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Transcript summary: Please click here Video extract: J.C.Jones, T.E.Jones and Andrew Knight in conversation with Heike Roms, 22 February 2007 (edited) Please wait a moment for the video to
load. This year, also, in collaboration with the Welsh Arts Council, we are presenting something that is completely new to the Eisteddfod field - Performing Arts. In the second pavilion we offer you a journey through time and through the Celtic world, giving a new look to the Celtic inheritance in a way which is not entirely traditional: there will be an exhibition of images and prints, and each day different artists will convey their message, not by drawing and sculpture but by performing with the aim of stimulating discussion and discourse with the audience. We expect this to be one of the most exciting events in the cultural field in Wales during the last few years. (Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Frenhinol Cymru 1977)
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Timothy Emlyn Jones, John Chris Jones and Andrew KnightThu 22 Feb 2007 In 1977 the Welsh Arts Council organised a week-long exhibition of international performance art at the Royal National Eisteddfod in Wrexham. The event was curated under the banner of the Free International University by Caroline Tisdall, then critic at the Guardian, and Timothy Emlyn Jones. Exhibitors involved Joseph Beuys, Mario and Merisa Merz, Jannis Kounellis, Brian O'Doherty/Patrick Ireland, Rose Finn-Kelcey, Tina Keane, Nigel Rolfe, John Chris Jones and Timothy Emlyn Jones. The public press reacted in a predictable way, condemning the venture for its 'shocking waste of public money', and questions were asked of the Welsh secretary. The occasion also became known for the (unofficial) interventions staged by locally based Welsh artist Paul Davies, whose Welsh Not and Spiral Gag actions created at the Eisteddfod are widely regarded as 'the inception of a self-conscious contemporary Welsh political art' (Shelagh Hourahane).
Timothy Emlyn Jones and John Chris Jones were in conversation about their involvement in the international performance programme at the National Eisteddfod in Wrexham in 1977. [An edited transcript of this conversation was published in: new welsh review Issue 76, Summer 2007]
Timothy Emlyn Jones is Dean of Burren College of Art. Originally a performance artist who has exhibited with Beuys, Stuart Brisley and John Latham, his recent work has centred on performative drawing considered as a process of enquiry. He exhibits internationally and is represented in public collections in a number of countries. John Chris Jones has been a pioneer of system design and futures research. His book Design Methods is regarded as a standard reference tool for designers. His approach to writing and publication is deeply performative, often using chance methods of composition. In recent years he has explored writing on the world-wide-web (softopia.demon.co.uk). Andrew Knight is a public art strategist and manager whose professional life centres around public engagement with contemporary culture in all its forms with a particular emphasis on the visual arts. He is a former chair of Public Art Forum and has worked for AIR and SPACE, the ICA, the Welsh Arts Council and in local authorities. |
