s historical trading routes exhibit films and installations in a series of ships containers sited in the city centre. Nine artists feature including Heidi Morstang (Norway) Shilpa Gupta (India) and Joao Onofre (Portugal). Created by G39, this is an opportunity to see art outside the gallery and on the streets. Tour guides will be on hand to show visitors around.

Sense in Place: Siteations is part of a 10-country pan-European art project created by the Artists Project in Cardiff. The Welsh element of a year-long European journey includes artists from, Latvia, Poland, Spain Ireland and Iceland. Artworks will be presented throughout the Bay and the event includes an ‘artists in residence’ project on Flatholm and collaborative projects with the Barry Radio Society linking with amateur radio enthusiasts around the globe. BayArt will act as an information hub and space for an exhibition of additional works by international artists.

Coagulation and Experimenta 05 focus on experimental and live art at venues including Tactile Bosch, Chapter, Morefront Studios and House. Coagulation will involve over 30 artist collaborations with Welsh artists working alongside their counterparts from Sao Paulo to Los Angeles and Poland.
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The month also incorporates a number of solo exhibitions. At Ffotogallery Italian photographer Raffaela Mariniello exhibits new Cardiff works, showing a city beautiful yet alien and unfamiliar, relating dark shapes and forms with other European ports. The renowned New York-based artist Olaf Breuning brings his nightmarish works to Chapter, bringing together influences such as advertising, stage sets, theme parks and 80s horror films to present newly created films, photographs and sculptures. Trace Gallery presents the performance artwork and installation Simultaneous Positioning by the Toyko artist Tokio Maruyama which looks at national identity while Tomoya Yamaguchi at the Howard Gardens Gallery presents a series of paintings and sculptures that explores the relationship between time and nature.

Broadcasting in October, Star Radio links the communities of Cardiff with artists to present a programme of ‘visual’ broadcasts from dancing on the radio, ghost stories and the sounds of the dawn chorus.

Exhibitions will also take place at BayArt (Drawing out the City) C-Bat (Art-Print UK Now) Capsule, Oriel Canfas Gallery along with three temporary shows at the National Museum & Gallery including Victorian Dreamers featuring Holam Hunt, Millais and Rossetti

Over the weekend of 22 and 23 October Inner Space: Open Studios will take place linking artists studios from Butetown to Llandaff, Canton to City Road by free bus. A chance to discover and explore the artists’ work spaces in the city.

The month draws to a close with the first Cardiff Festival of Creative Technology entitled May you Live in Interesting Times. This three-day programme features outdoor performances, projections, a conference and interactive web art by internationally acclaimed artists Blast Theory and Tenantspin alongside Welsh artists using digital media such as Stefhan Caddick and Tim Davies. Blast Theory have created a virtual Cardiff city centre where anyone can be a player, working as a team to stay one step ahead of your enemies or face elimination at the National Museum & Gallery.

The Artes Mundi Wales International Art Prize shortlist of Artists will also be announced on 28 September. This is a £40,000 biennial art prize for artists nominated from across the world whose work looks at the human form, the human condition and humanity. The work of the short listed artists will be exhibited at the National Museum & Gallery, Cardiff in February 2006 across a number of galleries.