The National Eisteddfod of Wales is calling on artists and makers to submit entries for the Open Exhibition of the Vale of Glamorgan 2012 National Eisteddfod of Wales.
“This exhibition is one of the pinnacles of our cultural calendar,” said the Eisteddfod’s Visual Arts Officer, Robyn Tomos. “It is an integral part of the warp and weave of Wales’ visual arts activity. The annual show at the National Eisteddfod celebrates the best within the visual arts in Wales. Increasingly, the work displayed at the exhibition is considered of international standing and reflects the excellence, innovation and commitment within our artistic community. We invite all eligible artists and makers to submit their work for consideration.”
At the Vale of Glamorgan 2012, the Eisteddfod will invite, art critic Declan McGonagle, Director of National College of Art and Design, Dublin, to join Cardiff artist and mentor, Sean Edwards and applied artist and curator, Laura Thomas of The Makers Guild of Wales, to select the exhibition.
“I’m looking forward to being introduced to the work of artists who will be mostly unknown to me and to see how they articulate their ideas, use various media and negotiate their sense of place and time,” he said. “It is always interesting to see connections but also how differences emerge between different contexts. Open Exhibitions provide exactly that opportunity – to see the unexpected, the unusual and the ‘unsung’. They also give artists, who may not be in the mainstream, a chance to exhibit and be seen by a larger audience.”
Declan McGonagle, who helped award the inaugural Artes Mundi international prize at Cardiff in 2004, is fascinated by the links between different kinds of making and the different reasons behind the making, along with the relationship nowadays between tradition, new art and new media.
“Within the context of Wales, it will be interesting to see how artists deal with issues of cultural identity, both urban and rural,” he said, “and also how the collision of traditional and contemporary life and the collision of object making and digital or virtual media practice, is negotiated.”
As well as selecting the Open Exhibition, the Panel will also award the Gold Medal for Fine Art, the Gold Medal for Craft and Design and the Young Artist Scholarship for excellence and commitment.
The exhibition is open to any person born in Wales, or of Welsh parents, or any person who has lived or worked in Wales for the three years prior to the 4 August 2012, or any person who is able to speak or write in the Welsh language.
Over 2,750 entries are submitted each year and Y Lle Celf (Visual Arts Pavilion) at the Eisteddfod attracts up to 40,000 visitors.
The closing date for entries is 1st March 2012
The Visual Arts section of the National Eisteddfod works in partnership with The Arts Council of Wales.
