Croeso - Welcome to 'The Pioneer'

This is the first local newsletter from Culture Colony that is being sent out to our growing mailing list as more and more people discover the web site and register or subscribe to the creative network. Here you will receive regular updates focusing on arts news and the latest content that is being uploaded by members of the Culture Colony online service. 

With arts and cultural content diminishing on television, and coverage in the print media few and far between, it is our intention to create a credible alternative to television for creative content. Culture Colony will become a place for exploring exciting concepts, giving its membership access to a wide audience; and in so doing, bring content to an audience hungry for stimulating and engaging ideas.

But, we can't do it on our own. We are building an environment for cultural activity to be recorded, shared, debated and enjoyed, but it is up to the membership itself to take ownership and make it their own. It is up to the membership to use the facility that we're providing and make it work. Culture Colony is not owned by internet billionaires who use their members' content to endorse the dating, dieting or debt advertising that they sell. You can be sure Culture Colony will not use your content for its own benefit and Culture Colony will not target your friends with ads you may not support.

We hope you find 'The Pioneer' interesting and of value. We hope that we can encourage you to explore and use www.culturecolony.com

The photograph at the top of this article is of Sam Christie making a video for PayneChristie's regular video slot on Culture Colony 'Standing on the Edge'.

David Nash at Kew Gardens

It has just been confirmed that David Nash will be showing work at Kew Gardens next year in an exhibition planned to be as big as the very successful exhibition at Yorkshire Sculpture Park in 2010.

Massive in scale and ambition, this show will see Nash create a 'Wood Quarry' for the first time since 1995. Throughout the artist's career he has made work on-site at locations where trees have become available to him. Specifying to galleries around the globe that his material should be ethically sourced, Nash has made works for exhibitions at major galleries world-wide using wood that is native to the country - sometimes finding that a wind blown tree is available, but above the snow line or deep in an unpenetrable forest.  Nash will start work at Kew in the new 'Wood Quarry' early next year building up to the exhibition itself in June 2012.

David Nash has already started working on new sculptures for Kew at his workshops in Blaenau Ffestiniog (pictured above) and sourced  tons of cork from the harvest earlier this year in Portugal (pictured below). Working with cork gives Nash the opportunity to work with the bark of a tree for the first time. 

You will be able to follow David Nash's progress at Kew next year through his profile on the Culture Colony web site and this newsletter, 'The Pioneer'.

Artist destroys his sculpture

Back in July this year artist Aeneas Wilder, a Scotsman who lives with his family in Japan, installed a huge architectural structure in the Longside Gallery at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Untitled #155, as it is called, was made from nearly 10,000 individual pieces of Iroko wood, destined for parquet flooring, balanced one on another, no pins, no glue, nothing but gravity and physics holding it up - freezing the moment between order and chaos as the whole thing could fall at any moment. It took 12 days to construct, it stood for 4 months and fell for 40 seconds when Aeneas put hit steel toe capped boot into the base of the sculpture creating the 'Kick Down' event. The work both references and challenges architectural space by providing an enclosed, seemingly safe structure for visitors to inhabit, but one that is loaded with the potential energy of collapse at any mopment.

The sculpture was the first major UK installation by Aeneas Wilder, conceived especially for the Longside Gallery at Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

The invigilators at the gallery breathed a sigh of relief as it was the artist who brought the wall of wood down and not an absent minded member of the public 'on their watch'. These works should carry health checks for invigilators to make sure they don't have high blood pressure or a nervous disposition.

"By limiting the creative act to one simple material, in ample supply, with clearly defined parameters (no fixing, no joining, no additional materials, only balance and gravity allowed for the construction process) a door opens into a wholly unexplored creative territory".

Aeneas Wilder

In this video on Culture Colony the artist discusses his work and you can see the 'Kick Down' event that took place on November the 3rd.

Arts critic Amelia Forsbrook writes about Culture Colony

When I first heard about Culture Colony, I was a little unsure what to make of it. Unfamiliar with the concept of having raw artistic footage delivered to the comfort of my desk, I let my doubt regarding what to do with all this information initially overshadow my excitement surrounding the resource. I wasn't sure how quickly the site would take on and struggled to decide which platforms I wanted to enroll myself into. Most pressingly, I was (and still am!) adamant in my belief that nothing could replace the experience of going to a live performance, or seeing a work of art through my own eyes.

But, like with most online developments, the early uncertainty soon wore off and I began to think of the potential Culture Colony has to aid my development as an arts writer, support my integration into the creative network and broaden the ways in which arts are served to the public.

I came to the conclusion that I needed to change my perception of Culture Colony and stop viewing the site as an attempt to replace live arts. Instead, I starting thinking of the site's potential to become a sparkling accessory and glowing resource to those in the artistic industries. I thought about how my acquaintances within creative roles could use the site in a way that would allow them to broaden their access to art and bring new virtual audiences to their performances. With this aim in mind, I turned to Culture Colony to catch up on the events I felt I had missed out on and encouraged my contacts to do the same.

That being said, Culture Colony is more than a raw version of iPlayer. The more time you immerse yourself in the colony, the easier it is to view the site as a form of community or talent pool.  The interactive nature of the site unlocks a real potential for support and this is wonderful to see. I considered my colleagues at Empty Pocket Theatre who are developing a reputation in Cardiff's theatrical scene, and imagined the ways in which Culture Colony could enhance their exposure. As a critic, the thing I want most of all is a healthy, vibrant industry that supports emerging talent. I am now confident that Culture Colony can play a part in supporting this dream.

Suitably converted, I then started wondering what my role could be in this new virtual community. Familiar with blogging and submitting reviews to websites, I'd already made half of the transition online. What really interested me was visualising what it meant to work in a creative environment that allowed me to complete the entirely of my work online, from the invitation to the show to the curtain call, and then straight to a Word document to review the performance. Naturally, in order to gain a point of comparison, the first thing I searched for was I performer who I'd already seen 'in the flesh', at this year's Edinburgh Fringe.

It must be said that it's a lot harder to concentrate on a performance delivered online. With a worldwide web of distractions behind the artist, it's almost inevitable that you will feel less absorbed in the show. And, although it was with some relief that I realised that I could watch Bryony Kimmings' show Sex Idiot without feeling obliged to donate my body hair alongside the live audience, I did feel less a part of the performance. This difference was even more striking as I remembered seeing Kimmings' production, 7 Day Drunk, and dancing with the artist on stage at the end of the show. But I did get a real feel for the subject of Kimmings' earlier piece and how its content compared with the live show I'd been part of earlier this year. What I learnt was that Sex Idiot was just as vulgar as 7 Day Drunk and, in both, Kimmings builds strong relationships with the people in her vicinity. Such knowledge has really informed the way I discuss this challenging performance artist and will inform any future shows of her I decide to review.

Now I've fully embraced Culture Colony, I'm excited about getting into discussions about how recorded performance compares to its live counterpart and would love to get to a point where artists consider this dual audience throughout their show. I look forward to seeing more artists on the site's various platforms and am excited about Culture Colony's potential to develop into a concise and informative database of various forms of art. Alongside the site's evolution, I want to enhance my own thoughts and opinions regarding how we discuss recorded art-forms and would love to hear how others are interpretating this technology. Do get in touch...

Amelia Forsbrook Profile

Pitch on Radio Cardiff broadcasting to the art world

The regular Tuesday morning slot on the community radio station Radio Cardiff has been handed over to artists Richard Huw Morgan and John Rowley, otherwise known as good cop bad cop. From 10am to 11am, Richard and John fumble their way through the technical aspects of broadcasting. This genuine novice's approach is entertaining in itself as the amateur broadcasters faff with the levels of their musical 'beds' or struggle to master the on and off switch to take them into the news bulletin that splits the programme in two.

But it is wrong to concentrate on the comedy aspects of our hapless heroes. This programme is not slapstick; it's probably the most important arts programme being broadcast on radio or television in Wales at the moment.

Each week Richard and John are joined by three different guests to discuss art and art-related topics. With the show being community radio, the emphasis is on Cardiff and the surrounding area, which in the past has gone as far as to include events and exhibitions in Newport and Swansea. However, the serious debate about art in general that takes place here makes this significant to the whole of Wales, if not further afield. This is community radio without borders, serving the creative community wherever they are in the world.

Radio Cardiff can be received online and you can even watch a live video stream of the guests with the grainy nature of the low resolution image giving it an 'underground' feel. So, if you're in Cardiff on a Tuesday morning tune in on 98.7FM or head to www.radiocardiff.org . If you are online make Richard and John's day by emailing them at shouts@radiocardiff.org while they're on air, it will make a change from members of their own families ringing in.  I once sent Richard a text message that embarrased him on air as his phone rang. My message was "don't forget to switch off your phone".

Pitch has a Platform on Culture Colony, every programme is being archived here, so don't worry if you think you've missed out. You can catch up by heading to Pitch's Platform and clicking on 'Videos'. 

MOMA Wales interviews

MOMA Wales, the Tabernacl gallery in Machynlleth have started a series of interviews with artists that are appearing on Culture Colony. Interviewed by the experienced author and broadcaster Mavis Nicholson, these interviews are insights into the minds of the artists in the spotlight.

Filmed in a straightforward traditional format, more reminiscent of the 1950s, there is nothing fussy or 'stylish' to get in the way of the interview itself. There are no 'cut aways' either, where shots of the artist's work might be inserted into the video. It is simply two people talking for half an hour in some depth about art and art practice. It is MOMA Wales' belief that this is the best way to present the interviews that they are commissioning for use on the internet through Culture Colony. They are allowing interested viewers to then use the internet and follow links to discover more about the artists concerned. This makes each 'viewer' a 'user', bringing a more active engagement to the interviews and a unique and individual journey that people can engage with online.

Inspired by this approach, Culture Colony is now seeking to develop ideas where this way of presenting artists can be used as an educational tool. We are inviting partnerships with arts organisations to achieve this.

Previous MOMA Wales interviews -

David Tress

Stephen West

Embedded at E1.1

Culture Colony has been recording performances, events and installations at the Experimentica festival since 2008. But, with so much going on at the festival, it's not been possible to film everything thats gone on and then even less opportunity to edit everything that has been filmed. We still have a backlog of performance works that have been recorded that we need to get up onto the Culture Colony website. It's even more important to do so now that Experimentica has a platform where these experiences can be commented on and shared by past, present and future Experimentica artists and audiences.

So, this year Culture Colony was 'embedded' at Chapter for the duration of the festival. We missed some things but overall, despite some technical problems that we had with new equipment, we recorded most of the performances that took place and they are up on the Experimentica platform.

Performance is a particularly under-represented art form and we think that this is due to a number of factors relating to the documentation of the works. Our interest in Performance Art is to provide a recording service and a platform to show the documentation of works.

More so than for most art forms, documentation is very important to performance works. And yet we see artists' work being inadequately represented time and time again because documentation was an afterthought. Sub-standard camera equipment is used, the performance is filmed from one angle making it look flat and very often the camera operator has no filming experience making the documentation unwatchable and uneditable into any other sequence. Stills photography is often the only solution left. And that of course leaves the record of the performance (and so the performance itself as it is later remembered) up to the abilities of the photographer who is often trying to make a nice picture rather than a record. The fact that it's 'stills' is also an inadequate record for a time based medium.

Even if a good representation of a performance artwork has been made on video, the next problem for the artist is getting it seen in an appropriate environment. The internet offers some potential but usually needs a compromise. The videos on some sharing and social media sites can only be a certain length, making it impossible to represent durational works appropriately. Many web sites use your content to endorse products and services that bring in revenue to the site, indeed some sites even put an advert before your video that is often completely inappropriate.

Culture Colony, we hope, will be seen as a solution to the problems of documenting and representing outlined above. Of course we can never replicate the experience of 'being there' for an online audience, but we can get as close as is possible. And, by the way, we can also record works that are made specifically for an online audience rather than a live audience as we do with good cop bad cop.

Not every performance needs to be videoed either - and in some cases can't be recorded due to laws and regulations. Hanna Goudie's durational work 'Purveyor of Railway Communication' was recorded using stills photography due to the fact that permission to use a video camera at the railway station was not granted. However, using the photographs together with an interview with the artist proved to be a more appropriate and satisfactory document of the artwork. Hannah Goudie is pictured above holding her sign on cardboard that reads 'Send My Love'. This photograph was taken just as a soldier started to interact with the work.

Being 'embedded' at Experimentica also gave Culture Colony the chance to try out our new service where we can record events over a number of days and get the edited videos generated during the event on line within hours - even streaming some content live. This broadens the possibility of people taking part at a festival, being connected and involved in real time from anywhere in the world with a broadband connection.  At Experimentica we ironed out a few technical problems and we can now offer an affordable outside broadcast unit to other events and organisations that require professional filming and a fast turn around for any number of finished videos. The Platform service now available only on Culture Colony also provides a place where interaction can take place and the event itself can create its own social network where people can join in for free.

At Experimentica we had four broadcast standard cameras, a professional edit suite, a workstation dedicated to getting the videos online and a team of people who knew how to use the equipment.

Experimentica Platform where you can see the documentation of most of the performances - click on 'videos'.

Hannah Goudie - Purveyor of Railway Communication

Performance for passing vehicles by good cop bad cop

David Jones from the collection

The National Museum of  Wales Amgueddfa Cymru in Cardiff is currently exhibiting drawings and watercolours from its extensive collection of works by David Jones (1885 - 1974) until March 4th 2012.*

David Jones was born in Kent to an English mother and Welsh father. But it was from his Welsh roots that he drew much of his inspiration. In his artworks on paper and in his poetry, we can see the strong influences of landscape, language and myth.

Amgueddfa Cymru has the most exstensive collection of works by David Jones. As they are made on paper and their delicate colours and tones are susceptible to damage from light, the paintings and drawings are not often on public display. This exhibition is a rare and wonderful opportunity to see these important works. 

Jones' very personal artworks were strongly influenced by his service as a soldier in the trenches, witnessing the horrors of the First World War. After the traumatic effects of war he suffered nervous breakdowns in later life.

In the 1920s he lived with Eric Gill and his family at Capel y Ffin in the Black Mountains.

David Jones' work is still vibrant and relevant  today, each painting, illustration, drawing and etching alive with a deeply personal understanding of history, legend and belonging.

Image of David Jones watercolour 'Tristan and Isolde' courtesy of National Museum Amgueddfa Cymru.

* Please check opening times with the museum

Power Plant and River Sounding

Photograph of Power Plant in Hong Kong courtesy of Power Plant

In 2008 the collaborative installation 'Power Plant', involving outdoor electrical and pyrotechnical works by a number of artists, was recorded at Liverpool Botanical Gardens by Culture Colony and the video appeared on the web site. (Watch it by clicking HERE ). The ability for potential venues to watch the video, either online by a link to Culture Colony or through receiving a DVD,  meant that the installation first travelled to Edinburgh Botanical Gardens and then on to Botanical Gardens in Sydney, Melbourne, Tasmania and Hong Kong. And it is still travelling with more venues in China being lined up for 2012. Links created in emails and on social media by copying the url in the address bar of any content on Culture Colony means that anyone clicking on the link gains instant access to that content on Cutlure Colony. As 'Power Plant' proves, having content on Cuture Colony can benefit the project and help to take it to places it might otherwise never reach.

International success with an installation dosen't mean that the artists forget their roots. Artist Jony Easterby has got some of the Power Plant team together to celebrate the Midlands Arts Centre in Birmingham's 50th anniversary next year. Known as The Mac, Jony has been performing and exhibiting art works at the Midland's Arts Centre for many years, he even says that his formative experiences as an artist at The Mac were very important years as a young artist looking for inspiration and direction. 

Running beside The Mac and then on through the centre of Birmingham is the River Rea. Jony Easterby's arts practice has focused on rivers in a number of works and it is here on the Rea that Jony and the team will bring their Power Plant expertise and create an installation along and in the river. The research and development phase of the project has already begun.

Jony Easterby is seen here creating a waterfall, one of the ongoing experiments for the River Rea project that will take place next summer.

Currently Jony has an exhibition called Carillion Shadows at The Public, the arts centre in West Bromwich, that has attracted reviews from the national press -

Jony Easterby's Carillon Shadows takes place in The Public's Black Gallery as part of its Art Of Noise programme. While Art Of Noise celebrates the Midlands' cultural heritage of heavy metal, reggae, punk and bhangra, Easterby adapts the numinous aura of the bell-tower carillon to the enchanting possibilities activated by hi-tech electronic sensors set within the primal spookiness of a darkened room. His work is organic and dreamlike, almost oceanic in its intimations of delicately rippling worlds engulfed by the massive forces of nature. Engaging with an Easterby installation involves a degree of childlike wonderment, like one gets from staring at waves in the sea or flames in the fire. We seem to be ready programmed to respond and Easterby well knows it.
Until Jan 15th 2012.

Robert Clark
The Guardian 29th October 2011

To watch some of Jony's River Projects click on the Culture Colony  links below

River Churn Project

Keep Up with Coriolan/Us

Culture Colony members will be following the progress of the collaboration next year between National Theatre Wales and the Royal Shakespeare Company as they go into production with their new adaption of Shakespeare's play, Coriolanus. Indeed, there are a number of Culture Colony members likely to be cast for the production, so an insiders point of view is guaranteed (subject to the need for confidentiality about some things, so as not to give away any surprises before the new play opens of course).

Following on from the success of 'The Persians', last years adaption of the oldest surviving theatrical play, National Theatre Wales have once again contacted Mike Pearson and Mike Brookes and asked them to take a look at Shakespeare and see what they come up with.

'The Persians' was performed on the army's battlefield training area in the Brecon Beacons making use of the village especially built by the military for urban combat training. During rehearsals and continuing through the run of performances a number of ArtLog's appeared on Culture Colony. These ArtLog's gave an insight 'behind the scenes' of the production, and almost literally on the 'front line', as live firing training took place as the rehearsals went on. The sounds of machine guns and explosions created a fitting backdrop to the story of this great battle between the Persians and the Greeks.

Pictured in the photograph above is the first reading of the Shakespeare script Coriolanus. It is a story of political intreague and betrayal. Where better to hold the reading than at the Senedd, the home of the National Assembly for Wales?

Coriolanus is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1605 and 1608. The play is based on the life of the legendary Roman leader, Gaius Marcius Coriolanus.

Performed against a backgroud of riots, warfare and political ambition, this is a play that the two Mikes will be able to find contemporary parallels. Making their new adaption relevant to some of the situations we find ourselves in today. Indeed, this year Ralph Fiennes has also made his debut as a film director with a contemporary retelling of Coriolanus, casting himself in the main role. The German playwrite, Bertolt Brecht, also adapted Shakespeare's Coriolanus in the 1950's. When it was performed in the 1960's, the slaughter scenes became particularly famous. All of the history to this play is certainly fertile ground for the two Mikes to develop their plans.

It's a very long play. Worried security guards hovered around as theatrical types read out the old playwrite's words. Eventually, at a scene change the assembled thespians at the Assembly quite literally had to change scene as the Senedd was closing for the day and security politely asked them to leave. The reading continued on the great slate steps outside beside the bay. A dramatic encounter for the cyclists as they wheeled by.

If there's enough interest in these developments then we may even see a Platform dedicated to the production appear on Culture Colony.

Read the ArtLog's from last year's 'The Persians' by clicking on the titles below.

Cameraman in an ancient Greek tragedy

The Persians prepare for the premiere

Cloud watching at The Persians

New and unique services on Culture Colony

Culture Colony has developed some unique functionality for its members to use as networking tools and to reach a wider audience. The web site has been designed with the sole purpose of enhancing the online experience for the creative community.

Culture Colony is intended to break down the barriers and bridge the gaps, filling in the voids that have developed between artists and audience, encouraging communication throughout the cultural and creative industries.

Currently some on-line networks only re-enforce cliques and create endless loops where members of those groups - their 'friends' etc, - only talk amongst themselves, resulting in a sterile environment. Attracting people to visit artists own web sites and blogs also relies on a limited mailing list that the artist has built up. Maintaining a web site and blog, keeping it up to date and fresh to encourage return visits, is a difficult and time consuming job in itself. The solution is with Culture Colony where connections can be made between individuals, groups and organisations whereby, collectively, each benefits from the other as new piece of content and news posted by the growing membership keeps the environment fresh and fertile encouraging return visits by users and an unlimited audience for the members work.

Television no longer serves viewers looking for a more sophisticated appreciation of ideas, leaving a disenfranchised audience who have little interest in the current cultural expression choosen by our broadcasters. The internet has the potential to service that audience and this is where Culture Colony is targeting its development.  Culture Colony is not designed to replace artists web sites or any online network that already exists. Rather, Culture Colony is designed to enhance the visitor experience and direct traffic to other web sites while at the same time offering a more cultural alternative to the dumbed down social networking experience.

With all of the possibilities available to cultural surfers on the internet Culture Colony can sit comfortably between these various environments giving users a more active engagement with content (as opposed to the passive acceptance demanded by television).

Platforms, with the icon shown above, are a recent addition to the services that are to be found on Culture Colony. You do not need to be a member of Culture Colony to join a Platform, but you do need to be invited. Non Culture Colony members can  join platforms when they receive an email from the web site inviting them to join a platform. This offers more free functionality on Culture Colony than if a person was to register for free in the usual way.

By joining a Platform you are able to create a Profile of your own on Culture Colony and create ArtLog's (blog's) that are shared on the Platform. You will also be able to comment on the content that is upload to the Platform by other members of the Platform. This functionality is only available through invitation to a Platform and is otherwise only available if you pay a subscription fee to Culture Colony. The Platform works like creating a bespoke social network in parallel with an organisations existing on line presence.

Members can now  'share' their Culture Colony login with Facebook or twitter - by doing this members only need to login once to either of these networks and they can easily navigate from the social media to the cultural network and creative content provided by Culture Colony. Members can also enable the RSS feeds on Culture Colony news and ArtLogs to keep up to date with the colony.

Watch this space for news about the App we're developing with our web developers Morello Digital and the University of Glamorgan that will bring even more value to Platform Membership - it should be ready for release in the Spring.

We will also have a new look before the end of the month to tidy up the working area of the web site adding more functionality and ways to communicate and share. By then Culture Colony will have been optimised for use on smart phones and tablets. Making it possible to upload content that members intend users to access 'on the move' - enhancing a visit to a gallery for instance, by putting additional information onto Culture Colony platforms, profiles, galleries, ArtLog's etc. etc. for users to access as they visit exhibitions.

Culture Colony is designed to compliment existing web sites and social media, bringing added value and interactivity to the user experience - giving the creative industries new tools to use in the exploration of the great questions that art enables us to ask.

Y Lle Celf call for entries

GALW AM GEISIADAU / CALL FOR ENTRIES

Please scroll down for English text

ARDDANGOSFA AGORED

Yn Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Cymru, Bro Morgannwg 2012 fe gynhelir arddangosfa aml-gyfrwng fawr a chroesewir ceisiadau ym mhob disgyblaeth, boed celfyddyd gain neu gelfyddyd gymhwysol (gan gynnwys y ddelwedd symudol neu gelfyddyd berfformans).

DETHOLWYR

Sean Edwards (Artist), Laura Thomas (Artist cymhwysol), Declan McGonagle (Cyfarwyddwr NCAD, Dinbych)

Dyfernir anrhydeddau yn yr adrannau canlynol

CREFFT A DYLUNIO

Y FEDAL AUR AM GREFFT A DYLUNIO

Gwobr: Medal Aur am Grefft a Dylunio (replica) a £5,000           

CELFYDDYD GAIN

Y FEDAL AUR AM GELFYDDYD GAIN

Gwobr: Medal Aur am Gelfyddyd Gain (replica) a £5,000

YSGOLORIAETH ARTIST IFANC

Ysgoloriaeth: £1,500

Gweler y ffurflen (fersiwn Saesneg yw hon. Fydd fersiwn Cymraeg ar Gael ar safle we yr Eisteddfod Genedlaethol)

OPEN EXHIBITION

At the Vale of Glamorgan 2012 National Eisteddfod of Wales there will be a large multi media exhibition and applications in both fine and applied art (including the moving image and performance art) are invited.

SELECTORS:

Sean Edwards (Artist), Laura Thomas (Applied artist), Declan McGonagle (Directior NCAD, Dublin)

The following accolades will be awarded:

CRAFT AND DESIGN

THE GOLD MEDAL FOR CRAFT AND DESIGN

Prize: The Gold Medal for Craft and Design (replica) and £5,000

FINE ART

THE GOLD MEDAL FOR FINE ART

Prize: The Gold Medal for Fine Art (replica) and £5,000

YOUNG ARTIST SCHOLARSHIP

Scholarship: £1,500

See application form

What people are saying about Culture Colony

“Wales’ need of a critical forum is acute. Our few magazines serve well but don’t allow immediacy in news and the cut and thrust of fluent debate, whilst the rest of the media don’t bear thinking about”

“Accessible, yet serious, media coverage of the arts in Wales is most characterised by its absence. This totally new concept is highly promising in terms of up-to-date news and establishing a creative and critical platform for arts and cultural criticism. It will allow fluent and immediate discourse concerning issues of the day and shine a spotlight on areas such as arts resource and cultural politics. It will enable the kind of open debate that those who control our cwtsch culture prefer not to occur!”

“The cultural importance of having a platform for current arts news, debate and associated creativity, cannot be emphasised enough and this rather neatly describes what Wales as a country simply hasn’t got and this initiative will ensure that we get it”

Hugh Adams
Art Critic
Author

I have felt for years that the arts in Wales are hidebound by a lack of communications channels that provide for full and provocative discussion. I was commissioned to work on a feasibility study concerned with the possibility of establishing a journal for the Visual Arts in Wales or for the arts across the range of disciplines. The resulting study received some publicity and discussion but eventually found it way onto the dusty shelves of the Arts Council of Wales. People still ask me what happened to this good idea and comment on the fact that Wales, for all its love of the word and of books, has not managed to produce such a magazine since the demise of 'Link' many years ago.

This also leads to the topic that there is no organisation for artists that allows for frank discussion, support, advice, ideas sharing and getting to know each other. This is compounded by the fact that 'Cultural Enterprise' will come to an end and with it its purpose of advising arts workers on practical matters of finance, business and management. Culture Colony could potentially take up both these roles, of creating a cultural community and of being a channel for support and advice.

Culture Colony's vision is to give us the 'real picture' in the sense that artists and their work is shown in depth, without spin and within a critical context. It is entirely true that we can't expect to gain any of these things at present through our television channels. I'm watching (listening to) BBC 2's 'Culture Show' as I write and we don't even have this kind of coverage of the arts in Wales. However, it is rarely possible for audiences to really influence what is shown in arts or other programmes. If Culture Colony works it will open up this possibility and partially direct or manage the programme schedule. It could be a bit like the experiment whereby all the members of a certain football club are being given the chance to pick the team. Let's see how that experiment in co-operative involvement works and perhaps we can transfer that to Culture Colony.

In reading through the proposal, my only reservations are that it will be attempting too much - too many strands that will be difficult to sustain and stressful for the viewer/audience to follow.

Very best wishes

Shelagh Hourahane
Artist and Cultural Advisor

"Culture Colony provides us with what we need as the method of communication for a culture, information, a way of knowing what is going on. Mae'r fenter yn hala fi gofio am y 60au yn ei hyder!"
Ifor Davies
Artist

This medium affords much much greater flexibility and democracy than the BBC or S4C will ever be able to operate under, regardless of who is at the helm there - i.e. it's a positive move for us all in Wales and beyond.

Mike Parker
Author and Broadcaster

Arts coverage on regular television has been eroded to virtual non-existence. The programmes that do appear are producer dominated with an agenda aimed at viewing figures. Originality and artistic intentions are diluted to suit the programme style and pace designed for popular audience appeal.

For programmes to achieve a real insight into an artists work a freer and more creative form needs to be developed where style, length and pace are appropriate to the artist’s idea and intention. Culture Colony has the potential to represent art and culture in an unrestricted way and I look forward to experiencing the results.

David Nash
Artist

I particularly applaud Culture Colony’s emphasis on providing a platform which criticises and evaluates what is happening to Welsh culture. We lack a critical forum. In theatre, literature, music, television and the visual arts – there are few, if any, clear, confident, critical voices providing a touchstone of values. The result is often a triumph of parochial values where the mediocre may be regarded as ‘good’ and what is simply good may be elevated to ‘excellent’. The arts in Wales are thriving and deserve a more critical response.  If Culture Colony can provide this, it will be performing an invaluable service.

Richard Edwards
TV Producer - Element Productions

“I think that Culture Colony will lead by example, ie by providing some of the coverage that the mainstream media fail to do”.

Simon Fenoulhet
Artist

Add your voice - tell us what YOU think.

To contact Culture Colony please email pete@culturecolony.com

Contributing articles to this newsletter

Any subscribing member of Culture Colony can contribute articles for possible inclusion in 'The Pioneer'. Culture Colony has a bi-lingual policy and the articles can be in either Welsh or English (or both). The article, if selected, will be published in the language it is submitted. One jpeg image can accompany the articles (and it will appear at the top of your article).

Articles can be sent at any time to pete@culturecolony.com and if selected they will appear in the following edition of 'The Pioneer'. By contributing an article you guarantee that you have the legal right to use the text and any image that you submit for consideration.

Please state clearly at the top of your email - Article for The Pioneer.

Acknowledgements

Text and Photographs are the copyright of Culture Colony unless otherwise stated in the articles.