The Art of Regeneration

“Look closer. You will find an enchantment, an abdication of metropolitan fret and status-struggle in favour of a leisurely logging of elements; a landscape that is out of time, unresolved. In transition. Memorials of discontinued industries. New money spent on new things. Hillsides learning to disguise their wounds.” Iain Sinclair.

From ‘The Valleys’ by Anthony Stokes.

THE ART OF REGENERATION?

The Art of Regeneration is a project initiated by Nichola Goff in partnership with University of South Wales gallery, Oriel Y Bont, situated in Treforest in the South Wales valleys. Nichola collaborated with artists, Sharon Magill and Natalia Dias to connect local community groups with the gallery collection of artworks and the Pontypridd museum archives to creatively respond to the theme of regeneration. The artists worked with Artis Community and their group The Crafty Cuppa’s, Pontypridd museum staff and RCT Creative Writers group as well as children at Parc Lewis school and USW Games design students. Participants were encouraged to think about the changes they have experienced in the South Wales valleys landscape as well as in their communities and the change they would like to see take place. The project culminated in an exhibition at Oriel Y Bont December 2019 - March 2020.

“The exhibition focuses on how the local area has been transformed from a rural idyll to an industrial powerhouse, before entering a period of post-industrial economic decline during the 1980s that communities, institutions and politicians have sought to counter. This, together with the way attitudes and pressures on the environment have changed from the demands of unbridled exploitation to the need for sustainable development and conservation prompt the question: what is the art of regeneration?“ Chris Nurse, Oriel Y Bont curator.

Film produced by Sharon Magill, shown at The Art of Regeneration exhibition, Oriel Y Bont December 2019 - March 2020 Narrated by Nichola Goff

The project began with the Crafty Cuppa’s group visiting the collection at Oriel Y Bont, selecting artworks from the collection and sharing stories that the themes and imagery evoked. The group participated in creative workshops being supported by the artists to create work. The group produced artist books with Sharon Magill, embedded clay houses with plants from local spoil tips with Natalia Dias, then screen printed stencils of the spoil tip plants with inks made from ochre pigment from old coal mines in the Forest of Dean with Nichola Goff. The work produced along with artwork from the artists and creative writing from RCT creative writers was exhibited in the gallery alongside the selected works from the collection. The show, curated by the artists and gallery curator took on an organic feel in the space, with the work growing over the walls with maps of the rivers in the landscape, poetry and interactive audio pieces that played recordings of the stories told by the community.