THE VALLEYS RE-PRESENTED | ART PREVIEW
Tramshed, Cardiff
Wed 1-Fri 31 May
Admission: Free
words: Bill Knowles
Mention “the valleys” and you tend, these days, to conjure one of two particular sets of images: the first a kind of drunken, vain idiocy – perpetuated by the area’s eponymous reality show – and the second a stark socio-economic depression, the devastating result of the mine closures.
This kind of coverage has been largely detrimental to perceptions of the valleys – blocking, with its simplistic characterisation of the people who live there, more accurate portrayals of valleys life. It’s a life with an intricate social tapestry, steeped in its very own rich history, but one that is continually smudged by caricature and lazy conjecture.
In The Valleys Re-Presented, arts development agency Ffotogallery has compiled a photographic meta-narrative to counter this perception. Works by a stellar collection of contemporary photographers make up the exhibition (Zhao Renhui, Alicia Bruce, Huw Davies, David Barnes, David Bailey, John Davies, Peter Fraser, Francesca Odell, Ron McCormick, to name but a few), and it is all threaded through with historical and vernacular accounts, presenting the many different facets of life in the valleys. The project began in 1984 and ran till 1990, taking in works about the valleys in many different photographic forms.
On show as part of the exhibition is a piece developed by David Bailey in his 1985 visit to the valleys: a breathtaking portfolio of seductive black and white images which reflects an outsider’s detached sense of bewilderment when faced with the austere geographical and social conditions of the region. There will also be a unique 20×10 billboard hoarding artwork by Wally Waygood, which was commissioned in October 1989 to create on a site at Dowlais top, Merthyr.
The scope and range of the project has spread since its completion, and has become a fantastic, self-perpetuating community project. The works have been shown in a wide variety of venue, and all the (450+) photographs made for the Valleys Project are available for loan and research to schools, colleges, community groups and gallery members.
In all, The Valleys Re-Presented is a sprawling, fantastically involving exhibition of art-cum-social history, and well worth a visit for anyone interested in either.
Info: 029 2034 1667 / www.diffusionfestival.org