5 Gorffennaf 2023 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Oriel gelf gyfoes genedlaethol: sesiwn tystiolaeth 2 - grwpiau buddiant
—and I find that quite a difficult concept, then, to grasp, because we're not actually then talking about contemporary art; we're talking about anything else we seek to define as 'contemporary' or 'influential'. I think, then, you just get into some sort of…
5 Gorffennaf 2023 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Oriel gelf gyfoes genedlaethol: sesiwn tystiolaeth 2 - grwpiau buddiant
Yes, look, we can always make that argument, but by making that argument, of course, you make the definition completely irrelevant then, don't you? You just water it down to virtually nothing—
5 Gorffennaf 2023 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Oriel gelf gyfoes genedlaethol: sesiwn tystiolaeth 2 - grwpiau buddiant
I'm not saying it's not a good thing; what I'm saying is: does it answer the right question? And that's a different issue.
5 Gorffennaf 2023 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Oriel gelf gyfoes genedlaethol: sesiwn tystiolaeth 2 - grwpiau buddiant
I understand that. I think that's a reasonable argument, as it happens. But surely, and this is where—. You've all said things that are subtly different this morning, actually, in your evidence to us. I'm trying to work out exactly how to rationalise that…
5 Gorffennaf 2023 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Oriel gelf gyfoes genedlaethol: sesiwn tystiolaeth 2 - grwpiau buddiant
Chris, how does it take us to a different level, because to me, it seems to be replicating, exactly as you say, what happens at the moment? I don't understand how the distributed model we're debating this morning actually does take these matters to a…
5 Gorffennaf 2023 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Oriel gelf gyfoes genedlaethol: sesiwn tystiolaeth 2 - grwpiau buddiant
The Smithsonian is a huge institution. It's a huge institution. It's bigger than the Welsh Government. I don't think it's realistic to suggest that we're going to be able to in any way replicate that.
5 Gorffennaf 2023 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Oriel gelf gyfoes genedlaethol: sesiwn tystiolaeth 2 - grwpiau buddiant
Yes. I think we're talking about things that are entirely different in nature, but yes, I'll leave it at that.
5 Gorffennaf 2023 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Oriel gelf gyfoes genedlaethol: sesiwn tystiolaeth 2 - grwpiau buddiant
But we're talking about a very different scale of activity, aren't we, in terms of what I can see in the paperwork in front of me. So, we're not talking about major galleries here; we're talking about relatively small-scale galleries.
5 Gorffennaf 2023 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Oriel gelf gyfoes genedlaethol: sesiwn tystiolaeth 2 - grwpiau buddiant
Yes, yes. But we're not talking here about establishing four or five Tate galleries, are we? We're talking about something that is on an entirely—
5 Gorffennaf 2023 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Oriel gelf gyfoes genedlaethol: sesiwn tystiolaeth 2 - grwpiau buddiant
You're director of Mostyn, okay. Okay, thank you for that.
5 Gorffennaf 2023 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Oriel gelf gyfoes genedlaethol: sesiwn tystiolaeth 2 - grwpiau buddiant
I don't know where you actually are, Alfredo, I'm afraid. You represent the Visual Arts Society, as far as I can see in my notes, but—
5 Gorffennaf 2023 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Oriel gelf gyfoes genedlaethol: sesiwn tystiolaeth 2 - grwpiau buddiant
Yes, and international character.
5 Gorffennaf 2023 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Oriel gelf gyfoes genedlaethol: sesiwn tystiolaeth 2 - grwpiau buddiant
The purpose of a local museum is to do exactly that, though, isn't it? It's to tell the story of that locality. We've relatively small museums in each one of the towns I represent, which try to tell the story of that town, but there's a material difference…
5 Gorffennaf 2023 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Oriel gelf gyfoes genedlaethol: sesiwn tystiolaeth 2 - grwpiau buddiant
Okay, but we need to start—know where the starting point is. But, okay, fair enough. Let's go to the others.
5 Gorffennaf 2023 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Oriel gelf gyfoes genedlaethol: sesiwn tystiolaeth 2 - grwpiau buddiant
But where are we today? Do we have the access to contemporary art that you would anticipate from a relatively small European country, in relative terms? Do we have that access today?
5 Gorffennaf 2023 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Oriel gelf gyfoes genedlaethol: sesiwn tystiolaeth 2 - grwpiau buddiant
I just wanted to clarify the answer to this question. It's: so, where are we today? I accept what you're saying about access in the future and the rest of it, and I've got no issue with any of that, and, quite frankly, I'd expect the contemporary art society…
5 Gorffennaf 2023 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Oriel gelf gyfoes genedlaethol: sesiwn tystiolaeth 2 - grwpiau buddiant
Yes—
5 Gorffennaf 2023 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Oriel gelf gyfoes genedlaethol: sesiwn tystiolaeth 2 - grwpiau buddiant
Yes, assuming it's true. But my question, with due respect, Ms Harding, was: where are we today? Where is our starting point?
5 Gorffennaf 2023 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Oriel gelf gyfoes genedlaethol: sesiwn tystiolaeth 2 - grwpiau buddiant
But you're very clear about what contemporary art is, and it is not the past; it's the present. We just need to clarify that for the record. I don't want to put words into your mouth, so I'm anxious that you accept my interpretation of what you're saying—or…
5 Gorffennaf 2023 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Oriel gelf gyfoes genedlaethol: sesiwn tystiolaeth 2 - grwpiau buddiant
Sure, but, from my perspective, we're trying here to identify something, and a concept and a project. So, if you say, contemporary art is today, but also that that influenced it from 100 years ago, you're not actually seeing anything at all, are you? You're…
5 Gorffennaf 2023 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Oriel gelf gyfoes genedlaethol: sesiwn tystiolaeth 2 - grwpiau buddiant
I'm interested, because we're talking about a contemporary art gallery, so we need to know what we're talking about. Wales has a number of national collections, the vast majority, as far as I can see—or most, anyway, shall we say—of which is historical. So…
5 Gorffennaf 2023 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Oriel gelf gyfoes genedlaethol: sesiwn tystiolaeth 2 - grwpiau buddiant
So, not art that was created 100 years ago.
5 Gorffennaf 2023 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Oriel gelf gyfoes genedlaethol: sesiwn tystiolaeth 2 - grwpiau buddiant
So, not art that was created a century or so ago.
5 Gorffennaf 2023 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Oriel gelf gyfoes genedlaethol: sesiwn tystiolaeth 2 - grwpiau buddiant
So, not art that was produced—
5 Gorffennaf 2023 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Oriel gelf gyfoes genedlaethol: sesiwn tystiolaeth 2 - grwpiau buddiant
How do you define contemporary art?
