What are YOU doing at 6pm on Friday? OH THAT’S RIGHT YOU’RE LISTENING TO OUR GHOST HUNT ON RADIO CARDIFF!
Helia’s been out chasing ghosts around Cardiff. Listen in to what she finds …
THIS FRIDAY 31 OCTOBER
HALLOWEEEEEEEEEN!
6 – 7pm
Radio Cardiff, 98.7FM www.radiocardiff.org
October officially means Art in Cardiff these days… another instalment in the Cardiff Contemporary story this time, with a weekend of artists opening their studios and welcoming you in. All around the capital! And ALL FREE!
Here’s the blurb from them:
“Cardiff has a vibrant community of artists who choose this city as their creative home. Many of the artists exhibit nationally and internationally, while this weekend is a rare chance to see work in progress, meet artists and discuss ideas in these personal spaces. This map focuses on artist-run and individual spaces for visual and applied artists as part of Cardiff Contemporary. The theme of Cardiff Contemporary 2014 is Reveal/Conceal. This weekend is about revealing places and ideas that are usually concealed. We hope you enjoy the weekend exploring this usually hidden community in the city.
A free yellow map is available to locate the studios, indicate opening times and compliment your journey. There is space to add the names of artists whose work you like, a place to draw should you be inspired and the reverse is a poster for your wall or front window. While it is for the weekend, we hope you keep this map and place on your wall as part of discovering more about the Arts in Cardiff.
Click here to see: Cardiff Open Studios 2014 PDF – you can pick up physical maps from The Stute (next to The Abacus near Cardiff Central) or in Chapter.
My picks:
I haven’t had long to go through the map, but I’ve picked two places that I’ve been wanting to visit for ages….
Warwick Hall Studios Open/Ar agor: 10.00—18.00, Sat/Sadwrn + Sun/Sul
Banastre Avenue, Cardiff CF14 3NR
029 20 625 375
warwickhallstudios@gmail.com
Residents: Matt Cook, Ellie Young, Jason Pinder, Freya Dooley, Christopher Holloway, Jamie Cross, Gabrielle Frazer, Richard James, Hillary Roberts, LightTrap Films, Anna Llewellyn, Alan Symmonds, Godmachine.
www.nfasp.org.uk/warwick-hall-studios
Hangover Lounge Open/Ar agor: 12.00—18.00, Sun/Sul
Spit & Sawdust Skate Park, Café & Artspace, Rhymney River Bridge Road, Cardiff CF23 9AF
029 20 494741
Residents: Becca Thomas, Sam Hasler
www.spitandsawdust.co.uk
Studios Spaces Available Winter 2014/15 – call for info
See you in the Hangover Lounge on Sunday, yeah?
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On Saturday, as part of Made In Roath, Green City Events and Cynefin Cardiff put their heads together and invited people to drop off their unwanted goods for a giant local swap shop! There were also workshops to screenprint designs on plain t shirts and also sew embellishments on your accessories.
Photographer Stephen Meredith went down to The Gate to capture the carnage on camera.
Here’s a little bit about Stephen:
My name is Stephen Kai Meredith, and I’m currently studying Photojournalism at the University of South Wales. I moved to Wales a month ago from Nuneaton in the West Midlands and I’m currently living in Caerleon in Newport. I have been mainly interested in shooting bands as I enjoy live events. I am certainly excited to start exploring Cardiff and digging in the wonders its people hold. I’m also looking forwards to building confidence and knowledge in myself from my course here.
Stephen Meredith Website | Twitter @StevePhotoJ_USW
Made In Roath
Green City Events
Cynefin Cardiff
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By photographer Peppe Iovino.
On Saturday 18 October, I went along to the Roath district of Cardiff for the ‘Road Block’ event, a series of arts events that took place through the day from the morning to the late afternoon. Alongside Albany Road and many of the neighbourhood streets there were live stages with local bands and young artists, painting and drawing workshops for families, literary exhibitions and forums in some pubs and schools, open art galleries, photography exhibitions and many other kind of events.
For a day the streets became a live museum, for many art tastes. It was a really well done experiment of urban arts, I think, and through art events they made the people feel the soul of the neighbourhood.
‘Road in Block’ was part of a bigger art festival called Made in Roath going on between the 15 to the 22 of October with a series of arts events all made by local artists to highlight Roath’s art scene.
On the way to Roath’s Road Block, I passed a group of Kurdish migrant families who were demonstrating in Queen Street. Their protest was to make the public aware about the terrible situation going on in their country. Children were standing alongside their families in the protest. They were chanting, holding posters saying ‘save Kobane’, ‘save Kurdistan’, and ‘ISIS is making genocide while the world watches’.
Speaking with one of the fathers he told me that they are very afraid of a genocide because not so far from Kurdistan (in the Kobane border city) the ISIS terrorist group are are killing hundreds and hundreds of Kurdish people whose only crime is being in the area. “It is nothing to do with religious beliefs,” he told me, “they don’t have any religious purpose, they just want power, they are hungry for power.”
He told me he had spoken to his brother yesterday, who had told him that the situation was very serious there – that hundreds of their people are being killed daily without any humanity or religious purposes; he said that ISIS would stop at nothing and the Kurdish people were not well armed to fight them. He said that the Kurds needed help from Western governments. He said they just felt like cannon fodder with the terrorist group well-armed, making daily massacres while international armies just watch.
He said that Ankara’s government was making their situation of Kurdish people worse by closing their borders. “We are very afraid of a genocide actually,” he said. “We don’t see any way out that’s better for our people, and if we do not receive help soon from international governments, we need some way to fight ISIS. That’s why we are here – there are many protests like this one in many other UK cities today to spread information about what is happening and ask for the UK government’s help.”
The man said it was not easy to explain to his sons why they were coming out today with pictures of dead bodies for the protest, but he said it was important that everyone needed to know who pays the price in these kinds of wars: on the front lines, it is always someone’s sons.
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About the photographer: Peppe Iovino is a Photojournalism student studying at the University of South Wales, based in Cardiff. He was born in Naples, Italy and is very passionate about the storytelling power of photography. He has lived in many different European cities, but now has come to Cardiff to commit to study in the field he loves. You can find Peppe’s other works on his Twitter @PeppePhotoJ_USW.
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So, we’re about halfway through the Empty Walls festival … and so we sent photographer David Allen out and about in Cardiff to track the progress of the murals newly adorning our streets. Read on for his experiences, and also to see his ace pics.
Artist: JOY
The experience of following the Empty Walls project across the city was very exciting, as I had no idea what to expect from each mural. Walking from one side of the city to the other was worth finding these amazing pieces of art. It was made even better trying to pin point exactly where the art was, looking left and right, then turning a corner to find this giant piece of amazing art so different from the last.
Artist: DAN GREEN
Artist: KERA1
Artist: LE SUPER DEMON
Artist: PHLEGM
I was born in Cardiff. When I was three my family moved to Dubai, and moved back to Cardiff when I was eight, lived here ever since. Didn’t get into photography until I was eighteen, having just finished college and not knowing where I wanted my future to be, I picked up a camera and started taking photos. It started as a hobby, I spent a year teaching myself how to work a camera and started getting better and better.
Artist: PHIL MORGAN
Artist: ZED
After teaching myself to use a camera, I was determined that my future was in photography, because I thought why not make a living in what you love doing. So then I took a course in Foundation Art and Design focusing on photography at the University of South Wales Treforest campus. After receiving a merit for that course I’ve started my first year in photojournalism at University of South Wales Cardiff campus, so I can learn everything there is to know about being a photographer. So far I am loving every moment of it!
Artist: RUSS
Dale Grimshaw and Ekstraterneks’ works are not completed yet, so I got a progress shot of each. David de la Mano’s work was completed but there were road works in the way and I couldn’t get a clear shot of it. All the other artists have yet to start their work. Keep your eyes on We Are Cardiff for when the festival has completed…
Artist: EKSTRATERNEK
Artist: DAVID DE LA MANO
Artist: DALE GRIMSHAW
Visit David Allen’s blog or catch him on Twitter @Dai_PhotoJ_USW
Empty Walls Project website
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Writer Mab Jones stops by to tell us about her new book, Poor Queen! Mab will be launching Poor Queen at Waterloo Tea Rooms in Roath, Cardiff on 21 October 2014, from 6-7.30pm. Why not go along and support her! More information about Mab’s Book Tour here
Poor Queen is my first collection, an accumulation of satirical, scurrilous, and sometimes even scatological verse, mostly written in the first few years after I began writing poetry, from 2007-2010.
Really, this is a book that should have been published back then, but the right publisher for it simply did not exist. Now, they do: they are called Burning Eye Books, they are based in Bristol, and they are run by a guy called Clive Birnie who loves performance poetry, is a fine poet himself, and is now the publisher of many well-known modern perf poets such as Salena Godden, Rob Auton, Monkey Poet, Anna Freeman, Lucy Lepchani – and myself.
It’s great to be amongst such luminaries of the spoken word scene, and we all owe a lot to Clive’s passion, hard work, and vision. I’m also indebted to ‘outsider artist’ Norris Nuvo who designed the amazing cover image – a punk-ish meld of me and the queen set as a sort of postage stamp. I think Norris is a true talent and some limited edition postcards, prints and poems are also available and will be up for sale soon on my website.
The poems in this are similarly punk in style… Mostly rhyming, funny, political, angry, raw, and rude. There are lots of pieces about love going wrong, about need and greed, about social injustice. It is very un-PC. My style is a lot different now – especially since becoming Resident Poet in the National Botanic Garden of Wales in 2012 – but these are the poems which ‘made my name’, as it were, and it’s great to have them all collected together in one place.
They are, indeed, “witty verse telling of lively working-class scenarios”, and they are a fun, rollicking read (even if I do say so myself!). You can buy the book signed, from me, with a limited edition postcard, for £10; or from Burning Eye Books for £8.99.
As far as Cardiff goes, I am of course an Ely girl, and the humour is very definitely of our city. Some of the poems are written in a Keeerdiff dialect. I hope my fellow Diffians enjoy it.
Mab Jones is a ‘daring wordsmith’ from Cardiff. Find out more at http://www.mabjones.com
http://www.mabjones.com/purchase
http://burningeyebooks.wordpress.com/
https://www.facebook.com/nuvoforever
Ballet. It’s for girls from stuffy top ballet schools, right? Matthew Bourne’s latest production of Lord of the Flies is here to CHALLENGE ALL YOUR PRECONCEPTIONS ABOUT DANCE!
What actually happened when casting the show? Well, rather than having a full cast of dancers that toured the performance around the country, instead free workshops were held across South Wales to introduce boys aged 10 – 25 to a unique form of dance devised by Bourne to appeal specifically to males and help change their perceptions of dance.
After the workshops auditions were then held, and 24 boys from south Wales and surrounding areas were selected to perform in the cast of the New Adventures and Re:Bourne production of Lord of the Flies at Wales Millennium Centre, running from 22-25 Oct 2014.
Buzz put together this great little documentary following three boys taking part in the performance:
The local cast will be performing alongside professional dancers from Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures company in this dance adaptation of William Golding’s celebrated novel.
The workshops were led by the Wales-based Lord of the Flies Dance Ambassadors, Siân Rowlands and James Morgan, who have been responsible for building interest in the Lord of the Flies project amongst local boys and for scouting out potential candidates to perform in the show.
Over 400 workshop participants – not necessarily those with the most experience, but those who showed the best aptitude for the distinctive dance style – were invited to auditions where the final cast was chosen.
Graeme Farrow, artistic director at Wales Millennium Centre, said: ‘Inspiring young people to get involved in the arts is a primary focus of our tenth anniversary programme, so I’m thrilled that Lord of the Flies provides the newly chosen young cast with the opportunity to perform on our main stage. Our relationship with Matthew Bourne was formed when the Centre opened and we’re continually delighted by the response Welsh audiences give to his work. I’ve no doubt that Lord of the Flies, will delight and enthral audiences and leave them in awe of the incredible talent of our local cast.’
Commenting on the Lord of the Flies tour, Matthew Bourne said: “Lord of the Flies is a project never before mounted on the large-scale. This unique collaboration between my production company, New Adventures, and charity, Re:Bourne will enable thousands of young people and their families across the country to experience dance at close hand, and for many, for the very first time. I look forward to an exciting, and for some, life-changing year ahead.”
For this adaptation of Lord of the Flies, the action is transferred from the deserted island of William Golding’s classic novel to a deserted theatre, where a group of schoolboys find themselves abandoned.
With no adults around they start to make their own rules and create their own civilisation, before order breaks down and the story builds to an electrifying climax. Golding’s legendary characters Ralph, Piggy, Jack and the boys will be brought to life with raw energy and emotional intensity.
Sounds good, hey? Lord of the Flies will be at the Wales Millennium Centre from 22-25 October 2014.
Tickets range from £17.50- £30.50: Book tickets here or call 02920 63 6464.
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Okay, so ARGH, it’s already mid October, and it’s ALREADY MADE IN ROATH WEEKEND!
In a nutshell … Made In Roath is an arts festival that takes over the Roath neighbourhood, bringing together tens of events, exhibitions, happenings, be-ins, participatory events, workshops … basically, anything that’s art-related? They’ve probably got it going on.
I’ve been so busy I’ve not had a chance to give the festival a proper blog yet, and seeing as it’s already started (eep!) I thought I’d just outline a couple of things going on this weekend you might want to visit. But really, there are a trillion things on, and actually you’ll have a brilliant time if you just turn up in Roath Saturday morning, grab a Made In Roath pamphlet from somewhere (or download it from here), stick your finger on any of the events and just go marching around to see what’s happening.
Get yourselves to Roath this weekend! And let us know what you get up to…
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HAPPENING – Brent Morgan – TXT U DA LOCATION #roathrave
Fri 17th Oct 7pm – 9pm approx
Location revealed when booking…
There is a secret party tonight and we will text you the location of where you need to go. You might need to pick some supplies up on the way. That’s if you can even find the venue at all. Part treasure hunt, part knees up, 100% memorable. Pre-booking essential: txtuda@gmail.com
I graduated from Performing arts and theatre studies – Swansea Met in 2009. Since then I have been making experimental theatre, performance art and pervasive games. Showing work at Edinburgh Forest Fringe, Bristol Old Vic, Wales Millennium Centre and London Roundhouse. I have worked with companies like National Theatre Wales, Give It A Name (Cardiff), Volcano Theatre company (Swansea) as well as international companies Peer GrouP (Netherlands) and Surprise Performance (Canada. I have also run a scratch theatre night called Scratch That Itch for the last 4 years with support from NTW TEAM.
The main focus of my practice is how I can combine techniques from different disciplines to create exciting experience for audiences to engage with. At the heart of all the work is honesty and truth, with the pieces being created from performers personal experiences and passions. I aim to create memorable theatrical experiences that make a direct impact on the audience opposed to giving them a passive experience. I have worked on a variety of shows from a SKA musical to a zombie chase game.
Mark Blayney – Octopoet
Fri 17th Oct, 7.30pm – 11pm
The Coffi House, Wellfield Road, CF24 3NZ
Octopoet returns! Enjoy an evening of spoken word with 8 leading writers and performers, who will entertain you with funny, serious and thought-provoking verse. Expect dazzling wordplay and a lively, positive vibe, all in a friendly café setting with a bar. Come and see the best poetry around, for free!
Dai Smith, Professor Chris Williams, Professor Meic Stephens – new under the sun: The Man from the Rhondda
Fri 17th Oct, 5.30pm – 6.30pm
Cameo Club, CF11 9HQ
What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun…
Fancy reading something Slovakian this autumn? The nights may be drawing in but, before you decide which books to hibernate with, why not join us for a pop-up international literary festival in Cardiff this October and discover new playwrights, novelists, works in translation and more? Will you find your new favourite drama king or queen or meet new local and global talents? Is anything new under the sun possible as ‘a generation goes, and a generation comes’ and the books they write may or may not remain forever?
To launch the 39th title in our Library of Wales series novelist and Chair of the Library of Wales, Dai Smith will be in conversation with Professor Chris Williams and winner of the Non-Fiction Award at this year’s Wales Book of the Year, the biographer of Rhys Davies, Professor Meic Stephens.
Free entry. Sponsored by the Rhys Davies Trust. A Hand of Roath event as part of madeinroath.com and Parthian’s literary pop-up festival new under the sun (@nutscardiff).
www.facebook.com/newcardiff
http://nutscardiff.wordpress.com/
Green City Events & Cynefin Cardiff – Exchange in Roath Workshops: EXCHANGE IN ROATH Giant Swap Shop
Sat 18 Oct, 11.30am-3.30pm
The Gate Arts Centre, CF24 3JW
Exchange in Roath is essentially a giant swap shop event run in partnership with Green City Events, Cynefin Cardiff, Made in Roath, YMCA and Cardiff Council. It is funded by the Big Lottery.
The event is split into two main parts: the GIVE element and the TAKE event.
People can bring their unwanted (but still usable) stuff to a large drop off container which will be situated next to the Gate Arts Centre on Keppoch Street. It will be open Monday 13th – Friday 17th October between 5 – 7pm. People who bring stuff will be able to collect points (to exchange for items at the event) and might even get a piece of cake (bring and cake!).
Come and take stuff on Saturday 18th October between 11:30 – 3:30pm inside the Gate Arts Centre, Keppoch Street, Roath. Join up-cycling & re-use workshops, print new designs on old clothes, see installation artists in action & help out with some pedal powered disco.
This event is free and you don’t need to give in order to take. Please DON’T bring ‘white goods’, VHS tapes, broken items or rubbish.
The types of things you can bring are: Books, CDs/DVDs, Clothes, Toys, Tools, Garden Items, Plants, Small Electrical Items, Kitchenware, Small Furniture and Bikes.
For more information and opportunities to volunteer contact Exchange@Greencityevents.co.uk
Reuse – Recycle – Relove
HAPPENING: Roath Road block – the Made In Roath Street Festival!
Plasnewydd Road
Sat 18th October, 11am – 5pm
The ‘made in roath’ Street Festival.
people + art + music + food
We’ll have loads of free stuff happening, live music, street theatre, art workshops, food/refreshments, art making and lots of fun activities for all ages.
Roving Performances, Kitsch Kitchen Tea n Cakes, Art Workshops, Young Talent Showcase, World Street Food from Commune, Kids activities, M.A.D.E. Juice and Chai bar, Art on show, DJ’s and more.
And to add to the excitement, the area will be a Arts, Food and Entertainment destination, as there will also be:
Inverness Groove in Inverness Place – Baked in Roath
Tea in SHO gallery with Art exhibition
Dj workshop in The Record Shop.
Exchange in Roath – a giant swop shop at The Gate.
Plasnewydd Community Garden is Open.
The Crofts Pub – Eclectic Eccentrics Oxjam Art & Music
The Andrew Buchan Pub – Oxjam Art & music all day/eve.
The Macintosh Centre- Roath Farmers Market is open for longer especially on the Saturday till 3pm
And in the evening, the ROAD BLOCK after party in the evening. 19 – midnight.
OPEN HOUSE ARTIST STUDIOS – Lost & found memories ‘Heimat’ – Dagmar Bechhaus, and Dorothy and Helen Clifford
13 Boverton St CF24
Sat 18th – Sun 19th Oct, 1pm – 5pm [Change from brochure]
Wales in Germany is also known as the land of story telling. Dagmar will read the experience of a holiday in the east of Germany, the former GDR, her mother’s homeland and “Heimat” and show illustrating work. Dagmar Bechhaus will be reading a diary narrative on “Heimat”, 18th & 19th Oct at 4pm. On the 19th Oct at 4pm writer James Rourke will read a personal short story about “Home”.
Helen Clifford explores memories through a dialogue with her mother, Dorothy, of childhood homes and the impact of growing up during and after the second world war. Dorothy has created a series of paintings in response.
OPEN HOUSE ARTIST STUDIOS – Esyllt George, Claire Prosser and others
Lane between Mafeking Road and Ladysmith Road CF23 5DQ
Sat 18th Oct to end of festival
Creative Lane Space will involve a response from a range of artists to this unnoticed quiet lane in Penylan. Work will involve wall art, installations and pop up creative movement workshops run by Claire Prosser. For workshop times contact Esyllt: e.george20@ntlworld.com
EXHIBITION: ‘Traces: of Roath’ – Doreen Barnaville and Jan Lewis
Penylan Pantry, 72 Kimberley Road, CF23 5DN
Tues 7th – Sun 26th Oct (except Mon)
Tues – Sat 10am – 6pm
Sun 10am – 4pm
‘Traces: of Roath’ is a small exhibition of work recording the life in Roath – from the birdlife in illustrator and printmaker Jan Lewis’s collographs, to the buildings, parks and plants in Doreen Barnaville’s cyanotype prints on muslin.
(‘Traces: of the Ridgeway’ – prints by Jan and Doreen can be seen at Colchester Avenue – see Open Houses entry)
Jan Lewis, illustrator and printmaker, and Doreen Barnaville, textiles, photography and print, have joined forces in this small exhibition, ‘Traces: of Roath’, to illustrate the area – from the birdlife in Jan’s collographic prints to the buildings, parks and plants recorded in Doreen’s cyanotype prints on muslin.
This work follows on from a group exhibition held at Wantage museum earlier this year – ‘Traces: of the Ridgeway’ – which can now be seen at Colchester Avenue on the 18th & 19th October – see the Open Houses entry.
A few months back, Jodie Ashdown wrote a piece for We Are Cardiff about some forgotten Cardiff places that she used to frequent. She picked out The Cabin, The Monaco, The Bandstand and Rhiwbina Infants as parts of Cardiff that contained personal pieces of history for her.
Read that piece here: Jodie Ashdown – Cardiff Alms
This Sunday as part of Made In Roath festival, Jodie will be running a free creative writing workshop at the Poet’s Corner Pub on City Road, where you’re invited along to encourage you to think about lost city landmarks in a new way. Remember a pub which you used to frequent but is now a bank? Your childhood home knocked down for flats? Here is the place to put pen to paper and pay homage to Cardiff past. See you there, right?
You heard. The final line-up for this year’s mini Swn (or DimSwn – which means ‘No Swn’ for the Welsh learners in the crowd)(actually technically it means No Sound, but anyway) has been announced, and is below.
Horizons / Gorwelion will be showcasing their 12 bands at DimSwn this year.
Horizons is a scheme delivered by BBC Cymru Wales in partnership with Arts Council Wales to develop new, independent contemporary music in Wales. Its aim is to support and promote emerging Welsh music talent to new and wider audiences.
Horizons / Gorwelion artists performing at DimSwn are: Baby Queens, Candelas,Chris Jones, Climbing Trees, Gabrielle Murphy, Houdini Dax, Kizzy Crawford,Plu, Seazoo, Swnami, The People The Poet.
You can see the full line up on the Swn website here: DIMSWN LINEUP
Buy tickets for Swn here: SWN TICKETS
See you on the dancefloor!
Although there’s a couple of weeks until the Empty Walls festival is finished, its exhibition at the Abacus has now been taken down. We sent photographer Benjamin Blyth along to take some snaps of the exhibits, showcasing work from some of the artists involved as well as some amazing local talents.
The show featured Andy Fung, Gar Jon Day and Tom Kitchen, creating site specific murals within the gallery as well as hosting a collection of paintings drawings and prints from the likes of Dale Grimshaw, Rae, Elinor Evans, David De La Mano, Ekstraternek and more.
Ben Blyth is a first year photojournalism student studying at the University of South Wales. Previously he lived in Newark On Trent near Nottingham before making the move last month to Cardiff. In the last year, he’s been mainly been working for Notts County Ladies FC as their official photographer and have also been working for The Newark Advertiser and The Nottingham Evening Post. He’s excited about working on live briefs whilst studying in Cardiff and getting to know the area whilst gaining experience as a photojournalist. Find him online: Twitter @PhotoJ_BenBlyth and
blog.
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A reminder if you haven’t done so already to fill in our CARDIFF NEIGHBOURHOOD SURVEY! Go on, it’ll only take a few seconds!
Please take a few minutes to fill in the form below (if you’d like a direct link to the survey, click here: We Are Cardiff Neighbourhood Survey 2014), and please send it to ALL YOUR FRIENDS / CO-WORKERS / FAMILY here in Cardiff. We want as many responses from as many parts of the city as possible!
We look forward to hearing from you
Helia x
We Are Cardiff 