Artes Mundi's blog

Can documentary videos be classed as art?

by Catrin Davies, Artes Mundi Live Guide

Many of the artists exhibiting at this year’s Artes Mundi have chosen to explore issues such as trading, globalisation and migration through film.  A group of ESOL students (English for speakers of other languages) visited the museum last Friday.  I was interested to hear the responses of these pupils that came from countries such as China, Iraq, Romania, Poland and Somalia.

In the film ‘Empire’s Borders’, the artist Chen Chieh-jen shows the difficulties people from Taiwan come across when leaving their country.  Although all of the ESOL students thought that the injustice of immigration control policies in Taiwan was an issue that needed to be exposed, some felt that ‘Empire’s Borders’ was more like a documentary, (and cannot, therefore be categorised as art).  Many of the work in this year’s Artes Mundi reflect the politics that surround the lives of the eight artists, often exploring these issues through film, photography and video.  Does this mean that we should class their work as documentaries? 

Throughout my time here at the Artes Mundi, this is a subject that has been raised on several occasion, with a variety of different opinions:  On one of the guided tours a few weeks ago one woman didn’t understand the need to categorise such videos into ‘documentary’ or ‘art’.  She believed that videos such as the ones seen in the Artes Mundi are still a creative means of exploring ideas, and gets frustrated as to why people need to define them.

In a video by Steve McQueen, the British artist filmed the Giardini, (which hosts the prestigious Venice Biennale) at a time when piles of rubbish and feral dogs replaced art enthusiasts.  Like many of the artists at this year’s Artes Mundi, Steve McQueen offers an alternative perspective- tweaking the real into his more fictional adaptation.  Like Chen Chieh-jen’s film, ‘Empire’s Borders’, McQueen takes on the role of an artist by developing and exploring further what already exists.

During the ESOL tour there were many interesting discussions based on some of the other artists work, with some insightful interpretations- each student relating to each piece of work in their own way, depending on their own story.  Not every individual in the group agreed on whether the work could be classed as art, but the show created an in depth discussion around the theme of art and humanity. 

Y sgwad 'sgwennu'n dod i'r ddinas/ Young People's Writing Squad visit Artes Mundi

gan Catrin Davies, tywysydd yr Artes Mundi and Catherine Stephens-Ward, Artes Mundi Live Guide

Ar fore ddydd Sadwrn, daeth criw o Ferthyr Tydfil i ymweld a'r arddangosfa.  Cafodd saith disgybl y cyfle i fynychu gweithdy unigryw sef gweithdy'r 'sgwad 'sgwennu'.  Cynnigwyd y gweithdy i'r disgyblion oherwydd eu bod wedi dangos dawn ysgrifennu arbennig.  Roedd ganddynt raglen waith lawn oedd yn cynnwys y fraint o gydweithio gydag awdures yn ystod y prynhawn. 

Cychwynnom trwy drafod thema amlwg a welir yn yr Artes Mundi eleni, sef ymfudo, cyn dechrau ar ein taith o gwmpas yr arddangosfa.

Un darn gafodd ymateb gwych gan ddisgyblion y sgwad 'sgwennu oedd 'Yr Amgueddfa Rwsiaidd' gan Olga Chernysheva.  Yn y darn, mae'r artist yn ffilmio ymwelwyr yn astudio darluniau celf mewn amgueddfa Rwsiaidd.  Rydym yn gweld adlewyrchiad y bobl wrth iddynt astudio'r darluniau.  Yn y fideo, mae'n ddiddorol sut mae adlewyrchiad o'r bobl heddiw yn dod yn rhan o'r hen luniau ar y wal.  Efallai fod yr artist yn cymharu cymdeithas 'slawer dydd gyda chymdeithas heddiw?  Beth sydd wedi newid a beth sydd yn debyg?  Wrth esbonio'r syniad yma i'r disgyblion, dyma nhw'n dechrau cymharu'r darlun gwreiddiol efo'r amlinell a welir yn yr adlewyrchiad.

Roedd y disgyblon yn medru gweld tebygolrwydd rhwng y lliwiau gwreiddiol a'r lliwiau yn yr adlewyrchiad; Tebygolrwydd hefyd yn yr wynebau.  Wrth iddynt edrych o'u cwmpas, dyma nhw'n dechrau cymharu'r lluniau yn y ffilm efo'r lluniau ar waliau'r oriel yma yn yr Amgeuddfa yng Nghaerdydd.  Felly dyma fi'n holi'r disgyblion os yr oeddynt yn credu bod y lluniau yn y ffilm yn debyg i'r lluniau yma yng Nghaerdydd. Rydyn ni yn gwneud yn union yr un peth a'r unigolion yn ffilm Olga?  Rydym ni hefyd yn gwylio; ond hefyd yn gwylio rhywun arall yn gwylio. 

Ar ol cwblhau ein taith o'r Artes Mundi, dyma'r disgyblion yn gwneud darn o waith eu hun wedi ei selio ar artist o'r arddangosfa.  Dewisodd sawl disgybl i selio eu gwaith ar Olga Chernysheva, ac eraill yn canolbwyntio ar agweddau eraill o'r sioe.  Roedd pob ymateb o safon uchel, ac yn dangos eu bod wedi dehongli'r gwaith yn ddeallus iawn.  Roedd yn amlwg fod ganddynt ddawn mewn celfyddyd gain yn ogystal a dawn ysgrifenedig. 

Erbyn hanner awr wedi deuddeg roedd fy mol yn dweud ei bod yn amser cinio.  Dyma'r disgyblion yn gadael yr arddangosfa, efo'u lluniau, eu bagiau a'u syniadau.  Er taw dyma oedd diwedd y daith i mi a'r sgwad 'sgwennu, megis dechrau oedd y disgyblion.  Bant a nhw, yn llawn syniadau, i ysgrifennu yn yr haul, gan ddatblygu rhai o'r themau a trafodwyd yn y bore.  Tybed beth oedd y canlyniadau?... 

By Catherine Stephens-Ward, Artes Mundi Live Guide

Last week the Young People’s Writing Squad visited Artes Mundi, and I had the pleasure of taking them around the exhibition and doing a workshop with them. The group of young writers who were aged between 12 and 15 years-old were accompanied by Branwen from Academi and a travel writer, who said as he introduced himself that he had visited some of the artist’s countries, namely Peru and Israel. First hand experience of a country always makes for some interesting dialogue, and this tour was no exception.

Clearly these youngsters are all very talented to have been chosen to represent their region of Wales in the writing squad, but what I was most looking forward to seeing was how this would translate into the drawing activities that I had planned for the workshop.

Fernando Bryce’s Die Welt was the starting point of the workshop, which seemed like an obvious choice given that it is based around literature. I gave the writers some options to choose from. They could either make a shape poem, like Fernando’s drawing of the ‘Eifel Tower’, write a review of Artes Mundi in the style of a newspaper article or produce a portrait of their favourite artist by copying.

There was one drawing in particular which caught my eye, and that was a portrait of Fernando in black felt tip pen, which emulated the artist’s black Indian ink versions. It looked so authentic it could have been part of Die Welt. Having made by own shape poem in preparation for the workshop, like the tower in Yael Bartana’s Wall and Tower I was thrilled to see the variety of shape poems that were made. There was the tree in Per Speculum, a lorry from the Silk Road, Ergin Cavusoglu’s piano and the bicycle from the Voyage of No Return.

I am sure that there will be many more artistic creations to come out of the writing squad’s Artes Mundi experience, whether this is in the written, drawn or painted form. I look forward to seeing more!

Three men and some leeks

By Katherine Bujalska, Artes Mundi Live Guide

Last week I was given a recommendation to go and have a look in the Art in Wales Galleries, just off Gallery 1 on the 1st floor of the Museum, and particularly at the painting of Philip Proger.  It is by an unknown artist (perhaps the Italian School) and was painted sometime during the beginning of the 17th Century.  The wall plaque states that it is the earliest known portrait of a Welshman holding a leek and James I (whose court Philip Proger served at) commented that 'the wearing of leeks by Welshmen was a good and commendable fashion'!

The next time you come to the Museum, do make a special visit to see this painting, it's worth it and I can't pretend I didn't leave the gallery with a chuckle on my lips!

I walked from here through to the film installation by Bulgarian artist Ergin Çavuşoğlu, 'Voyage of No Return'.  In this piece, a father and son discuss what is is to depart from the familiar, in order to see places unknown.  Ergin filmed this piece in Oban, a small port town off the east coast of Scotland, a place he felt was symbolic as a place of departure.

Within the dialogue, despite the son saying that when he arrives at the place he intends to go, he will get a suit made as "I hear they make plenty of good suits over there", neither son nor father make any verbal reference to locatable places, throughout their conversation.  They speak of the mythical leader of the Scythians in Ancient Greece, of places Marco Polo may have seen and of a beautifully and accurately described city in a dream, but of no places we could find on a map.  So their conversation remains one of ideas and the abstract, lying outside of the realm of experience.

But if you look closely, you may spot symbols that Ergin has slipped in, just like unknown painter of Philip Proger did, of places pretty close to home.  There's a Scottish flag stitched into the hat of a man waving farewell on the dock, there are English lions on the sterns of ships coming into port, and of course there are the leeks lying in the bicycle basket being pushed around by one of the films' protagonists.  There are probably more.

What initially seemed to me one of the toughest pieces in Artes Mundi 4 to get to grips with, has become one of the most rewarding.  The abstract nature of some of the dialogue may, at first, seem too much of a challange but I urge everyone to stick with it for it is worth the effort.

Kyrgyzstan Riots

By Katherine Bujalska, Artes Mundi Live Guide

It was reported last week that as many as 100 people in Kyrgyzstan have been killed after the Government was overthrown and a bloody massacre ensued.  Hundreds are injured and hospitals are not coping.  It was rumored that the Kyrgyz leader Mr Bakiyev fled the country in a small aircraft while the police opened fire on protesters in the country's capital Bishkek.

From my comfy, sheltered viewpoint, I can only speculate upon why this devastating situation has erupted now.  Has the virtual blanket of poverty which settled over the country back in the early 1990s, when the Soviet empire fell, finally caused the country to reach its critical breaking point?  Or is it in part due to the ongoing friction generated by the presence of both American and Russian airbases within the Kyrgyz borders, meaning more political play afoot than meets the media eye?

A month ago I would have read these reports and perhaps not speculated.  I doubt I would have really, truly been that concerned, not being able to pinpoint Kyrgyzstan on a map and not really being able to draw a connecting line between my life and their lives.

Last week I sat and watched 'A New Silk Road, Algorithm of Survival and Hope', with a five year old child and his family.  We talked about the children in the film playing football and how they were just like our families over here.  We discussed how some of our clothes had labels on them which said 'made in China' and they may have been packed - touched even! by the workers in the film.  Those people became people we could relate to. 

Watching and re-watching that film, their actions and even their body language has become so familiar to me that I have begun to regard those people as friends...I know them!

I hope and pray, as I know the rest of the Artes Mundi team do too, that the people of Kyrgyzstan and especially our dear friends the artists Gulnara Kasmalieva and Muratbek Djumaliev get through this volatile situation as safely as they can, and the outcome for them is bright.

The Constant of Globalisation

By Ruth McLees, Artes Mundi Live Guide

Hidden amongst Fernando Bryce's 195 small drawings that make up his work Die Welt are copies of adverts taken from the period of world history that Die Welt refers to. They present companies crucial to the emergence of globalisation between 1880 and 1920, including the Commercial Pacific Cable Company (linking Asia with the Americas), Marconi Wireless Telegraphy ("it increases the usefulness of the telegraph by making available distant and inaccessible and hitherto impossible points such as ships at sea, small islands etc") and various global shipping firms and passenger liners.

It's thanks to companies such as these drawing the world closer that globalisation has grown into today's all encompassing form. Amazing developments have occurred in the 100 years since the Die Welt period of history... we can only imagine what incredible inventions and advancements will happen worldwide during the next 100 years to unite international nations still further...

Take a look at the Artes Mundi catalogue and read the list of sponsors of this years show. Many of them are global companies which I think echo the businesses of 100 years ago remembered in Fernando Bryce's work. Their sponsorship illustrates the spread and influence of global brands today within all facets of contemporary society and culture.

Artes Mundi means "arts of the world", with this year's show focussing particularly on the impact of globalisation and migration. And so it's right that the exhibited works themselves should describe the force and effects of globalisation on the artists and their countries of origin. This should not necessarily be seen negatively, but instead as an enabling force allowing people (and artists) from all corners of the Earth to communicate and come together in shows such as this. We must remember that it is thanks to this same force of globalisation that Artes Mundi exists. Here, global sponsors=global exhibition: one form of globalisation positively enabling another.

Globalisation that leads to one world, one shared experience and increases our understanding of humankind can only be a good thing... What do you think?

Swn yn yr amgueddfa genedlaethol

gan Catrin Davies, tywysydd Artes Mundi

Daeth 'Swn' i'r Amgueddfa Genedlaethol i gynnig blas o'r sin gerddoriaeth gyfoes Gymraeg.  Hwn oedd yr agoriad hwyr cyntaf yn y rhaglen gydweithredol rhwng yr Artes Mundi a 'Swn'.  Nod yr agoriadau hwyr yma yw i bobl fwynhau'r perfformiadau cerddorol rhwng edrych ar y gwahanol gelf sydd i'w gynnig yn sioe yr Artes Mundi.  Y syniad yw i gyfuno gwahanol ffurf o'r celfyddydau (mewn amgylchedd gwahanol i'r hyn a geir yma yn ystod y dydd).  Mae hefyd yn rhoi'r cyfle i bobl ymweld a'r Artes Mundi, na fyddai'n cael y cyfle yn ystod y dydd.   

Agorwyd y noson gan y delynes Georgia Ruth am 6 o'r gloch.  Wedi iddi orffen plycio llinynnau'r delyn, roedd yna gyfle i edrych ar ychydig o waith yr artistiaid yn arddangosfa'r Artes Mundi.  Bydd y tywysyddion yn cynnal taith trwy gydol yr agoriadau hwyr- (i gychwyn am 7 o'r gloch).  Mae yna hefyd stondin gan Starbucks ar bwys y brif fynedfa sy'n cynnig esiamplau o'u bwyd. 

Dechreuodd y perfformiad ola' gan John Smith am 8 o'r gloch.  Unwaith eto, llwyddodd, trwy ei gerddoriaeth, i newid naws yr Amgueddfa.  Wrth ystyried pa mor gwahanol oedd y ddau berfformaid i'w gilydd, mae'n amlwg bydd rhaglen 'Swn' yn cynnwys holl amrywiaeth o gerddoriaeth cyfoes- a hynny yn rhad ac am ddim! 

Bydd y rhaglen yma yn rhedeg bob nos Iau trwy gweddill Ebrill.  http://swnfest.co.uk/site/

Swn (sound) bought a taster of the Welsh music scene to the national museum last Thursday.  This was the first in a series of late night openings, which is a collaborative project beteen Swn and the Artes Mundi.  These late night openings offer the opportunity to enjoy an evening that offers a variety of creative ideas, both through art and music. 

The harpist, Georgia Ruth opened the evening at 6pm, transforming the atmosphere of the main hall dramatically from it's bustling environment a few hours prior.  During the late night openings, the live guides provide a tour, commencing at 7pm. (between the two music performances). 

The final act of the evening, John Smith offered yet again an alternate experience to museum goers, If Thursday's late night openings are anything to go by, the programme will showcase a diverse range of fresh, creative ideas surrounding us today. 

The late night opeings will run until the end of April, and entrance is free.

http://swnfest.co.uk/site/

By Sally Thelwell, Artes Mundi Live Guide.
The Easter family workshops are now in full swing, starting at 11am, 1pm and 3pm, we have had lots of families joining in the fun. Focusing on the work of the Peruvian artist Fernando Bryce, the workshops have encouraged a really positive and thoughtful response to the way the work has been created and the historical narratives found within each drawing. One little boy commented that the 195 Indian ink drawings are like ‘Chinese whispers’, recording history faithfully, but also altering it slightly. The careful reproduction of newspaper articles, propaganda leaflets and other sources from the time create a fascinating history of selective events of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, ranging from colonialism to the Russian Revolution.
The workshop encourages the families to work together to discover the stories in the artwork and to recognise key things, such as important people. Everyone has the opportunity to make a little book to fill with things inspired by the art work (or even your imagination). If this sounds like something your family might enjoy, finish off those Easter eggs and come along to the Museum for some creative fun!

Get involved in a Family Workshop this Easter

By Catherine Stephens-Ward, Artes Mundi Live Guide

We began our series of family workshops yesterday, which are available everyday throughout the Easter holidays. This week we are making paper books in response to Fernando Bryce’s drawings. Children of all ages and mums, dads and grandparents have all seemed to really enjoy taking part, and already there has been some fantastic work produced. Here are some of the ‘artworks'.    

Thirty children watch a woman struggling to thread a needle

by Morag Colquhoun, Artes Mundi Live Guide

 

They watch her trembling fingers for many long minutes. They watch the thread miss and miss again. When the thread finally goes through the eye of the needle, they gasp with relief.

Young people have short attention spans? 

These children are fully absorbed in Chen Chieh-jen's film of a closed down factory in Taiwan. The film shows women - former workers of the factory - silently sewing and endlessly cleaning chairs. The film is slow motion. The camera pans over the deserted factory floor. The women look tired and rest their heads on the tables infront of them with coats over their heads.

So why do the children find this film so absorbing? 

Two separate groups of children watched this film and were then asked why they thought an artist would make a film rather than paint a picture. In each group, the reply was identical: 

'Because it makes you think!'

The Great Gallery/Cinema Debate

By Ruth McLees, Artes Mundi Live Guide.

The Israeli artist Yael Bartana is one of the artists exhibiting films in this Artes Mundi exhibition. She explores Jewish-Israeli society and history, and in Wall and Tower she presents us with a scenario of the Israeli Jews, having moved back to Poland, constructing a kibbutz (a collective settlement)on the site of the Warsaw Ghetto.

During my lunchtime tour I was asked, "What makes this art? It should be shown in a cinema not a gallery. And if it is art, why wasn't Schindler's List (the film) shown in a gallery?"

Filmed as it is in a propaganda/documentary style, and presented on a single cinema-type screen with seating for the audience, I can see why reading Yael's film as an artwork may be quite challenging.

In comparison, the Bulgarian artist Ergin Cavusoglu presents his films on multiple screens arranged around the gallery. When setting up for this show he deliberately arranged the screens so as to transform the space architecturally and allow the viewers to move between and around, and so become immersed in the action. The sound is designed to change as we walk through the space. He stipulated no chairs or benches for the audience so as to avoid dictating where they must sit to experience the film. In this way he keeps away from the cinematic formula of one seat=one view, and so steers his work firmly in the direction of art as opposed to cinema.

So, is it appropriate that Yael's work is exhibited here in the gallery of National Museum Wales? Many of her films are regularly shown in film festivals in cinemas around the world, so why are they here in this gallery? Do they become art as soon as they are placed in a gallery setting? Since classical times art has served as documentary and reportage with the aim of inciting a response in the viewer; perhaps this is all that is needed for Yael Bartana's films to be successfully read as art.