It had all the makings of something brilliant. Allen Ginsberg, LSD and the holdings of the National Museum of Wales. The ingredients for museum magic had all been carefully selected, and yet, the end flavour was something quite bland. This was the overwhelming, or perhaps underwhelming would be a more apt description, feeling that I was left with on leaving the latest exhibition to fill the contemporary art wing of the National Museum. Wales Visitation: Poetry, Romanticism and Myth in Art starts with a bang, and then fizzles into familiar territory and oft trod paths. It had the makings of brilliance, the end result was someway short. The latest exhibition to occupy the first floor of the National Museum takes its inspiration from a poem, crafted by Allen Ginsberg during an LSD driven journey through the Black Mountains. The poem itself is a giddy but recognizable work. There is no doubt that the verses of Wales Visitation are ones which embrace the ancient landscape through a subverted lense of perception, and yet, the reality Ginsberg creates is one that will trigger the memory of anyone to have taken a walk through that same setting. The Welsh landscape, as inspiration, sets the tone for the gallery themes to come. Sadly though, the altered realities enjoyed in the verse, have little impact on the interpretations to come. Wales Visitation certainly opens impressively. Visitors are unavoidably confronted by a giant projection of Ginsberg. This frantic, bearded face looms over the entry way, leaving those who enter in little doubt as to who has provided the initial inspiration for the overall exhibition. Opposite Ginsberg’s projected performance, are Thomas Jones’ The Bard, and Iolo Morganwg’s bardic alphabet. It all resonates with elements of Ginsberg’s poem and mention of bards, and connects the 1960s work with a historical Welsh narrative of poetic imaginings and bardic tradition. It serves as an effective juxtaposition and, for the National Museum, a reasonably innovative opening to an exhibition. Sadly, from this point on, everything becomes terribly safe and common. While the inclusion of several offerings from Graham Sutherland certainly further the concept of the Welsh landscape inspiring artists, Sutherland’s very inclusion serves to undermine any sense of challenge that this exhibition might pose, put simply, we have been here before in this museum. Once more, Richard Long’s Blaenau Ffestiniog Circle is rolled out, just as it was when the contemporary art galleries were first opened three years ago. The same might be said of the ever wonderful Glory Glory by Laura Ford. This fantastical reimagining of traditional Welsh costume adds a sense of the macabre and the uncanny to the exhibition, but it is far from a new addition to these galleries. Perhaps though it is not so much the familiarity of the works of art on show here, but the way in which they are displayed. Walking through the gallery, I kept asking myself ‘where is the LSD?’ Not wanting the National Museum to plunge headfirst into the inconceivable, I had at least hoped that the exhibition design would have challenged me as much as the collections. In the end, Wales Visitation becomes a harmless, standard exhibition. No chances are taken, nothing about the exhibit stands out as distinctive or, frankly, memorable. It’s a terrible shame, because when I first became aware of the concept, I wanted to be challenged, I wanted to be wowed. Ultimately, I wanted the National Museum Wales to show us that its approach to contemporary art displays could amount to something more than pattern match programmes. The collections allow for the memorable, but Wales Visitation becomes Wales Forgettable all too quickly. A side grumble – there is a wonderful family guide available, complete with a miniature cartoon Ginsberg. It’s wonderful in its whimsy, but the guide seems most accessible (in terms of being physically obtainable for visitors) only when having worked through two-thirds of the exhibition. For many, by the time they find this brilliant little trail, they are almost at the end of the entire exhibit already – another disappointing oversight.
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This week has seen the launch of our new project – Chartist Live 2014. As projects go, the inception of this one was perhaps a touch unusual. Walking, on route to the National Museum, a couple of weeks ago, I bumped into Les James, pioneer of many of the very good things to have been developed of late which explore Chartist heritage. A sprawling conversation, which touched at length once more on the sad demise of archaeology in the National Museum Wales organisation, eventually – perhaps inevitably if you know Les – got onto the subject of the Chartist anniversary celebrations. It was from there that we discussed the range of promotional possibilities for the celebrations, and I was surprised to learn that nothing had been developed for twitter. From that point, there was no looking back. Having mentioned twitter, Les asked if I would be happy developing something on this front and, with my partners in Cyfarwydd (more on that next month), @ChartistsLive was born. There is no shortage of excellent examples of the use of twitter in association with heritage themed events, and I have no shame in saying that this concept very much follows on the back of the tremendously successful @RealTimeWWII feed. With some 300k followers, the World War II themed feed has really highlighted the way in which these ‘as live’ period specific feeds can engage audiences. The scope for @ChartistsLive is of course somewhat narrower in comparison, but we should not forget that the Chartist story has a very wide reach. Followers are already being attracted from Australia, which has some obvious Chartist connections, while core followers in Canada highlight the reach of a Welsh story to expat communities. Covering the events building up to that fateful day in November 1839, @ChartistsLive develops a day by day narrative, following the main players in the Chartist campaign. Henry Vincent and John Frost will feature prominently, largely because their actions are so well documented, in the case of Vincent, by himself. However the Chartist story was a headline grabber in its day, so we can make liberal use of print media from 1839 as well. All of this will help create, what I hope will be, quite a holistic overview of 1839 – connecting media commentary, personal reflections and wider social insights on the conditions of the working classes in this tempestuous political period. I’m also developing what might amount to an unhealthy interest in this period as a result, with morning research on the topic having become a steady part of my daily routine. Still, it is all proving to be exceptionally interesting, and early feedback seems pretty positive too. So, here’s looking forward to this project’s development over the coming months – I imagine November is going to be exceptionally busy when it comes to tweeting! Just a quick reminder that the Caerleon Campus SWCHIR lecture series comes to a close for the academic year this week, as myself and Prof Ray Howell discuss the interim findings from archaeological excavations carried out in Llanfihangel Tor y Mynydd. This has been a great little project over the last year, producing some very rewarding results, updated during the excavation period at: http://excavate.weebly.com/ Fingers crossed, we will be going for a third season on the site in question at some point during summer 2014.
The talk takes place on March 12th, in the boardroom on the Caerleon Campus, due to start at 6pm. As ever, the SWCHIR lecture series events are free to attend, and provide a wonderful opportunity to hear about new research coming out of the University. This will also be an outing for the Cyfarwydd brand, as ongoing excavations will continue as a partnership project between the History Dept. and Cyfarwydd. More on that though, later in 2014. With the start of March, so ended the life of archaeology in the National Museum Wales, in the city centre at least. A farewell event was hosted on the 5th, with some of the most notable figures in archaeology in Wales assembling to explore the collections once more, before they are packed up, for theoretical display in St Fagans. I say 'theoretical display' quite cynically and sincerely, because it would appear that very little of the national archaeology collection will actually appear on show once the new St Fagans opens for business, but more on that later. I've been to plenty of gallery openings over the years, but the closure of Origins was something quite unique. Some in attendance jokingly called it a wake, other meant it quite seriously. Platitudes were afforded to what has stood out as one of the most effective and innovative displays of archaeology certainly in Wales, if not further afield as well. Total visitor figures of 708,000 were cited, a remarkable number. Given such clear popularity for the Origins gallery, the question should surely be asked once more, why oh why is archaeology being packed up and shuffled away into the back cupboard of St Fagans' holdings. Roughly a hundred individuals came to send the archaeology displays on their way, and a frequently somber mood, equally gave way to merriment, as old faces were seen for the first time in many years. The 'wake' was split into three sections, an initial talk, followed by an opportunity to walk through the exhibition once more, before closing with a session considering the planned future exhibitions for St Fagans. This final element was originally pitched as a Q&A, an opportunity for concerned voices to raise their views regarding the seemingly shoddy treatment of archaeology. The Q&A however did not happen. Perhaps it was for the best that the Q&A was hastily abandoned. That is was, perhaps reflected the mood of the crowd. Few voices present who I engaged with could present a positive view on the move from city centre to St Fagans. Indeed, most voices were those of fear, that archaeology would face a future in the shadows, overwhelmed by St Fagans' remit for social history. A quick view of the proposed new galleries for St Fagans did little to dispel any such concerns. Thematic rather than period driven exhibitions are proposed, in which archaeology will certainly play a part, but it is clear that the archaeology collections will play a supportive role, rather than be a distinctive element within the new museum. Certainly, there will be much much less on display than there ever was in Origins, and that is a great shame given the quality of the collections held in Wales. So, Origins is gone, or in the process of going as exhibitions are stripped down, and objects boxed up. Below are a selection of images from the archaeology displays as they once were, a reminder of when archaeology had a central role to play. Take them in, because, sadly, it would seem that we will not have the opportunity to enjoy the display of Welsh archaeology in such quantity or quality, for a very, very long time. |
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