John Cale’s 5 screen installation Dyddiau Du/Dark Days moves from representing Wales at the 53rd Venice Biennale to the southern hemisphere as part of the Mona Foma Festival in January 2010.
The city wide event in Hobart, Tasmania, brings together contemporary music and art with John Cale also performing with as the artist in residence. The festival program includes musicians such as rap pioneer Grand Master Flash and renown international visual artists such as Christian Boltanski.
Dyddiau Du/Dark Days will be a stand alone installation at the Salamanca Arts centre who have recreated a new self contained space 27m long x 6m wide within the building which will recreate the presence of the Ex-Bierria Venue of the Giudecca in Venice.
Cale’s vision was to allow the audience to physically experience the work in the same way as at the Venice Biennale. Arts Council of Wales was impressed by Mona Foma’s scale of ambition for the festival and excited by the opportunity to show the work in this appreciative context.
Mona Foma’s curator Brian Ritchie of the Violet Femmes said: “We have been determined from the outset to create a festival that transcends boundaries and defies logic. Truly melding art and music in a sensory exploration that becomes at once disorienting and comforting.”
Richard Higlett, International Visual Arts Officer for Wales Arts International said: “We are delighted that Dyddiau Du/Dark Days is being exhibited in Tasmania. While filmed entirely on location in Wales, Dyddiau Du/Dark Days looks at back on Cale’s life through his relationships to physical places that people from all parts of the world will empathise with. It is a work of global significance made in Wales.”
This is the first in a series of events, festivals and exhibitions in Wales and internationally presenting Dyddiau Du/Dark Days over the next 18 months.
