"Where is the Welsh Artist?"

By Katherine Bujalska, Artes Mundi Live Guide

By now, working as a live guide for Artes Mundi 4, I have clocked up quite a few hours mingling with members of the public looking around the exhibition.   A response that I have heard again and again is “Where is the Welsh artist?” or “Why is there no Welsh artist?”.  It is a genuine concern for a lot of people.  This is a Welsh Art Prize, so why are we not giving exposure to, and rewarding our own, homegrown artists? 

Digging a little deeper though, I think I’m uncovering the real concern felt by many Welsh people who have come to the exhibition, and which a couple have expressed more explicitly on our comments board.  It is the preservation of Welsh culture and heritage, and the fact that this exhibition refers to neither. 

Yes!  That’s important!  Acknowledging, remembering, researching and actively engaging with these local elements of history and culture are vital for us, for our children, for their children, but surely that’s not all.  The more I have thought about this during the last week, the more I have realized that our own culture counts for little if we are not open to sharing it with others – those from neighbouring countries and those from countries half a world away!  And how can we expect anyone to care about us, or be interested in us or our culture or our art, over here in Wales if we don’t first show an interest and openness to countries and cultures other than our own? 

There are endless projects and organizations running the length and breadth of Wales, which are dedicated to looking creatively at the riches we already have in this country.  Artes Mundi happens only once every two years and gives us an incredible opportunity to be exposed to art from some really distant, different and intriguing countries.  So instead of banging the same old drum and hanging onto this inward-looking perspective, let’s encourage others to share what they have with us.  One day they may return the favour.

Comments

[Seth Oliver]

How refreshing. The future for Wales can only become brighter from these foreign lights. This generosity of spirit will surely be reciprocated, even if it is not in our lifetimes, by the same countries, or even in the same world of art. The ether remembers. Gestures that are giving without too much concern for self (i.e. Wales) and are not giving to receive, are the ones that last and the ones that let us truly learn from our past.
If we are to be empowered as a Welsh Nation, and want to be taken seriously on the contemporary art scene then our voice needs to become one that speaks with those open tones and critical theories that are shared with the rest of the world.
How brilliant to be brave. Besides, there are plenty of post colonial & under dog country issue nods that the learned visitor or lay person for that matter ought to pick up on in the art works. So, Wales features heavily in Artes Mundi, just not literally; Rather through shared sentiments with these other countries, and that, after all may be where we get our power renewed as a nation - beyond the literal and regressive. If we let go of the desire to control our past then we can justifiably expect to gain real autonomy and therefore control in making brighter futures together for Wales.