Do you remember when Paul Davies (Grwp Beca) and a group of arts students from the Arts foundation course at Bangor went to Llyn Alaw on Anglesey for co-creating a muddy Map of Wales? Or do you remember 1977 when Meredydd Davies, Maeyc Hewitt, Wil Jones, Stephen Davies, Celyn Davies and Alan Holmes and others shot their Super 8 splatter films in various locations around Bangor? Or have you been on High Street in June 2021, when Rhona Bowey, Lindsey Colbourne, Lisa Hudson, Emily Meilleur, Steph Shipley and Wanda Zyborska, all dressed as social -distancing crones roamed Bangor, handing out cake and plants? Or maybe you witnessed how – one lockdown day in 2020, a silver when a group of five crone dressed women were handing out cake and flowers on Bangor High Street, or do you recall a silver Suzuki Alto was floating through Maesgeirchen, its drivers spreading poetry into the streets with a megaphone?
Wales bears millions of these odd moments, when something not quite normal happens, art emerges and changes place and time, sometimes only for a short moment, sometimes for weeks, sometimes forever. But too often these moments are not well documented, remain oral history or anecdotes ... or often fall into oblivion. Oblivion ... too often a Welsh thing.
We want to change this, we seek for bringing these moments back to life ... in conversations, in revisiting sites, in re-enacting – and we are seeking for making the past, the present and the future dance together. Maybe we will realise that there is a Welsh tradition of Avant-Garde art practices out there – maybe under the radar, but as relevant as ever.
Sarah Pogoda invites artists, members of the community and academics to explore Avant-Garde arts practices in Wales, their history and our memories of predecessors. With a series of events – ranging from performances, discussions, artistic experiments to talks – Sarah wishes to start the collective exploration this early summer. Please do join her. All events are free of charge, some are bi-lingual, some might not, some are multi-lingual, some are not.
If you cannot make it to one of the events, but you still have stories, documents, photos, film or other you want share, please get in touch with Sarah.
People
Dr Sarah Pogoda
Senior Lecturer in German Studies
Past Events 2022
Special Feature: Mappening Wales – A Performative Triptych
Mappening I Tomen Cachu – Map of Wales
We invite you for joining us when we re-explore arts practices by two seminal Fluxus artists: Welsh artist Paul Davies (1947-1993) and Icelandic-German artist Dieter Roth (1930-1998). Paul Davies‘s Maps of Wales, often co-created with his brother Peter Davies, emerged from assemblages of various materials, ranging from objet trouvé to the grainy sand of the Anglesey coast (see also our invitation to a walk around Llyn Alaw where Davies’ Muddy Map of Wales is waiting to be rediscovered). Roth shared this interest in odd materials, most famously and notoriously his assemblages in cheese, salami and bread pydru ymlaen moulding into representations of a romantic sunset. Davies artistic stands to Wales as a nation and Roth‘s interest in the metambolism of art is shared by a group of contemporary artists based in North Wales. They invite us to the Pentraeth farm Hendre for a co-creating a 2022 Map of Wales from an organically grown heap of horse shit. Please wear appropriate clothing. Gloves will be provided. Your are welcome to bring tools such as shovels, spades, trowels, scoops or other. Families welcome.
Where and when: Pentraeth, Hendre Farm (LL75 7DR), 8th June 2022, 6:30-8pm
Mappening II – Map a Damwain
Music band Hap a Damwain invite us for a deterritorializing evening with music, sounds, words and maps. Come and enjoy listening, come and enjoy watching, come and enjoy mapping.
Where and when: John Philips Hall, Bangor University, College Road, 18.6.2022, 7:30-9pm
Mappening III – Finding Wales
We will conclude our performative Mapping Wales Triptych with a visit to Paul Davies‘ legendary Map of Wales on the shores of Llyn Alaw on Anglesey. The visit will include an optional walk for speakers and learners of Welsh. Unfortunately, the paths for the walk are not suitable for unfit walkers, as fallen trees requires some light climbing. Please wear appropriate footwear (boots), as some passages are crossing potentially muddy terrain (depending on weather).
Where and when: Llyn Alaw, Anglesey LL65 4TW, 10th July 2022 3pm.
From Avant Garde to Afon Gad – Artistic practices in Wales. Now and then. A conversation performance for Direct Art*
We are delighted to invite you to an open conversation with artists Lindsey Colbourne, Peter Davies, Marega Palser, Pete Telfer and Wanda Zyborska.
Together we will dive into a conversation about contemporary arts practices in Wales and their predecessors. We would be delighted if you want to join our conversation and share your memories of arts events which stayed with you throughout years and decades.
Where and when: Bangor, Pontio, PL2, 22.6.2022, 5:30-7pm.
* In 1972, German Fluxus artist Joseph Beuys decided to contribute a durational performance of 100 days to the Documenta 5 (Art World Exhibition in Kassel, Germany). For the so-called Office for Direct Democracy Beuys spent 100 days discussing together with visitors various social design issues relating to direct democracy. Conversation as art. To some extent, we will draw on his idea of art as emerging through conversation.
One of my arts memories which stayed with me was the so-called “Boxing Match for Direct Art” in May 2021 on Ynys Faelog in Menai Bridge. Joseph Beuys and Max Boyce fought for Direct Art as Direct Debit. By doing that Beuys and Boyce somehow re-enacted the “Boxing Match for Direct Democracy” which Joseph Beuys and Abraham David Christian fought on the very Documenta 5 on October 8 1972. Beuys won – both times.
Cuttings – Hairppening
by NWK-AO
Appropriating and transforming Yoko Ono’s seminal performance Cut Piece (20.7.1964, Japan), artists from NWK (Celf Newydd Cymru) enable you to express your political demands in times of austerity. You are invited to make a decision on cuts in the public sector. You will pick a random budget out of a hat, and you will then have the choice of 'cut a lot', 'cut somewhat', 'cut a bit' or 'not cut at all'. Your decisions will immediately be implemented by hair artist Alan Holmes for shaping the haircut for a volunteering member of Bangor‘s community.
Where and when: Caernarfon, Castle Square, June 2nd, 1-2pm
SMOGG - Buttersculptures
You wish you could express your anger about the housing crisis in North Wales creatively? SMOGG invites you for a playful and beautifully fun activity that melts together the history of Meibion Glyndŵr (Sons of Glyndŵr), the current second home crisis and post-Brexit challenges in the Welsh dairy industry**.
We will help you to use Welsh butter for shaping it into one of the second home houses in your town. We will restrain from violence, and place our completed buttersculptures at the many scenery spots along the North Wales coast for them to indulge the summer sun of the new Mediterranean of climate emergency Wales.
Where and when: In person: Meeting at National Trust Parking at Cemlyn Bay, LL67 0DY, 26th June 2022, 11:30-1pm.
** “The future of the UK’s involvement in these initiatives is unclear and will be dependent on the outcome of Brexit negotiations. Compared to other agricultural industries in Wales, the dairy sector is expected to face fewer challenges. The dairy market is less dependent on subsidies and export markets than the beef and sheep industry, and is more dependent on the milk price and local demand. However, changes to the status quo could have a number of implications for the UK dairy sector, which is currently highly integrated with EU policy. For instance, imports from other dairy-producing countries such as New Zealand are currently limited under EU quotas. If the quotas are lifted and New Zealand’s market share increases, this could put pressure on local producers. The UK currently benefits from tariff-free dairy imports and exports in the EU. According to Rabobank, should the UK negotiate a tariff-free trade deal with the EU then the likelihood is business as usual for the industry. However, if this is lost, UK dairy producers could be faced with tariffs of 35.4% for exports into the EU. It is estimated that it would have cost the industry in the region of £1.5-2 billion if these tariffs hasd been applied in 2016.” National Assembly for Wales Senedd Research www.assembly.wales Research Brief: The dairy sector. June 2018, https://research.senedd.wales/media/3rwntzzp/18-043-the-dairy-sector.pdf, p.16.
Programme Leaflet
