music
- With the arrival of the Cardiff City Music Festival, a mysterious black shipping container with the words "under neon loneliness" has appeared outside of the Central Railway Station. This is the work of a man named Mark James, who got his main inspiration from Toyko, in his words: “I was in Tokyo earlier this year and it just causes that feeling of being Under Neon Loneliness. You’ve got these really tall skyscrapers and the neon signs go all the way up the side. Each one is a different bar, a restaurant, a shop – you can have fourteen floors of different things going on." This installation will stick around until October 20th, so there's plenty of time to go and see it. However, the installation itself is quite loud and bright, so be cautious if that is something you struggle with.
- Upcoming muscisian L E M F R E C K has won the £10K Welsh music prise with his album "Blood, Sweat, and fears". Collecting his award from the stage, he had this to say: Thanks to my mum and my dad – as young black kid growing up, they constantly told me I could do anything and be anything." “This one goes to my community in Newport. If I didn’t see Benji (Webbe from shortlisted artist Skindred) doing it first I’m telling you now I would not be able to do this, so I’d like to thank him." “I’d like to talk about how important representation is…it’s not a box tick when artists like myself win awards like this – it’s a confirmation of art.”
- Frontman of 'The Alarm' Mike Peters is in a slow but reassuring recovery from an aggresive lymphoma (a kind of cancer) thanks to a drug trial from the NHS. Originally, after finding a lump in his neck ha dappeared overnight,his doctors told him that he had a few months left to live at best. However, through a stroke of luck and some experimentation from a randomised clinical trial he opulled through it.
Stores
Considering the very present art community in Wales, theres no suprise that indipendent stores exist selling crafts from other makers and artists. Here's a list of some of my personal favourites, as well as a few places to purchase tools and materials for cheap.
Cardiff Creative
Cardiff Creative describes itself as a Welsh craft gift shop, selling products from around 45 indipendent welsh artists, makers, and artisians. From my own personal experience, this shop is incredibly friendly (even when you come in 10 minutes before closing)! There's also something for almost everyone in Cardiff Creative, such as crystals, stickers, prints, resin work, crchet, and even felted soap. However, this shop isn't cheap, but that's okay considering that you're not only supporting indipendent artists, but also supporting a company that basically keeps those artists going through physically selling their items. This store is located in the Queens Arcade in the city centre, and is open from 10AM to 6Pm (apart from saturdays and sundays, that open at 9AM on the Saturday and close at 4PM on the Sunday.
Bibliography
Tabernacle art competition swansea open 2024 Contemporary art exhibition Albany Gallery exhibition Mark Jame's under neon lineliness L E M F R E C K wins the Welsh music prize Mike Peter's recovery Cardiff Creative placeholder