Aberystwyth Arts Centre is Wales’ largest arts centre and recognised as a ‘national flagship for the arts’ winning many awards. With static exhibitions cinema theatre book / gift shop and café Aberystwyth Arts Centre has a wide-ranging artistic programme, both producing and presenting, across all art forms including drama, dance, music, visual arts, applied arts, film, new media, and community arts and is acknowledged as a national centre for arts development.
Aberystwyth Arts Centre is a department of Aberystwyth University and a member of the Institute for Literature, Languages and the Creative Arts (ILLCA). They work closely with their fellow University colleagues who include the School of Art, Theatre, Film and Television Studies, English and Creative Writing, European Languages, Welsh and Celtic Studies and the Music Centre.
The Arts Centre sits at the heart of the university’s campus, with stunning views over the town of Aberystwyth and along the coastline of Cardigan Bay.
Web: www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk
Facebook: Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Twitter: Aber Arts Centre
Tel: 01970 622882
Email: artstaff@aber.ac.uk
August 2018 Update
Ffotogallery exhibition, Land / Sea, has a hard-hitting message about the land and marine environments of Wales. Aberystwyth Arts Centre will host this thought provoking show in Gallery 1, Saturday the 22nd of September to Wednesday the 17th of October.
Professor Stephen Tooth, Dept. Geography & Earth Sciences will open and chair a discussion on the hard-hitting issues surrounding Welsh land/marine environments and how art and science can play a role in this. Panellists include Mike Perry, artist Miranda Whall and broadcaster and farmer Alun Elidyr. The audience will be able to contribute in Welsh and English.
18th Oct, 6 – 8.30pm, panel discussion to start at 6.45pm.
Mike Perry is an artist whose work engages with significant and pressing environmental issues, in particular the tension between human activity and interventions in the natural environment, and the fragility of the planet’s ecosystems. Land/Sea is a major new Ffotogallery exhibition which brings together recent bodies of work addressing how the natural biodiversity of landscapes and marine environments is undermined and made toxic by human neglect, agricultural mismanagement and the pursuit of short-term profit at the expense of long-term sustainability.
Using a large format analogue camera and combining painterly aesthetics with a hard edged environmental narrative, the photographic images in Wet Deserts shed a very different light on the health of the upland landscape than one is accustomed to seeing in tourist brochures or romantic paintings and landscape photography. Perry focuses his gaze on mundane and typically overlooked locations here in Wales, often in places commonly referred to as areas of natural beauty, our national parks. He does not offer us dramatic aerial vistas of oil polluted landscapes, but low-angle, near distance images of charred scrubland and landscapes left barren from tree-felling or over-intensive sheep-farming. Môr Plastig (Welsh for ‘plastic sea’) is an ongoing body of work that classifies objects washed up by the sea into groupings. It is an open series of photographs ordered into Bottles, Shoes, Grids, Abstracts, and others. Perry photographs the found objects individually, straight to camera with a flat neutral light. By using a high-resolution camera to capture the surface detail, the artist allows the viewer to ‘read’ markings and scars etched into the objects by the ocean over months, and in some cases years. He wants the viewer to be intrigued and challenged by how a polluting object can be so aesthetically appealing. In his own words, “in addition to seeing these pieces as symbols of over-consumption and disregard for the environment, I also see them as evidence of the beauty and power of nature to sculpt our world”.
Mike Perry’s work resists easy categorisation. Photography is central to his practice, yet always in its multifaceted relationship to and dialogue with painting and drawing, sculpture and installation art. The influence of Minimalism is strong with serial arrangements, grids, and an interest in form, surface detail and abstraction. Repetition of visual motifs in specific bodies of work is deployed as an artistic strategy that is cumulative and greater than its parts, teasing out subtle differences whilst alerting us to the dystopian consequences of waste proliferation and environmental mismanagement.
The artist’s most recent work has focused on the coastline and rugged landscapes of West Wales, areas close to the smallholding he owns, on which he puts into practice the planting of native trees that restore and sustain the natural biodiversity. By collecting and photographing man-made objects washed up on the beaches, and recording in forensic detail the changing landscape around us, Perry alerts us to man’s negative impact on the ecosystem, but also to the beauty of the flora and fauna, and nature’s propensity to renew itself, even in the face of such adversity.
Land/Sea is a Ffotogallery Touring Exhibition, and after its presentation in Penarth, the The exhibition is curated by David Drake, Ffotogallery, and Ben Borthwick, Plymouth Arts Centre. It includes a sonic work exploring the exhibition themes made by the artist and composer Matthew Lovett. The accompanying Ffotogallery publication includes contributions from the writers George Monbiot and Skye Sherwin.
The images from Mike Perry show
Trunk, Craig Goch Reservoir, Elan Valley, Powys, Wales, 2015
Fencing, Treadog Bay, Llŷn Pensinsula, Wales, 2016
About the Artist
After a postgraduate degree in economics and thirteen years in media, Mike Perry
left the world of commerce to focus on his art and environmental projects. He now
lives in West Wales where he is converting a coastal sheep farm into a site for
sustainable architecture and art. In 2007 he was a featured artist in BBC 4’s Arts
Documentary, Britain in Pictures. In 2009, he won best picture at Christies of
London’s 25th anniversary photographic competition, and in 2012 Perry was part
of the group show New Ground: Landscape Art In Wales since 1970, curated by
National Museum Wales, including Richard Long, David Nash and Keith Arnatt. In
July 2014, his Môr Plastig work was included in The Black and White Room at The
Royal Academy of Arts, curated by artist Cornelia Parker. In 2015, Perry was
selected to exhibit at the internationally curated Vita Vitale exhibition at The 56th
Venice Biennale. Later that year he received a Creative Wales Award from the Arts
Council of Wales. In 2016, Perry was included in the exhibition Found at the
Foundling Museum, London, alongside artists such as Anthony Gormley, Cornelia
Parker and Rachel Whiteread. In 2017/18, the Land/Sea exhibition will tour England
and Wales. Work from his Wet Deserts series will also be included in Green And
Pleasant Land: Landscape Photography in Britain since 1970, curated by The
Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne.
About Ffotogallery
As the major force for contemporary photography in Wales, Ffotogallery is
recognised as the forum for contemporary debate and a focus for new
developments in British and international photographic art. As a national
organisation, its view is naturally outward looking, with an exhibition programme
featuring photographers from Wales and the rest of the world. Ffotogallery seeks
to widen its range of influence through touring exhibitions and publications, the
biennial Diffusion: Cardiff International Festival of Photography, collaborations with
other organisations and galleries, nationally and internationally, and an extensive
education programme.
www.ffotogallery.org
August 2018 Update
Aberystwyth Arts Centre has an “Uneasy Calm”
Aberystwyth Arts Centre hosts a photographic exhibition called “Iceland, an uneasy calm”.
Indeed “Iceland, an uneasy calm” is a series of photographs taken in Iceland over eight years by Tim Rudman, who is acknowledged as one of the finest landscape photographers working today. This stunning collection will be exhibited in Gallery 2 at Aberystwyth Arts Centre from September 15th to November 11th 2018.
In his book of the same name Tim describes Iceland thus: ‘The Land of Fire and Ice’, has a strong and omnipresent ‘Middle Earth’ feel to it. Evidence of its volcanic origin is everywhere. Geysers spurt, mud pools boil and steam billows from the ground. The central highlands are unpopulated and barren. Glistening glacial caps crown the mountains and extend long white fingers down to light-sucking lava deserts, whilst bible-black beaches lie fringed with white surf.
Thundering waterfalls abound, whilst craggy caves and peaks, often shrouded in mist and low cloud, provide a home to some of Iceland’s trolls and ‘hidden people’. In summer the days extend through the nights. In winter the nights eat up the days. Changes in the weather are frequent and storms can be spectacular. Brooding skies accentuate the already dramatic and sometimes eerie landscape where trolls lurk at night and get turned to stone by daylight. It is a land of myth and magic, of fearsome subterranean power and spectacular scenery.”
The photographs in the Aberystwyth Arts Centre exhibition are printed in black and white and chemically duo-toned, giving the images enhanced depth. Tim Rudman is regarded as a master printer and his skills in the darkroom, coupled with his skills behind the camera, create images with a heightened sense and unexpected depths. The work is printed on Ilford Multigrade Warmtone Fibre based paper and the exhibition kindly supported by Ilford Photo.
Tim’s work is represented in numerous public and private collections, including the Victoria & Albert museum, London.
June 2018 Update 2
Aberystwyth Arts Centre Gallery 1 is hosting from 14th July to 14th September a nine artist exhibition workshops and tours exploring all aspects of “is this Planet Earth”?
Is This Planet Earth? features wild creatures, exotic plant-life and remote landscapes created by nine artists. Every colour and sensation is heightened and their sculptures, paintings, sound-art, performance art and videos are all a bit sci-fi.
What if life on earth has become just a memory? What if these artists’ re-creations of nature are now the only way of experiencing it? This exhibition is presented as an offering to aliens who visit us in the future. Instead of seeing nature in reality, this is what they encounter.
In oil paintings by Katherine Reekie, we see the most curious creatures, many combining TV character-toys and animal and vegetable DNA. Halina Dominska has sculpted large-scale plant-life that responds to visitors by ‘breathing’. Salvatore Arancio presents lushly coloured ceramic sculptures of mossy growth and fungal flesh. Dazzling and intricate landscape paintings by Dan Hays are based on webcam footage he found on the internet. There are the sounds of hedgerow birds, croaking frogs and an owl’s cries, created using the artist Jason Singh’s own voice, beatbox-style.
A digitally modified video by Helen Sear was shot in a Welsh wood and is projected down onto the floor: it’s a teeming pool of luminous life that visitors can bathe themselves in. Seán Vicary animates footage he shot on the West Wales coastline: a space-ship-like seashell hovers over the cliffs and a limpet shell seems to be signalling to us. Sculptor Alfie Strong provides a pile of tapestry-covered cushions for us to sit on, with images of rockpools with blood-red shadows and water that is darkest navy.
Performance artist Patrick Coyle suggests that, at some time in the future in Aberystwyth, “radio sewage active tailings” have been detected in the river Ystwyth and water has become a luxury item. During his tour of ‘Abbaystwyth Flottleswyth Statiom’, a revered water-bottling site, he gives an upbeat account – using a strange language of the future – of how people have adapted.
Is This Planet Earth? is a Tŷ Pawb touring exhibition curated by Angela Kingston.
Patrick Coyle will be performing his guided tour of a fictional water bottling plant on the 16th of August around sunset, 8:30. It will last 50 minutes and is based in and out of the gallery.
Come and join us for some creative family workshops in Aberystwytrh Arts Centre gallery 1 with artist Anna Evans. 13th -16th of August, 10am-12pm.
June 2018 Update 1
Aberystwyth Arts Centre in their Gallery 2 from 7th July to 9th September has an exhibition of Angels on Washing Lines by renown artist David Jones
This summer Aberystwyth Arts Centre presents Angels on Washing Lines. Enter the world of David Jones’s imagination, beautifully crafted and brilliantly coloured.
There are prints, sculptures and installations to explore and screens that turn the pages of his wonderful sketchbooks which document his travels and show ideas for his artwork. His work shows the amazing diversity of his talent – from graphic design, to sculpture, installation and the immediacy of his sketchbooks. Perhaps designer craftsman is the best way to describe him.
The ideas and images that inspire David Jones’ work have their seeds in his childhood and he has retained that sense of playfulness throughout his life. Much of his work is triggered by memories of his early years in Wales and by the teachers and artists whose work has inspired him. Jones’ determination to become an artist lead him to Liverpool College of Art and then to Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Holland where he worked in design studios as part of the John Moores Travelling Scholarship. Since 1962 Jones has worked as a lecturer, designer and artist. Highlights of his lengthy career include him working in Japan in the 60s, being a Senior Lecturer at Central Saint Martins until 2005 and being a member of the Royal Cambrian Academy.
David Jones’ exhibition represents a lifetime of observing detail and the rhythm of life. The whimsy of his imagination knows no bounds.
March 2018 Update 2
Aberystwyth Arts Centre presents its new Summer exhibition, Swimming
In Gallery 2 contemporary artists display work that responds to experiences of swimming in lakes, rivers, oceans and man-made pools at Aberystwyth Arts Centre. The exhibition, which is a mixed media show, will be held in Aberystwyth Arts Centre from the 17th March to the 26th of May.
Local artists working in Aberystwyth join with artists and wild swimmers from across Wales who all share a passion for being in the water.
Wild swimmer Vivienne Rickman Poole says, of the relationship between creativity and swimming, “I’ve always been quite an experimental photographer, making my own cameras. It was always going to be that, at one point, the cameras would eventually come with me and I would be experimenting with them in the water.”
Vivienne Rickman Poole is listed as one of 101 Inspiring British Adventurers and in Wild Swimmers of the Year 2017 and her stunning photographs and video work convey the experience of weightlessness felt whilst swimming.
Another highlight of the show is the underwater photography of award winning artist, swimmer and free diver, Natasha Brooks, whose short film Bluehue won the British Mountaineering Council ‘Women In Adventure’ film competition and LLAMF ‘Spirit of Adventure’ Award.
In addition exciting work by the following artists is also displayed in the exhibition, which includes work by some of those who responded to an Open Call last year. Local textile artist Becky Knight is showing 4 decorative swimming costumes and a large quilt, Deborah Teakle’s abstract paintings of underwater scenes are presented and Stuart Evans ‘s lino prints of mermaids depict some of the mythology surrounding swimming. Oil paintings of swimmers and deep sea divers by Branwen Lisa are displayed alongside Joanna Croft’s evocative video work that awakens memories of warm, summer swims. Exhibited paintings by emerging artist and wild swimmer, Rachel Rea, also evoke the feelings of calm and exhilaration felt whilst swimming.
The exhibition incorporates various styles and mediums to display the theme of swimming through the eyes of artists who love the sea. It is hoped that you will leave the exhibition inspired to go and find your own adventures through swimming.
For more information please visit: www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk
March 2018 Update
Following her critically acclaimed 2016, sell-out international run of The Kardashians Made Me Do It and fresh from being ravaged by hunger and sand-flies on Channel 4’s Celebrity Island, Shazia Mirza brings her new show, With Love From St Tropez, to the Aberystwyth Arts Centre on Thursday 24th May.
A show at Aberystwyth Arts Centre about lies and truth (or is that the same thing?), nudity and the periodic table, these things hold the key to the future. How much do you wear? What do you look like, and will they let you in? Oh, and don’t you dare wear more than dental floss on a French beach.
The Kardashians Made Me Do It explored politically correct liberalism, the intrusion of ISIS into young British lives and Jihadi brides and enjoyed four sell-out runs in London as well as the US, Sweden and Paris. This brand new show is about lies, lies and more lies. The truth is so 1980’s.
Shazia was recently seen back to absolute basics in Channel 4’s Celebrity Island with Bear Grylls, and earlier this year she took a speedy turn (2.07 seconds to be exact) in BBC2’s Top Gear’s ‘A Star in a Reasonably Priced Car ‘ segment. She recently guested on ITV’s Jonathan Ross and Loose Women and she is a regular panellist on Channel 5’s The Wright Stuff. Other TV credits include Have I Got News For You (BBC), F*** Off, I’m a Hairy Woman (BBC), NBC’s Last Comic Standing, Beautiful People (BBC2), The World Stands Up (Paramount Comedy) and The Late Late Show (RTE). She has also appeared on BBC Radio 2’s Graham Norton show, Radio 4’s The Now Show , and her Pause For Thoughts can often been heard on Radio 2’s Vanessa Feltz Show.
In 2008 she was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy, won ‘Columnist of the Year’ at the prestigious PPA Awards for her fortnightly column in The New Statesman and won The GG2 Young Achiever of the Year Award. She has performed internationally all over the world and is a regular contributor to The Financial Times and writes her weekly column ‘Dairy of a Disappointing Daughter’ for The Guardian.
January 2018 Update 3
Work will be displayed in Gallery 2 at Aberystwyth Arts Centre 27 January – 10 March
The work will be displayed at the Aberystwyth arts Centre on the 27th January to the 10th March
- Margaret Mitchell (UK) Gold Award and Owen Harvey (UK) Gold Under 30s Award
- Exhibition launches at PHOTOBLOCK, London, 13-16 October 2017
- All four awards presented for series work
The Royal Photographic Society has announced the award winners for the 160th edition of the International Photography Exhibition (IPE 160), the world’s longest running photographic exhibition. For the first time, all four medals, Gold, Under 30s Gold, Silver, and Bronze, have been awarded to photographers who entered photographic work from a series.
Glasgow based photographer Margaret Mitchell has won the Gold Award for her series of images entitled In This Place. Taken from an emotive portrait project focusing on Mitchell’s family, the images trace the lives of her sister’s children growing up in central Scotland, dealing with issues of family, loss and survival.
IPE 160 Selector, curator Zelda Cheatle, commented: “Margaret Mitchell’s images are made from the heart. They speak of this modern world we live in, there is a sincerity and depth of emotion to this work that resonates long beyond the initial view.”
The Under 30s Gold Medal has been awarded to Owen Harvey, London based documentary photographer, for his series on the US Lowriding culture. IPE Silver
has been awarded to US photographer R. J. Kern and Canadian photographer Wes Bell has received Bronze.
The four award winners have been selected from thousands of entries from across the world by the 2017 panel: Karin Bareman, Curatorial Project Manager for Autograph ABP; Zelda Cheatle curator, editor, lecturer and consultant in photography; Ingrid Pollard HonFRPS, photographer, media artist and researcher; and photographers and former IPE exhibitors Abbie Trayler-Smith and Sian Davey HonFRPS. These images form part of a touring exhibition of 100 selected images, opening at The Old Truman Brewery as part of PHOTOBLOCK. The awards have been presented at the exhibition opening on 12 October. The award winning images will also be exhibited in a group show at theprintspace gallery, London, in 2018.
January 2018 Update 2
The inaugural Nova exhibition will launch at The Royal Cambrian Academy, Conwy on Saturday 18th of November with live performances and installations, 3D and 2D artworks, travelling to Aberystwyth Arts Centre.
Nova is a new biennial arts prize for Welsh artists 35 and under and the exhibition runs until the 2nd of December. The exhibition then travels to Aberystwyth Arts Centre between 25th January and 21st March 2018.
Thirty one emerging Welsh artistic talents have been selected for the exhibition by a panel of high profile selectors, including Alfredo Cramerotti Director of MOSTYN, Llandudno, Hannah Firth, Director of Visual Arts, CHAPTER, Cardiff and Caernarfon based artist Bedwyr Williams.
One of the selectors Hannah Firth said “It’s been a real privilege to be a judge on the inaugural NOVA Cymru prize and to see such a strong and diverse range of submissions from artists working across Wales. Selection was incredibly difficult but we are delighted with the final shortlist of 31 artists, and anticipate that the exhibitions at both RCA Conwy and Aberystwyth Art Centre will be exciting, thought-provoking and engaging for audiences. Picking prize winners is going to be even more tough than the initial selection but we are sure that this new and vital biennial will provide a great platform for all of the exhibitors to build their careers on”
On the opening night at Conwy, Paul Eastwood was awarded £1000 and the title of Nova Artist of the year 2017. Gweni Lloyd was awarded £500 and the title of Nova Young Artist Award 2017.
Visitors to the exhibition can vote for their favourite artwork. The votes at Conwy and Aberystwyth will be combined and the winner of the Nova People’s Prize will be awarded £100.
Jeremy Yates, President of the RCA says: “The aim of Nova is to support and promote excellence in emerging Welsh art by offering young artist the chance to have their work seen by our panel of high profile selectors as well as being given the opportunity to exhibit their work at the RCA Conwy in the inaugural Nova exhibition in November”.
January 2018 Update
Aberystwyth Arts Centre tells the story of the contemporary memorial ‘We’re here because we’re here’, with an exhibition presented by 14-18 NOW and the National Theatre 20 January – 14 April 2018.
‘We’re here because we’re here’ took place on 1 July 2016 when more than 1400 voluntary participants in First World War uniform appeared unexpectedly in locations across the UK. The participants were a reminder of the 19,240 men who were killed on 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme. Each participant represented an individual soldier who was killed on that day says Aberystwyth Arts Centre.
The soldiers, dressed in historically accurate uniforms, did not speak, but at points throughout the day would sing the song ‘We’re Here Because We’re Here’, which was sung in the trenches during the First World War. They handed out cards to members of the public with the name and regiment of the soldier they represented, and, where known, the age of the soldier when he died on 1 July 1916.
Created by Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller in collaboration with Rufus Norris, Director of the National Theatre, ‘We’re here because we’re here’ reached over 30 million people across the UK[1]. The work was specially commissioned by
14-18 NOW, the UK’s arts programme for the First World War Centenary commemorations.
The exhibition will tell the story of the project through images of the volunteers from across the UK and BBC documentary charting the making of the project.
This was the first time so many theatres have worked together on a UK-wide participation project, making it the largest arts participation project ever staged in the country.
Med Rendell, a volunteer from Aberystwyth said:
“It was an experience I’ll never forget. I felt so close to people that day, both fellow participants and the public. It was, in my eyes, the most important way to really hit home just how many lives were lost in World War 1.”
Jenny Waldman, Director of 14-18 NOW, said:
“For the centenary of the Somme, Jeremy Deller, Rufus Norris, 26 theatres and over 1400 volunteers, created an exceptional and powerful live memorial ‘We’re here because we’re here‘. Both unexpected and warmly embraced by millions of people, the ‘silent soldiers’ made an impact across the UK. This exhibition is a wonderful way to remember the ambitious work and tell the story of how it came together.”
Rufus Norris, Director of the National Theatre, said:
“This work by Jeremy Deller was a truly national piece of theatre and a powerful way to remember the men who went off to fight 100 years ago. I also hope it will serve as a catalyst to strengthen ties with theatres and communities across the UK.”
LISTINGS INFORMATION
‘We’re here because we’re here’
The story of Jeremy Deller’s Modern Memorial
Aberystwyth Arts Centre
20 January – 14 April 2018
Piazza Window and Lower Foyer
becausewearehere.co.uk
[1] Based on 63% of the British adult population (aged 18+) in a YouGov survey who indicated that they were aware of the soldiers. Calculation by Morris Hargreaves McIntyre / 14-18 NOW.
August 2017 Update
This Autumn/Winter the Visual Arts Galleries at Aberystwyth Arts Centre are presenting a unique show that explores legendary narrative.
Gallery 1: 15 September – 16 January & Gallery 2: 2 December – 21 January
Exhibition Opening: Thursday 14 September, 6-8pm
This Autumn/Winter the Visual Arts Galleries at Aberystwyth Arts Centre are presenting a unique show that explores legendary narrative. The exhibition features work from Aberystwyth School of Art Collections and contemporary artists. Wales is a land of legends. Every place name tells a story. Every mountain has a myth.
The exhibition which runs across two of the Arts Centre’s gallery spaces, will explore three main themes, which are; Wales and Legends, Folk and Fairy Tales, and Mythology. The show features important works by internationally renowned artists David Hockney and Bedwyr Williams, shortlisted for the Artes Mundi prize in 2017, winner of the Eisteddfod gold medal, and who has represented Wales at the Venice Biennale twice. Another major focal point will be an enormous 25 feet tall giant, Bendigeidfran, made by Small World Theatre in Cardigan, who will inhabit the main gallery space.
April 2017 Update
Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Mid Wales, UK
Friday 30th June –Sunday 02nd July 2017
www.internationalceramicsfestival.org
Aberystwyth Arts Centre hosts The International Ceramics Festival which is celebrating its 30th year, once again presenting a lively weekend of exciting kiln firings, talks and demonstrations featuring renowned ceramicists from around the world. This year the Festival reflects the growing number of women as firers, with spectacular performance and sculptural firings set to take place. Alexandra Engelfriet (Netherlands) uses her whole body to mould clay in to large scale sculptures; she will be working with kiln building legend Fred Olsen (USA). On stage demonstrators include David Frith and Paul Young, two of the most skilled throwers in the UK, alongside Huang Fei (China) and Jason Walker (USA) who will be showing their contrasting decorating styles.
The full line-up of demonstrating artists includes: Charles Bound (UK), Antonella Cimatti (Italy), Sabine Classen (Germany), Eddie Curtis (UK), Anabelí Díaz (Sweden), Alexandra Engelfriet (Netherlands), Gerit Grimm (USA), Huang Fei (China), David Frith (UK), Chrisato Kuroki (Spain), Fred Olsen (USA), Ostinelli & Priest (UK), Zahed Tajeddin (Syria), Harm Van der Zeeuw (Netherlands), Jason Walker (USA) and Paul Young (UK).
As well as the demonstrations and kiln firings, there are artist-led talks, lectures and films as well as many exhibitions throughout the Arts Centre. Recent work by all artists attending will be available for sale. There are also hands-on activities on offer; including a special tent for families where experienced potters will help both young and old to have a go on the potter’s wheel.
Special awards are made during each Festival. The Potterycrafts Lifetime Achievement Award is to recognise a ceramic artist or potter who has made a major contribution to the world of ceramics. The 2015 Award was given to Alan Caiger Smith, whilst previous win
ners have included Walter Keeler, Emanuel Cooper, Don Reitz, Ruth Duckworth, David Leach, Frank and Janet Hamer, Janet Mansfield, Warren McKenzie, Michael Casson and Ray Finch.
There are also two Residency Awards. The Potclays Emerging Makers Award is open to new potters and artists working with clay who have graduated from college within the past five years. The winner of the award will be offered an International Visiting Artist Award for one month’s residency at the Archie Bray Foundation in the USA. And new for 2017, is the International Ceramics Festival Kecskemét Residency Award – open to all UK based ceramic practitioners including mid-career and late adopters of ceramics. This is to celebrate 40 years of the Kecskemét Contemporary Art Studios in Hungary. The award winner will have one month’s residency at the studios. These awards provide a fantastic opportunity for all finalists to exhibit at the Festival, alongside the world’s most respected artists.
In addition to the activities, there is a dedicated Trade Tent with a variety of ceramic suppliers offering everything from handmade artist brushes to the latest electric kilns. There are also stalls representing ceramics courses in the UK, as well as stalls from international and UK ceramic groups and collectives, UK and international ceramic publications and much much more.
Set in the beautiful coastal location of Aberystwyth, the Festival is particularly known for its friendly atmosphere and is one of the few arts festivals where the audience can interact freely with the demonstrators. At a time when there is a rising interest in craft and ceramics, the Festival provides inspiration, knowledge and entertainment for the beginner and professional alike.
Tickets for the Festival weekend can be booked online via the festival’s website: www.internationalceramicsfestival.org
or by calling Aberystwyth Arts Centre’s ticket office on 01970 62 32 32.
Full price weekend tickets are £140 (concessions available) and single day tickets start at £80.
The ICF is organised by Aberystwyth Arts Centre and North and South Wales Potters.
March 2017 Update
The photographs in this exhibition at Aberystwyth Arts Centre, cover the entire length of the Ceredigion coastal path from Gwbert in the south to Ynyslas in the north.
There have been many great photographs of this coastline, but Bailey looks beyond the magnificent views of land and sea, to show that there is more to see than meets the eye: coastal erosion, drama, beauty, the unexpected, and plenty of light. What may first appear familiar soon seems like another world, all can be seen at Aberystwyth Arts Centre, all of which can be seen at Aberystwyth Arts Centre.
Walking the Dog
Photograph by Steve Bailey
photographs by Steve Bailey
1 April – 24 May
Exhibition Opening
Friday 7 April, 6-8pm
Gallery 2, Aberystwyth Arts Centre
“Our aims were simple: look for nothing; try to be aware of everything; hope for light, and opportunities will present themselves. It’s a little like panning for gold – you have to stay in the ‘now’ and hope the light will pick out a speck of gold dust.”
January 2017 Update
Edgelands – 28 January – 18 March
Aberystwyth Arts Centre – A collection of work by a group of contemporary painters who have chosen to document the spaces between urban and rural areas that are often forgotten about.
Gallery 1
Edgelands, at Aberystwyth Arts Centre, presents the work of six visual artists who explore and document the wastelands and the neglected environs to be found on the margins of urban living. Housing estates, out of town retail parks and industrial areas, these spaces are the great ‘unnamed and ignored landscapes…places where our slipstream has created a zone of inattention’* and yet where all manner of interest and beauty thrive. The work presented here explores these forgotten corners of our landscape through painting, dance music and spoken word.
* Paul Farley and Michael Symmons-Roberts, co-authors on the book Edgelands.
‘Car Park’ – Barbara Howey
Friday 10 February, 6pm: Curator Day Bowman in conversation with Steffan Jones-Hughes.
All welcome, free admission, refreshments served.
November 2016 Update
Dave Ball – Searching For The Welsh Landscape Exhibition at Aberystwyth Arts Centre
19 November – 21 January
Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Gallery 1
Does national identity really exist in the landscape?
And is there such thing as a perfect, archetypal Welsh mountain?
This exhibition at Aberyswyth Arts Centre is an exhaustive and often humorous attempt by Dave Ball to find the answers.
Through a series of absurd strategies, the works in the exhibition engage critically with nationalistic appropriations of landscape. Underpinned by a kind of systematic nonsense, the drawings, texts, videos and photographs in the show invite us to reconsider our own relationship to the hills, mountains, fields and lakes of our own “homeland”, wherever that might be. Skeptical, ambivalent, and at times just plain ridiculous, Ball’s strategies heroically fail to reach any conclusions about any of this at all.
OPENING NIGHT: Friday 18th November, 5.30 – 7.30pm
The artist will be present and will be joined by travel writer and map enthusiast Mike Parker. All are welcome and refreshments will be served.
October 2016 Update
Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Gallery 2 from 12th November through to 14th January host the exhibition of the British Wildlife Photograpohy Awards
The British Wildlife Photography Awards is a firm favourite, and Aberystwyth Arts Centre is the only venue in Wales to be hosting it this year. The exhibition returns to Gallery 2 with the winners of the 2016 competition.
Britain’s best amateur and professional wildlife photographers continue to offer a rare glimpse of animals in their natural habitat, and every year the bar is raised to new levels of sophistication and creativity. These stunning photographs are a true celebration of the beauty and diversity of British wildlife.
June 2016 Update
Time After Time, Ori Gersht
flora showing in Gallery 1, Aberystwyth Arts Centre from 12 July – 17 September 2016 with the official opening night Saturday 23rd July, 6-8pm, is an ambitious contemporary arts project that brings together work by national and international artists to reveal flowers as powerful commentators in art.
From common weeds to exotic cultivars, flowers have been and are embedded in people’s lives across the globe, not least as inspiration to artists. This visually stunning exhibition both in and outside of the gallery presents new and existing work by eleven key artists; Emma Bennett, Michael Boffey, Caroline Dear, Anya Gallaccio, Ori Gersht, Owen Griffiths, Anne-Mie Melis, Jacques Nimki, Magali Nougarède, Yoshihiro Suda, Clare Twomey. These artists offer ways in which flowers make visible cultural, historical, geographic, social and scientific ideas.
Clare Twomey, Memento
flora offers distinct ideas to bring compelling re-interpretations, critical thinking and a refreshed perspective on the subject of the representation of flowers in art. The exhibiting works range from exquisite sculptural forms, echoing the precariousness of life, to highly complex drawings that consider the influence of technology on nature. Stunning paintings and photographs reflect both peace and destruction alongside desire and unattainability, while grown work explores how living flowers and green spaces might act as sites for social change.
Preserve Beauty, Anya Gallaccio
This eighteen-month project and tour comprises four new commissions, two artist residencies, three publications and an exhibition with work on loan from national and international artists, private collectors and UK National and Regional collections.
Curated by Oriel Davies and developed in partnership with Oriel Myrddin, Oriel Plas Glyn y Weddw, Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Llantarnam Grange Arts Centre and the National Botanic Garden of Wales.
The exhibition offers large print and narrated information about the exhibition and the art works on display.
flora Audio Description Talking Pictures
Stung, Emma Bennett
Every Friday,12noon-1pm. FREE
Providing deeper engagement for blind and partially sighted people to flora through Audio Description Talking Pictures. Audio Description is putting visual images or events into words to improve access for blind and partially sighted audiences.
May 2016 Update 6
Bara Caws presents Allan o Diwn (Out of Tune) at Aberystwyth Arts Centre
at Aberystwyth Arts Centre 2 June, 2016.
Allan o Diwn (Out of Tune) is a one man show by one of Wales’s best mimics, capturing perfectly his story from being a troubled 6th form pupil, ‘out of tune’ with his surroundings, to establishing the iconic pop group, y Ficar, thus enabling him to realize his dream of finding his voice and making it as a professional performer.
An exciting production combining music, parodies and impersonations, with the odd satirical comment on the Welsh rock scene.
Touring with ‘Allan o Diwn’ is a live band which includes two of Emyr’s sons – Aled Emyr and Ifan Emyr. The third member of the band is Carwyn Rhys.
The production is directed by Bara Caws’ artistic director, Betsan Llwyd.
This nostalgic show stops at Aberystwyth Arts Centre on Thursday 2 June as part of their tour all over Wales until 2nd of August, where it will finish at the National Eisteddfod of Wales in Abergavenny.
To book tickets for Aberystwyth Arts Centre contact the ticket office on 01970 62 32 32 or go online www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk
May 2016 Update 5
Two Fantastic Shows for Aberystwyth Arts Centre Summer 2016
Sell A Door Theatre Company present James and the Giant Peach and Footloose at Aberystwyth Arts Centre this summer.
Sell A Door Theatre Company present Footloose The Musical
Wednesday 10th – Saturday 27th August, 2016
Performances Tuesdays to Saturdays at 7.30pm
Matinees Weds, Thurs, Sat at 2.30pm
Extra Sunday performance on Sunday 21st August 6pm
BSL signed show Sat 13th August matinee
Ticket prices: £28 (£26) Groups £25
Everybody Cut Loose as the explosive Rock’n’Roll musical Footloose bursts on to the stage! Based on the 1980s riveting screen sensation, which took the world by storm with its youthful spirit, dazzling dance and electrifying music. Footloose tells the story of city boy Ren who has to move to a rural backwater in America where dancing is banned. All hell breaks out as Ren breaks loose and soon has the whole town up on its feet.
With a dynamic cast, including Lee Brennon (10 -20 August) and Gareth Gates (21 -27 August) as Willard and Maureen Nolan as Vi Moore, this fast-paced show is not only packed full of amazing dance but se rves up some classic 80s hits, including Holding Out for a Hero, Almost Paradise, Let’s Hear it for the Boy and of course the unforgettable title track Footloose. This four-time Tony Award nominee musical is not to be missed!
Produced by David Hutchinson and Phillip Rowntree for Sell A Door Theatre Company. For more information go to http://footloose-musical.com
“The happiest most electrifying hit show – go now” – Sky News
“**** It’s a blast” Metro
**** “Outstanding” Birmingham Mail.
Sell A Door Theatre Company present James and the Giant Peach
Tuesday 26th – Sunday 31st July
Performances Tuesdays to Sundays at 7.30pm
Matinees Weds, Thurs, Sat and Sun at 2.30pm
BSL Signed show Saturday 30th July matinee
Ticket prices: £20 (£18), £17 groups
Family ticket (matinees only) £64
Roald Dahl’s classic tale follows the adventurous, young James and his friends – Miss Spider, Old-Green-Grasshopper, Centipede, Ladybird and Earthworm. Beginning at the end of the story, like all great tales do, James and his friends are living in the giant peach stone in Central Park, New York, but the real story lies in how they got there, all the way from the White Cliffs of Dover. Orphan James Henry Trotter was sent to live with his evil aunts, Spiker and Sponge, after his parents were killed in a tragic rhinoceros accident. Just when James thinks he will never be allowed to have fun again he meets an old man who gives him a bag containing the ingredients for the strongest magic potion in the world. When James accidentally spills it near the old peach tree in his aunts’ garden the most marvellous things start to happen and he begins the greatest adventure of his life. Join James and his new found insect friends on their extraordinary journey fraught with enemies, dangers and excitement, which will take them halfway around the world in a giant peach full of friends, music and laughter. James and the Giant Peach is suitable for all the family – a guaranteed great trip to the theatre!
To book contact Aberystwyth Arts Centre ticket office on 01970 62 32 32 or go online www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk
Over the summer months, Aberystwyth University is offering short break accommodation in the new Fferm Penglais accommodation which is very close to Aberystwyth Arts Centre. Tel: (01970) 621960 Email: conferences@aber.ac.uk
May 2016 Update 4
The King of the Sky at Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Written by award winning children’s writer Nicola Davies
Produced by Pontardawe Arts Centre
2pm, Sunday 22 May, 2016
at Aberystwyth Arts Centre
A Magical Tale with music for anyone over the age of 6 years. A tale about an Italian boy who comes to live in a Welsh mining village, where his parents fleeing from Mussolini’s Italy move to start a new life introducing pizza, ice cream and coffee to a welsh mining town. The boy feels lost and alone as his parents struggle to make their café a success. The cooing of Mr Evan’s champion racing pigeons reminds him of a sunlit Roman piazza and draws him into an unlikely friendship with the old man and helps him to start feeling at home living in Wales.
Together, they pin their dreams on a race across Europe and the special bird they hope can win it, ‘The King of the Sky’. But what will happen when the bird is sent across Europe to race back to the valleys town from Rome? Will the boy’s fragile sense of belonging unravel or will everyone find a new sort of freedom in the cloudy skies above the hills.
This is a story about the meaning of home and finding friends where you don’t expect to.
Writer Nicola Davies, lives in Abergavenny. She is the author of over 40 books for children; fiction, poetry and non-fiction. Her work focuses on the natural world and human relationships within in, and draws on her back-ground as a zoologist. Her topics range from climate change and conservation, to the natural history of faeces and the morality of whale watching. She is renowned for tackling difficult subjects and making them digestible for children. She began writing for television whilst working as a researcher and presenter for the BBC NHU, where she presented and wrote for the BAFTA award winning Really Wild Show.
Nicola works with children in schools across the UK and abroad, running writing workshops and promoting children’s literacy. She is a regular speaker at Literary festivals such as Hay, Edinburgh, Cheltenham and Bath. In addition to her work in schools and at festivals she has been involved with a number of arts projects and residencies, including several with the charity Operahouse, working with groups of children to create opera libretti for public perform.
Her books are widely reviewed in major broadsheets, trade papers and online , and have been translated into more than ten language. They have been short listed for and won awards in the UK, America and Europe, including the Blue Peter Book Awards, the English Society Award the Bologna Ragazzi, The American Association for the Advancement of Science Book Price, The independent Booksellers Award, and the Portsmouth Book Prize.
The cast includes Louise Collins, Sonia Beck, David Prince, Huw Novelli and Tessa Bide and directed by Derek Cobley.
Tickets are £8 (£7). To book, contact Aberystwyth Arts Centre ticket office on 01970 62 32 32 or go online www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk
May 2016 Update 3
A Murder Is Announced By Agatha Christie at Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Aberystwyth Arts Centre Community Theatre present A Murder Is Announced By Agatha Christie
Adapted for the stage by Leslie Darbon
Directed by Richard Hull.
7.30pm, Thursday 19 May to Saturday 21 May, 2016
An announcement in the local paper states the time and place when a murder is to occur in Miss Blacklock’s Victorian house. The victim is not one of the house’s several occupants, but an unexpected and unknown visitor. What follows is a classic Christie puzzle of mixed motives, concealed identities, a second death, a determined Inspector grimly following the twists and turns, and Miss Marple on hand to provide the final solution at some risk to herself in a dramatic confrontation just before the final curtain.
The Arts Centre’s Community Theatre Company are delighted to return to the main stage following last year’s ‘Death On The Nile’ to present another Agatha Christie thrilling mystery!
May 2016 Update 2
Power in the Land exhibition at Aberystwyth Arts Centre
14 May – 2 July
Power in the Land exhibition, Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Gallery 1
Opening Night: Saturday 14 May 6.30-8pm, with artist talks at 5.30pm in the gallery.
Nuclear power is and has been a frequent presence in the news and is particularly pertinent within current debates surrounding pressures of energy supply around the world. The artist group X-10 bring together the fruits of two years working together around the closure and decommissioning of Wylfa on Anglesey, the last nuclear power station in Wales and the last and largest of the Magnox stations. The final shutdown in December 2015, marked the end of an era for the local community and brings to the fore the question mark over the next generation of nuclear power.
The artists in X-10 present a range of compelling responses through video, photography, sound, sculpture, installation and alternative photographic processes to try and come to terms with the conundrums of nuclear power, our future energy requirements and environmental concerns. The group, who practice both in Wales and England, worked closely together through visits to Wylfa and ensuring a process of continual dialogue. Each artist has made an individual response to the physical and energetic presence of the power station, the future legacy for the Anglesey site and to the complex associations of nuclear power.
Merging art, science and technology the show presents new questions and thoughts to the nuclear debate. The works present a breadth of ideas such as responses to the often-hidden and somewhat mysterious physical actions of the reactor, the sensitive issue around containment of radioactive waste and to the wider associations of nuclear power. The artists are interested in looking at the site’s physical, political and cultural contexts as well as surveying the actual landscape and its geographical situation.
X-10 are Alana Tyson, Annie Grove-White, Ant Dickinson, Bridget Kennedy, Chris Oakley, Helen Grove-White, Jessica Lloyd-Jones, Robin Tarbet, Teresa Paiva, Tim Skinner
Supported by the Arts Council of Wales and Arts Council England.
May 2016 Update
Harriet Earis at Aberystwyth Arts Centre
7.45pm, Thursday 12 May at Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Harriet Earis was classically trained reaching Grade 8 with Distinction on concert pedal harp, but now specializes in the Celtic harp. She is a full-time harpist, playing extensively throughout the UK and abroad.
Combining Celtic harp music with jazz and experimental backing Harriet Earis (harp), Andy ‘Wal’ Coughlan (bass) and Sam Christie (percussion) bring their own unique backgrounds and musical tastes into the mix to create an unforgettable, high-energy fusion that is guaranteed to get the feet tapping.
The trio has represented Wales at the Festival Interceltique in Lorient and at the Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow. After the success of their 2007 album ‘From the Crooked Tree’ (described as “superlative” by Musician Magazine) tonight will launch their long-awaited second album. Don’t miss it!
Tickets are £8 (£6). To book contact Aberystwyth Arts Centre ticket office on 01970 62 32 32 or go online www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk
To find out more about Harriet go to www.harrietearis.com
March 2016 Update 2
London Classic Theatre presents The Birthday Party at Aberyswyth Arts Centre
Following successful tours of Alan Ayckbourn’s Absent Friends and Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot in 2015, the London Classic Theatre presents The Birthday Party at Aberyswyth Arts Centre during their Uk tour.
London Classic Theatre presents, The Birthday Party, By Harold Pinter
Directed by Michael Cabot; Designed by Bek Palmer; Lighting by Andy Grange
Artistic Director Michael Cabot directs a cast including Jonathan Ashley (Goldberg), Gareth Bennett-Ryan (Stanley), Cheryl Kennedy (Meg), Ged McKenna (Petey), Declan Rodgers (McCann) and Imogen Wilde (Lulu).
The production tours to 37 venues around the UK this spring/summer, visiting Aberystwyth Arts Centre 7.30pm, Saturday 23 April.
“There’s a gentleman living here. He’s got a birthday today, and he’s forgotten all about it. So we’re going to remind him. We’re going to give him a party.”
A shabby boarding house in a small English seaside town. An elderly couple take care of a solitary guest, who rarely ventures out. The arrival of two enigmatic strangers seems to offer a welcome distraction from their mundane existence. But when an impromptu, seemingly innocent birthday party abruptly turns into a deadly game of cat and mouse, there are horrifying repercussions.
By turns, cryptic thriller and macabre comedy, The Birthday Party was Harold Pinter’s first major work and is among the most unusual and absorbing of his plays. London Classic Theatre presents the first significant touring revival of the twenty-first century, promising to bring this ground-breaking classic to fresh and exhilarating life.
Playwright, director, actor, poet and political activist, Harold Pinter was born on 10 October 1930 in East London. He wrote twenty-nine plays including Betrayal, Old Times, The Homecoming and The Caretaker. In 2005, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Tickets are £12 (£10). To book contact Aberystwyth Arts Centre ticket office on 01970 62 32 32 or go online www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk
March Update 2016
Doppelgangster’s Titanic at Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Doppelganster’s Titanic will be at at Aberystwyth Arts Centre 6pm & 8pm, Mon 7 March to Tue 8 March, 2016
Doppelgangster’s TITANIC has drawn from the screenplay for James Cameron’s 1997 epic Hollywood tear-jerker and a maelstrom of other sources including the Titanic DVD Special Features Disk and eye witness statements of people who actually saw the film at the movies. Cameron’s narrative is subverted by competing historical, fictionalised and completely fantastic accounts, as early 20th Century political spin, media confusion and public anxiety are given voice, amplification and a flare gun.
TITANIC is about ‘educated guesses’, ‘operational matters’ and the impossible pursuit of ‘truth’. This most grand spectacle is staged entirely from a shipping container and stars Titanic Director, Cameron, Rose (an actual rose) and real-life, handsome (though slightly aged) Leonardo DiCaprio. First class seats available only.
“A heroic performance” Emma Geliot, CCQ
“totally disrespectful to the victims of the disaster” James Ellis, The Sprout
February Update 8
Jez Danks presents Dai Versity at Aberystwyth Arts Centr
Jez Danks tells the story of a man , Dai Versity, who has decided that it’s never too late to change 7.45pm, Thursday 3rd March at Aberystwyth Arts Centre.
When retired farmer Dai Verse made his first appearance on the stage a few years ago, he talked wistfully about a vanished way of life and appeared to be a character who was living solely in the past. But there has been a change – verging on the seismic! Dramatic & unexpected events have forced him to take stock of everything and as a result he’s left the old farm, thrown away his cap and stick and enrolled on a course of higher education ‘to get a fresh perspective on life before it’s too late’.
Jez Danks tells the story of a man who has decided that it’s never too late to change – but will it be for the better?
Jez is a stori-wr, a story man, from Trefenter in Ceredigion. A musician, an artist, a man who speaks the language of story, as the folk poets spoke poetry in everyday conversation. He has told tales on many an occasion at the Arts Centre, and wrote the music for the film The Funeral of the Last Gypsy King. Jez doesn’t do Facebook.
A Fform Performance Night.
To book contact Aberystwyth Arts Centre ticket office 01970 62 32 32 or go online www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk
Feburary Update 7
Safle 2 / Site 2 micro-festival of theatre at Aberystwyth Arts Centre
The second edition of Aberystwyth Arts Centre’s innovative Safle 2 / Site 2 micro-festival of theatre performed in new and unusual ways, features a range of performances everywhere from down by the seaside to a shipping container, on a stage, in a tiny room and even in the theatre! The micro-festival is a feast of new performance to entertain, challenge and stimulate.
Safle 2 / Site 2 features Fringe First award winner 2014 Confirmation, which attempts to have an honourable dialogue, real and imagined, with political extremism. Confirmation is from multi award winning Chris Thorpe and Rachel Chavkin and is performed on the 15th February.
Jo Fong presents An Invitation… on the 1st and 2nd March, which is about connection, conversation, spontaneity and uncertainty. It’s also playful, joyous, imaginative, powerful and human.
★★★★ “Jo Fong is something of a legend on the UK contemporary dance scene. She’s worked with everyone, from Rosas to DV8 to Rambert, and has a reputation as a charismatic performer and a relentlessly inquiring choreographer.” The Observer
Doppelgangster’s TITANIC on the 7th and 8th March, has drawn from the screenplay for James Cameron’s 1997 epic Hollywood tear-jerker and a maelstrom of other sources including the Titanic DVD Special Features Disk and eye witness statements of people who actually saw the film at the movies. Cameron’s narrative is subverted by competing historical, fictionalised and completely fantastic accounts, as early 20th Century political spin, media confusion and public anxiety are given voice, amplification and a flare gun.
“A heroic performance” CCQ
You can experience an extraordinary visual poem, created with story, light and sound with Jo Bannon who presents Exposure on the 9th and 10th March. There will be 20 performances a day between 12.30 and 8.30pm.
A special Safle Scratch Night to celebrate local performance from physical theatre to solo shows and installaton work curated by the Experimental Studio will be presented on the 10 March, 7.45pm and tickets will be free for this event.
International innovators Forced Entertainment present Tomorrow’s Parties, on the 11th March. This is a compelling performance that imagines a multitude of hypothetical futures. From utopian and dystopian visions, science fiction scenarios, political nightmares and absurd fantasies, two performers compete to deliver a thought provoking survey of hopes, fears, surprises and inventions.
★★★★ “Unbearably sad yet absurdly optimistic” GUARDIAN
Mr & Mrs Clark present Smash It Up on the 10th March. Short-listed for the Amnesty Freedom of Expression Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Smash It Up is a destructive plea for some cultural conservationism. It is a challenging demand for equality, for hope and for greater creative freedom and beyond all for an understanding and nurturing of the creative imagination.
“Mr and Mrs Clark unleash a wild and often witty plea for artistic and civic preservation” The Herald
The festival ends with a free downloadable audio walk ‘Fragments Towards a Horizon’ along Aberystwyth’s seafront on the 15th and 16th March.
Seats are very limited for many of the performances so please book early.
A festival pass is available for just £50. To book contact the ticket office on 01970 62 32 32 or go online www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk.
Safle 2 / Site 2 Event Listings:
Confirmation – Chris Thorpe
15/02/2016 / 8pm / £10 (£9)
A dialogue, both real and imagined, with political extremism
An Invitation Jo Fong
1/3/2016–2/3/2016 / 4 & 7pm / £10 (£9)
An interactive performance on the theatre stage for groups of 46 people at a time
Titanic – Doppelgangster
7/3/2016–8/3/2016 / 6 & 8pm / £10 (£9)
An installation piece performed outdoors on chapel court
Exposure – Jo Bannon
9/3/2016–10/3/2016 / 20 performances a day between 12.30 and 8.30pm booking essential £10 (£9)
Experience an extraordinary visual poem, created with story, light and sound.
Scratch Night
10/3/2016 / 7.45pm / Free/Am Ddim
A special safle scratch night to celebrate local performance from physical theatre to solo shows and installation work curated by the Experimental Studio. Please contact experimentalactingstudio@gmail.com if you’d like to be involved. Entry free.
Tomorrow’s Parties – Forced Entertainment
11/3/2016 / 7.30pm / £10 (£9)
International innovators Forced Entertainment present a compelling performance that imagines a multitude of hypothetical futures.
Smash it Up – Mr & Mrs Clarke
10/3/2016 / 7.30pm / £10 (£9)
Shortlisted for the Amnesty Freedom of Expression Award at the Edinburgh Fringe: ‘a wild and witty plea for artistic and civic perservation’.
Fragments Towards a Horizon
15/3/2016 – 16/3/2016 / Free/Am Ddim
A downloadable audio walk along Aberystwyth’s seafront – just download instructions from Aberystwyth Arts Centre’s website! www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk/festivals/site-2-safle-2
February 2016 Update 6
Windsongs Of The Blessed Bay will perform at Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Windsongs Of The Blessed Bay | Aberystwyth Arts Centre – 2pm Sunday 28 February, performed in English and 10am Monday 29 February, performed in Welsh.
Myth, magic, history…and a bird so black it’s pink
Swansea University’s Taliesin Arts Centre teams up with Theatr Cadair to tour a magical new production across Wales.
Theatr Cadair ’s Director D J Britton has written and will direct this new theatre piece which will entertain the whole family, complete with high quality drama, live original music, stunning puppetry and plenty of humour.
Theatr Cadair grew out of the success of its play about David Lloyd George; The Wizard the Goat and the Man Who Won the War, featuring actor Richard Elfyn. Recent ventures include Silverglass (drawn from the curious relationship between writers Rhys Davies and Anna Kavan) and the stage premiere of Chelsea Dreaming the jazz/text sound experiment exploring the final days of Dylan Thomas.
This new family drama tells the story of a blind young woman, Betrys, who sets sail from St Bride’s Bay in West Wales in pursuit of her grandfather’s dream, only to encounter Welsh worlds she never imagined and a soul battle of mythic proportions. Audiences will delight in meeting the great Bran the Blessed, lovable rogue, Moondyne Joe, as well as Jenny Gruffudd, (who went to Waterloo) and Gareth y Gannet, the bird-king of Grassholm Island.
A co production between Theatr Cadair and Taliesin Arts Centre, Windsongs of the Blessed Bay is a vivid adventure in theatricality, story-telling, comedy and history and brings together legendary Singaporean puppet master Benjamin Ho and talented young Welsh designer Bethany Seddon to visually startling effect.
Windsongs features the work of Wizard writer-director D.J.Britton. Theatr Cadair core member, Gwawr Loader gives a sensitive and intuitive performance as the protagonist, Betrys. She is joined on stage by a Wales-based cast including BAFTA winning actor Richard Nichols and Meilyr Siôn fresh from the stage of Disney’s The Lion King. They are joined by Bethan Mai, Heledd Gwynn.
The production also features original music written and performed live by folk favourite Andy Tamlyn Jones, of Boys From the Hill.
Director, D J Britton has developed a story which is at once moving, powerful and full of rich humour.
Windsongs of the Blessed Bay performances at Aberystwyth Arts Centre are 2pm Sunday 28 February, performed in English and 10am Monday 29 February, performed in Welsh with tickets priced £8 (£7) available from the ticket office on 01970 62 32 32 or go online www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk
February 2016 Update 5
February Comedy Club at Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Little Wander continue with their sell out shows full of laughter with monthly comedy clubs at Aberystwyth Arts Centre.
Little Wander (the team behind the Machynlleth Comedy Festival, Green Man festival comedy stage and a raft of other sell out tour and club shows around Wales) present their February show at Aberystwyth Arts Centre on Thursday 25 February with Tom Wrigglesworth, Felicity Ward and Joel Dommett.
Running on the last Thursday of every month, The Comedy Club has been a roaring success since launching at the Arts Centre, presenting three top comedians in the intimate surroundings of the round studio.
Tom Wrigglesworth
‘A gift for comic storytelling, a lovely turn of phrase, an ear for allowable exaggeration’ – The Daily Telegraph
‘Comedy is rarely this elegant’ – Time Out
Felicity Ward
‘Joyfully Funny’ ★★★★★ – Edinburgh Evening News
‘Fizzes and flashes and bangs like an untethered Catherine wheel’ – Chortle
Joel Dommett
‘Hilarious… delightful tales’ – The Scotsman
‘Young, sharp and clever’ – The Sunday Times
For more information on Little Wander comedy club shows at the Arts Centre, please go to: http://www.littlewander.co.uk/category/aberystwyth-arts-centre/
Tickets are £10. To book contact Aberystwyth Arts Centre ticket office 01970 62 32 32 or go online www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk
February 2016 Update 4
Torch Theatre present ‘GRAV’ at Aberystwyth Arts Centre
7.30pm, Saturday 20 February 2016 at Aberystwyth Arts Centre
In October 2007 Ray Gravell, a man who for many embodied what it is to be Welsh, passed away after succumbing to complications resulting from contracting diabetes. He was 56 years old.
Known to millions for his legendary exploits on the rugby field, ‘Grav’ was and is so much more than that. An actor, a cultural icon, a father, a husband, a man with a life packed full of stories that deserve to be heard once more.
The Torch Theatre Company presents Gareth Bale as ‘Grav’ in a play written by Owen Thomas that celebrates the man and the legend. With the blessing of Mari, Ray’s widow, and contributions from his Welsh and British Lions team mates, this one man show will explore the life of a man who was as fascinating away from the rugby field as he was on it. Directed by the Torch Theatre’s Artistic Director Peter Doran, ‘Grav’ will remind the world once more of a unique life well lived and of a man who did so much more than eat soft centres.
Grav won the New Audience Award at the Wales Theatre Awards 2016. Wales Theatre Awards director Mike Smith said, “The new Audience Award as voted online by audiences across Wales was presented to the Torch Theatre Company’s play Grav.”
“Voting for Grav demonstrated how this one-man show really connected with audiences when it toured Wales.”
To book please contact the ticket office on 01970 62 32 32 or go online www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk
February 2016 Update 3
From the author of ‘War Horse’, ‘An Elephant In The Garden’ comes to Aberyystwyth Arts Centre
Following successful performances at the Northcott Theatre, Exeter and The Tobacco Factory Theatres, Bristol, Poonamallee Productions will tour their production of Michael Morpurgo’s An Elephant in the Garden performing at Aberystwyth Arts Centre on Tuesday 16 February at 2pm.
Poonamallee Productions and Exeter Northcott Theatre present
AN ELEPHANT IN THE GARDEN
By Michael Morpurgo
Adapted and directed by Simon Reade
‘This is masterful storytelling by all concerned and a gem of a standout performance’ – StageTalk Magazine.
Dresden, Germany, 1945. Elizabeth’s mother works at the zoo, where her favourite animal is a young elephant named Marlene. The zoo director tells her that the dangerous animals – including the elephants – must be shot before the town is bombed … and then the bombs start to fall. Their home destroyed, they must flee the bombed-out city and through the perilous, snow-covered landscape, all the while avoiding the Russian troops who are drawing ever closer. It would be hard enough to do, but with an elephant in tow…
Michael Morpurgo is the multi-award winning author of well over 100 books including War Horse, Private Peaceful and Kensuke’s Kingdom.
An Elephant in the Garden is the new adaptation by Simon Reade from Michael Morpurgo’s bestselling children’s novel following their previous collaborations on Michael’s war stories Toro! Toro!, The Mozart Question and the critically acclaimed touring phenomenon Private Peaceful .
Alison Reid has worked extensively as an actress at the RSC, for Filter Theatre, at Bristol Old Vic, Tobacco Factory Theatres and at the National Theatre.
Workshops based on the performances will also be available to children on Wednesday 17 February, 10am for 8-11yrs and Friday 19 February, 10am for 5-8yrs. These will offer fun activities based around the book. Enjoy crafts, puppetry, storytelling, performing and lots of fun games as the story is brought to life.
To book please contact the ticket office on 01970 62 32 32 or go online www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk
February 2016 Update 2
Rumours Of Fleetwood Mac will be performing at Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Friday 19 February 2016
as part of their WORLD TOUR 2015 & 2016
The Ultimate Tribute To One Of Rock and Roll’s Most Remarkable Groups
Having performed to over a million fans since they formed over a decade ago, Rumours of Fleetwood Mac returns to the UK performing in Aberystwyth Arts Centre 8pm Friday 19 February 2016 with its stunning new stage production performing in meticulous note-for-note detail all the classic hits from one of the most outstanding and enduring catalogues in the history of rock music.
Recognised internationally as the world’s leading Fleetwood Mac tribute show, and with the priceless golden seal of approval from founding member Mick Fleetwood, plus recent guest appearances from Fleetwood Mac’s very own legendary guitarist Rick Vito, this stunning new show takes you on an epic musical journey through changing eras and styles, from the exciting sound of the sixties London blues scene right through to the staggering commercial success of the seventies and eighties, and beyond.
Replicating perfectly the power and subtlety of Fleetwood Mac at their brilliant best; Rumours of Fleetwood Mac perform all the classic hits live including ‘Black Magic Woman’, ‘Albatross’, ‘Go Your Own Way’, ‘Dreams’, ‘Gypsy’, ‘Say You Love Me’, ‘Sara’, ‘Oh Diane’, ‘Little Lies’, ‘Everywhere’ and much much more.
“An extraordinary emotive performance of Fleetwood Mac”
MICK FLEETWOOD
“A stunning and incredibly accurate snapshot of the World’s first Super Group”
SUNDAY TIMES
“They do Fleetwood Mac better than Fleetwood Mac.”
MAIL ON SUNDAY
To book please contact the ticket office on 01970 62 32 32 or go online www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk
Feburary 2016 Update 2
Puccini’s La Boheme at Aberystwyth Arts Centre
OperaUpClose present their Olivier Award Winning production of Puccini’s LA BOHÈME in a new English version by Robin Norton-Hale
7.30pm, Friday 19 February, 2016 at Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Olivier Award-winning OperaUpClose bring their hugely acclaimed, 2011 Olivier Award Winning (Best New Opera Production) English version of Puccini’s La Bohème to Aberystwyth Arts Centre on Friday 19 February.
One of the most accessible and moving operas ever written, at the heart of Puccini’s La Bohème is the romance between aspiring novelist Rodolfo and immigrant cleaner Mimi, as his friends flirt, fight and struggle to make ends meet around him.
WINNER OF THE OLIVIER AWARD WINNER OF THE WHATSONSTAGE AWARD
Best New Opera Production 2011 Best Off West-End Production 2011
CRITICS’ CHOICE: The Times, Sunday Times, Daily Telegraph, Independent on Sunday
La Bohème was OperaUpClose’s first production and opened in 2009. It ran sold out for six months in London and has gone on to win an Olivier Award, three West End transfers, UK tours and a week at the highly respected Ravenna Festival in Italy. WhatsOnStage.com describe the production as a “defining moment” in UK opera.
The comic elements of this hugely popular production heighten its tragic ending, with audiences saying this 21st century Bohème affected them like no other, thanks to its stark relevance to modern day issues. Robin Norton-Hale has created a truly thought-provoking libretto and directs the piece with vigour and pace. La Bohème is brought to audiences by a hugely talented creative team along with a young, vibrant and outstanding cast of performers.
OperaUpClose exists to produce high quality productions. They aim to open up what opera can be, by producing opera for everyone, with compelling storytelling and high production values and by being innovative, professional and ambitious. They are an associate company of Soho Theatre and tour their operas nationally and internationally to great acclaim.
To book please contact the ticket office on 01970 62 32 32 or go online www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk
February 2016 Update
Ed Aczel at Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Thursday 18 February 2016
Britain’s greatest entertainer ★★★★★ Time Out
One of the most entertaining oddities in years ★★★★ Metro
Aczel turns unprofessionalism into an art form ★★★★ The Times
‘Britain’s greatest living anti-comedian’ (The Guardian) returns to the road for his 2nd nationwide stand-up tour as he tries once again to nail down the nature of existence. Ed Aczel performs at Aberystwyth Arts Centre as part of the UK tour at 7.45pm, Thursday 18 February 2016.
Aczel is known for not following the rules of stand-up comedy and he aims to use his show, with the help of Chaos Theory, to change the world once and for all – although it may turn out to be too complicated. He asks whether you can have your cake and eat it – ie seek to change human consciousness forever and keep your weekends free. Ed includes a couple of amusingly circular stories about his life, which thankfully don’t last long. Bringing Maths, History and Improv to life for beginners, he explores his own inner psyche with a section analysing his dreams – and then tries not to get too paranoid.
@EdwardAczel / @LittleWander / www.littlewander.co.uk
To book please contact Aberystwyth Arts Centre ticket office on 01970 62 32 32 or go online www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk
January 2016 Update 11
Ockham’s Razor’s ‘Tipping Point’ to perform at Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Following acclaimed performances in Newcastle, Manchester and Lincoln and their upcoming two week run at the London International Mime Festival, Ockham’s Razor will be performing their new show Tipping Point at Aberystwyth Arts Centre.
Ockham’s Razor, whose previous show was the highly-acclaimed Not Until We Are Lost, return with a new full length show with original equipment that transforms simple five-metre poles into a myriad of walkways, spindles, pillars and pendulums. Set in the round in a nod to traditional circus, audiences are drawn close to the action as the aerial artists balance, climb and cling to their teetering world. Poles are hung from the roof, balanced on fingertips, climbed, swung from and walked along as the performers decide whether to rail against the chaos, struggling to exert order on a disordered world, or ride it out, allowing life to tilt towards the tipping point.
Tipping Point features a multi-layered surround sound musical landscape, specially composed and mixed live by Adem Ilhan & Quinta who have previously worked with Radiohead, Hot Chip and Bat For Lashes. The performance sound will be mixed live and feature live glockenspiel and keyboards by Hazel Mills. The costume design is by Tina Bicat who won the Critics Circle Award for design for her work on Punchdrunk’s Faust, and lighting design is by Phil Supple who recently designed the lighting for the poppy installation at The Tower of London.
Ockham’s Razor formed in 2004, when Alex Harvey, Charlotte Mooney, and Tina Koch met at the Circomedia Academy of Contemporary Circus and Physical Performance in Bristol. Combining circus and visual theatre, they aim to create arresting, physical works on original pieces of equipment, telling stories through the vulnerability, trust and reliance that exists between people in the air. Their past work includes a Triple Bill of short works (Memento Mori in 2004, Every Action in 2005 and ARC in 2007) and The Mill (2010), their first full scale production. In 2013, their immersive, promenade production Not Until We Are Lost premiered at The London International Mime Festival and toured the UK and Europe throughout 2013/14.
Tipping Point will be Ockham’s Razor’s third London International Mime Festival show. LIMF, directed by Helen Lannaghan and Joseph Seelig, is a unique event in the theatre calendar, a once a year chance to see the very best and newest contemporary visual theatre, including cutting edge circus-theatre, animation and puppetry, mask, physical and object theatre.
@AlexOckhams | #tippingpoint | www.ockhamsrazor.co.uk | www.mimelondon.com
Promo video: www.ockhamsrazor.co.uk/news/31-april-2015
Running Time: 70 mins (no interval) | Suitable for ages 6+
To Book contact Aberystwyth Arts Centre ticket office on 01970 62 32 32 or go online www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk
January 2016 Update 10
Critically acclaimed Fringe First winning show ‘Confirmation’ at Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Fringe First winning show Confirmation comes to Aberystwyth Arts Centre on Monday 15th February 2016 as part of its tour of the UK.
Chris Thorpe and The TEAM Artistic Director Rachel Chavkin examine the phenomenon of confirmation bias and attempt to have an honourable dialogue, real and imagined, with political extremism.
If you pinned me against a wall, I’d probably admit to being a liberal.
Of course, pinning me against a wall is exactly what I’d expect from someone like you.
A show about the gulfs we can’t talk across, and about the way we choose to see only the evidence that proves we’re right.
A multi-award winning creative team explore the phenomenon of ‘confirmation bias’, examining and questioning the rise of extremist thinking within the UK’s political landscape and exploring the strength and grounding of people’s beliefs. Originating from Chris Thorpe’s own frustration with the current level of political discourse in the UK, and his own ‘liberal’ bias, the work has been developed through academic research and through conversations with political extremism, in an attempt to open discussion on the subject in a more objective environment.
‘Rachel Chavkin’s fast-moving, kinetic production offers us an absolutely compelling performance from a man who is fast becoming one of the most powerful performers in the UK’ The Scotsman ★★★★
Chris Thorpe has been at the helm of some of the most critically acclaimed productions in recent years, from the Fringe First winning The Oh F**k Moment (2011) to What I Heard About The World (2012), the Total Theatre Award and Arches Brick Award winning #TORYCORE (2012), There Has Possibly Been an Incident (2013), and I Wish I Was Lonely (2013) at Forest Fringe. Chris was a founder member of Unlimited Theatre and still works and tours with the company. He is also an Artistic Associate of live art/theatre company Third Angel as well as working closely with, among others, Forest Fringe, Slung Low, Chris Goode, RashDash, Belarus Free Theatre and Portuguese company mala voadora. As a playwright, Chris has written radio and stage dramas, as well as translating the work of Ugljesa Sajtinac, Belarus Free Theatre, and Ze Maria Mendes.
Rachel Chavkin is the Artistic Director of the multi-award winning The TEAM, a New York Citybased theatre company dedicated to dissecting and celebrating the experience of living in America today. Their work includes: Give Up! Start Over! (In the darkest of times I look to Richard Nixon for hope) (2005), A Thousand Natural Shocks (2005), Particularly in the Heartland (2006), and Architecting, a co-production with the National Theatre of Scotland, in 2008. The TEAM are four-time winners of the Scotsman Fringe First Award (2005, 2006, 2008, & 2011), Winner of the 2011 Herald Angel, the 2011 Edinburgh International Festival Fringe Prize, Best 10 Chris Thorpe China Plate @piglungs www.chinaplatetheatre.com / @YourOldChina Confirmation – marketing pack Production Dublin Fringe 2007 and 2008 Edinburgh Total Theatre Award. Their critically acclaimed Mission Drift transferred from the Traverse to the National Theatre in Summer 2013.
Writer / performer Chris Thorpe on developing the show: “I guess I’ve always been fascinated by conviction, because it seems mysterious to me. Not that I don’t have deeply-held beliefs – I do – but because those beliefs weren’t necessarily specific, burning certainties. They were more beliefs about the application of concepts. That there must be some reasonableness in every point of view, however small. That there’s a time and a place for a fair hearing, for everyone. Because underneath it all, the surface conflicts and the differing interpretations of ‘facts’ there had to be some kind of truth.
So I decided to investigate how the processes that allow us to form a worldview are thought to work. And these processes are double edged – the information gathering and filtering that makes daily life possible, applied on a larger scale, contain this huge potential for destruction. I decided to talk to someone of conviction. To see if it was possible to have a conscious conversation about those unconscious processes. A respectful conversation. To listen to those voices, and my voice, to see if we could get beyond the conviction. Maybe make my own liberalism less lazy. To see what that might do to me.”
@piglungs | @youroldchina
Confirmation opens at Performance Space 122 as part of COIL 16 Festival in New York, before embarking on a UK tour until March 2016.
Trailer – https://vimeo.com/103696419
To Book contact Aberystwyth Arts Centre ticket office on 01970 62 32 32 or go online www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk
January 2016 Update 9
Live Music at Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Cairns-Howarth
7.45pm, Wednesday 10 February 2016 at Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Cairns-Howarth are award-winning fiddler Dylan Cairns-Howarth and his Father Andy Cairns, an innovative fingerstyle guitarist.
They perform novel arrangements of traditional dance music, primarily from the British Isles but also from France, Scandinavia and North America. Both are accomplished multi-instrumentalists, between them covering guitars, fiddles, mandola and hurdy-gurdy.
From lively jigs and reels, stately folk-baroque marches to slow airs, their music provides varied and exciting textures for listening and dancing.
To Book contact Aberystwyth Arts Centre ticket office on 01970 62 32 32 or go online www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk
January 2016 Update 8
Jenny Hall Exhibition ‘Hollow’ at Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Hollow: Jenny Hall – Aberystwyth Arts Centre
23 March – 7 May
Taking a copper mine as a source of inspiration this exhibition explores the creative destruction involved in the act of construction. The mine is represented as a large hollow sculpture in the gallery and loose cardboard boxes represent the ‘ore’ that has been extracted from inside. The public are invited to move, stack, connect and build with this ore while occupying and considering the empty space left behind. The exhibition also explores displacement: of an idea, of a material. Cardboard boxes are the perfect material for expressing a thing displaced, these connect together with magnets.
Jenny is the director of architectural design practice
Craftedspace craftedspace.co.uk
For more information about Aberystwyth Arts Centre please visit: www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk
January 2016 Update 7
The Upbeat Beatles perform at Aberystwyth Arts Centre
IF YOU MISSED THEM IN ’63 – NOW’S YOUR CHANCE!
The Upbeat Beatles perform at Aberystwyth Arts Centre 8pm, Saturday 13 February.
This show will have you tapping your feet from the opening bars – dancing in the aisle, and screaming like you did in 63 by the end. With songs that changed a generation.
From “She Loves You” to “I am the Walrus” and beyond!
13 guitars 5 costume changes!
From the depths of Liverpool’s Cavern Club, to the Roof Top of The Apple Building, the Upbeat Beatles will take you on a journey that is the story of The Beatles through their songs.
The Upbeat Beatles are four supremely talented guys – great powerhouse vocals and close harmonies, pumped out with a driving backbeat to give you a night you’ll never forget.
The Upbeat Beatles are in constant demand and their hard earned reputation for authenticity and attention to detail has taken them around the world, playing to ecstatic audiences. These have included The Jordanian Royal Family, Nancheng (For the Chinese Prime minister), Ukraine for their Prime Minister and Bermuda for the Hollywood film actor Michael Douglas.
The Beatles were the band that shook the world – Let the Upbeat Beatles shake your night!
“The fab-est four around today, THE UPBEAT BEATLES are the nearest you’ll ever get to the real thing!”
“It was a great night, if you go to see Love by Cirque du Soleil or Let It Be in the West End, you may see flashier sets but what you will not get is the soul of the band, these guys recreate that scally humour as well as the fantastic material brilliantly” BRFM.
To book, contact the ticket office 01970 62 32 32 or go online www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk
January 2016 Update 6
Chinese New Year Show at Aberystwyth Arts Centre
6.30pm, Sunday 7 February 2016
The Chinese Student Society is delighted to invite you for the Chinese New Year celebrations at 6.30pm, Sunday 7 February, which is organised in collaboration with Aberystwyth University’s International Office and Aberystwyth Arts Centre.
If you’ve missed out on the fun and the excitement of the New Year’s Eve or you are already craving for some more of it, the Chinese Spring Festival is the event you are looking for. With more than two hours of great performances, live music and games demanding audience engagement, you are guaranteed to relive the best memories from your last New Year’s Eve nearly 11 months in advance!
Not only do the organisers offer you an opportunity to time-travel 11 months into the future, but they also guarantee that you will feel as if you travelled thousands of miles to visit China and you were actually celebrating the Chinese Spring Festival in the country of its origin.
Through the dedication of the Aberystwyth University’s students, you can be more than certain to get the full experience of the Chinese culture, the beauty of the Chinese Spring Festival and the appreciation of its importance for the international communities.
Tickets are £3.50. To book, contact the ticket office 01970 62 32 32 or go online www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk
January 2016 Update 5
Shadow of a Quiet Society premier 29th January at Aberystwyth Arts Centre
A chance to see Gwyn Emberton Dance’s new and enthralling dance theatre production Shadow of a Quiet Society, on tour in Wales this Spring.
Taking the long forgotten stories of a small Welsh town with no name, the work explores the lives of a community that is pitted against itself and the individual. With thrilling physicality, stark imagery and a unique soundtrack the tales of a remarkable people from a seemingly unremarkable place shine a light on the need we all have for transformation.
The cast of six internationally acclaimed female dancers search to understand our collective identity and our desire to mark out a name for ourselves, asking the questions we all need answers to.
Shadow of a Quiet Society brings together a creative team of some of the UK’s leading designers and composers including Lighting Designers Ben Cowens (Soho Theatre, Arcola) and Aideen Malone (Bristol Old Vic, National Theatre, Akram Khan), Composers Benjamin Talbott and Tic Ashfield (BBC Wales’ Hinterland, National Theatre Wales), and Designer Angharad Matthews (National Theatre Wales, Volcano, No Fit State).
“Emberton’s narrative impulse is compelling… My People is a mature work… that deserves to be widely seen.” Jann Parry, Dance Tabs 2015
‘The music, choreography, and physical performances were brilliant, and were met with an exceedingly positive audience response’ – New Welsh Review 2015
Shadow of a Quiet Society is supported by Arts Council Wales, Arts Council England, Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Greenwich Dance Agency, Swindon Dance, and Chapter’s Creative Producer for Dance programme Coreo Cymru.
Running Time: 60 minutes | Suitable for ages 12+
Cast
Neus Gil Cortes, Eleesha Drennan, Chihiro Kawasaki, AnaÏs Michelin, Johanna Nuutinen, Sophia Preidel.
Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth Arts Centre / Canolfan y Celfyddydau
29/01/16 – 7.30
aberystwythartscentre.co.uk
Newport / Casnewydd
The Riverfront / Glan yr Afon
04/02/16 – 7.30
tickets.newportlive.co.uk
Newtown / Y Drenewydd
The Hafren
06/02/16 – 7.45
thehafren.co.uk
Llanelli
Y Ffwrnes
09/02/16 – 7.30
ffwrnes.ticketsolve.com
January 2016 Update 4
Little Wander Comedy Club returns to Aberystwyth Arts Centre 2016
After a year of sell out shows, Little Wander return to start 2016 full of laughter with the first of the monthly comedy clubs at Aberystwyth Arts Centre on the 28th January
Little Wander (the team behind the Machynlleth Comedy Festival, Green Man festival comedy stage and a raft of other sell out tour and club shows around Wales) present their first show of the year on Thursday 28 January with Joe Lycett, Eleanor Tiernan and Jarred Christmas.
Running on the last Thursday of every month, The Comedy Club has been a roaring success since launching at the Arts Centre in January, presenting three top comedians in the intimate surroundings of the round studio.
Little Wander Comedy Club director, Henry Widdicombe, said “within a year, the Arts Centre show has become highly regarded on the stand-up circuit – and rightly so! It’s a superb venue with an enthusiastic, comedy-savvy audience.“
Line up – Thursday 28th January 2016
Joe Lycett
“Imaginative and cheekily subversive comedy… entertainingly mischievous.” The Guardian
“One of the stongest emerging comedy talents we’ve seen in a long time.” Time Out
Eleanor Tiernan
“The fastest-rising comedy talent in the country.” Irish Times
“A distinctive, inspired comic mind.” The Scotsman
Jarred Christmas
“One of the funniest men to pick up a microphone.” Time Out
“Likeable, intelligent and full of unpredictable energy.” The Scotsman
For more information on Little Wander comedy club shows at the Arts Centre, please go to: http://www.littlewander.co.uk/category/aberystwyth-arts-centre/
Tickets are £10. To book contact Aberystwyth Arts Centre ticket office 01970 62 32 32 or go online www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk
January 2016 Update 3
‘Under The Bridge – Being homeless in Cardiff’ photographic exhibition at Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Under The Bridge – Being homeless in Cardiff
An exhibition by Andrew McNeill
Gallery 2, Aberystwyth Arts Centre, 6 February – 9 April 2016
This exhibition of photographic portraits brings to light the reality of human life on the streets of Cardiff. To produce this work, Welsh photographer Andrew McNeill spent a year building relationships with homeless people in Cardiff – talking to them, eating with them, even spending some nights sleeping on the streets with them.
These men and women, aged between 18 and 70, are often portrayed in a dehumanised manner with emphasis on their mental health problems, substance abuse, physical disabilities or racial discrimination. Despite witnessing the truth of that first hand, Andrew invites them to present themselves to the camera, capturing the honesty and humanity of these vulnerable people in a visually seductive way.
January 2016 Update 2
Beauty and The Beast at Aberystwyth Arts Centre
The Wardens present Beauty and The Beast at Aberystwyth Arts Centre
8th – 23rd January, 2016
The Wardens return to Aberystwyth Arts Centre with their spectacular annual traditional pantomime.
Following on from 2015’s ‘Snow White’, the Wardens present ‘Beauty and The Beast, which runs from the 8th-23rd of January, 2016.
The company’s annual show is great fun for all the family, but book early – the 2015 run sold out and tickets are already selling fast for this pantomime!
The Beast must find true love before the last petal falls from the magic rose – but will good triumph over evil, for who can learn to love a beast? Richard Cheshire directs and plays Dame Cherie Trifle in the Wardens’ most enchanting, thrilling and spectacular pantomime. With lavish costumes and scenery, stunning special effects, hilarious comedy routines and toe-tapping songs -this ‘feel good’ family festive treat promises to be the best ever! Join Ioan Guile as Professor Nutty, Marcus Dobson as Silly Billy, Alex Neil as the Beast and magical performances from Julie McNicholls Vale, Theresa Jones and Carl Ryan as the enchanted servants of the Beast.
Elinor Powell is the musical director and choreography is by Laura Smith.
Performances:
Wednesdays – Saturdays 7.30pm
Matinees Saturdays 2.30pm, Sundays 1pm & 4pm
Saturday Morning shows 11am on 16th & 23rd January
Tickets: £15
Family ticket £42 first week only
Senior, student and unemployed £12.50
Child and group rate (20+) £11.50
To book phone the ticket office 01970 62 32 32 or go online www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk
January 2016 Update
Poetry and spoken word performance at Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Wednesday 27 January // 7:45pm £5
The third session of Words&Words&Words, a series of innovative poetry and spoken word performance at the Aberystwyth Arts Centre, welcomes the following special guests:
- Planet Magazine will be featured with several poets reading and other highlights from the magazine.
- Peter Barry is Aberystwyth co-ordinator for Contempo (Centre for Contemporary Poetry) and project leader for Devolved Voices. His poetry has been published in Poetry Wales, Stand, Poesia, and more.
- Rhys Trimble is a performer/improvisor interested in medieval Welsh language and avant garde writing practices. See his recent collection, Swansea Automatic.
Come to the Aberystwyth Arts Centre Theatre Foyer at 6:30 to sign up for an open mic slot.
For more details, see: https://wordsandwordspoetry.wordpress.com/