Sunday, 23 July 2017

"pagan" by Andrei Liankevich & "I let myself be bird" by Stanka Koleva

Evening everyone,


Andrei Liankevich's show "pagan" has been on in 76m2 for two weeks now, so here are some more images for you to see! Make sure you come and visit if you can, and also watch a video made by Andrei to accompany his book. If anyone has trouble getting to the gallery, or worries about catching their connections back, just get in touch with us and we may be able to help you out!








you can also come and see a show that you've missed! 


We'd also like to remind you about Stanka Koleva's show in Brynmawr's Market Hall Cinema - it's open and free for everyone to see during the cinema's screening hours. It's well worth the trip to visit the oldest cinema in Wales, and they do make a great cuppa :-) There are beautiful exhibition postcards available, also free of charge, so make sure you pick up your "I let myself be bird" souvenir when you're there! The show is on till the end of July.

















Saturday, 15 July 2017

"pagan" by Andrei Liankevich - first week

Afternoon everyone,


Andrei's solo exhibition "pagan" has been open since Tuesday and we'd like to share some photos from the installation and the opening day. The show will run in 76m2, Pontypool until the 4th of August, Tuesday to Saturday, 11 to 18 - you can find directions to the gallery on our website







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We'll be posting more photos here and on our facebook page next week!






Monday, 10 July 2017

"pagan" gan Andrei Liankevich

Arddangosfa gan y ffotograffydd Belarwsaidd Andrei Liankevich yw “pagan”, sy’n cofnodi traddodiadau gwerin yn Belarws sy’n deillio o oes cyn dyfodiad Cristnogaeth yn y 10fed ganrif ac sy’n dal i gael eu harfer yng nghefn gwlad Belarws. Fel pobl mewn mannau a diwylliannau eraill, roedd pobl Dwyrain Ewrop yn gwrthod rhoi’r gorau i’w traddodiadau, gan barhau i’w harddel, tra mabwysiadodd lledaenwyr y gred newydd rai o’r arferion paganaidd er mwyn denu mwy o bobl i’w dilyn, gan greu cymysgedd eclectig a hynod ddiddorol.

Dengys project Andrei sut y mae defodau na ŵyr pobl drefol, fodern nemor ddim amdanynt, neu sydd ond yn gyfarwydd i’r rhan fwyaf trwy luniau mewn llyfrau hanes neu ymweliadau ag amgueddfeydd ethnograffig, yn dal yn fyw ac iach yng nghefn gwlad. Mae Andrei yn cyfleu manylion ac awyrgylch defodau a dathliadau a gynhelir ar hyd y flwyddyn, yn gysylltiedig â’r calendr amaethyddol a chrefyddol, sydd wedi goroesi ar hyd y canrifoedd.

Yng ngeiriau Svetlana Poleschuk, ymchwilydd ac awdur y rhagarweiniad i lyfr Andrei, “Goroesodd cred baganaidd bob cyfundrefn gymdeithasol-wleidyddol, gan ddiogelu’r peth pwysicaf: sylw arbennig a pharch at natur. Gall unrhyw wrthrych sy’n ymddangos yn ddinod ar yr olwg gyntaf fel carreg, coeden, planhigyn, torch, neu ffordd fod wedi ei gynysgaeddu ag ystyr symbolaidd a’i animeiddio; mae’n dod â lwc dda, yn gwneud y daith i’r byd a ddaw yn haws, yn gwella afiechyd, yn cadw rhag drwg, yn rhoi harddwch, yn rhagddweud y dyfodol. (...) Mae treiddio i gyfrinachedd y traddodiad gwerin a chreu delwedd anarferol, gyfriniol bron, o bentref Belsrwsaidd yn yr oes hon yn gwneud project Andrei yn wahanol i unrhyw beth a wnaed yn ffotograffiaeth Belarws cyn hyn, ac yn wahanol i ffotograffiaeth Belarws yn gyffredinol. Nid dim ond cyfres o bortreadau seicolegol mo hwn, nac ymgais syml i ddogfennu ffordd o fyw: mae’n ymchwil doeth a gofalus i haen gyfan o ddiwylliant, yn fwriadol rydd o’r gwleidyddoli sydd bellach yn nodweddiadol o unrhyw drafodaeth o bynciau’n ymwneud â Belarws. ‘Ceisiais ateb y cwestiwn pwy oeddem ni’n flaenorol a phwy ydym ni bellach, fel Belarwsiaid’, meddai Andrei Liankevich.” 

Mae Andrei’n ddarlithydd ffoto-newyddiaduraeth yn Vilnius, Lithwania, ac ef yw trefnydd Mis o Ffotograffiaeth ym Minsk. Mae’n rhan o SPUTNIK, casgliad o ffotograffwyr dogfennol o ganolbarth a dwyrain Ewrop.

“pagan” yw'r pumed mewn cyfres o 9 arddangosfa a drefnwyd yn 76m2 gan y*brosiect*kickplate, gyda chefnogaeth gan Gyngor Celfyddydau Cymru, Datblygu Celfyddydau Cyngor Torfaen a Chyngor Cymuned Pont-y-pŵl.

Gallwch weld gwaith Andrei ar ei dudalen.

11fed Gorffennaf – 4ydd Awst

Dydd Mawrth – Dydd Sadwrn, 11:00 – 18:00


2 Adeiladau Portland
Stryd Fasnachol
Pont-y-pŵl
 Torfaen 
NP4 6JS


Wednesday, 5 July 2017

"pagan" by Andrei Liankevich opens 11th July




“pagan” is an exhibition by Belarusian photographer Andrei Liankevich who captured folk traditions in Belarus dating back to the times before its Christianisation in the 10th century that continue to be practised in rural Belarus. Like in many other places and cultures, Eastern Europeans were unwilling to abandon their traditions and continued to practise them, while propagators of the new faith adopted some of the pagan customs to persuade more people to join, leading to the creation of an eclectic and fascinating mix.

Andrei’s project shows how the rites that are known to modern town-dwellers only to a limited extent, familiar to most people through illustrations in history books or visits to ethnographic museums, are still alive and well in the countryside. Andrei has rendered the detail and atmosphere of rituals and celebrations that take place throughout the year, linked to the agricultural and religious calendar, which survived throughout the centuries. 

In the words of Svetlana Poleschuk, researcher who wrote the introduction to Andrei’s book, “Pagan belief survived all socio-political regimes and preserved the most important thing: special attention and respect for the nature.  Any object banal at a first glance such as a stone, a tree, a plant, a wreath, or a road appears to be endowed with a symbolic meaning and animated: it brings luck, makes the transition to the afterlife easier, cures disease, protects from evil, gives beauty, bedevils, foretells the future. (…) Penetration into the folk tradition’s secrecy and creation of an unusual, almost mystical image of the present-day Belarusian village distinguish Andrei’s project from everything done in Belarusian photography before him and from photography of Belarus in general. This is not just series of psychological portraits and not just a simple documentation of a way of life; this is a prudent and careful research of an entire cultural layer deliberately free from any politicisation that has become nowadays typical of coverage of Belarusian topics. ‘I tried to answer the question who we were earlier and who we are at the moment being Belarusians’, says Andrei Liankevich”. 

Andrei is a photojournalism lecturer in Vilnius, Lithuania, and the organizer of Month of Photography in Minsk. He’s part of SPUTNIK, a collective of Eastern and Central European documentary photographers: www.sputnikphotos.com

You can find Andrei’s work on his website.

Welsh info coming soon!

"pagan" opens on the 11th of July at 2.

it is the fifth in a series of 9 exhibitions organised in 76m2 by the*kickplate*project, with the support from the Arts Council of Wales, Torfaen Council’s Arts Development and Pontypool Community Council.
11/07 - 4/08
Tuesday - Saturday, 11am - 6pm

2 Portland Building
Commercial Street
Pontypool
Torfaen
NP4 6JS



Monday, 3 July 2017

"physalis" ending

Morning!

Last Saturday, we closed Alexey Shportun's solo exhibition "physalis" - and we'd like to thank Alexey for letting us show his beautiful still lifes in Pontypool and to everyone who's come to visit over the past 3 weeks! Here are few more photos of the exhibition:


 

  






You can find more photos from the exhibition on our website and facebook page.


Our next show, "pagan" by Belarusian photographer Andrei Liankevich, is opening on the 11th of July - more info coming soon!

Also, remember to catch Stanka Koleva's "I let myself be bird", which is on in Brynmawr's Market Hall Cinema till the end of the month, open during the cinema's screenings.