: transcript - full: transcript - extract: transcript summaryVideo 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) |
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 of Wales in Wrexham. The event, entitled How the Past Perishes - How the Future Becomes, was curated under the banner of the Free International University by Caroline Tisdall, then critic at the Guardian, and Timothy Emlyn Jones and organised for the WAC by Andrew Knight. 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, among others. The 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' (S.Hourahane).
Timothy Emlyn Jones is Dean of Burren College of Art. Originally
a performance artist who has exhibited with Beuys, Brisley and 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.
John Chris Jones, Timothy Emlyn Jones and Andrew Knight were in conversation about the international performance programme at the Wrexham Eisteddfod 1977. |
