The Danish artists arrived on the 18th Sept for their week long visit to Wales and after a full weekend of visits to galleries and sites of interest in the area they had a hectic five days workshop to respond to their surroundings and produce work for display on the evening of the 26th Sept.
This year’s Interventions was far more ambitious in nature, with the High School as well as the Workhouse being used as venues for the construction and sighting of work by the artists, who were generous enough to make time in their tight schedule to talk to the pupils and show them examples of their previous work.
The period of the workshop was also sandwiched between three other public events which extended the overall programme to just short of one month.
The Preview Exhibition 9th Sept – 20th September was designed to introduce the public to the participating artists prior to the workshop itself. The show of information on and works by the ten artists very well attended, particularly by the pupils of Llanfyllin High School who monitored all the stages of the project .
The Danish Evening 23rd September when the visiting artists presented their work to the public and served refreshments of rye bread, pickled herrings and schnapps was well attended and extremely well received.
The Final Exhibition of the work produced during the workshop 26th September -2nd October allowed the public to make their own assessment of the value of the workshop and the interaction between the Welsh and Danish artists.
However, as anyone who is familiar with workshops or exchanges of this nature knows, it is the discussions in the back of the minibus, walking on the hills or sitting late in the evening that are most highly valued by the participants. The fact that these conversations are still continuing and plans for future exchanges being laid is perhaps a true measure of the success of the project.
We would like to thank all the participating artists, our technical co-ordinator Ian garland, the staff and pupils of Llanfyllin High School, Arts Connection Cyswllt Celf, Glasu, The Llanfyllin Workhouse, our local community and everyone who visited the events and engaged with the artists for their generosity of spirit and helping make Interventions Wales 2009 such a successful and enjoyable experience.
