0:00:02 > 0:00:04Hello and welcome to the BBC Wales Arts Review 2015.
0:00:04 > 0:00:07I'm at Pontio, Bangor University's long-awaited
0:00:07 > 0:00:09arts and innovation centre.
0:00:09 > 0:00:12After a long period of construction delays,
0:00:12 > 0:00:16the building is finally open, in landscaped surroundings
0:00:16 > 0:00:20and with public art, inspired by the area's slate quarrying history.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23From Bangor, we look back over the last 12 months.
0:00:43 > 0:00:44Coming up...
0:00:44 > 0:00:49Opera star Bryn Terfel celebrates his 50th birthday in great style.
0:00:51 > 0:00:55A Cardiff park's transformed into a magical place for all the family.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59Cardiff's homeless community becomes the subject
0:00:59 > 0:01:02of a powerful photography exhibition.
0:01:02 > 0:01:06Gary Owen's latest play triumphs at Sherman Cymru
0:01:06 > 0:01:09and now transfers to the National Theatre, London.
0:01:10 > 0:01:14And Kate Hamer's acclaimed debut novel, The Girl In The Red Coat,
0:01:14 > 0:01:18is nominated for the prestigious Costa First Novel Award.
0:01:20 > 0:01:23What an exciting year it's been!
0:01:30 > 0:01:33It's been a good year for Welsh music, with successful singers
0:01:33 > 0:01:36and bands in almost every genre.
0:01:36 > 0:01:38From opera superstars to
0:01:38 > 0:01:41songwriters penning the most successful pop song of the year,
0:01:41 > 0:01:46the vibrancy was perhaps underlined by one extraordinary day in June.
0:01:48 > 0:01:51With One Direction playing at the Wales Millennium Stadium
0:01:51 > 0:01:53and the Manic Street Preachers at Cardiff Castle,
0:01:53 > 0:01:57the capital was gridlocked with music fans.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59And A Design For Life could be heard rocking the castle walls
0:01:59 > 0:02:01for miles around.
0:02:05 > 0:02:10For the first time, the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards were staged in Wales.
0:02:10 > 0:02:149Bach from Bethesda won the coveted Best Album prize for Tincian.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18The first Welsh group to win this major competition,
0:02:18 > 0:02:21their success puts the Welsh folk scene firmly on the map.
0:02:21 > 0:02:24SHE SINGS IN WELSH
0:02:42 > 0:02:45# Roxanne... #
0:02:46 > 0:02:50Opera sensation Bryn Terfel celebrated his 50th birthday
0:02:50 > 0:02:54with a special concert at the Royal Albert Hall, with a stellar cast...
0:02:56 > 0:03:00..including former Police frontman Sting.
0:03:00 > 0:03:04# Roxanne
0:03:04 > 0:03:08# You don't have to put on the red light
0:03:08 > 0:03:12# Roxanne
0:03:12 > 0:03:18# You don't have to put on the red light
0:03:18 > 0:03:20# I love you since I knew ya
0:03:22 > 0:03:24# I wouldn't talk down to ya
0:03:26 > 0:03:30# I have to tell you just how I feel
0:03:30 > 0:03:33# I won't share you with another boy
0:03:35 > 0:03:38# You know my mind is made up
0:03:39 > 0:03:42# So put away your make-up
0:03:44 > 0:03:47# Told you once, I won't tell you again
0:03:47 > 0:03:51# It's a bad way
0:03:51 > 0:03:55- # Roxanne - Roxanne
0:03:55 > 0:03:58# You don't have to put on the red light
0:03:58 > 0:04:00# You don't have to put on the red light
0:04:00 > 0:04:04- # Roxanne - Roxanne
0:04:04 > 0:04:07# You don't have to put on the red light. #
0:04:09 > 0:04:13Welsh National Opera performed a musical for the first time in 2015 -
0:04:13 > 0:04:16Stephen Sondheim's great Sweeney Todd.
0:04:16 > 0:04:20And the WNO chorus won a Tosca, as it's known in the business,
0:04:20 > 0:04:25for Best Chorus in the prestigious International Opera Awards.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29# I never get angry... #
0:04:35 > 0:04:37Music Theatre Wales had an extraordinary first
0:04:37 > 0:04:39earlier this year.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42The Trial, by Philip Glass, opened in Germany,
0:04:42 > 0:04:47and Greek by Mark-Anthony Turnage was staged in South Korea,
0:04:47 > 0:04:49thousands of miles apart, on the same night!
0:04:49 > 0:04:52The company's been on trailblazing form.
0:04:57 > 0:05:02For singer-songwriter Amy Wadge, it was the most unbelievable year.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05The number-one song she wrote with singer Ed Sheeran,
0:05:05 > 0:05:08Thinking Out Loud, received two Grammy nominations,
0:05:08 > 0:05:12becoming one of the biggest hits of the world year worldwide.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15# Till we're 70
0:05:19 > 0:05:22# And, darling, my heart
0:05:22 > 0:05:27# Could still fall as hard at 23... #
0:05:28 > 0:05:32So, Thinking Out Loud has changed beyond my wildest dreams, really,
0:05:32 > 0:05:36what I would have been doing, just in terms of the writing that I do.
0:05:36 > 0:05:40I think that's the biggest change of all, is that I'm kind of edging
0:05:40 > 0:05:42towards the more acoustic country, sort of, thing.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46I still do other things that aren't that, but that's what I really love.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48And before, that door was quite firmly closed
0:05:48 > 0:05:50and it's not any more.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53And, I suppose, to be egotistical,
0:05:53 > 0:05:56the general respect thing has changed.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59You go to, like, you know, award ceremonies and when people
0:05:59 > 0:06:02used to go, "Oh, no, it's Amy Wadge," they don't do that any more.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05And it's quite nice. And I take it with a pinch of salt, as well.
0:06:05 > 0:06:10But, yeah, life has changed a lot in terms of the job I do
0:06:10 > 0:06:13but in lots of other ways, it's not changed that much, you know,
0:06:13 > 0:06:16because, luckily, I live in Wales.
0:06:16 > 0:06:22# Well, me, I fall in love with you every single day
0:06:22 > 0:06:27# And I just want to tell you I am... #
0:06:27 > 0:06:30I just love living here and I think that's the biggest thing.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33Everyone expected me to... You know, "When are you moving to London?"
0:06:33 > 0:06:35And I just think, why would I?
0:06:35 > 0:06:40Because I have a really simple, lovely life here and I can go
0:06:40 > 0:06:44and do the London thing and then I come home and I'm just Mum
0:06:44 > 0:06:47and my friends around here, you know,
0:06:47 > 0:06:51really don't really care what I do and, if I'm honest,
0:06:51 > 0:06:54if I say I've had a hard day, they're, like, "Yeah, whatever!
0:06:54 > 0:06:55"What, writing songs?" You know?
0:06:55 > 0:06:58And so it keeps me grounded and it's really important for me
0:06:58 > 0:07:03to have a healthy balance because I think, inevitably, you can
0:07:03 > 0:07:08believe all the hype and that's what it is - it's hype.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12And as wonderful as it is - I'm having a great time in the sun
0:07:12 > 0:07:15right now - but when that time passes, this will be here.
0:07:15 > 0:07:19This will be what's real for me and that's really important.
0:07:19 > 0:07:27# Maybe we found love right where we are. #
0:07:42 > 0:07:45The national museum hosted Fragile,
0:07:45 > 0:07:48the biggest ceramics exhibition ever held in Wales.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53Filling all six contemporary art galleries,
0:07:53 > 0:07:54it showcased key works
0:07:54 > 0:07:57from the collection of the National Museum Wales,
0:07:57 > 0:08:02including works by Turner Prize winner Richard Deacon
0:08:02 > 0:08:05and the acclaimed ceramicist Felicity Aylieff.
0:08:33 > 0:08:35If you went down to the woods this summer,
0:08:35 > 0:08:37you'd be sure of a big surprise.
0:08:37 > 0:08:41Bute Park in Cardiff became home for a huge web-like structure.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44Created using hundreds of rolls of tape,
0:08:44 > 0:08:48the magical concept was brought to the city by Migrations,
0:08:48 > 0:08:51a group that brings international artists to Wales,
0:08:51 > 0:08:53and was a collaboration with the RSPB.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58The process has been awesome. Working with Migrations,
0:08:58 > 0:09:03an organisation who are so visionary in how they're using natural
0:09:03 > 0:09:06spaces to engage people with art, but with those spaces as well.
0:09:06 > 0:09:10Working with the RSPB's Giving Nature A Home project,
0:09:10 > 0:09:13Croatian company Numen was invited to create a place
0:09:13 > 0:09:17where people could be close to the natural world.
0:09:17 > 0:09:19I think it will be good for Cardiff, as well,
0:09:19 > 0:09:21to have such an internationally, kind of,
0:09:21 > 0:09:25known artist come over and create something here.
0:09:25 > 0:09:30The aim was to rebuild the link between childhood and nature.
0:09:30 > 0:09:34I think the coming together of art and nature is a little bit special.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36The fact that this will encourage people outdoors to spend
0:09:36 > 0:09:40a little bit of time in the park and spend a little bit of time
0:09:40 > 0:09:43amongst the trees, like they maybe have never done before.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46Do you know, I feel really excited today about being in there,
0:09:46 > 0:09:48just happening upon this.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51I think I'm part of something really special.
0:09:51 > 0:09:54I think it's fascinating that it's made of Sellotape
0:09:54 > 0:09:57and it's kind of scary at the same time,
0:09:57 > 0:10:00cos you think you're going to fall but it's perfectly safe.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03I would love to see more of this kind of thing going on
0:10:03 > 0:10:06because we can feel included in the arts,
0:10:06 > 0:10:08even if we're not very cultured.
0:10:09 > 0:10:13The structure was later recycled into wild-flower planters.
0:10:20 > 0:10:22Richard Downing's Fractal Clock,
0:10:22 > 0:10:26a mesmerising installation that reveals its true form
0:10:26 > 0:10:30just once every hour, went on display at Aberystwyth's Castle Theatre
0:10:30 > 0:10:33after five years in the making.
0:10:33 > 0:10:34Made from slate,
0:10:34 > 0:10:40the 81 equilateral triangles not only rotate individually across 60 minutes
0:10:40 > 0:10:43but have been perfectly placed to manipulate perspective.
0:10:44 > 0:10:48All of these triangles are in a position, left and right
0:10:48 > 0:10:51of the uppermost triangle and forward and back of that triangle,
0:10:51 > 0:10:55so that they appear to give the illusion of being a two-dimensional
0:10:55 > 0:10:59plane from a key viewpoint 15 metres away from the centre.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01They are also capable of rotating
0:11:01 > 0:11:06at different rhythms and so this image that is established
0:11:06 > 0:11:08at the beginning, it then dissolves, breaks down,
0:11:08 > 0:11:12across the duration of one hour, exactly 3,600 seconds,
0:11:12 > 0:11:15so it is a kind of spatial clock, in a way.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20The whole pattern that you see when it's resolved, it's a
0:11:20 > 0:11:22classical fractal pattern,
0:11:22 > 0:11:24so one small part looks like a larger part,
0:11:24 > 0:11:27looks like a larger part, and these patterns - they occur in art
0:11:27 > 0:11:30across history and across culture and the theory seems to be
0:11:30 > 0:11:34that we like these patterns because we are surrounded by them in nature.
0:11:34 > 0:11:35It's like the tree.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38The tree is a big stick with small sticks coming off it
0:11:38 > 0:11:40and a branch is a big stick with small sticks coming off it
0:11:40 > 0:11:42and a twig is a big stick with small sticks coming off it
0:11:42 > 0:11:46and then the veins in the body, the ripples of water,
0:11:46 > 0:11:50the movement of fire, the shapes of clouds and...
0:11:51 > 0:11:54It may be that there is something
0:11:54 > 0:11:57deeply satisfying about these patterns.
0:12:01 > 0:12:03It's complicated, perhaps, in its construction
0:12:03 > 0:12:05but it's a very simple piece of work.
0:12:05 > 0:12:10It's 81 triangles turning round, forming other triangles.
0:12:10 > 0:12:11I mean, it's...
0:12:13 > 0:12:15It's ridiculous, really.
0:12:15 > 0:12:17We asked the magic "what if?" question.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20"What would that be like? What if we did this? What if we made that?"
0:12:20 > 0:12:24And then there's only really one way of finding out
0:12:24 > 0:12:26and that's to make it.
0:12:35 > 0:12:39This year, for the first time, a solo exhibition by a female artist
0:12:39 > 0:12:43was chosen to represent Wales at the Venice Biennale,
0:12:43 > 0:12:45one of the most important international art exhibitions
0:12:45 > 0:12:47in the world.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50Helen Sear, the Monmouthshire-based artist, exhibited her work
0:12:50 > 0:12:54in a former convent in the city between May and November.
0:12:55 > 0:13:00I've been for the last year working specifically in a beech wood
0:13:00 > 0:13:03very close to my home in Wales.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06I wanted to, kind of, make this place of the, sort of,
0:13:06 > 0:13:09locus of the work, really.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15There's a piece of work in every room, as it were,
0:13:15 > 0:13:19so they're all kind of independent works but hopefully all
0:13:19 > 0:13:24really interrelated and that kind of manifests itself through
0:13:24 > 0:13:26the way that we've installed the work throughout the space.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33I didn't just start with an idea of a project
0:13:33 > 0:13:35that was going to be totally new.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38This is an absolute ongoing representation of ideas
0:13:38 > 0:13:42I've been working with in terms of how to disrupt a single-point
0:13:42 > 0:13:44perspective of the camera. You know,
0:13:44 > 0:13:48how do you represent the nature of experience,
0:13:48 > 0:13:52so that the viewer is implicated in the work?
0:13:52 > 0:13:56There isn't just one position to stand or sit and consume the work.
0:13:56 > 0:14:00You know, the camera tends to prioritise the eye over all
0:14:00 > 0:14:04the other senses and I think in all this work, I want the work to be,
0:14:04 > 0:14:08kind of, experienced in different sensory levels.
0:14:13 > 0:14:18So whether it's through the sound in Company Of Trees or through
0:14:18 > 0:14:21the materiality of the image of Stack,
0:14:21 > 0:14:25printed onto the aluminium strips, or, indeed,
0:14:25 > 0:14:30the materiality of the photographic surface itself...
0:14:30 > 0:14:33It's something that's always been really important to me.
0:14:50 > 0:14:52Welsh film found success this year,
0:14:52 > 0:14:55with feature-length documentary leading the charge.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00Dark Horse told the true story of Dream Alliance,
0:15:00 > 0:15:03a champion racehorse bred on a Welsh allotment.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06It received its premiere at Robert Redford's prestigious
0:15:06 > 0:15:09Sundance Film Festival.
0:15:09 > 0:15:10These sort of people...
0:15:10 > 0:15:13- And here we have... - The owners - lords, dukes...
0:15:13 > 0:15:15They like to keep us commoners out.
0:15:19 > 0:15:20But I wasn't having any of it.
0:15:20 > 0:15:24Mark Evans' Jack To A King, the miraculous story
0:15:24 > 0:15:26of Swansea City Football Club's rise to the top,
0:15:26 > 0:15:29enjoyed huge box office success
0:15:29 > 0:15:32and premiered at London's Leicester Square.
0:15:32 > 0:15:33It was nerve-racking.
0:15:33 > 0:15:37You just felt, "We deserve this now, after what we've been put through."
0:15:40 > 0:15:42And in fiction, Welsh actor Craig Roberts
0:15:42 > 0:15:46made his directorial debut with the tale of Just Jim...
0:15:47 > 0:15:4816?
0:15:51 > 0:15:53I'm 17!
0:15:53 > 0:15:54Are you?
0:15:59 > 0:16:01Hey. I'm Dean...
0:16:01 > 0:16:04your new neighbour.
0:16:04 > 0:16:06..starring opposite American actor Emile Hirsch.
0:16:09 > 0:16:11Maybe you just need to man up a bit.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22Concluding the centenary celebrations of Dylan Thomas's birth,
0:16:22 > 0:16:26Kevin Allen's energetic and lyrical version
0:16:26 > 0:16:28of Under Milk Wood was released.
0:16:28 > 0:16:30It stars Rhys Ifans,
0:16:30 > 0:16:33with Charlotte Church playing the good-time girl Polly Garter.
0:16:34 > 0:16:38Nothing grows in our garden - only washing, and babies.
0:16:38 > 0:16:43"And where's their fathers live, my love?" Over the hills and far away.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46Oh...
0:16:46 > 0:16:48isn't life a terrible thing?
0:16:48 > 0:16:50Thank God.
0:17:02 > 0:17:07This year's seen the celebration of past and present writing success.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10Centenaries were marked, first novels were published
0:17:10 > 0:17:12and prizes were won.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19Secondary school teacher Jonathan Edwards won
0:17:19 > 0:17:22the highly-sought-after Costa Book Awards Poetry Prize
0:17:22 > 0:17:28for his first published volume, My Family And Other Superheroes.
0:17:28 > 0:17:30The people who have the won the award in the past, you know,
0:17:30 > 0:17:33massive names - people like Caroline Duffy and Joe Shapcott,
0:17:33 > 0:17:35you know, my favourite poets, really.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38And people whose work I've studied and admired and taught.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42So to find myself on that list, my name there,
0:17:42 > 0:17:43when these are things that I've, sort of,
0:17:43 > 0:17:46scribbled in my front room in a tiny village in Wales...
0:17:46 > 0:17:50Any, sort of, success the book gets, ultimately, is testament to the area
0:17:50 > 0:17:53that I'm writing about, you know, Newport and the South Wales valleys.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56It's so rich in its history.
0:17:56 > 0:17:59I think I'm on to a winner, really, with the subjects that I've got.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02I mean, writing well in our area is just a case of, kind of,
0:18:02 > 0:18:04looking around you at what you see.
0:18:10 > 0:18:15It's every writer's dream - a first book that's a smash hit.
0:18:15 > 0:18:17Well, for Cardiff novelist Kate Hamer,
0:18:17 > 0:18:19that dream has become a reality.
0:18:19 > 0:18:21Her debut novel, The Girl In The Red Coat,
0:18:21 > 0:18:23has been gaining stunning reviews
0:18:23 > 0:18:28and is on the shortlist for the 2015 Costa First Novel Award.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32I began writing The Girl In The Red Coat
0:18:32 > 0:18:35probably about four or five years ago.
0:18:35 > 0:18:39I just had this really persistent image of a little girl
0:18:39 > 0:18:43standing in a forest, wearing a red coat.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46And for some reason, that I find it hard to explain,
0:18:46 > 0:18:48I knew she was lost in the image.
0:18:48 > 0:18:52In a way, writing the book, it was a mission to find out
0:18:52 > 0:18:57who she was, for a start, and why she was so lost.
0:18:58 > 0:19:03I seem to be coming up with a way that I write.
0:19:03 > 0:19:07I write the first chapter and the last couple of paragraphs,
0:19:07 > 0:19:10so I know how it's going to end,
0:19:10 > 0:19:13and I knew, sort of, say three or four big plot points
0:19:13 > 0:19:16along the way. I mean, they say that...
0:19:16 > 0:19:20I think they say you're either a plotter or a pantster,
0:19:20 > 0:19:24and a pantster is somebody that flies by the seat of their pants,
0:19:24 > 0:19:28and a plotter is somebody that, you know, has Excel spreadsheets
0:19:28 > 0:19:31and they know exactly, and I think I'm a bit in between.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34But I think if I plotted it out too minutely,
0:19:34 > 0:19:37I probably wouldn't want to actually write the book cos,
0:19:37 > 0:19:41you know, in writing it, it's like discovering it in a way.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46"She stood up. She wasn't wearing her duffle coat
0:19:46 > 0:19:49"but a little red jacket over a white dress,
0:19:49 > 0:19:52"and the jacket was stitched with discs that shone out ruby red
0:19:52 > 0:19:54"in the silver light.
0:19:54 > 0:19:57" ' I'm not too sure. You lost me,' she said,
0:19:57 > 0:20:00"and threw another stone into the water.
0:20:00 > 0:20:04" ' You lost me as if I was nothing but a bead. Or a ten-pence piece.
0:20:04 > 0:20:08" 'You kept taking me to places where it could happen.
0:20:08 > 0:20:10" 'You were doing it on purpose.'
0:20:10 > 0:20:13"More stones plinked into the stream."
0:20:14 > 0:20:17I don't know whether I've been surprised by the reaction
0:20:17 > 0:20:19to the book or not, really.
0:20:19 > 0:20:23One thing I've really liked doing, actually, is doing events.
0:20:23 > 0:20:25It's been really interesting, what people can say.
0:20:25 > 0:20:30That can be surprising - the takes they have on the book -
0:20:30 > 0:20:36and one thing happened recently and that was that two people in
0:20:36 > 0:20:40the audience started arguing about it, and that was...
0:20:40 > 0:20:42I think that was the point where I thought,
0:20:42 > 0:20:45it does feel like it's, sort of...
0:20:45 > 0:20:46It's not actually really...
0:20:46 > 0:20:48You know, it's gone out into the world
0:20:48 > 0:20:50and it's a thing on its own now, actually.
0:20:55 > 0:20:572015 saw the passing of several people
0:20:57 > 0:21:02who had made a significant contribution to the cultural life of Wales.
0:21:04 > 0:21:08Dr John Davies was the pre-eminent historian of his generation who
0:21:08 > 0:21:13led a renaissance in Welsh historiography from the 1960s.
0:21:13 > 0:21:17As an academic, John's work inspired generations of students
0:21:17 > 0:21:19and his peerless A History Of Wales
0:21:19 > 0:21:22sent the reader on an exciting and revelatory journey.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27Perhaps the most controversial for an historian like myself was
0:21:27 > 0:21:31the battle for Wales in the series Battlefield Britain.
0:21:31 > 0:21:35His colourful and entertaining comments and breadth of knowledge
0:21:35 > 0:21:40on Welsh history made him a popular and familiar face on our screens.
0:21:40 > 0:21:42Why should we have a Prince of Wales at all?
0:21:42 > 0:21:45If I was around in the 13th century, I wouldn't have
0:21:45 > 0:21:46liked Llewelyn either.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49It was precisely the time, when in Switzerland,
0:21:49 > 0:21:52they were gathering together and having a republic
0:21:52 > 0:21:54and cantons. That's what I would have liked.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02Meredydd Evans, or Mered as he was fondly known,
0:22:02 > 0:22:04was an academic, performer,
0:22:04 > 0:22:08presenter, author and Welsh language campaigner who fought to
0:22:08 > 0:22:11rescue and preserve the tradition of Welsh folk song.
0:22:11 > 0:22:12THEY SING
0:22:15 > 0:22:17Mered, along with wife Phyllis Kinney,
0:22:17 > 0:22:21recorded and published collections of unaccompanied Welsh folk songs
0:22:21 > 0:22:24which helped save a Welsh musical legacy
0:22:24 > 0:22:26and promote a unique Welsh voice worldwide.
0:22:29 > 0:22:31He brought the likes of Ryan and Ronnie
0:22:31 > 0:22:33to the black and white screens of the 1960s
0:22:33 > 0:22:37as head of light entertainment for the newly established
0:22:37 > 0:22:39BBC Wales.
0:22:39 > 0:22:42Mered was, simply, an inspiration to generations who love the Welsh
0:22:42 > 0:22:44language and its culture.
0:22:50 > 0:22:53Landscape artist Gwilym Prichard's oil paintings were
0:22:53 > 0:22:57inspired by the surroundings that shaped his life.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00From the rugged terrain of the Llyn Peninsula and the foothills
0:23:00 > 0:23:03of Snowdonia to Provence and Brittany, where he settled
0:23:03 > 0:23:08for over a decade with his wife, the figurative artist Claudia Williams.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11Influenced by Kyffin Williams, who would later become his friend,
0:23:11 > 0:23:14he favoured the palette knife over a brush.
0:23:15 > 0:23:20The worst thing for me is to have to clean brushes and things like that.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24I've got over that by just using a palette knife which
0:23:24 > 0:23:27I can just wipe on my trousers.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30- How disgusting.- Well, or overalls.
0:23:36 > 0:23:40It wasn't the natural landscape that inspired Swansea artist
0:23:40 > 0:23:43Valerie Ganz, but Wales' industry.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46Perhaps her best known work portrays the last years of
0:23:46 > 0:23:48deep coal mining in Wales.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51Valerie spent time with miners at 14 different pits,
0:23:51 > 0:23:55sketching them at work and in the community.
0:23:56 > 0:23:59Among her numerous projects were paintings capturing
0:23:59 > 0:24:01scenes from Swansea Prison
0:24:01 > 0:24:04and the nightlife in the city's clubs and streets.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07It was the fact that it was almost like a forbidden place
0:24:07 > 0:24:11and I've always wanted to go to places I'm not supposed to go to.
0:24:17 > 0:24:19Llansteffan-based artist
0:24:19 > 0:24:22Osi Rhys Osmond was a highly respected lecturer,
0:24:22 > 0:24:27artist, author and commentator on arts and culture.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30His work, always evocative and challenging,
0:24:30 > 0:24:34involved the close examination of nature and the human condition.
0:24:35 > 0:24:39Osi created geographic essays in his art and his distinctive work
0:24:39 > 0:24:43with a strong Welsh voice has been exhibited across the globe.
0:24:44 > 0:24:49I'm claiming back my landscape. I'm defining it for me, making it mine.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52And I'm bringing out what I think are the salient points about it,
0:24:52 > 0:24:55the points which might be missed in the ordinary glance.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58You won't see the things that I'm referring to.
0:24:58 > 0:25:00But I know they're there and once you've seen the drawing
0:25:00 > 0:25:03and then you look at the landscape, you'll know they're there as well.
0:25:17 > 0:25:19An exhibition by former NME photographer
0:25:19 > 0:25:23Chalkie Davies went on show at the National Museum of Wales
0:25:23 > 0:25:26featuring stunning black and white photographs
0:25:26 > 0:25:28of iconic pop stars from the '70s and '80s.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31Many of these had never been seen before
0:25:31 > 0:25:34and the exhibition attracted a new audience of music lovers
0:25:34 > 0:25:37in the photographer's home city.
0:25:37 > 0:25:42I slowly but surely went through the 44-45,000 negatives I'd
0:25:42 > 0:25:44taken to see if there was anything I'd missed.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47And like the Shane MacGowan picture,
0:25:47 > 0:25:49I'd completely forgotten that I had that.
0:25:49 > 0:25:51So without coming here and going through it, we wouldn't have
0:25:51 > 0:25:55that picture in the show and to me, that's an important picture.
0:26:04 > 0:26:08Photographer Andrew McNeill has been chronicling the lives of the poor
0:26:08 > 0:26:11and destitute in Asia for many years.
0:26:11 > 0:26:14Recently he turned his attention to a homeless
0:26:14 > 0:26:17community on his doorstep in Cardiff.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22The result was a striking exhibition and the publication
0:26:22 > 0:26:26of his powerful photographic collection Under The Bridge.
0:26:27 > 0:26:31I came back from India in January of 2014.
0:26:31 > 0:26:33I had this idea for years and years but
0:26:33 > 0:26:36I couldn't do it because I didn't have the time,
0:26:36 > 0:26:38I was never in the country long enough.
0:26:38 > 0:26:40So this one day I walked underneath the bridges,
0:26:40 > 0:26:43the one on Bute Street, West Canal Wharf.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46And I was just looking at the wall patterns and
0:26:46 > 0:26:49the textures of the walls and I knew it would work
0:26:49 > 0:26:51because I just wanted that kind of background.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54I approached a group of homeless people
0:26:54 > 0:26:56outside the railway station
0:26:56 > 0:27:00and I told them my thoughts and my ideas and asked them
0:27:00 > 0:27:04if they wanted to be part of it and it just went from there.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07This young man here, the day I took this picture,
0:27:07 > 0:27:09he was in an extremely bad mood.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12He was ranting and raving and complaining about something,
0:27:12 > 0:27:14nothing major but something that had happened.
0:27:14 > 0:27:19I was fortunate enough to get this look and this pose.
0:27:22 > 0:27:28I wanted them dark and moody and one of the curators from Bristol
0:27:28 > 0:27:31referred to them as historical religious paintings.
0:27:34 > 0:27:36This lady is quite photogenic actually.
0:27:36 > 0:27:40The one day she was praying, I was quite lucky with the light
0:27:40 > 0:27:42composition, there was a lot of light streaming through
0:27:42 > 0:27:46the windows and it shows another side to her.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50In terms of, you know, because she has got quite a tragic story.
0:27:50 > 0:27:52Sometimes it can be difficult to present them
0:27:52 > 0:27:57with a sense of dignity, really.
0:27:57 > 0:27:59That was the most challenging thing.
0:28:01 > 0:28:05This is referred to as Bute Street Tunnel.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08It became quite a significant location because I took one
0:28:08 > 0:28:13photo which has a lot of general feedback online and caused debate.
0:28:14 > 0:28:18As you can see somebody is asleep there and this is
0:28:18 > 0:28:23one of the scenarios which was played out a couple of months ago.
0:28:23 > 0:28:28A couple had been on the street for six months and had built a bed
0:28:28 > 0:28:32and the guy who was there lying in bed with his girlfriend was
0:28:32 > 0:28:35reading a book and she was listening to an iPod
0:28:35 > 0:28:37and everybody was walking to work,
0:28:37 > 0:28:39it was like 8:00 in the morning
0:28:39 > 0:28:41so you have the commuters coming from over
0:28:41 > 0:28:45here from Lloyd George Avenue going into the various offices
0:28:45 > 0:28:50and these two were just sat in bed relaxing.
0:28:51 > 0:28:55So I wrote a caption on the side of the picture which said,
0:28:55 > 0:28:59"First floor luxurious apartment on Lloyd George Avenue,
0:28:59 > 0:29:04"ideal for first-time buyers with an asking price of £150,000."
0:29:05 > 0:29:10This is a common scenario around here, unfortunately.
0:29:18 > 0:29:21I think it's a story that needed to be told.
0:29:21 > 0:29:25I've been doing a lot of research into homelessness in the city
0:29:25 > 0:29:28and I've never seen anything that stood out and made a point
0:29:28 > 0:29:34so I just wanted to do something which gave these people a voice
0:29:34 > 0:29:36and a face. Yeah, it did was definitely worthwhile.
0:29:50 > 0:29:552015 has seen major changes in Welsh theatre as some of the biggest
0:29:55 > 0:29:57names moved on to pastures new.
0:29:57 > 0:30:00There have been new buildings opening too,
0:30:00 > 0:30:02a live music venue the TramShed in Cardiff.
0:30:02 > 0:30:05And Pontio here in Bangor.
0:30:05 > 0:30:08After a frustrating succession of construction delays,
0:30:08 > 0:30:11this building is finally up and running
0:30:11 > 0:30:13and I wanted to find out from artistic director
0:30:13 > 0:30:15Elen Ap Robert how
0:30:15 > 0:30:18she managed to schedule an art centre whose opening date
0:30:18 > 0:30:20kept being postponed.
0:30:28 > 0:30:30It has been challenging
0:30:30 > 0:30:35but I would say that all along we've had faith that we would eventually
0:30:35 > 0:30:41have a fantastic centre with a wonderful mid-scale, flexible
0:30:41 > 0:30:44theatre space. So that kept us going, I think.
0:30:44 > 0:30:48What will this building do for this part of North Wales
0:30:48 > 0:30:51- and its people?- I think it will give a focus to the
0:30:51 > 0:30:56arts in the area, in particular in Bangor where you will hear it
0:30:56 > 0:30:59said that there's no reason to go into Bangor.
0:30:59 > 0:31:02I think Pontio will bring people into Bangor.
0:31:03 > 0:31:09When the programme that was due to take place last autumn had to
0:31:09 > 0:31:12be withdrawn, we took Pontio on the road, literally.
0:31:12 > 0:31:16We held a circus feast in the summer of this year.
0:31:16 > 0:31:19Performances on the street and a procession through
0:31:19 > 0:31:24the centre of town and so it was like saying Pontio is here
0:31:24 > 0:31:28and Pontio will be in the building but in the meantime we are making
0:31:28 > 0:31:31sure that we are offering new experiences
0:31:31 > 0:31:35and high-quality experiences for the people of Bangor and beyond.
0:31:35 > 0:31:38Pontio's first major production is an adaptation by
0:31:38 > 0:31:41Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru of the iconic novel Chwalfa
0:31:41 > 0:31:43by T Rowland Hughes.
0:31:43 > 0:31:46The play records the great Penrhyn quarry strike of 1900
0:31:46 > 0:31:48and opens next month.
0:31:50 > 0:31:53Just a short drive across the A55
0:31:53 > 0:31:56and Llandudno's mini arts festival LLAWN
0:31:56 > 0:32:00took over the queen of Welsh resorts for the third year running,
0:32:01 > 0:32:04with a community-focused event that took place in the town
0:32:04 > 0:32:06and on the beach.
0:32:06 > 0:32:08THEY VOCALISE
0:32:08 > 0:32:11Llawn in Welsh means full, it's a micro festival.
0:32:11 > 0:32:14It's only a weekend and I want the to be full-on.
0:32:14 > 0:32:19And stands for Llandudno Arts Weekend Number one, two and three.
0:32:19 > 0:32:22Of course, there have been three so it's a kind of fun word
0:32:22 > 0:32:24and it's kind of caught on I think.
0:32:26 > 0:32:30It had to be about revisiting Llandudno's
0:32:30 > 0:32:32Victorian heritage through
0:32:32 > 0:32:37a multitude of art forms and that is at its heart and this year LLAWN 3
0:32:37 > 0:32:43theme was revisit, reveal but for the three years it has always
0:32:43 > 0:32:46been the presence of absence and looking at lost spaces,
0:32:46 > 0:32:49looking at these lost stories and, kind of,
0:32:49 > 0:32:52bringing them to the fore in a contemporary way.
0:32:52 > 0:32:54You're looking at books and stuff
0:32:54 > 0:32:56and I discovered a bathing machine
0:32:56 > 0:32:59which was a shed on wheels that was then dragged
0:32:59 > 0:33:04by horses into the sea so you could change and then step into the water.
0:33:04 > 0:33:07It is a very elaborate way of keeping your modesty
0:33:07 > 0:33:12and I was like, "What if we get six of these and then they
0:33:12 > 0:33:15"become mobile art spaces, little performance spaces?"
0:33:15 > 0:33:18Because they are a nice size but also they are very iconic.
0:33:18 > 0:33:20People really know what they are
0:33:20 > 0:33:22or with the Grannies this year knitting,
0:33:22 > 0:33:26that was great because it really connected to the people
0:33:26 > 0:33:28and they didn't know they were part of an artwork
0:33:28 > 0:33:30but that didn't really matter.
0:33:31 > 0:33:34It is about the innocent bystanders who might
0:33:34 > 0:33:37come across a kitchen sink doing something fantastic
0:33:37 > 0:33:42or for the avid art seekers or the performance pilgrims who
0:33:42 > 0:33:45come here, who will go to the Tabernacle and see something
0:33:45 > 0:33:49obscure and will love it so for me that is what LLAWN is about.
0:33:49 > 0:33:54Having a really wide demographic of audience, that's really important.
0:33:54 > 0:33:58It was also curator Marc Reese's third and final festival.
0:33:58 > 0:34:00I'm very proud of it
0:34:00 > 0:34:03and I think what we've achieved in the three years has been
0:34:03 > 0:34:06terrific but I think it's time to hand it over to someone else
0:34:06 > 0:34:08and they can fly with it, I hope.
0:34:14 > 0:34:18After five years at the head of National Theatre Wales,
0:34:18 > 0:34:20John McGrath is leaving to become artistic
0:34:20 > 0:34:23director of the Manchester International Festival.
0:34:23 > 0:34:27His final year in the post saw a huge variety of work
0:34:27 > 0:34:29across numerous venues.
0:34:31 > 0:34:33From the Iliad in Llanelli's Ffwrnes,
0:34:33 > 0:34:37150, telling the Welsh in Patagonia story staged in Aberdare,
0:34:37 > 0:34:40the story of Gareth "Alfie" Thomas in
0:34:40 > 0:34:42Crouch, Touch, Pause, Engage.
0:34:42 > 0:34:46And the retelling of Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children
0:34:46 > 0:34:48from Merthyr Tydfil's Labour club.
0:34:50 > 0:34:52When I programmed our fifth year of work,
0:34:52 > 0:34:55I didn't actually know it would be my last year as
0:34:55 > 0:34:58artistic director but I couldn't have chosen
0:34:58 > 0:34:59a better one if I had known.
0:34:59 > 0:35:03And I think the work in the year has been a real
0:35:03 > 0:35:05statement of the width
0:35:05 > 0:35:08and the kinds of work that National Theatre Wales makes.
0:35:08 > 0:35:10A piece like Crouch, Touch, Pause, Engage,
0:35:10 > 0:35:13which has toured theatres all over the UK
0:35:13 > 0:35:17and really engaged people in quite a gritty subject matter.
0:35:17 > 0:35:20We know you did not leave Jenna for another woman.
0:35:20 > 0:35:24- Do you understand what that means? - It doesn't matter to us.
0:35:24 > 0:35:28- But do you know what I'm really trying to tell you?- Yes.
0:35:28 > 0:35:29Yes.
0:35:29 > 0:35:33On another scale, you couldn't have a better year than
0:35:33 > 0:35:36one in which the Guardian calls one of your big shows
0:35:36 > 0:35:40the theatre event of the year, if not the decade.
0:35:40 > 0:35:44Which they did with the Iliad, which we worked on at the wonderful
0:35:44 > 0:35:46Ffwrnes Theatre in Llanelli.
0:35:46 > 0:35:48Paris, his mirror bronze. His hair.
0:35:48 > 0:35:52Be brave, he is more beautiful than God.
0:35:52 > 0:35:56The children cry but heroes are not frightened by appearances.
0:35:56 > 0:35:59One of my greatest joys in the whole five years has been
0:35:59 > 0:36:03the work that we did this year in Merthyr Tydfil on Mother Courage.
0:36:03 > 0:36:06I'm thinking whether to stock up or not.
0:36:06 > 0:36:07Prices are low now
0:36:07 > 0:36:10and if the war's going to come to an end then it's money down the drain.
0:36:10 > 0:36:14The truth is nobody ever knows when the war will end.
0:36:14 > 0:36:18Nothing in this world is perfect, including war.
0:36:18 > 0:36:22Our all-female version of Brecht's great play gave me
0:36:22 > 0:36:25the opportunity as a director to work with some of Wales's
0:36:25 > 0:36:29greatest actresses with Rhian Morgan in the lead role
0:36:29 > 0:36:32of Mother Courage but also with a chorus of local
0:36:32 > 0:36:35women, many of whom had never done theatre before.
0:36:35 > 0:36:38They became our chorus and have now gone on to form their own
0:36:38 > 0:36:42theatre company in Merthyr Tydfil that we're supporting.
0:36:44 > 0:36:47I think the Welsh theatre at the moment is on a high
0:36:47 > 0:36:49and is full of excitement
0:36:49 > 0:36:52but more than anything else, it has been great to see
0:36:52 > 0:36:55all of the young companies that are starting to create their work.
0:36:55 > 0:37:00Many, many companies that have been really showing what young
0:37:00 > 0:37:02theatre-makers in Wales can do.
0:37:02 > 0:37:05So my first instinct was to shout yabba-dabba-do.
0:37:05 > 0:37:08WalesOnline arts editor Karen Price gives us
0:37:08 > 0:37:11her view on Welsh theatre this year.
0:37:11 > 0:37:14The Torch has done really well.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17It took Grav to Edinburgh this year, which is the one-man
0:37:17 > 0:37:22show based on Ray Gravell, the former rugby international.
0:37:22 > 0:37:24Absolutely outstanding.
0:37:24 > 0:37:26Then they took the bandage off my leg,
0:37:26 > 0:37:28he checked it over and his smile disappeared quicker than
0:37:28 > 0:37:31Fred Flintstone sliding down that dinosaur and
0:37:31 > 0:37:32heading home for his tea.
0:37:32 > 0:37:37It was really emotional but also lots of humour in it, as well.
0:37:37 > 0:37:41And even if you didn't like rugby, you would just become completely
0:37:41 > 0:37:44drawn into it. Phenomenal piece from The Torch.
0:37:44 > 0:37:47I dive into the clash buttoned up
0:37:47 > 0:37:49and the guy at the front is handing Jager shots
0:37:49 > 0:37:51back over the head and shoulders.
0:37:51 > 0:37:53Sherman Cymru have had an amazing year.
0:37:53 > 0:37:56Rachel O'Riordan, the artistic director, joined over a year ago
0:37:56 > 0:38:00and she has really put her mark on the company.
0:38:00 > 0:38:03She directed the one-woman play Iphigenia In Splott starring
0:38:03 > 0:38:06Sophia Melville as the character Effie.
0:38:06 > 0:38:09It is based on a Greek tragedy set in Splott
0:38:09 > 0:38:12in Cardiff in the modern day and it just tells the story
0:38:12 > 0:38:16of this young woman and how her life is falling apart, really.
0:38:16 > 0:38:18There is a political message in there
0:38:18 > 0:38:20showing how you shouldn't really judge people.
0:38:20 > 0:38:24I kick off my shoes. I dance like I don't know how.
0:38:24 > 0:38:26I spin, I don't know what my body's doing.
0:38:26 > 0:38:29I'm just watching it except I know me.
0:38:30 > 0:38:36I am me but I am someone else as well and then and then and then...
0:38:38 > 0:38:43..the song ends and I look to where this guy should be right next
0:38:43 > 0:38:46to me but next to me there's no-one.
0:38:46 > 0:38:48Written by Gary Owen,
0:38:48 > 0:38:51it went to Edinburgh where it got five-star reviews,
0:38:51 > 0:38:54it's toured Wales, it has won a
0:38:54 > 0:38:56UK Theatre Award for best new play
0:38:56 > 0:39:00and now it is going to actually be transported to the
0:39:00 > 0:39:01National Theatre in London.
0:39:01 > 0:39:03The first time, I believe,
0:39:03 > 0:39:05a producing house in Wales has had this success.
0:39:05 > 0:39:08It's incredible for us and it is incredible that our work is
0:39:08 > 0:39:10getting shown on this massive stage too.
0:39:10 > 0:39:12SCREAMING
0:39:12 > 0:39:16I think the health of Welsh theatre at the moment is really buoyant.
0:39:16 > 0:39:19Our producing houses are out there showing the world what were made of.
0:39:19 > 0:39:23National Theatre Wales itself is still making waves,
0:39:23 > 0:39:25getting all the national critics talking about Wales as well,
0:39:25 > 0:39:27which is not something we've had much before
0:39:27 > 0:39:30they existed and you've got all these fringe theatre companies
0:39:30 > 0:39:34who are cropping up, thanks really to National Theatre Wales.
0:39:34 > 0:39:36We now have a pub theatre in Cardiff as well, The Other Room
0:39:36 > 0:39:39which opened this year which has been bringing
0:39:39 > 0:39:41lots of crowds of people in.
0:39:41 > 0:39:43Those who would not have gone to theatre before,
0:39:43 > 0:39:45they can have a pint and enjoy a play
0:39:45 > 0:39:48and we've got lots of writers coming through,
0:39:48 > 0:39:51lots of directors coming through who are all
0:39:51 > 0:39:55competing on an international stage and I think it's brilliant for us.
0:39:55 > 0:39:56HE SCREAMS
0:40:00 > 0:40:03Well, that's it from the BBC Wales Arts Review 2015
0:40:03 > 0:40:05and what a year it has been.
0:40:05 > 0:40:08But 2016 looks just as exciting, as we mark
0:40:08 > 0:40:13the centenary of the birth of iconic children's writer Roald Dahl
0:40:13 > 0:40:17and Welsh National Opera reaches its 70th birthday.
0:40:17 > 0:40:22So here's to a wonderful 2016 and a belated happy birthday, Bryn.
0:40:22 > 0:40:24Good night. Nos da!
0:40:24 > 0:40:25HE SINGS