Dr Sarah Pogoda from Bangor University’s School of Arts, Culture and Language is looking into the long history of experimental and alternative art forms today and how they connect or take forward past arts practices in Wales which were experimental, provocative or which engaged with the community.
Together with artists across Wales, Sarah has organised a series of events ranging from performances, music gigs, conversations to presentations or visits to legendary sites. The events are designed to re-explore those past weird art moments back to life ... and also making visible the value of Avant-Garde traditions in Wales for addressing today’s climate emergency or increasing poverty.
Events include inviting people to creating butter sculptures at Bae Cemlyn Bay, Anglesey on June 26th, to express their feelings about the housing crisis, and an opportunity to revisit Paul Davies‘ legendary Map of Wales, a piece of ‘land art’ which was built on the shores of Llyn Alaw on Anglesey, on July 10th.
Sarah explains,
“Wales bears millions of these odd moments, when something not quite normal happens, art emerges and changes place and time, sometimes only for a short moment, sometimes for weeks, sometimes forever. But too often these moments are not well documented, remain oral history or anecdotes ... or often fall into oblivion.”
Sarah hopes that her research will bring together members of the community, artists and academics sharing their expertise in this history. Sarah emphasises:
“I might know the art history that is in the books, and I have seen many challenging, ground-breaking art events here in Wales, but in conversations with friends, audiences and other people, I have realised that there are people who can tell me about more events that have taken place. I hope that the series of events, we organised, will trigger memories and conversations.”
Sarah invites everyone very warmly to come the events. They are all free of charge and all welcome. If you cannot make it to the events but still want to share your memories, please contact Sarah via email.
If you want to learn more, you can visit the website:
For further information please visit the website,
For twitter, please visit:
https://twitter.com/MetamorffosisF
For further information on the research project or the series of event, please contact Sarah Pogoda:
s.pogoda@bangor.ac.uk