KEEPING UP WITH
CARDIFF CONTEMPORARY
Jenni Kampf has a look at the capital city’s
brand new arts festival, the state-of-the-art
Cardiff Contemporary.
A
ll the weird, wonderful, imaginative and
thought-provoking ideas from the world
of contemporary art will be descending
on Cardiff this month for the city’s
largest visual arts festival: Cardiff Contemporary.
Displaying visual arts on a massive scale, Cardiff
Contemporary aims to recognise the city’s creative
talent and to encourage, inspire and involve members
of the public who might not usually have the chance
to visit art galleries.
International and local artists will bring the city
to life with artworks on the theme of ‘Reveal And
Conceal’, using a range of unusual venues to
showcase their work. Using historic and unused
buildings, underground tunnels, empty shops, and
rooftops, some of Cardiff’s iconic and forgotten
buildings alike will be transformed.
The festival will also include guerrilla art activities
as part of the ‘Conceal’ element of the theme, so
who knows what you might encounter on your way
around the city?
Cardiff Contemporary will include some specially
commissioned works from Welsh artists, celebrating
Wales’ unique cultural heritage. As part of
Ffotogallery's Bedazzled project a disused building
will be transformed into Dylan Thomas’ favourite
pub, The White Horse Tavern in Greenwich Village,
and visitors will be taken into the world of one of
Wales’ greatest icons.
The splendour of the Welsh countryside will be
brought into the city centre, as Goat Major Projects
turn an empty shop into a ‘virtual’ mountain. You can
leave your walking boots at home, though, as this
particular mountain environment will be a chill-out
space featuring acoustic sets and talks.
Cardiff’s trading past and global trade links will
be explored in a range of exhibitions, displayed in
shipping containers, which will be placed around
the city.
Newly-commissioned films by Welsh and
international artists will be screened at a special
gallery in St David’s House, and mobile cinemas will
be popping up around the city in unusual spaces –
including an ice cream van.
The city will also be home to more than 20 other arts
projects during the Festival. Created especially for
Cardiff Contemporary, these will showcase the work
of local and international artists through interactive
installations and exhibitions.
The festival will also be taking other artistic events
under its wing, including Artes Mundi, Made In
Roath, Experimentica, Outcasting: Fourth Wall and
the Empty Walls Project.
Cardiff Contemporary promises to free art from the
confines of the gallery, bring it to Cardiff’s streets,
and show how the visual arts can make us all think
differently about our city and surroundings.
Cardiff Contemporary, various
venues across Cardiff, Fri 3 Oct-Sun
9 Nov. Admission: free. Info: www.
cardiffcontemporary.co.uk
DAVID DRAKE
Director of Ffotogallery + Diffusion Festival
Who inspired you to pursue a career within the
arts?
I formed a garage band with some teenage friends
at the start of the DIY punk thing, but just before
the dawn of the 1980s a combination of Brian Eno,
Wim Wenders and Robert Frank moved me towards
film-making and the visual arts and I drifted into an
arts career which has lasted 35 years so far!
Which artist is currently creating a buzz?
Two to watch: Cardiff-based Janire Najera, whose
project The Black Hole is a cracker, and Ryan Moule.
BUZZ 14