roundup
WHAT’S ON OUR RADAR THIS MONTH.
MUSIC
Amahl And
The Night
Visitors
?
SOUTH WALES SECRETS #39:
Leckwith Road, Cardiff
Artist Adeola Dewis talks about her latest
exhibition and her South Wales Secret.
“Masquerade or carnival is called Mas’,” explains
Adeola, as she prepares to describe a concept
that’s not so common on this side of the Atlantic.
“I’m saying that we could possibly use Mas’
outside of the carnival context and perhaps
engage with some of the benefits of masquerade.”
Adeola, who has a PhD in Carnival Performance
Aesthetics, describes herself as an artist and
carnival researcher. Her work has an interesting
and beautiful combination of the fun and wildness
of carnival spirit, combined with the more
meaningful side of artistic expression.
Her new exhibition Mama Mas’ tries to explore
how people can use the art and ideas of carnival to
represent themselves:
“Mas’ has elements of representation and
elements of reaction,” she says. “With Mama
Mas’ I said let’s just focus on one aspect of Mas’
and see how it could be interpreted. The aspect I
was trying to focus on is the idea of representing
yourself and an aspect of your story.
“I took a group of people that had a similar base:
motherhood. I talk to mothers all the time. I
have three boys of my own so we’ve had some
conversations about knowing yourself and loosing
yourself and finding yourself and all those kinds of
things that happen when you have a child.
BUZZ 10
“I got in touch with five mothers and simply
asked them to talk to me about themselves. Over
a period of five days going through a journey
of taking aspects of your story, finding tangible
material that is relevant to you or relevant to your
story and wearing them,
“When it came to an idea of representing yourself,
and I think it is very interesting, is that people, the
mothers actually focused more on them, on the
pre-baby woman. I thought it was quite intriguing.”
As her chosen South Wales Secret Adeola picks
a place that has importance in her own exhibition:
Leckwith Road in Canton, Cardiff.
“Although the exhibition is happening in history
and arts centre,” she says, “there will be a series
of amusement where the images of these mothers
will be on billboards. Large scale. Public. And
that’s something that I want bring up, for people to
look out for.
“It will be on Leckwith Road in the month of
December.”
Mama Mas’, Butetown History And Arts Centre,
Cardiff Bay, Sun 1-Sat 28 Dec. Info: 029 2025
6757 / www.bhac.org
Opera Mint Wales brings the tale
of Amahl, a boy with crutches
and a flair for fantasy who
receives a nightly visit to his
home from the Three Kings, to
the Tabernacle Chapel in Cardiff.
Amahl And The Night Visitors
was the first opera composed
for US television in 1951, by
Gian Carlo Menotti, and was also
regularly shown at Christmas in
the UK during the later 1950s
and 60s. True to the wishes of
the composer, Opera Mint has
cast a boy chorister in the lead
role with a performance which
is likely to be apt and absorbing
in the beautiful surroundings of
the chapel. The opera conveys
a child’s wonder at life, a
mother’s despair at her son’s
conduct and their prospect of
a penniless future, as well as
their unswerving loyalty to one
another. It is their combined faith
and generosity, along with that
of the characterful Kings, which
paves the way for the miraculous
to occur.
“Every December Christmas –
The Story turns a modest church
hall on The Hayes into a full-scale
mini-theatre,” explains organiser
Sally Humble-Jackson. “We are
absolutely thrilled that this year
we will be sharing the space with
this delightful Christmas opera.”
MN
Amahl And The Night Visitors,
Tabernacle Chapel, The
Hayes, Cardiff, Thurs 5-Sat 21
Dec. Tickets: £10/£5 children.
Info: 07795 322602 / www.
operamint.eventbrite.co.uk