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Eisteddfod 2000 |
artist(s):
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Peter Finnemore, Elfyn Lewis |
| location |
Llanelli [south west Wales] |
| completed |
August 2000 |
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Since 1994 Cywaith Cymru . Artworks Wales have organised a 'special project' at the National Eisteddfod site every year. These vary from Day Events or Performances to week-long projects and have always given artists the opportunity and freedom to explore subjects with few constraints. During the Millennium year at Llanelli local artist Peter Finnemore was chosen to lead a week-long installation and performance project with Cardiff-based artist Elfyn Lewis working with him. This became our largest Eisteddfod project to date and also proved to be very popular.
Take one artist Peter Finnemore (photographer, film maker, and installation artist) combine him with another Elfyn Lewis (painter) and put them inside a large tented structure called an acropolis and you have the perfect setting for a week of truly wonderful and often bizarre happenings.
Peter Finnemore hails from Pontiets, near Llanelli. The home in which he lives in and the large garden which surrounds his house is the inspiration for much of his works. Many of his installations are directly related to the horticultural theme, the sunflower being one of the most prominent features. His photographs are instantly recognisable and have formed the basis for an increased appreciation of his work internationally.
When we invited Peter to work with us as lead artist his initial response was one of excitement. He then went away to work on an idea returning some days alter with a proposal based upon the classic 1960 Zegar & Evans song ‘In The Year 2525’. His idea was to create an environment inside the acropolis which looked towards the future and which, on a daily basis, would recreate in miniature a particular year from the song, starting in the year 2525 and continuing until 9595. This environment would also have the theme of regeneration and renewal symbolised by a charred shed and a display of flora of which the sunflower was central. The shed as also to become a launching pad for some of the more slightly eccentric personalities that Peter had invited to perform on particular days, and accompanying him throughout this journey into the future would be Elfyn Lewis. Elfyn is a painter based in Cardiff but originally from Porthmadog, and many of his large colourful painting were set amongst the plants that covered the interior walls of the acropolis.
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The week officially began on Saturday 5th of August (2525) but we had been preparing behind the scenes for a number days beforehand.
Peter had decided that a shed was required to ‘slightly burn’ and it would be eventually placed inside the acropolis. The performances were to take place around the shed inside and outside the acropolis. An appeal was launched on Radio Cymru for someone to donate an unused old shed and within two minutes we had been offered the perfect shed.
With the shed secured we could begin…
Monday 7th August (3535) Peter and Eflyn ‘slightly burn’ the shed with blowtorches. This symbolised the burning of the RAF shed by Saunders Lewis, Lewis Valentine and DJ Williams in the 1930’s and a stirring of Welsh consciousness.
Tuesday 8th August (4545) The shed was moved inside the tent and the poet Elinor Wyn Reynolds began a recital from inside followed in the afternoon by a man known only as Tim Drum who began to beat out his own rhythm towards the next century.
Wednesday 9th August (5555) The oracle in the shed. An opportunity for the public to ask questions of the oracle, but in particular of his chosen year of 5555. Placed in the shed with only a net curtain as a barrier, questions were put to a microphone outside and responded to with a booming voice.
Thursday 10th August (6565) Wyn Lodwick from Pwll, near Llanelli performed a selection of old and new songs on his clarinet. A jazz legend all over Wales and further afield he responded to the horticultural environment of the acropolis by playing to the many species of plant life present.
Friday 11th August (7575) Mid-afternoon saw an alternative chairing ceremony by Peter and Elfyn. Outside in the bright sunshine, laying a wreath of oak leaves upon a wooden dining chair, they preceded to burn it whilst simultaneously actor Rhodri Miles, accompanied the ceremony with storytelling, wooing the crowds dressed in his fathers druid’s gown and resembling a young Lawrence of Arabia. Later on in the day was a special rendition of the Zegar & Evans song 2525 in Welsh. This special arrangement composed by members of the band Rocket Goldstar, was performed twice by a local choir due to popular demand.
Saturday 12th August (9595) I’m kinda wondering if man’s gonna be alive’… By the end of the week everyone was exhausted and Saturday was a day to reflect on the week’s events.
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At the same time as the performances were taking place other facets of Cywaith Cymru’s work were exhibited throughout the week in the pavilion. One was a giant lightbox, twelve feet in length and five feet high, on which was mounted the 2001 slides of portraits taken at the 1996 Llandeilo Eisteddfod in a project initiated and led by Cardiff artist Robert Kennedy. Four years later hundreds of people came to see themselves, their friends and celebrities, and see how styles had changed in a few short years. The slides have now been presented to the National Library of Wales as a permanent archive of Welsh faces at the turn of the Millennium.
There was also a free-standing set of glazed ash panels of work led by artists Helen Kozich and Morag Colquhoun. This was Powys County Council’s Millennium Community Arts Project which involved 14 communities in both north and south Powys and resulted in beautifully crafted wood and lino cut prints made with Helen and love spoons made with Morag being mounted in the specially made panels.
Also on display was a photographic exhibition of work by artists Mick Petts, Richard Harris and Mike Fairfax at the Llanelli Millennium Coastal Park.
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