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The National Contemporary Art Gallery For Wales, a new network that aims to showcase works from the national collection in regional galleries, has launched with a co-curated exhibition at Aberystwyth Arts Centre in Ceredigion.
Nine contemporary art galleries across the country will host works from the national collection over the next 12 months. The scheme is designed to widen access to Wales’ publicly owned art collections and support artists currently living and working in Wales by providing associated commissioning and exhibiting opportunities.
The other galleries in the network are:
- Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea
- Mostyn, Llandudno
- Newport Museum & Art Gallery
- Oriel Davies, Newtown
- Oriel Myrddin, Carmarthen
- Plas Glyn-y-Weddw, Pwllheli
- Ruthin Craft Centre, Ruthin
- Storiel, Bangor.
The scheme, which includes a digitised collection of the nation’s contemporary art, Celf ar y Cyd, is a key commitment of the Welsh government’s Programme for Government and the Co-operation Agreement with Plaid Cymru.
It has been developed in collaboration between Arts Council of Wales, Amgueddfa Cymru and the National Library of Wales.
“The national collection belongs to everyone in Wales and this new model will allow people to explore the collection within their own communities,” said Dawn Bowden, the deputy minister for arts, sport and tourism.
The chair of the National Contemporary Art Gallery Wales, Mandy Williams-Davies, said: “Contemporary works from the national collection will be loaned and exhibited across this network; artists’ commissions and outreach activity will engage communities locally and nationally and collaboration across the network of partners is set to increase opportunities for sector development and for public interaction with visual art.”
The Teulu/Family exhibition at Aberystwyth Arts Centre, which is located near to the university in the seaside town, is free to attend and showcases ceramics and animation work created by children and families, alongside works by Pablo Picasso and Welsh artists including Ceri Richards and Mary Lloyd Jones.
The Vase zoomorphe, la Tarasque by Picasso is on loan for the exhibition from the national collection, alongside other works from the Aberystwyth School of Art collection.
It also displays an interactive sculpture, designed and created by architectural artists Jenny Hall and Karina Kolesnikaite from Machynlleth, in collaboration with textile artist Ella Louise Jones.
Elin Vaughan Crowley, an artist and project coordinator at Aberystwyth Arts Centre, said: “Our intention was to give the families a sense of ownership in terms of decisions relating to exhibition curation, such as what kind of art was on display, what kind of space to create and how to welcome and engage people who want to visit the gallery but might have thought it wasn’t a place for them in the past.”
Exhibitions and commissions from the other network galleries of the national contemporary art gallery for Wales will be announced in the coming months.
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