Holy
Hiatus

Ritual and Community
in Public Art

 

>>ARTISTS/ARTISTIAID
Alastair MacLennan
Maura Hazelden
Simon Whitehead
Anna Lucas
Yvonne Buchheim

>>SYMPOSIUM/SYMPOSIUM

>>DIARY/DYDDIADUR

>>CONTACT/CYSYLLTWCH

Cyfres o brosiectau a digwyddiadau celfyddyd gyhoeddus dros dro yw Holy Hiatus, wedi’u curadu gan Ruth Jones, sy’n cael eu cynnal yn Aberteifi rhwng 21 a 31 Mai 2008. Mae’r prosiect yn canolbwyntio ar ddefod a hunaniaeth gymdeithasol, cymuned a mannau cyhoeddus. Mae Holy Hiatus yn cyfeirio at groesi’r trothwy rhwng ymwybyddiaeth allanol a mewnol a bydd y gweithiau celf a’r digwyddiadau yn archwilio’r rôl hanfodol sydd gan ddefod mewn rhyngweithio cymdeithasol, gan bwysleisio pwysigrwydd y ‘trothwyol’ neu’r mannau a’r profiadau sydd rhwng dau le, lle gellir trawsnewid hunaniaethau personol a cymdeithasol yn greadigol. Ceir tair cainc i’r prosiect:

Pum gwaith newydd gan yr artistiaid Alastair MacLennan, Maura Hazelden, Simon Whitehead, Anna Lucas, Yvonne Buccheim
Symposiwm a drefnir mewn cydweithrediad â Dr. Heike Roms o Brifysgol Cymru Aberystwyth a LAND2, Prifysgol Gorllewin Lloegr
Cyhoeddiad dwyieithog i gofnodi’r prosiect a gyhoeddir gan Parthian yn 2009.

23 MAY / 23 MAI
PUBLIC EVENT, EXHIBITION OPENING & PROJECT LAUNCH /
DIGWYDDIAD CYHOEDDUS, AGOR ARDDANGOSFA A LANSIO PROSIECT

Alastair MacLennan is based in Belfast and was a critical figure in the development of experimental performative practices during the 1970s and 1980s in Northern Ireland. He was a founding member of the international research group ARE (Art, Research, Exchange) and he joined the European performance art group Black Market International in 1989. He has exhibited widely in Europe, North and South America and Asia and represented Ireland at the Venice Biennale in 1997. The Ormeau Baths Gallery presented a major retrospective and publication Knot Naught in 2003. MacLennan’s ‘actuations’ open up a space where the gap between the performer and the viewer is reduced or even annulled by drawing the audience into a different state through meditative and ritual activity that can be profoundly moving. For Holy Hiatus, MacLennan will create a new durational performance titled LURE IN RULE.

Mae Alastair MacLennan yn gweithio ym Melffast ac roedd yn ffigur allweddol yn natblygiad arferion perfformiadol arbrofol yn ystod y 1970au a’r 1980au yng Ngogledd Iwerddon. Mae ‘actuations’ MacLennan yn agor gofod lle caiff y bwlch rhwng y perfformiwr a’r gwyliwr ei leihau neu hyd yn oed ei ddileu drwy dynnu’r gynulleidfa i mewn i gyflwr gwahanol drwy weithgaredd myfyriol a defodol a all fod yn hynod gyffrous. Ar gyfer Holy Hiatus, bydd MacLennan yn creu perfformiad cyfnodol newydd â’r teitl LURE IN RULE.

Date / Dyddiad: Friday 23rd May / Dydd Gwener 23 Mai
Time / Amser: 5 am – 5 pm
Venue / Lleoliad: Footbridge adjacent to the Old Town Bridge across Teifi / Pont droed ger yr hen bont dros afon Teifi

threat/expectation/desire in reflected light Maura Hazelden, 2008

Maura Hazelden is based in Crymych, West Wales and works in a number of different mediums including installation and performance. For Holy Hiatus she will collaborate with sonic artist Lou Laurens to create an unrehearsed durational performance. The work will explore how the physical can change consciousness and how a ritual or spiritual experience can be created through a continual repetitive movement. Hazelden says 'The performance will explore how a repetitive action/performance can permeate/saturate and transform a physical space, creating and recreating an ambience that can be felt as other, as liminal, as sacred space, by those who enter. The very aspect of unrehearsed durational performance is a risk, stepping into a space to seek/find/wait for the unknown, the desire or threat of the other, the possibility of transformation’. Hazelden is a member of the collective Ointment. She has exhibited widely in the UK as well as internationally including Eli/salve, an Ointment group project at Forest Art Project, Darmstadt, Germany 2004 and Marcheurs des Bois, an Ointment exchange residency in Quebec.

Mae Maura Hazelden yn gweithio yng Nghrymych, Gorllewin Cymru, mewn nifer o gyfryngau gwahanol gan gynnwys mewnosodiadau a pherfformiadau. Ar gyfer Holy Hiatus bydd yn cydweithio â’r artist sonig Lou Laurens i greu perfformiad cyfnodol heb ei ymarfer. Bydd y gwaith yn archwilio sut y gall y corfforol newid ymwybyddiaeth a sut y gellir creu defod neu brofiad ysbrydol drwy symudiad ailadroddus parhaus.

Date / Dyddiad: Thursday 22nd May / Dydd Iau 22 Mai
Time / Amser: 4 – 6.45 pm and 7.15 – 10.30 pm
Venue / Lleoliad: Small World Theatre / Theatr Byd Bychan

Lost in Ladywood Simon Whitehead. 2007. Photo: Phil Martin

Movement artist Simon Whitehead works from his base in rural West Wales. He has developed a body of work from pedestrian practices; often made at walking pace his works are place sensitive and often involve a process of ritual reconstruction through the body, live performance, dance, sound and film. For Holy Hiatus, Whitehead will collaborate with dancers Andrea Buckley and Kate Willis to create a new work called ‘Drift’, a series of dance excursions through the town of Aberteifi /  Cardigan over three days. Beginning at the Old Town Bridge over the Teifi and timed to the tides, the dancers will move through town, meandering past pedestrians and traders. Engaging with the architecture and environment, the dancers act as a conduit for the tidal movement of the river through the town. These events will be witnessed by poet  Zoe Skoulding and photographer Ben Stammers. These artists will build an archive of image, sound and writing that bears witness to the dancers presence and exchanges.
Whitehead is a founding member of the Ointment collective. His recent projects include Someplace, an International dance/movement project, Abercych 2006, Walks to Illuminate was made in residence at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park 2004-6 and the book Walking to Work was published in 2006, both funded by a Creative Wales Award. In 2007 he devised the walking guide LOST IN LADYWOOD, commissioned by Isis for inner City Birmingham.

Mae’r artist symudiad Simon Whitehead yn gweithio o Orllewin Cymru wledig. Mae wedi datblygu corff o waith o arferion pedestraidd; mae ei weithiau, a gyflawnir yn aml ar gyflymder cerdded, yn sensitif i leoliad ac yn aml yn cynnwys proses o ail-greu defodol drwy’r corff, perfformiad byw, dawns, sain a ffilm. Ar gyfer Holy Hiatus, bydd Whitehead yn cydweithio â’r dawnswyr Andrea Buckley a Kate Willis i greu gwaith newydd o’r enw ‘Drift’, sef cyfres o deithiau dawns drwy dref Aberteifi dros dri diwrnod. Gan ddechrau ger yr hen bont dros afon Teifi ac wedi’u hamseru i gyd-fynd â’r llanw, bydd y dawnswyr yn symud drwy’r dref, gan ymdroelli heibio i gerddwyr a masnachwyr. Gan uniaethu â’r bensaernïaeth a’r amgylchedd, bydd y dawnswyr yn gweithredu fel cyfrwng ar gyfer symudiad llanw’r afon drwy’r dref.

Dates / Dyddiadau:  Wednesday 21st – Friday 23rd May
Dydd Mercher 21 – Dydd Gwener 23 Mai
Times / Amseroedd: Wed 21st: Starts from bridge at 8:27 am Returns through town at 3:09 pm
Thurs 22nd: Starts from bridge at 8.59 am Returns through town at 3.48 pm
Fri 23rd: Starts from bridge at 9:31 am Returns through town at 4.18 pm
Mer: Dechrau o’r bont am 8.27 yb Dychwelyd drwy’r dref am 3:09 yp
Iau: Dechrau o’r bont am 8.59 yb Dychwelyd drwy’r dref am 3.48 yp
Gwe: Dechrau o’r bont am 9.31 yb Dychwelyd drwy’r dref am 4.18 yp
Venue / Lleoliad: Cardigan Town / Aberteifi

Anna Lucas

Anna Lucas is based in London and makes work that develops observations of social networks and group dynamics in response to specific geographic and architectural locations. Primarily known for her film and video work, she is interested in the act of making and viewing film as a means for generating a simultaneous detachment from, and engagement with everyday life. Embracing and challenging cinematic convention to create contemplative work that inhabits the hybrid space between documentary and fiction, she uses film as a tool to 'pull into focus' and 'tune in' to an environment to escape and achieve a heightened presence.

For Holy Hiatus, Lucas has created a new video installation exploring the relationships between teenagers and animals in rural communities in Wales. In March 08, she undertook a three-week residency in order to research the project, make contact with participants, and gather film footage. The title ‘Begail Foxwell Whip’ refers to the three teenagers that Lucas worked closely with. She was observing and filming their daily ritual interaction with animals, and drawing attention to the rare skills that this involves - skills that have been passed down from older generations.

Lucas has exhibited widely in the UK and internationally. She is currently the Wellcome Trust Fellow at Ruskin School of Art and Dept of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics at Oxford University, and is also working on a new project for Commissions East. Previous projects include a five-screen installation 'Paloma Ceffyl' at One Severn Street in Birmingham 2005, a solo commission 'Adrift' exhibited at Chisenhale Gallery 2004 and toured to Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea 2005. 'Here and Your Here' is her most recent show and was exhibited at FACT, Liverpool in June 2007.

Yn Llundain mae Anna Lucas yn gweithio ac mae’n gwneud gwaith sy’n datblygu arsylwadau o rwydweithiau cymdeithasol a deinamig grwpiau mewn ymateb i leoliadau daearyddol a phensaernïol penodol. Fe’i hadwaenir yn bennaf am ei gwaith ffilm a fideo, ac mae ganddi ddiddordeb yn y weithred o wneud a gwylio ffilm fel ffordd o greu datgysylltiad oddi wrth ac ymglymiad cydamserol â bywyd bob dydd. Ar gyfer Holy Hiatus, bydd Lucas yn creu mewnosodiad fideo newydd yn ymwneud â’r perthnasau rhwng glaslanciau ac anifeiliaid mewn cymunedau gwledig yng Ngheredigion a Sir Benfro.

Dates / Dyddiadau: Opening Friday 23rd May at 7.00 pm. Exhibition continues until Saturday 31st May
Agor dydd Gwener 23 Mai am 7.00 yp. Yr arddangosfa’n parhau tan ddydd Sadwrn 31 Mai
Times / Amseroedd: Opening night 7 – 9 pm, Sat 25th 10 am – 5 pm, Mon 26th - Sat 31st 10 am – 5 pm
Noson agoriadol 7.00 – 9.00 yp, Sad 25 10 yb – 5 yp, Llun 26 – Sad 31 10 yb – 5 yp
Venue / Lleoliad: Pendre Art Gallery, 35 Pendre, Cardigan.
Oriel Pendre, 35 Pendre, Aberteifi.

Song Archive Project, Production Still, Yvonne Buchheim 2008

Yvonne Buchheim is an artist based in Bristol and her work examines contemporary song culture in a visual art context. Initially, her Song Archive Project began with an exhibition in 2004 and was based on German philosopher Johann G. Herder’s song collection from 1773. He proposed that the cultural identity of a people is reflected through their song tradition. Buchheim has travelled around the world to record people performing songs, however, unlike television shows that audition the next pop icon, she is not looking for showmanship; instead, she weaves together a vision of cultural heritages in the 21st century.For Holy Hiatus, Yvonne will be based at the Cardigan Swimming Pool between Thursday 22nd and Sunday 25th May. She will be talking to users of the pool and gym about singing, and asking them to contribute a single note towards her project to create an original acoustic portrait of Cardigan. While based at the pool, she would like to invite you all to be involved, regardless of your singing ability and create an original portrait of Cardigan. In September 2008, these notes will form part of an audio installation at the pool. Buchheim’s project is supported by Safle.

SOUND WATER BEAT
On Friday 23rd May at 5.30pm, Yvonne will be conducting a Public Performance at the swimming pool. The event is free and everyone is welcome to attend. The performance will explore the dynamic between 2 singers and 2 swimmers. The singers are both based locally: Maggie Nicols ‘singer of songs and sounds’ is famous for her collaborative and improvisational work, and Paul Uden is an improvisational singer and musician. Maggie has composed words and music for Yvonne’s event, which will reflect the patterns and movements of two swimmers from the Emlyn Flyers Club, Hedydd Llewelyn and Ian Davies.

Artist yn gweithio o Fryste yw Yvonne Buchheim ac mae ei gwaith yn archwilio diwylliant caneuon cyfoes mewn cyd-destun celfyddyd weledol. Ar gyfer Holy Hiatus, bydd Yvonne yn arddangos gwaith clyweledol yn y pwll nofio ym mis Medi 2008. Bydd y gwaith hwn yn defnyddio recordiadau a gasglwyd o nodau unigol a berfformiwyd gan ymwelwyr â’r pwll nofio a’r ganolfan hamdden. Bydd y rhain wedyn yn cael eu cyfansoddi’n waith clywedol fydd yn ffurfio rhan o’r mewnosodiad. Dros bedwar diwrnod ym mis Mai, bydd Yvonne wedi’i lleoli yn y pwll nofio a hoffai eich gwahodd chi i gyd i gymryd rhan, waeth beth yw eich gallu i ganu er mwyn creu portread gwreiddiol o Aberteifi. Cynorthwywyd prosiect Buchheim gan Safle

Dates / Dyddiadau: Thursday 22nd – Sunday 25th of May 2008
Public Event Friday 23rd May at 5.30 pm
Dydd Iau 22 – Dydd Sul 25 Mai 2008
Digwyddiad Cyhoeddus Dydd Gwener 23 Mai am 5.30 yp
Times / Amseroedd: Thurs 22nd – Fri 23rd 10 am - 6 pm, Sat 24th – Sun 25th 10 am – 2 pm
Iau 22 – Gwener 23 Mai 10 yb – 6 yp, Sadwrn 24 – Sul 25 10yb – 2 yp
Venue / Lleoliad: Cardigan Swimming Pool and Leisure Centre
Pwll Nofio a Chanolfan Hamdden Aberteifi

Public Event: Cardigan Swimming Pool, 5.30pm
Artist Yvonne Buchheim, who is in residence at Cardigan Swimming Pool, will be conducting a performance, called SOUND WATER BEAT, which interacts singers and swimmers.

Cardigan Swimming Pool (map)

Project Launch: Pendre Gallery, Cardigan, 7pm
Launching Holy Hiatus, and opening Anna Lucas’s Exhibition, ‘Begail Foxwell Whip’, at Pendre Gallery.

Pendre Gallery (map)

24 MAY / 24 MAI
SYMPOSIUM / SYMPOSIWM

On Saturday 24th May, a symposium will be held in the Small World Theatre, chaired by Dr. Heike Roms (University of Aberystwyth) which aims to explore the wider issues raised by this project through an interdisciplinary event involving artists, arts organisers and specialists from disciplines such as Sociology, Anthropology, and Geography. Confirmed speakers include Dr. Bobby Alexander, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Texas, Dallas; Anna Lucas, artist; Dr. Karen Till, Associate Professor of Geography, University of Minnesota and co-director of Space & Place; Alastair MacLennan, artist and Professor of Fine Art University of Ulster, Belfast; Dr Sam Hurn, Lecturer in Anthropology, University of Lampeter; Dr Iain Biggs, Reader in Fine Art, University of West England, Bristol and convenor of LAND2; Reuben Knutson, artist and arts organiser; Cinzia Mutigli, Project Manager, Safle.

The symposium will address the following questions:
- Under what circumstances are ritual performances/events creative of new personal or social identities and of understandings of place?
- How can arts practitioners engage with communities through ritual?
- How might liminal (in-between) identities be explored through public art that engages with ritual (e.g., human/animal relationships or identities that cross physical or psychological borders)
- How do memory and place influence the performance and reception of ritual?
- How are temporary site-specific art projects that engage with ritual received by audiences/participants?
- How might projects that engage with community and place contribute to the cultural life of Cardigan in the short and longer term?

Dydd Sadwrn 24 Mai cynhelir symposiwm yn Theatr y Byd Bach, dan gadeiryddiaeth Dr. Heike Roms (Prifysgol Aberystwyth) â’r nod o archwilio’r materion ehangach a godir gan y prosiect hwn drwy ddigwyddiad amlddisgyblaethol yn cynnwys artistiaid, trefnwyr celf ac arbenigwyr o ddisgyblaethau megis Cymdeithaseg, Anthropoleg a Daearyddiaeth. Ymysg y siaradwyr sydd wedi’u cadarnhau mae Dr. Bobby Alexander, Athro Cyswllt Cymdeithaseg, Prifysgol Texas, Dallas; Anna Lucas, artist; Dr. Karen Till, Athro Cyswllt Daearyddiaeth, Prifysgol Minnesota a chyd-gyfarwyddwr Space & Place; Alastair MacLennan, artist ac Athro Celfyddyd Gain Prifysgol Ulster, Belffast; Dr Sam Hurn, Darlithydd mewn Anthropoleg, Prifysgol Llanbedr Pont Steffan; Dr Iain Biggs, Darllenydd mewn Celfyddyd Gain, Prifysgol Gorllewin Lloegr, Bryste a chynullydd LAND2; Reuben Knutson, artist a threfnydd celfyddydau; Cinzia Mutigli, Rheolwr Prosiect, Safle.

Bydd y symposiwm yn ymdrin â’r cwestiynau canlynol:
- O dan ba amgylchiadau mae perfformiadau/digwyddiadau defodol yn creu hunaniaethau personol neu gymdeithasol newydd a dealltwriaethau o le?
- Sut gall ymarferwyr celf greu cyswllt â chymunedau drwy ddefod?
- Sut gallai hunaniaethau trothwyol (yn y canol) gael eu harchwilio drwy gelf gyhoeddus sy’n cysylltu â defod (e.e. perthnasau dynol / anifail neu hunaniaethau sy’n croesi ffiniau corfforol neu seicolegol)
- Sut mae cof a lle yn dylanwadu ar berfformio a derbyn defod?
- Sut mae prosiectau celf lleoliad-benodol sy’n gysylltiedig â defod yn cael eu derbyn gan gynulleidfaoedd / cyfranogwyr?
- Sut gallai prosiectau sy’n cysylltu â chymuned a lle gyfrannu at fywyd diwylliannol Aberteifi yn y tymor byr a’r tymor hirach?

Date / Dyddiad: Saturday 24th May / Sadwrn 24 Mai
Venue / Lleoliad: Small World Theatre, Cardigan / Theatr Byd Bychan, Aberteifi
Time / Amser: 9.30 am – 5:30 pm

The symposium is free and open to anyone interested in the above themes. Lunch,
teas and coffees will be available at a cost of £6 per head. Booking is essential. To
reserve a place please contact Ruth Jones on 07980901807 or by email at info@holyhiatus.co.uk

Mae mynediad am ddim i’r symposiwm ac mae ar agor i unrhyw un sydd â diddordeb yn y themâu uchod. Bydd cinio, te a choffi ar gael ar gost o £6 y pen. Rhaid archebu lle a gellir gwneud hynny drwy gysylltu â Ruth Jones ar 07980901807 neu drwy e-bost ar info@holyhiatus.co.uk

Directions to Small World Theatre

Symposium Programme (PDF)

Wed 21st
8.27 am, Simon Whitehead starts from the Old Town Bridge over Teifi.
3.09 pm, Returns through town.
Thurs 22nd
8.59 am, Simon Whitehead starts from bridge.
3.48 pm, Returns through town.
4 – 6.35 pm and 7.15 – 10.30 pm
Maura Hazelden and Lou Laurens, Small World Theatre
Fri 23rd
9.31am Simon Whitehead starts from bridge.
4.18pm Returns through town.
5am - 5pm Alastair MacLennan, Venue: footbridge over the Teifi adjacent to the Old Town Bridge.
5.30pm Yvonne Buchheim, Public Event Cardigan Swimming Pool.
7 - 9pm Anna Lucas, Exhibition Opening and Project Launch, Pendre Art Gallery.
(Food available from £5 p/h)
Sat 24th
9.30am - 5.30pm, Symposium, Small World Theatre.
Anna Lucas exhibition continues 10 am – 5 pm, Pendre Art Gallery
Mon 26th – Sat 31st
Anna Lucas exhibition continues 10 am – 5 pm, Pendre Art Gallery

Mercher 21
Simon Whitehead yn dechrau o’r hen bont dros afon Teifi 8.27 yb. Dychwelyd drwy’r dref am 3:09 yp
Iau 22
Simon Whitehead yn dechrau o’r hen bont dros afon Teifi am 8.59 yb. Dychwelyd drwy’r dref am 3:48 yp
Maura Hazelden a Lou Laurens, Theatr Byd Bychan
4 – 6.35 yp a 7.15 – 10.30 yp
Gwener 23
Simon Whitehead yn dechrau o’r hen bont dros afon Teifi 9.31 yb. Dychwelyd drwy’r dref am 4:18 yp
Alastair MacLennan, pont droed ger yr hen bont dros afon Teifi, 5 yb – 5 yp
Yvonne Buchheim, Digwyddiad Cyhoeddus Pwll Nofio Aberteifi 5.30 yp
Anna Lucas, Agor Arddangosfa a Lansio Prosiect, Oriel Pendre 7 – 9 yp. Bwyd ar gael o £5 y pen
Sadwrn 24
Symposiwm, Theatr y Byd Bach, 9.30 yb – 5.30 yp.
Arddangosfa Anna Lucas yn parhau 10 yb – 5 yp, Oriel Pendre
Llun 26 – Sad 31 Arddangosfa Anna Lucas yn parhau 10 yb – 5 yp, Oriel Pendre

Ruth Jones is interested to gather audience feedback about this project and would like to interview people who have witnessed or participated in any of the events for Holy Hiatus. If you would like to share your experiences of the project, please phone or email:

I gael rhagor o wybodaeth, gweler y wefan. Mae Ruth Jones yn awyddus i gasglu adborth gan y gynulleidfa am y prosiect hwn a hoffai gyfweld â phobl sydd wedi tystio i neu gyfrannu i unrhyw un o ddigwyddiadau Holy Hiatus. Os hoffech rannu eich profiadau o’r prosiect, ffoniwch neu e-bostiwch:

Email / E-bost: info@holyhiatus.co.uk
Phone / Ffôn: 07980901807