We had an absolute blast at this year’s Sŵn. Photojournalist Chloe Jackson-Nott was out and about capturing the bands and the vibe for us …
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We sent intrepid explorer Benjamin Newman off to Canton to get to the heart of the arts oasis of the Printhaus.
Just off Llandaff Road in Canton, in a pretty non-descript part of Cardiff, lies a green splash of colour. It’s hidden away from the aged, red-brick of Canton, and it’s known as the Printhaus.
In many ways, the “just out of sight” nature of the Printhaus extends to the Cardiff art scene as a whole; the entire scene is buried a little under the surface, it just requires a little effort to find it. In fact, it’s located a “stone’s throw” away from the Cardiff art epicentre of Chapter, so it’s geographically pretty linked up with other Cardiff art spaces. As you walk into the entrance and see Cardiff artist Phil Morgan’s art painted on the walls you know this a place where local art is the goal and passion.
The Printhaus is essentially an arts collective offering a variety of services mostly focused on screen printing, but they also assist in general arts services. More than anything, they are there to bridge the alarmingly wide gap between art education and art industry; it is places like the Printhaus that facilitate people’s interest in art or help streamline their ideas further. They offer their impressive line of equipment for hire, including:
A variety of screen printing courses are on offer, too, for really decent prices. To see the the Printhaus as simply a service centre for art would be short-sighted. What I discovered from spending some time there and conversing with the managing team of Jude, Tom and Nigel was that, at its foundation, the Printhaus is a space where art is cultivated and celebrated. During our 30-minute conversation we talked a lot about the fact that art requires some form of nurturing in urban spaces: we touched on topics like government funding, digital media, the impact of the art scene on Cardiff and the importance of tangible art in a world where art is becoming more and more digitised.
Whilst I originally intended to interview Jude, Tom and Nigel, it quickly turned into a fluid conversation. In a way, this showed how welcoming the trio were to anyone interested in art, really. They instantly made the Printhaus into a warm and friendly place, miles away from the stereotype that art spaces were elitist or unfriendly.
My original question was about whether the Printhaus received enough support from Cardiff, whether enough was being done to promote Cardiff’s art scene. Funding was mentioned pretty quickly. Funding, then, seemed to be an issue for the Printhaus, but that’s not to say the local council are disinterested in the Cardiff art scene. Despite only having one visit from the council, the Printhaus are part of the Family Arts Network, funded alongside funded organisations like Chapter, Theatr Iolo, National Museum of Wales etc.
The funding of £2500 was granted as a research development project to improve the Family Arts Network in Cardiff. However, the council, from what I gathered from the conversation, seem very focused on economics and are trying to model Cardiff after Swansea’s art structure – but the homogenisation of Welsh art is something that should be avoided. Trying to simply model Cardiff’s art scene after Swansea’s is disrespectful to the unique cultural fabric of each city. The council, though, are definitely on the right track in wanting to create a solid network between art centres in Cardiff. In a post-Brexit Britain, where isolationism and individualism are verging on pandemic, the need to network with the public, other centres and the city itself is more important than ever. The Printhaus are definitely trying to keep this alive, whether it be through educational classes or printing an infinite number of tote bags to impress Cardiff freshers.
The council sees art as a stepping stone into supporting the growth of small business, but urban art centres offer so much more than just business stimulation; they offer education, too. The Printhaus have worked with numerous youth groups, but Jude, Tom and Nigel seemed really passionate about their work with youth offenders. They provide screen printing activities and workshops for youth offenders and the results, from my perspective, are staggering. Screen printing is an excellent method to get into art as you create something tangible with high-quality – it gives artistic confidence. It’s not just an enjoyable activity for youth offenders, but it gives them a sense of achievement. The screen print is a tangible reminder that they can create something; reminders such as this is sometimes all it takes to set someone on the right path again. By creating something tangible and engaging their minds creatively, youth offenders can avoid falling into repetition; art can be a confidence-builder and sometimes confidence is all our most vulnerable need. Education is quickly moving into digitised art and media, but things like screen printing can remind students of the benefits of tangible, more traditional art forms. The sessions with youth and youth offenders is symptomatic of Printhaus’s role in the local community – it is not a place to simply make art, but a place that inspires your individuality and confidence.
Jude, too, mentioned that being in the Printhaus helped her finish her MA, in multi-disciplinary printmaking over in Bower Ashton (University West of England). Despite Tom and Nigel having little to no expertise in her degree discipline, they were able to help her at difficult points during her degree by providing a creative outlet and creating a space where she could freely bounce ideas off of them; the Printhaus, for her, was a place where she could refine other artistic pursuits. By being in an environment of varying disciplines, it allowed her to form a sort of artistic support network and this support, essentially, shows that art networks are still important in cities – they provide invaluable assistance for an artist of any discipline.
As I left the Printhaus I was impressed by how humble this little oasis in Canton was. It’s places like this who quietly keep the beating heart of Cardiff and Welsh culture alive. Check out The Printhaus’ website and pop down if you ever have the chance. You’ll get a taste of the real Cardiff, away from the rugby and alcoholic hedonism.
Dusty Knuckle Pizza have recently relocated to the Printhaus – so stop in there for a slice! There are also frequent open studios and their Snapped Up arts market are held there throughout the year, giving makers a chance to sell direct to the public. Printhaus even recently held its first wedding!
Benjamin Newman is an English Literature graduate situated in the Valleys. Passionate about art, music, literature, perfect cups of tea and pretending he’s a journalist.
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You guys! It’s (nearly) Halloween!!!!
Of all the excuses for dressing up throughout the year, this one is pretty much my favourite. Wanna be a Mexican Day of the Dead senorita? Or a unicorn? Or a lobster? Or a blood splattered Mrs Mia Wallace? Fine. What other holiday embraces all these dressing up options??
Anyway. Seems like I’m not the only one that likes it, as the following Halloween parties are being held all throughout the city!
Treat yo-self to a natty outfit and get thee to a knees up – we’ve got disco, Bowie tribute nights, death metal, storytelling nights, cocktail parties, trampoline park events – everything you need for a good night out!
A halloween fiesta like no other! With carnival-esque pageantry, giant skull processions, acrobats, dancers and beautiful decorative art & costumes. Giant Skull processions around the venue, ‘The skulls’ dance troupe & acrobats, DJs all day accompanied by the live section, Pinatas, Free skull face painting, Confetti, co2 and light show
Venue: DEPOT, Dumballs Road, Cardiff
Please note: this event is not part of the Dia de los Muertos public holiday, which has significant religious meaning and many traditions that will not be happening at our show.
Day of The Dead Halloween Fiesta Cardiff FB event
Day of The Dead Halloween Fiesta Cardiff tickets
After sell out shows at The Full Moon and Porter’s earlier this year and smashing it at Truefest last month, Let’s Dance: A Bowie Celebration are delighted to be gracing the stage in Cardiff once again to pay a Hallowe’en homage to he who can only be described as a most magnificent man, the late, great, David Bowie.
This event will be at Cardiff Speaker Hire, which is on Dumballs Rd, right by Depot.
It’s sure to be fabulous, featuring a fantastic array of Bowie’s greatest musical hits (not to mention the fantastic array of outfits) so put on your red shoes (if you don’t have red, any other colour will do) and come and join us for an absolute banger of a gig on the Friday before Halloween! Expect visuals and 2 hours of the best Bowie hits.
Scary Monsters fancy dress is compulsory. Tickets are £10, which includes a free spooky drink on entry.
Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) Bowie Celebration FB event
Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) Bowie Celebration tickets
Cauldron of Regeneration – a Storytelling Workshop for Samhain (Chapter)
Christine Watkins and Cath Little are offering an exploration of stories of transformation, decay and release. The day will include performance, discussion and reflection on what the old stories mean to us, as tellers and as listeners. Open to anyone over 16. £35
Cauldron of Regeneration – a Storytelling Workshop for Samhain Facebook event
Blood Thirsty Bands, Vampire DJ Sets, Skull & Bones Bar, 2 Live Music Stages, Howling Open Mic, Creepy Cocktails & Craft Beers, Trick Or Treat Shots, Scary Hour Til 7, Best Costume Competition, Spooky Student Discounts, Ghoulish Gifts & Ghostly Activities, Classic Horror Movies, Smokey BBQ & Vegan Stall, Free Reserved Entry,
Bearded Ladies & Strong Gentlemen… Dog faced children of all ages… Step right up and be part of the greatest Halloween show on earth! It’s time to step out of the shadows with your two heads held high… and join us for this sideshow spectacular as we try and gather the largest collection of circus freaks and sideshow oddities ever seen on this side of the Severn Estuary! Making sure things get extra freaky on the dancefloor throughout the night will be the Gung-Ho Carny Collective bringing with them their usual special blend of party beats!!
Music: House/Funk/Disco/Hip-Hop
Date: Saturday 29th October
Time: 10 pm – 3 am
Entry: £5 (This will give you access to both The Big Top & 10 Feet Tall)
Guestlist: £3 until 11pm with name tagged on the event wall
Dress code: Circus Freaks & Sideshow Oddities
If Freaks don’t take your fancy then there’s always room at The Big Top for carnival queens, circus performers, mythical creatures and angry townspeople (who else is going to chase the freaks out of town with their pitchforks and torches!)
COME ONE, COME ALL!! x
The Big Top presents: The Halloween Freakshow Spectacular Facebook event
Go Air Trampoline Park Cardiff are holding a super spooky night that will literally have you ‘jumping’ out of your skin! The 2-hour event will be taking place on Saturday 29th October, 5pm – 7pm and will include the following –
– Trick 4 treat (show the Go Air staff your best tricks onto our Foam Pit and you may be awarded with candy)
– Ghostly Go Air games to be played on the trampolines
– Live DJ playing all of your favourite funky tunes
– Best Halloween costume prizes
– A one-off Go Air Ghost Snapchat filter
– Dracula Dodgeball
– Smoke Machine
£12.50 per person (if you already have Go Air socks, please bring them with you)
Over 6’s only. To book, please call the park on 02920 099899
Go Scare – Halloween Event Facebook event
F H E D presents a god-awful amalgamation between a Halloween Show and Sam Wall Appreciation Night! £6 ADV // £7 OTD // £10 weekend ticket for Night one and two
Cancerous Womb / Verdelet / Agrona /Judas Cradle / Narayana / Anal Floss Is Boss
FHED Halloween Party Night Two Facebook events
FHED Halloween Party Night Two tickets
Tickets are £12 and include a tapa and special cocktail upon arrival… We may even surprise you with a Mexican spirit taster.
Mezcal, Tequilla, Margarita’s, Day of the Dead cocktail specials and Mexican inspired tapas night!
Get your face paints out and come join us for an awesome “tiki-la takeover” Mexican Day of the Dead themed party.
Tiki’La Day of the Dead Cocktail Party Facebook event
Tiki’La Day of the Dead Cocktail Party tickets
Once again, Abertoir, Wales’ International Horror Festival, is uprooting from mid-Wales to take over Chapter Arts Centre’s Halloween line-up!
Best of all, if you want to come for the full day, these four films will only set you back £20! You’ll need to call up Chapter (029 2030 4400) for the full day pass, and all individual tickets are available on Chapter’s website.
2pm THE LOVE WITCH (15 adv) Anna Biller, USA 2016, 120 mins
4:30pm A DARK SONG (15adv) Liam Gavin, Ireland 2016, 100 mins
6:45pm BAD FILM CLUB: THE HOWLING II (18) Phillipe Mora, USA 1985, 91mins
9pm CARRIE (18) Brian De Palma, USA 1976, 108 mins
Some places are like people: some shine and some don’t.
Come and play with us: experience ‘the scariest moment in cinema history’ in Cardiff’s historic Angel Hotel on Halloween night. You’ll want to stay there forever … and ever … and ever …
Tickets on sale now at the Chapter Cinema box office.
The Shining in the Angel Hotel at Halloween Facebook event
The Shining in the Angel Hotel at Halloween tickets
Big Halloween party! Think punch pong, apple bobbing, music, fancy dress and partying ’til late. More info TBA.
Day of the Dead (Canary) Party Facebook event
The Moon Club, Womanby St, Cardiff CF10 1BR
Ages 18+
£8 adv / £10 doors
7pm *STARTS STRAIGHT AWAY – SUPER EARLY! *
ZOMBIE ZOMBIE: Immense live act embracing their retro influences like THE RADIOPHONIC WORKSHOP, sci-fi B MOVIES, ITALO DISCO, MEDITERRANEAN PROG ROCK – all done with a sense of humour. Playing with electronic music’s trippier origins, they breathe new life into these influences while mixing in DOUBLE DRUMMING and reverberating AFRICAN PERCUSSION, synth orchestration, KRAUTROCK, and ELECTRO bass. . Tribal, trance-like, danceable riffage!
Halloween Special – Horror Movie Themed Pub Quiz (7pm) with special petrifying prizes followed by John Landis’ AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON (8.30pm)
Donations on the door in aid of the Trinity Centre.
Halloween Horror Quiz and An American Werewolf in London Facebook event
You are cordially invited to our haunting Halloween screening of The Lost Boys. The private showing will be held at the mystic Penarth Pavillion.
What better way to spend Hallows-eve than watching a spooky 80’s classic, surrounded my some fantatsic people (if we do say so ourselves), all in aid of a pretty fantastic charity!
Doors will open at 7.45pm with the screening starting at 8pm. A bar service will also be available.
Tickets: £10
And…. crucially, all ticket sales will be going directly to The Wallich charity as part of our #ClashOfTheCorporates battle
The Lost Boys: A Private Screaming Facebook event
The Lost Boys: A Private Screaming tickets
The Fest does Fright FEST! Glam Monday’s Halloween Special! (GLAM)
If you’re a student, you’ve probably already got yourself a ticket for this – Cardiff’s biggest Monday night is holding a super spooky & speical Halloween event this year! The Fest does FRIGHT FEST! There’s no two ways about it, this will be THE BIGGEST Halloween event in Cardiff this year!
Expect: ❥ Insane Halloween Decor ❥ Terrifying Halloween Performers ❥ Giant Cobwebs ❥ Spooky Halloween Inflatables ❥ Thousands of Free Sweets ❥ Cash Prize for Best Dressed ❥ Sh*t Loads of Fake Blood & MORE!
This is a proper Halloween party. Haunted house décor, apple bobbing, jack-o-lanterns and one CYNT annual guest list space up for grabs to the best dressed! Monki will be headlining the show with all of the CYNT residents on support. We’ll have a few surprises for you inside Clwb Ifor Bach.
MONKI – An underground tastemaker for Radio 1 who’s been championing new electronic talen on her regular show. At just 21 years old she is a resident at Annie Mac’s critically acclaimed touring club night ‘AMP’ and a regular fixture behind the decks at clubs and festivals around the UK and Europe. Her box-fresh bass music inspired sets include everything from piano house to thumping sub bass to classics.
If you’ve seen her play before, you’ll be aware of the energy she can bring to a room, she has a real talent for bouncing between genres of house whilst keeping it all linked together and people fixed firmly to the dance floor
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Cardiff Contemporary, the Welsh capital’s biennial festival of international contemporary arts starts THIS WEEK! From Thursday 20 October – Saturday 19 November 2016.
The 2016 theme of communication, and title, Are You Ready? references Marconi’s breakthrough radio signal, made from Flat Holm Island to Lavernock Point in 1897.
Ten new artist’s commissions include the activation of a permanent sculpture on Cardiff’s waterfront and the re-appropriation of two derelict city landmarks, where artists will communicate ideas globally and through space and time.
Thirty-one days of artistic challenge and discovery opens across the Welsh capital on Thursday 20 October 2016 as Cardiff Contemporary gets underway for its fourth edition. Drawing together international and Wales-based artists to charge the city streets, galleries, forgotten spaces and communities with the crackle of new and exciting ideas in multi-disciplinary visual, sonic and performance arts. The theme of ‘communication’ looms large, as artists and audiences are urged to look beyond earth, through time and to each other for clues, answers and inspiration.
Taking in historic sites from the city centre to Cardiff Bay, Cardiff Contemporary will find its focus in a temporary hub, ‘The Angel’ developed to include four new gallery spaces across a derelict, former motorcycle garage beneath the city’s Angel Hotel. From here brand new commissions will radiate across Cardiff, including impressive new public sculpture along one of Cardiff’s most public landmarks, a takeover of the imposing-yet-defunct Customs and Immigration Building at Cardiff Bay for an exhilarating, public reclamation and an un-missable light sculpture in the heart of the city centre.
Artists and groups confirmed include: Megan Broadmeadow, Laura Ford, Roman Štětina with curator Louise Hobson, Robert Montgomery, Heather and Ivan Morison, Anthony Shapland, Rob Smith and Charles Danby, tactileBOSCH, Spit & Sawdust with Edwin Burdis and a collaboration between Locus Collective (Richard James, Angharad Van Rjiswijk), comedian and writer, Stewart Lee and Andy Fung. Cardiff Contemporary is a Cardiff Council initiative, developed by Visual Arts Manager, Ruth Cayford.
The themes and overarching title for the festival, ‘Are You Ready?’ is a direct reference to the residency of Guglielmo Marconi in the city. As an exile from Italy where his pioneering vision was met with scepticism, he was supported by the British Post Office to develop his experiments into radio communications technology. Assisted by local engineer, George Kemp, Marconi succeeded in transmitting those three, immortal words in Morse code from Flat Holm Island in the Bristol Channel to Lavernock Point, Glamorgan on 13 May 1897. Just four years later, the pair succeeded in the first transatlantic radio transmission. Artists have been asked to consider this history and the modern age of instant and relentless communication in developing new work.
Creating a period of city-wide, creative celebration, Cardiff Contemporary coincides with Artes Mundi 7 art prize and exhibition (opening Friday 21 October at National Museum Cardiff and Chapter) and the city-wide Sŵn Music Festival (Friday 21 – Sunday 23 October, various venues).
Cardiff Contemporary Facebook page
MORE INFO:
Commissions, exhibitions and events announced as part of Cardiff Contemporary 2016 to date are as follows:
Megan Broadmeadow: Let The Stars Be Set Upon the Board
Reportedly discovered in 1901, the same year as Marconi’s transatlantic radio transmission, the Antikythera Mechanism is an ancient, bronze instrument of multiple, moving parts described as the earliest analogue computer. Bristol-based artist, Megan Broadmeadow will use this seismic archaeological discovery as the basis for a new sculptural work, simultaneously reflecting on the mechanism’s resting place at the bottom of the Mediterranean and the ancient Egyptian and Greek civilisations that it is related to.
Laura Ford: Keepers of The Wall
Laura Ford’s sculptures, combining tenderness, fantasy with frequent signs of menace to relay political or social comment, will bring something suddenly and mysteriously new to a Cardiff city centre landmark. This project will remain purposely under wraps, exercising the art of surprise.
Roman Štětina: Shave and a haircut – two bits
Czech artist Roman Štětina investigates the processes of creating film, television and radio; making visible the props, technologies and studios of ‘backstage’. At Cardiff Contemporary, Štětina presents a new site-specific installation curated by Louise Hobson. Exploring the narrative of call and response, images within images stretch back in time and space, reflecting in a present that has no more thickness than a mirror.
Robert Montgomery: Cardiff Poem 2016
Beautifully capturing the convergence of prose and visual art, Robert Montgomery’s work in neon, fire, billboards, painting and print has written deeply-affecting statements large across public spaces from Trafalgar Square, London to Tempelhof Field, Berlin. Montgomery will make his latest statement in central Cardiff, illuminating resident’s and visitor’s journeys with an intervention from on high that invites a moment of reflection.
Heather and Ivan Morison: Love Me or Leave Me Alone (LMOLMA)
Combining to deliver work that transcends the divisions between art, architecture and theatre, the duo of Heather and Ivan Morison will activate Cardiff’s waterfront with their first, permanent public building. Located at Cardiff Bay, the meticulously sculpted structure, inspired by stave churches of Norway – a country inextricably linked by historic trade to Cardiff – and ad hoc beach shacks of 1960s West Coast America will appear as a functional food and drink outlet. Love Me or Leave Me Alone will play host to a programme of special events curated by Chapter on Saturday evenings during the festival.
Anthony Shapland: The Hand That Makes The Sound
Signwriting is an art form that is dying out and one of the most common forms of communication spanning the birth of trade and commercialism as we know it. Cardiff-based artist, Anthony Shapland is exploring the art and one of the city’s oldest surviving practitioners of the trade, whose own, physical canon of works has been gradually eroded by the advancement of regeneration, knocking down the workshops and traditional retailers that once proudly bore the fruits of his labour.
Charles Danby and Rob Smith: Limelight
A project that arrives in Cardiff courtesy of PEAK – Contemporary Art in the Black Mountains – and the Canal & River Trust, Charles Danby and Rob Smith return to the rural heartlands above the city, encountering the canals, quarries, tramways, caves and kilns that fed the heavy industries that roared in South Wales. For Limelight, the artists will use digital means to bring reflections on this history to contemporary audiences by streaming a series of live illuminations to a city centre location and online. The material for their work will be limelight itself, an intense white light generated through heating quicklime used in the 19th century for land survey work and stage lighting. Each broadcast will last as long as it takes for the chemical reaction to be exhausted.
tactileBOSCH: Garden of Earthly Delights
Borrowing directly from a masterpiece by the artist collective’s namesake, Hieronymus Bosch, the Garden of Earthly Delights promises a vibrant, prodigious and inclusive multi-media exhibition in the old Customs and Immigration Building, a vast disused building in the historic area of Cardiff Bay, later reconfiguring their work to be presented again in Stadium Plaza in the city centre. Their invigoration of a long-abandoned landmark will be a ‘gesamtkunstwerk’, gathering collaborators together to include site-specific installation, video, painting, photography, sonic art, interdisciplinary collaborations and spontaneous interventions, starting with a wild launch night of live music, cabaret, spoken word and visceral performance art.
Locus Collective (Richard James and Angharad Van Rjiswijk) featuring Stewart Lee and Andy Fung: The Hill of Dreams
An audio-visual, immersive installation based on the psychogeography of childhood and the wider themes explored in Arthur Machen’s book, The Hill of Dreams, Richard and Angharad will travel to locations of their childhood in Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire and the southern Netherlands to record the landscapes that defined their childhoods. The pair’s collaborative suite of footage, field recordings and archive material will be embellished by comedian and writer, Stewart Lee, recording an original, narrative piece for the audio installation and artist, Andy Fung who will paint an accompanying canvas that reflects on his Trinidadian upbringing.
Spit & Sawdust featuring Edwin Burdis
Occasionally a misunderstood and maligned fixture in city spaces, skateboarders and skate culture are set on a collaborative collision course with artists in a project that draws parallels between the two protagonists. As both visibly inhabit and frequently alter the city spaces that they use, the artist-led collaboration will look to the ‘internal’ language of skating, experimentation in using public space, the conventions by which skateboarders communicate and celebrate new skills and ideas and popular forms of documenting performances, primarily video, as part of this new work. The outcome is intended to be a timely discussion about how we exist in close proximity with others who may have different ideas or agendas.
Full information on each commission, dates, times and locations, plus further events including screenings, talks and workshops, will be published on Cardiff Contemporary’s website: www.cardiffcontemporary.co.uk
Connect with Cardiff Contemporary on social media:
Twitter: twitter.com/cardiffcontemp
Facebook: facebook.com/CardiffContemporary
Instagram: instagram.com/cardiff_contemporary
Creative Cardiff is marking its first year of connecting and celebrating the creative community throughout the city. Hooray!
Earlier this year, we worked with Creative Cardiff and I Loves The Diff to put together a Guide to Creative Cardiff (which you should definitely go and check out, it is D O P E).
The membership network connects people working in any creative organisation, business or job across Cardiff and the city region and by encouraging people to work together, aspires to make Cardiff a capital of creativity. There’s a great selection of job opportunities for the creative sectors on there.
Over the last 12 months, hundreds of creatives have joined the network and worked with Creative Cardiff to produce a programme of #52Things – features which enthuse, inspire, inform and engage. Resulting events and activities have enabled members to connect, discover new ideas, build their audience and promote their work as well as find new opportunities.
Working with founding members Wales Millennium Centre, BBC Cymru Wales and Cardiff Council and with the support of the Creative Economy team at Cardiff University, Creative Cardiff aims to amplify the creative economy community and encourage research and innovation.
Chair of Digital Economy at Cardiff University, Professor Ian Hargreaves said: “In its first year, Creative Cardiff has validated all four of our initial goals.
“We set out to increase quality and momentum between creative economy people in the Cardiff city region. The proof of that is in our growth in membership and on social media, but also in countless personal stories of individuals and organisations who tell us how they have found their way round Cardiff’s creative economy by chancing upon Creative Cardiff, online or in some other way.
“We’ve also continued to build out our research network, collaborating with partners like SŵnFestival.
“In our third objective, we set out to explore the case for investment in a creative hub in Cardiff and what we’ve found is that whilst we have been asking for feedback and conducting pilots, a small wave of hubs has simply emerged. Now we are concentrating on helping them to connect.
“Our fourth objective is to find a way of helping Cardiff to articulate a compelling vision for its creative ambition. Any one of the tens of thousands of people who gathered for the City of the Unexpected Roald Dahl Festival will have sensed the scale of ambition and energy that’s out there. We hope to have new ideas to announce shortly about further steps towards this objective.”
To become a member of Creative Cardiff, visit www.creativecardiff.org.uk/join.
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We Are Cardiff is partnering with The Dead Canary and Penylan Pantry to bring you a 90s Supper Club right in the heart of the city!
On Thursday 27 October, we will be celebrating all things nineties! You’ll be enjoying delicious grub from Penylan Pantry: three courses created by the girls from the Pantry, using seasonal and local produce to create a special menu for your night.
As well as being your glamorous host venue,The Dead Canary will be creating some killer cocktails with a 90s vibe.
And as for us? We’re bringing the noise, of course – spinning some classics and taking you on a nostalgic musical journey, reliving the best the decade had to offer. TUUUUUUNE!!
Thursday 27th October 8-11pm (the venue will be open until the wee small hours, so no need to run away!). Thursday is the new Friday, (remember)
Tickets are £30.00 pp – your tickets includes all food, a welcome drink, those banging tunes and booking fee.
If you wanna dress for the occasion, we encourage it! Check out our 90s Pinterest board for some inspiration
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It’s (nearly!) here – our annual city-wide music takeover, celebrating the best in new music: it’s Sŵn Festival time again, and this time, Sŵn is ten years old, and they want to hear all your memories from over the years!
The memories will be displayed in the Music Museum. The museum will be open across the weekend and Sŵn have invited music aficionados to bring in three objects or musical memories in advance that mean something to them; these will be on show when the museum opens on Thursday.
Festival goers are still encouraged to share their memories can do so either by social media, or coming into the museum over the weekend to be recorded and added to the digital exhibition. Get involved and share your memories of Sŵn now!
There are now two ways to donate:
1 – via social media: tweet three images and stories to #SWNMM, or share on Facebook at the Sŵn Music Museum Facebook page.
2 – by bringing items and memories to the Museum to record over the Sŵn Festival weekend!
MUSEUM OPENING TIMES:
Friday 21st October (12-5pm)
Saturday 22nd (12-5pm)
Sunday 23rd (12-5pm)
The Sŵn Music Museum Facebook event
Location: Castle Arcade, Cardiff (more info)
The Museum is being built through the crowdsourcing of materials and the organisers are inviting music aficionados to bring along three objects in advance to be displayed during the Sŵn weekend. Virtual contributions can be made via social media or objects and stories can be taken to the museum and recorded on the spot. Students from the CU Archaeology and Conservation department will be on hand to offer advice on how to care for musical memorabilia. All the images and stories will be collected and displayed in the Sŵn Music Museum virtual gallery.
In other Sŵn news: S4C will also be filming an access-all-areas documentary of Sŵn this weekend, to air in December. It will feature interviews with artists, festival goers and organisers Huw Stephens and John Rostron. So make sure you’re wearing your lipstick and guyliner for when the cameras are rolling!
For those who haven’t seen it yet, here’s the line up, in eye-blistering full detail (open the image in a new tab and zoom in for Full Effect).
See you on the dance floor – front left by the speakers, yeah?
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What an incredible day for a half marathon! The weather is banging, and record numbers of you turned out today to run the Cardiff Half Marathon, which is one of the flattest and fastest in the UK.
Congratulations to everyone that took part!
People who have run the race before will be familiar with the mountains of water bottles strewn across the streets, but this year’s race was one of the greenest yet with more recycling bins than ever before, more signs, and for the first time an army of environmental champions there to help people recycle properly and make sure the maximum amount of materials are recycled. Brecon Carreg’s water bottles are also smaller for the first time (which is a brilliant move – it’s not easy to chug down that much water on mile ten!).
In terms of the impact of recycling at the event, according to Recycle for Wales, if every Cardiff Half runner recycled one 500ml water bottle, enough energy could be saved to power these famous Cardiff Half route landmarks:
Although the best bet is always to bring your own reusable water bottle, the plastic bottles that are recycled on the day will be transformed into a number of different products (including clothing – as well as new bottles!). The peels from the bananas handed out to runners at the end of the race can be used to generate energy, which could charge a range of household items. FACT: just one banana peel can create enough electricity to fully charge two smartphones. Where’s my banana charger?
Cardiff Uni put together this awesome little video of things to look out for while running around the city
The numbers of runners turning out today wasn’t the only record thing about the race. Kenyan runner Shadrick Korir set a new Cardiff Half record in his first run ever outside Kenya (finishing the race in an eye watering 1’00’54!!). Viola Jebchumbah won the women’s race with a new record of 1’08’14, and there was even a new Guinness World Record set today!
Yes, that’s right – Batman and Robin stormed the course in under 71 minutes, to set a new Guinness World Record for the fastest half marathon run in fancy dress. Yes, there’s a record for that!
Some of our other favourite tweets from the day:
https://twitter.com/Michelle_800/status/782515678238609408
Well done to ALL who participated in today’s run. Remember, there are only three kinds of winners: those who start the race, those that finish, and whoever happens to come first. You’re all winners to us!
Now go celebrate with a pint and get those feet in some ice, yes?
(photo from Helia’s half marathon effort in 2015)
Inspired to sign up for next year? Everything you need is on the Cardiff Half Marathon website.
For more information about the Run Refuel Recycle campaign, and to find out how you could win a £115 voucher from Cardiff-based specialist running shop, Run and Become, head to www.RunRefuelRecycle.org.uk
Thanks to photojournalist Chloe Jackson-Nott for all the great pics of the race this year.
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The photophiles amongst you will probably know we have an Instagram account, used for two things: regramming the best photos of Cardiff that we can find, and also occasionally farming out to Cardiffians for month-long takeovers.
In October, we have photographer Sam Padget doing the takeover. Sam has done some fabulous action-packed photo essays for us before (like this one on the P1 Superstock in the bay). He introduces himself below!
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I am a 30 year old freelance photographer and student currently based in Cardiff. My journey to this point has been quite complicated, but I discovered my passion for photography in northern Norway, where I lived for a year. Having held photo workshops, an exhibition and publishing a book, I headed back down south to broaden my photographic skill set with a BA in Photojournalism at the University of South Wales.
For me, Cardiff is the perfect city. It has it all, a combination of a strong photography scene, bustling night life and is ideally placed in proximity to nature and of course, the sea.
My day job, so to speak, is freelance sports photography with particular focus on unusual and winter sports, but I’m pursuing a career in documentary photography with strong interest in the co-existence of man and nature. This month you can expect a lot of street style photography, as well as candid portraiture. I also like to use techniques such as slow shutter and elevation to try and give a unique ‘look’ to my images.
My main interest is travel and I’m a bit of a foodie with a penchant for noodles. I’m fluent in Norwegian and currently learning Portuguese.
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Okay, so we don’t often bother mentioning anything about Swansea on this blog (specifically not things like the Mumbles, the Gower, the fact they have the largest indoor market in Wales or that they’ve just been named top university in Wales). It’s not like we’re jealous or anything. Honestly.
However … sometimes it’s good to reach out and help your neighbours, so we’re featuring We Make Good Happen, a local pay-it-forwards-good-deeds type initiative set up by Matt and Andrea Callanan. They are trying to round up as many donations as they can to help the soon-to-close Eastside food bank in Swansea.
They will be driving to Swansea from Cardiff on Friday 7 October to take donations. If you’re in a position to donate anything, please have a look at the list of needed items below. There are a variety of ways you can get items to We Make Good Happen, also listed.
Rather than rewriting the whole thing, I’ll just copy and paste Matt’s initial plea, but for info this is being run by We Make Good Happen, not We Are Cardiff (though we are going to be donating, and if any of you can’t access any of the points below, let Matt or us know and we’ll try our best to arrange someone to pick stuff up from you).
**URGENT** **UPDATED DROP OFF POINTS **
Can you help me to a great thing? A #foodbank in #Swansea is on its last legs and needs donations urgently otherwise they will have to close. (feel free to share this post)
From one of the ladies that runs it:
“Really need more donations or we will end up closing. We are feeding more families than ever so the need is there but our donors seem to have abandoned us.”
I will be driving down from #Cardiff next week on Friday 7th October and it would be amazing if I can drive down with a car packed full of food for people that desperately need it. (I’ll sort a van if there’s enough stuff)
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**UPDATE – 2 drop points in Cardiff Bay
+ Have now set up a box in my office reception so they are expecting people: Saint Line House, Mount Stuart Square, Cardiff Bay, CF10 5LR (oppSunflower&I )
or Inspire Me / Sing and Inspire InspireMe
Crichton House, 11-12 Mount Stuart Square, Cardiff CF10 5EE
For Roath email me: wemakegoodhappen@gmail.com
Also popped to supermarket and bought a few cans/things to get this thing kickstarted.
I will be going out to buy food but it would be great if other people can contribute (even if it’s a few cans) and really help families and people in need. Food is such a basic thing! So imagine being without it. Or kids being without food. Think of the good you will do.
If you want to get involved let me know here or email wemakegoodhappen@gmail.com
I’m happy for you to drop off at my house/ my office in Cardiff Bay or I can pickup from you
Food they need: (**Check food is in date & they do not need pasta**)
“Own brand & value things are perfectly acceptable. Clients who are hungry are pleased with anything.”
milk (dried or long life)
tinned meat (corned beef/ham/pork/braised beef/meatballs/hot dogs)
tinned fruit
tinned veg
Baked beans / spaghetti
Tinned or packet soup
Tinned tomatoes
Tinned or packet dried potatoes
Tinned carrots, peas, sweetcorn
Juice
Tea / coffee
Instant hot chocolate
Tuna / sardines
Savoury / sweet biscuits / part baked long life bread
Savoury and sweet spreads
Tinned rice pudding, tinned custard
Rice and pasta microwaveable meals.
“Many thanks in advance for help.”
This is We Make Good Happen by the way. Adorable, right??
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The Cardiff Book Festival programme has been announced! A weekend of bookish delights and literary indulgence await, featuring literary heroes like Miranda Sawyer and Deborah Moggach. Whoop!
The festival takes place over the last weekend of October (from Friday 28 to Sunday 30 October) in various venues across Cardiff – more details at the bottom of this post.
Read on for our picks of the weekend and details about tickets!
Improve your Writing: Poetry, Short Story and Novel Writing workshops
28.10.16 – 9.30am to 12.30pm, Cardiff Central Library, Meeting Room 4
A unique opportunity to write with and learn from some of the most exciting names in Welsh fiction. Let our authors guide you through the finer points of fiction, poetry and short story writing, whether you’re just starting out or have been in the world of words for year. Poetry will be taught by prize-winning Jonathan Edwards, whose work has been widely published in magazines such as Poetry Review. Dan Tyte is an acclaimed novelist and writer- he will guide you through getting your novel into shape. The brilliant, award-winning Rachel Trezise burst onto the literary scene at the age of 22 becoming one of the most original writers of her generation. She’ll teach you the art of the short story. Join us for a one-off event that any aspiring author will not want to miss.
Workshops: Getting Published
28.10.16 – 1pm to 4pm, Cardiff Central Library, Meeting Room 4
Need help navigating the often complex process of publishing your work? The Getting Published masterclass covers everything you need to know to get into print. From exploring self-publishing options, how to find an agent and a publisher, building an author profile and platform, tips on how to get your book to sell and much more. With advice from industry experts including Hazel Cushion, the founder and managing director of Accent Press and Richard Davies, director of Parthian, this masterclass is a one stop shop for all your publishing needs.
Owen Sheers: On Life, In Words
28.10.16, 6pm. Yr Hen Lyfrgell
From Zimbabwe (The Dust Diaries), to the war torn fields of Pink Mist, or the rugby pitch in his non-fiction work, Calon, wherever his writing takes him, Owen Sheers\u2019 heart is still in Wales. His latest novel, I Saw a Man, is a gripping and stylish novel and he’s now renowned as one of the best contemporary writers. Owen’s novels, poetry and screenwriting are known all across the world. Chaired by Felicity Evans.
The Debuts, Laura Powell and Dan Tyte
29.10.16 – 10am–11am Cardiff Central Library, 5th Floor Creative Suite
They say everyone has one good book in them. Few ever get round to writing it, far less getting it published. Telegraph journalist, Laura Powell, traded fact for fiction with her debut novel, The Unforgotten, a thriller featuring forbidden love and a serial killer. Dan Tyte’s debut, Half Plus Seven, sees a jaded PR man in search of some sort of meaning in a book described as “a coming of age novel snorting with energy.
Roald Dahl Tour
29.10.16 – 11am, The City Cross at Cathedral Green, Llandaff
A hunt for what remains of one of the finest writers Wales has produced with author and poet Peter Finch. Dahl was born here in 1916 and left for boarding school when he was 10. In that time he managed to live in three different houses and to move around Cardiff enough for the city to seep into his creative consciousness. We visit his birthplace and take in other places of historical significance. This two-hour walk is aimed at adults but children are welcome.”
Miranda Sawyer – Mid-Life Moments
29.10.16 – 4.30pm, The Angel Hotel
What exactly is a mid-life crisis, and what happens when one arrives? The respected journalist and broadcaster Miranda Sawyer tackles this most challenging of times with humour and candid insight in her book Out of Time. For Sawyer, her mid-life crisis made its presence felt when she was 44. Here she discusses how our tastes and our bodies change as we get older; and the unexpected new pleasures the second half of life can offer.
Elliw Gwawr – Living the Sweet Life (Welsh language event)
30.10.16 – 11.30am, Yr Hen Lyfrgell
BBC Cymru Wales’ Westminster Correspondent Elliw Gwawr swaps politics for puddings as she discusses her passion for baking. Gwawr has enjoyed cooking since she was a child, and following the success of ‘Paned a Chacen’ the first ever Welsh language baking blog, has gone on to publish two hugely popular books ‘Paned a Chacen’ and ‘Pobi.’ Filled with her favourite recipes for puddings, cakes and biscuits, Gwawr’s books are enough to satisfy any sweet tooth.
Jasmine Donahaye– Memoir and Memory
30.10.16 Yr Hen Lyfrgell
Poet and author Jasmine Donahaye discusses the life-changing events that became her award-winning memoir Losing Israel. In 2007, after a chance conversation with her mother, a kibbutznik, Donahaye stumbled upon the collusion of her family in the displacement of Palestinians in 1948. When she set out to learn the story of what happened, what she discovered challenged everything she thought she knew about the country and her family, and transformed her understanding of the place, and of herself. Winner of the 2016 Wales Book of the Year Creative Non-Fiction Award, Losing Israel is a moving and candid work, which spans travel writing, nature writing and memoir.
Deborah Moggach: The Best Exotic Writer in Wales – stories from the Marigold Hotel
30.10.16, Yr Hen Lyfrgell
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel was a smash when it hit the silver screen, cementing Deborah Moggach’s place at the top of the writing tree – it was her book, These Foolish Things, that the film was based on. Now living and writing in Wales, she is the author of sixteen other books – including best seller Tulip Fever – and several screenplays, such as the blockbuster Pride and Prejudice starring Keira Knightley. She joins us to read from and discuss her new novel Something to Hide, which she’s adapting for the BBC. Spanning continents, it follows characters as they uncover secrets. “It turns out that no matter where you are in the world, everyone has something to hide.”
Neil Sinclair on Butetown: Tiger Bay Remembered
30.10.16, Yr Hen Lyfrgell
Afro-Celtic author and Cardiff historian Neil M. C. Sinclair is a native of Tiger Bay, the oldest multi-ethnic community in Wales. He has written extensively on the history of his unique hometown, providing an insider’s view of life in old Tiger Bay. Drawing on personal memories, family history and a lifetime’s worth of connections within the community, Sinclair’s humorous and thought-provoking journey through the old streets of Tiger Bay and Cardiff Docks in their heyday delves into the real heart of one of Cardiff’s most celebrated communities.”
Cardiff Book Festival: full programme
Friday
28.10,16 – 8am – Business breakfast debate- business leaders discuss what 2016 was like and what’s ahead in 2017.
28.10.16 – 9.30am to 12.30pm – Improve your Writing: Poetry, Short Story and Novel Writing workshops
28.10.16 – 1pm to 4pm – Workshops: Getting Published
28.10.16 – 10am Oodles of Doodles with Huw Aaron
28.10.16 – 6pm – Owen Sheers
28.10.16 – 7.30pm – After Euro 2016
Saturday
29.10.16 – 10am – The Debuts
29.10.16 – 11am – Roald Dahl Tour
29.10.16 – 11.15am – Caryl Lewis and Catrin Beard WELSH LANGUAGE EVENT
29.10.16 – 12.30 – Rachel Trezise and Thomas Morris
29.10.16 – 13.30 – Roald Dahl Tour
29.10.16 – 1.45pm – Ifor ap Glyn and Clare Potter WELSH LANGUAGE EVENT
29.10.16 – 2pm – Patrick McGuinness and Holly Muller
29.10.16 – 3.15pm – Iolo Williams
29.10.16 – 4.30pm – Miranda Sawyer
29.10.16 -7pm – Martin Williams
29.10.16 – 8.30pm – Sophie Hannah
29.10.16 – late – Swn Festival at CBF
Sunday
30.10.16 – 10am – Poetry – Belonging: A Sense of Place. The immigration Handbook (Caroline Smith) and Jonathan Edwards.
30.10.16 – 11.00 – Elliw Gwawr – Living the Sweet Life WELSH LANGUAGE
30.10.16 – noon – Jasmine Donahaye– Memoir and Memory
30.10.16 – 2pm – Deborah Moggach – stories from the Marigold Hotel
30.10.16 – 3.15pm – Cynan Jones and Tom Bullough
30.10.16 – 4.30pm – Neil Sinclair on Butetown
30.10.16 – 6pm – Debate – Feminism in 2016 with Felicity Evans
More information:
Cardiff Book Festival
Fri 28 Oct – Sun 30 Oct 2016, various venues across Cardiff
Old Books – photo by Walt Jabsco on Flickr
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We Are Cardiff 