ARTISTS TALKING

Wales suffers the unenviable label of ‘principality’, whereas the majority of us living here view it as a nation with a distinct cultural heritage and a unique language. This desire to express our individuality is not purely intended to evoke notions of a motherland but rather to stimulate a plea for a further understanding of our position both within the United Kingdom as well as internationally.

Wales has experienced a paucity of critical discourse within the field of contemporary visual art. There are still no regular publications dedicated to addressing this issue, however there has been a recent resurgence of interest in tackling the problem. The 2nd Wednesday Group founded by Heike Roms and James Tyson in 2001 was established as a platform for anyone with an interest in performance, cross-disciplinary, live and time-based art practice in Wales and has offered a monthly meeting plus an email group to encourage discourse and to democratically disseminate information concerning these areas of activity. This has also helped confront the problems concerning the geographical spread of artists in Wales and counteracts accusations of Cardiff retaining a cultural hegemony, and has led to successful regional artistic collaborations within Wales plus the formation of links with a sister group in England, Live Art Forum South West. Chapter Arts Centre’s continued support for the 2nd Wednesday Group has helped establish a daily discussion group for artists throughout the duration of their annual Experimentica festival, enabling informal discourse and critique amongst its international participants.

The thirst for dialogue amongst artists here allied with a desire for autonomous control of creative product and practice as well as to embrace internationalism has fuelled the burgeoning establishment of numerous artist-led initiatives. Trace: installaction art space, founded by André Stitt in 2000, is a gallery housed within the artist’s own home in Cardiff. It exists in order to promote time-based art and work emerging from this field. As well as producing regular events and exhibitions it promotes work at a local, national and international level and works with artists and arts agencies to encourage work at these stages. ‘Rhwnt’ (meaning ‘between’ in Welsh) was organised as a collaborative exchange with Le Lieu, Centre en Art Actuel, in Québec City with the financial support of Wales Arts International, and took place throughout 2003-2004. In his introduction to ‘Rhwnt’, André Stitt states “The unique identity of Wales and its language within the UK, the colonial legacy and contentious economies of exchange embedded in its history has a significant correlation with Québec. Furthermore the formation of performance art collectives, artist-run centres and initiatives is the foundation of much of contemporary artistic culture in Cardiff and Québec City.”

In addition to presenting its own annual international multimedia exhibitions, tactileBOSCH studios in Cardiff also has a history of instigating cultural exchange programmes including collaborations with artists and organisations in Berlin, New York and Sao Paulo. A previous dearth of communication between Cardiff and nearby Bristol has been addressed by their recent establishment of a forthcoming exhibition at Sandie Macrae’s gallery Room and at Centrespace. Other shows in England will include those at Deej Sabyc’s new gallery Elastic and The Art Academy in London. Reciprocally, artists from both cities have been invited to take up residencies at tactileBOSCH.

Coed Hills Rural Artspace in the Vale of Glamorgan is committed to an ethos of environmentally and socially positive living and is a space for artists to create and exhibit new work. Together with hosting two major international exhibitions and a residency programme, they have produced accessible peripatetic art events throughout the UK and have formed inextricable partnerships with other organisations worldwide who are dedicated to researching sustainable solutions to our increasing ecological problems.

Clearly then, by expanding our horizons at home and encouraging discourse amongst our artists nationally we are able to share our common vision globally.

Philip Babot is an artist based in Wales.

This article is part of a specially commissioned set of writing resulting from Quo Vadis, a NAN event devised by Chris Brown and Louise Short that took place in Cardiff and Bristol, 27-28 November 2004.

NAN facilitates exchange, dialogue, and collaboration amongst visual artists, whatever their practice and location. It offers a focus for critical exchange and feedback and through research and mapping seeks to develop greater awareness of the value of artists' initiatives and of their changing professional needs. For more information about NAN go to Networking networks or contact emilia.telese@a-n.co.uk