art HIS DARK MATERIALS – WORLD BUILDING


IN WALES Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea Fri 2 Dec-Sun 23 Apr


His Dark Materials, a BBC drama series based on the extraordinarily popular trilogy of fantasy novels by Philip Pullman, has been a televisual talking point since it debuted just over three years ago. Filmed at Bad Wolf Studios in Cardiff and elsewhere on location in Wales, with third series The Amber Spyglass premiering this month in the USA, it’s been an unquestionablesuccess, and emblematic of the growing Welsh market for location filming.


Now, with World Building In Wales, fans can get a more tactile look at HDM, and see all that goes into a TV production.


which launches in Swansea’s Glynn Vivian Art Gallery just a few days before the third season itself, takes viewers from the first stages, such as concept art and props, to costumes and visual effects footage.


The exhibition,


World Building… showcases the artistry and craft of many people who dedicated their time and efforts


to create the show. A behind-the- scenes exhibition highlighting domestic talent, it’s an embodiment of hard work showcased through the stages of pre-production, post- production,


occur in between, throughout the three HDM seasons to date.


and whatever may


With the promise of props such as the amber glass, the subtle knife or alethiometer – instantly recognisable to dedicated viewers – as well as larger


World Building… will showcase costumes, illustrations,


boards and videos. The Glynn Vivian, will also work with Screen Alliance Wales, organising masterclasses and workshops involving the exhibits.


Admission: FREE. Info: swansea.gov.uk/ glynnvivian EWA PAŁKA


set pieces, concept


BIRDS AND EMPTY CAGES


Until Sat 24 Dec This


latterly-displaced talent of three Ukrainian artists:


exhibition highlights the


Roman Nedopaka and Oleksandra Davydenko. While their homeland remains wartorn for the foreseeable future, they like thousands of others have been forced to find refuge in the UK – specifically northwest Wales’ Llyn Peninsula, location of the grand 19th-century country house Plas Glyn-Y-Weddw and its art gallery.


Alla Chakir,


Chakir’s artworks focus on everyday life but with a twist – her paintings evoke fairytales. The specific brush strokes and the colours create an otherworldy experience while still emanating a warm feeling of safety. Nedopaka is Chakir’s son, and his oil paintings are filled with movement – be it that of grass, water or birds – his canvases turning into surrealistic scenes that can be easily mistaken for a stolen moment in time. Nedopaka’s partner Davydenko combines watercolour landscapes with the use of textiles, creating an interesting reminiscence of the world’s beauty, so easily overlooked in everyday life.


Admission: FREE. Info: oriel.org.uk EWA PAŁKA


30


GOLD MARIA AKANBI:


Oriel Plas Glyn-Y-Weddw, Pwlhelli


In


exhibition, Gold Maria Akanbi draws on both the aquatic world – most notably, the seven-mile deep Marina Trench, in the Pacific Ocean – and the spiritual dimension for her inspiration. Underwater Utopia represents her search for stimulating the senses through different textiles, sculptures, paintings and sound, and a


her newest multidisciplinary


world’s powers hidden within its deepest places. Erosion of marine species and the impact of rising sea levels have both been cited in the exhibition notes as further creative fuel.


yearning to discover the


Of British-Nigerian dual heritage and a recent graduate from Oxford University’s Ruskin School Of Fine Art, Akanbi divides her time between there, Kent and Liverpool. For Underwater Utopia, there are nods to historical and spiritual material, including the òrìsà spirits found in West African Yorùbá folklore, and the mystical alchemical properties of the philosophers’ stone cited down the centuries.


Admission: FREE. Info: llantarnamgrange.com EWA PAŁKA


UNDERWATER UTOPIA Llantarnam Grange Arts Centre, Cwmbran Until Sat 21 Jan


45TH PARALLEL Spike Island, Bristol Until Sun 29 Jan


backdrops, accompanied by 15 minutes of video. Lawrence Abu Hamdan, inspired by the definition of borders and their many meanings, created a film which in part documents the Haskel Free Library & Opera House. This structure is under the jurisdiction of both Canada and the USA, as it was built on the Quebec-Vermont border. Inside the building, a line indicating that border’s precise placement stretches across it.


The 45th Parallel is a unique installation


of two painted


The video, meanwhile, is a monologue in four acts, written by Hamdan (who also adds a pedal steel-heavy soundtrack) and performed by Mahdi Fleifel. It references a North American event of significant legality, and lethality: the 2010 shooting of Mexican teen Sergio


Güereca by US border agent Jesus Mesa Jr, on the border between the USA and Mexico. The precise positioning prevented Mesa, who stood on American soil while firing, from prosecution under the US constitution.


Adrián Hernández


Admission: FREE. Info: spikeisland.org.uk EWA PAŁKA


LAWRENCE ABU HAMDAN:


PASSING THROUGH… Aberystwyth Arts Centre Until Sun 8 Jan


Featuring works by two artists, British photojournalist Glenn Edwards and British-Jamaican photographer Vanley Burke, We’re Not Just Passing Through… documents both the past and present of African and Caribbean communities in the UK.


The contrast between the black and white film stills of Burke, whose photos depict Anglo-Caribbean culture in the Midlands, and the full-colour digital shots taken by Edwards – who looks at people of African heritage across Wales – reflects the time and effort undertaken by those communities while settling


experiencing a new, different life but still maintaining the tradition of their ancestors.


in a new country,


Burke’s work is very much post- Windrush, in that it dates from the 1970s-90s, when the first generation of Caribbean nationals had firmly established lives in the UK. Conversely, Edwards portrays more contemporary African communities, comprising people finding a home in Wales.


Admission: FREE. Info: aberystwythartscentre. co.uk EWA PAŁKA


WE’RE NOT JUST


Vanley Burke


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