0:00:38 > 0:00:412016 was an extraordinary year.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45A giant peach appeared in the centre of Cardiff
0:00:45 > 0:00:48and Roald Dahl's City Of The Unexpected
0:00:48 > 0:00:49drew record-breaking crowds.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54Later in the programme, we'll be back to explore
0:00:54 > 0:00:57the unexpected delights of Roald Dahl,
0:00:57 > 0:01:00but first, let's look back at some of the highlights of the arts
0:01:00 > 0:01:02in Wales in 2016.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08Coming up, with Huw Stevens, we'll take a trip around Wales'
0:01:08 > 0:01:11eclectic series of music festivals.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15We'll remember the tragedy at Aberfan
0:01:15 > 0:01:18with Sir Karl Jenkins' powerful tribute, Cantata Memoria.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22We'll step into the weird and wonderful mind
0:01:22 > 0:01:25of one of Wales' most imaginative artists.
0:01:27 > 0:01:30And an award-winning French photographer discovers the Valleys.
0:01:40 > 0:01:442016 was an extraordinary year in Wales
0:01:44 > 0:01:46and not only for the arts.
0:01:46 > 0:01:49This summer, the Welsh football team unexpectedly reached
0:01:49 > 0:01:51the semifinals of the Euros,
0:01:51 > 0:01:54and even the creative community was swept up in the drama.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57MUSIC: Bing Bong by Super Furry Animals
0:01:57 > 0:02:01Football fanatics the Super Furry Animals set the celebratory tone
0:02:01 > 0:02:02for the summer with Bing Bong,
0:02:02 > 0:02:05a football chant in their own inimitable style.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10Originally written for the 2004 Euros,
0:02:10 > 0:02:13the song lay buried in the Furries' archive
0:02:13 > 0:02:15after Wales missed out on qualifying.
0:02:15 > 0:02:19It was the success of this year's team that brought the song
0:02:19 > 0:02:20bouncing back to life.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26With some of Wales' best-loved bands backing the team,
0:02:26 > 0:02:29even The Barry Horns were thrust into the limelight
0:02:29 > 0:02:32as a blissful summer came to a fitting end
0:02:32 > 0:02:35when the Manic Street Preachers welcomed home the team.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38# Let's set the world alight
0:02:40 > 0:02:45# When Gareth Bale plays we can beat any side
0:02:47 > 0:02:49# So come on, Wales!
0:02:49 > 0:02:51# So come on, Wales! #
0:02:51 > 0:02:55Capturing the agony and ecstasy of it all,
0:02:55 > 0:02:57the photographer Faye Chamberlain
0:02:57 > 0:03:00has throughout the year been taking portraits of fans...
0:03:00 > 0:03:02- Yes! Have it!- Got it.
0:03:02 > 0:03:04Oh, my word.
0:03:04 > 0:03:08..as artist in residence for the Football Association of Wales Trust.
0:03:09 > 0:03:11One of my major projects that I photograph people watching
0:03:11 > 0:03:14World Cup football matches on TVs,
0:03:14 > 0:03:17so I photograph people getting impassioned about watching football.
0:03:21 > 0:03:23The Football Association of Wales Trust
0:03:23 > 0:03:26saw that work and thought that I might be the perfect fit for them.
0:03:28 > 0:03:30Part of the way that I've been getting people to be excited
0:03:30 > 0:03:32is to ask them about the best match they've ever seen
0:03:32 > 0:03:35and the worst match they've ever seen, or played in.
0:03:35 > 0:03:37It was us and Iceland.
0:03:37 > 0:03:39- We were the great team. - Exactly, yeah.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42They just put their hearts and souls into it
0:03:42 > 0:03:46and everybody was behind them.
0:03:46 > 0:03:51They go through the entire remit of emotions,
0:03:51 > 0:03:55from thrill, passion,
0:03:55 > 0:03:58grief sometimes as well, sometimes people,
0:03:58 > 0:04:01they remember moments, it's almost like it happened to them.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04It happened to 22 men on a pitch
0:04:04 > 0:04:07but it becomes so real for the people watching as well.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13Photography is about milliseconds in people's lives and if you can
0:04:13 > 0:04:16catch it right, you get such wonderful emotions,
0:04:16 > 0:04:21you get just joy or despair and everything in between.
0:04:21 > 0:04:23It's brilliant.
0:04:24 > 0:04:28Faye's photographs will go on display across Wales next year.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31Details to be announced by the Football Association of Wales.
0:04:38 > 0:04:40# I wanna stay here
0:04:40 > 0:04:42# Drink all your beer
0:04:42 > 0:04:45# Please don't Please don't take me home. #
0:04:47 > 0:04:50Football chants and photographs may have been expected
0:04:50 > 0:04:54but even the new National Poet of Wales got in on the action.
0:04:54 > 0:04:59Caernarfon's Ifor ap Glyn became the fourth National Poet of Wales
0:04:59 > 0:05:01when he succeeded Gillian Clarke in May.
0:05:01 > 0:05:05A passionate football fan and double winner of the Crown
0:05:05 > 0:05:06at the National Eisteddfod,
0:05:06 > 0:05:10his appointment sees the role switch back from English to Welsh.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15Some of the things I've been writing about in my role
0:05:15 > 0:05:20as National Poet of Wales this year, one could have expected.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23Some of the things that I've written about have been rather more
0:05:23 > 0:05:28unexpected, in particular Wales' success at the Euro Championships.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31And I think for a while that transformed the country
0:05:31 > 0:05:36and if we can hold on to some of the confidence that I think
0:05:36 > 0:05:40that championship engendered within the Welsh people,
0:05:40 > 0:05:43I think that will be a great legacy for 2016.
0:05:46 > 0:05:51TRANSLATION
0:06:05 > 0:06:10The poem tries to just capture a bit of the excitement that
0:06:10 > 0:06:17surrounded, you know, the fans who went out, and the experience
0:06:17 > 0:06:21of watching the three last games here in Caernarfon
0:06:21 > 0:06:24was in its own different way just as thrilling.
0:06:29 > 0:06:32TRANSLATION
0:06:54 > 0:07:01One aspect of the Euro '16 campaign which pleased me a lot,
0:07:01 > 0:07:03you could see the players embracing their identity
0:07:03 > 0:07:07and at times embracing the Welsh language as part of that identity,
0:07:07 > 0:07:12given that only a few of the players in the squad speak Welsh.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15In the sort of balance to that, as Wales did better and better,
0:07:15 > 0:07:18some of the London press began sort of sniping around the team,
0:07:18 > 0:07:20saying, "Oh, yeah, but you know...
0:07:20 > 0:07:23"half of them were born in England," you know.
0:07:23 > 0:07:24So what? You know, so was I.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27I'm National Poet of Wales, you know, deal with it.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32TRANSLATION
0:07:58 > 0:08:012016's been another busy year for the visual arts in Wales,
0:08:01 > 0:08:05the calendar bursting with major anniversaries and exhibitions,
0:08:05 > 0:08:09gallery reopenings and prestigious international competitions.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14In October, the UK's biggest contemporary arts prize
0:08:14 > 0:08:16returned to Cardiff.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19Artes Mundi is a biennial exhibition held in the
0:08:19 > 0:08:23National Museum of Wales and Chapter Arts Centre,
0:08:23 > 0:08:25where six internationally celebrated artists,
0:08:25 > 0:08:28whose work explores the human condition,
0:08:28 > 0:08:32have been chosen to compete for the prestigious £40,000 prize.
0:08:34 > 0:08:39What's really interesting is the conversation that you see emerging,
0:08:39 > 0:08:41politically, socially, culturally,
0:08:41 > 0:08:45across those installations and pieces of work.
0:08:45 > 0:08:50And the way that relates to Wales and our position in a global world.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54This year, Bedwyr Williams from Caernarfon
0:08:54 > 0:08:56is amongst the shortlisted artists.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59In previous shows, the internationally acclaimed
0:08:59 > 0:09:03conceptual artist has wowed judges with his surreal and playful
0:09:03 > 0:09:07works that deal with the anxieties inside his head.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11For Artes Mundi, he's produced a work about an imaginary city
0:09:11 > 0:09:13that's popped up on Cadair Idris,
0:09:13 > 0:09:16the iconic mountain in the Snowdonia National Park.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22The folklore around Cadair Idris is that there's this thing that
0:09:22 > 0:09:27if you spend the night on top of the Penygadair, the highest peak,
0:09:27 > 0:09:30that you either come down a poet or a madman.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35With this work, I think it's a bit of both.
0:09:37 > 0:09:39Tyrrau Mawr is a 20-minute film,
0:09:39 > 0:09:43a sped-up loop depicting a day in the life of the city.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46Visitors are encouraged to lie on beanbags
0:09:46 > 0:09:49and listen to a voice-over narrated by Bedwyr himself.
0:09:52 > 0:09:56"I will build a city here where we stand," a man standing
0:09:56 > 0:10:00at the edge of the lake had proclaimed some decades earlier,
0:10:00 > 0:10:03nodding silently to himself.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07What would it be like, you know, if this happened in Wales, if, like...
0:10:07 > 0:10:12you know, turbo capitalists honed in on a weird mountain in mid-Wales
0:10:12 > 0:10:16and they found some weird metal there, what would...
0:10:17 > 0:10:20What would it be like? I guess.
0:10:20 > 0:10:22"I love it when architects are allowed to play,"
0:10:22 > 0:10:25someone says in a very good fish restaurant.
0:10:25 > 0:10:27"Not me," replies the poet.
0:10:27 > 0:10:29"I'm scared of architects.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32"I think they have just the right quota of power as it is."
0:10:32 > 0:10:36These cities in China and the Middle East that just pop up
0:10:36 > 0:10:39almost overnight, like mushrooms or something.
0:10:39 > 0:10:44There's no thought given to the mental implications
0:10:44 > 0:10:47for the people that move there.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50"I have fillings in my teeth that are older than this city,"
0:10:50 > 0:10:52a prominent music writer wrote.
0:10:55 > 0:10:57A few thousand people in apartments and houses
0:10:57 > 0:11:00are in a shared, similar trance,
0:11:00 > 0:11:02listening to the city.
0:11:05 > 0:11:09Part of my thinking with this film was that whilst these kind of
0:11:09 > 0:11:11hyper-cities are horrendous,
0:11:11 > 0:11:15there is something quite stunning about it as well.
0:11:15 > 0:11:20Say Aberystwyth became like the new Seoul or something like that,
0:11:20 > 0:11:23I mean...
0:11:23 > 0:11:25on one level, that might be great,
0:11:25 > 0:11:28but then it would also destroy it, I guess, as well, I don't know.
0:11:38 > 0:11:44Wales is this country that is about singing and poetry and rugby,
0:11:44 > 0:11:47and the visual arts gets short shrift.
0:11:47 > 0:11:49There's not many spaces in Wales to show contemporary art,
0:11:49 > 0:11:55so I think Artes Mundi is a good power in that climate, really.
0:11:55 > 0:11:57Just hanging pictures in the lobby of the Millennium Centre
0:11:57 > 0:11:59isn't good enough, is it?
0:11:59 > 0:12:02In the country that gave birth to, like, Gwen John and people,
0:12:02 > 0:12:04you know, it's not good enough.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09Artes Mundi is on in Cardiff until 26th February.
0:12:11 > 0:12:13Will Bedwyr become the first Welsh winner?
0:12:13 > 0:12:16Well, the prize is announced at the end of January.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20The lack of spaces for contemporary art in Wales surprised
0:12:20 > 0:12:24BBC arts' editor Will Gompertz when he attended
0:12:24 > 0:12:27his first National Eisteddfod this summer in Abergavenny.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32- Shwmae?- Shwmae?- Bore da.- Da iawn!
0:12:35 > 0:12:38The arts pavilion at the Eisteddfod, Y Lle Celf,
0:12:38 > 0:12:43is an important exhibition for contemporary artists in Wales,
0:12:43 > 0:12:45but is only open for the duration of the festival.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52The show is fascinating because it's so broad.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54There's sculpture, painting, photography,
0:12:54 > 0:12:56installation, there's film.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59It is, like all these things with contemporary art, hit and miss.
0:12:59 > 0:13:01There's some work in here, I have to say, I like a little less.
0:13:01 > 0:13:03There's some naive paintings
0:13:03 > 0:13:05which take a naive concept a little too far.
0:13:05 > 0:13:09But I think it is fantastic that there's an environment like this
0:13:09 > 0:13:13where contemporary artists with some sort of connection to Wales
0:13:13 > 0:13:16and the Welsh language can show their work.
0:13:16 > 0:13:20I find it staggering, absolutely staggering,
0:13:20 > 0:13:22that there is no national museum of modern art
0:13:22 > 0:13:25or contemporary art in Wales. And this kind of...
0:13:25 > 0:13:29for the period of the Eisteddfod, for six or seven days, is that thing.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32That seems to be short-changing the public a bit, to me.
0:13:32 > 0:13:34JAZZ INSTRUMENTAL
0:13:43 > 0:13:46One much-missed arts space did return this year.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50Swansea's Glynn Vivian Art Gallery reopened in October,
0:13:50 > 0:13:53following a five-year redevelopment.
0:13:53 > 0:13:55Friends of the gallery took to the streets
0:13:55 > 0:13:58to celebrate the return of this adored institution.
0:14:01 > 0:14:04- TANNOY:- Are you ready to enter into the wonder
0:14:04 > 0:14:05of the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery?
0:14:05 > 0:14:08CHEERING
0:14:15 > 0:14:18Based on the collection of paintings,
0:14:18 > 0:14:21ceramics and sculptures that Richard Glynn Vivian
0:14:21 > 0:14:23left to the city of Swansea,
0:14:23 > 0:14:26the gallery includes work by old masters, like Caravaggio...
0:14:27 > 0:14:32..and Welsh greats, including David Jones and Ceri Richards.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38With its new exhibition spaces, cafe and shop,
0:14:38 > 0:14:4190,000 visitors are expected every year.
0:14:44 > 0:14:46Oh, it's very good to be back.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50I mean, the Glynn Vivian, when it wasn't open, where did you go?
0:14:50 > 0:14:5490% or more of the friends in Swansea I've made
0:14:54 > 0:14:56because we met at the Glynn Vivian.
0:14:56 > 0:14:58So to me, it's a very special place.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05As a partner of London's Tate Gallery,
0:15:05 > 0:15:08the walls of the Glynn Vivian currently boast world-class art,
0:15:08 > 0:15:11with Picasso and Turner on loan.
0:15:13 > 0:15:15Also showcasing contemporary art,
0:15:15 > 0:15:19Lindsay Seers' video installation, Nowhere Less Now,
0:15:19 > 0:15:22is projected in an upturned boat.
0:15:22 > 0:15:24How it got in here, I don't know.
0:15:25 > 0:15:29And the gallery reopens with a stellar centrepiece attraction,
0:15:29 > 0:15:31ten drawings by Leonardo da Vinci
0:15:31 > 0:15:35on loan from the Royal Collection until January 8th.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41Although we have 17,000 old master drawings, there are almost
0:15:41 > 0:15:44a million works of art in total in the Royal Collection.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48Nonetheless, the Leonardos stand out for their world importance.
0:15:48 > 0:15:52And the exhibition here in Swansea is a selection
0:15:52 > 0:15:54of ten of the very finest of those drawings.
0:15:54 > 0:15:55So what we're bringing here to Swansea is
0:15:55 > 0:15:58a group of some of the most important drawings in Europe.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05It's very exciting, actually, and it's such a coup for Swansea
0:16:05 > 0:16:07to have these drawings.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10Very exciting. Very good. Well done, Swansea.
0:16:20 > 0:16:252016 brought major anniversaries for Welsh artists to commemorate.
0:16:25 > 0:16:29400 years since the death of England's most famous writer,
0:16:29 > 0:16:32William Shakespeare was everywhere this year.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35Of Wales' tributes, Russell T Davies'
0:16:35 > 0:16:38A Midsummer Night's Dream certainly stood out,
0:16:38 > 0:16:41the Welsh writer behind the Doctor Who revamp
0:16:41 > 0:16:45imaginatively reinterpreting this classic play.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50If we shadows have offended,
0:16:50 > 0:16:52Think but this and all is mended,
0:16:52 > 0:16:55That you have but slumbered here
0:16:55 > 0:16:57While these visions did appear.
0:16:57 > 0:17:01Shakespeare was also the inspiration behind
0:17:01 > 0:17:05a whole season of productions by Welsh National Opera,
0:17:05 > 0:17:07with Kiss Me, Kate, the musical adaptation
0:17:07 > 0:17:11of The Taming Of The Shrew, the standout show of the autumn.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21There were also works and exhibitions dealing with
0:17:21 > 0:17:24the 100th anniversary of the Somme
0:17:24 > 0:17:27and, in particular, the Battle of Mametz Wood.
0:17:27 > 0:17:31David Jones' In Parenthesis formed the basis of a daring new
0:17:31 > 0:17:36WNO opera commissioned to mark the company's own 70th birthday.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41In Parenthesis, the opera,
0:17:41 > 0:17:44is the right work at absolutely the right moment,
0:17:44 > 0:17:49because a national opera company has a cultural obligation
0:17:49 > 0:17:52to the people from which it has grown.
0:17:52 > 0:17:56As with any new work, there are elements of risk involved,
0:17:56 > 0:18:00but it has to be that way, it has to be a living art form.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05In Parenthesis counters the horror of war
0:18:05 > 0:18:07by evoking the humanity of the fallen,
0:18:07 > 0:18:10with composer Iain Bell working traditional Welsh songs
0:18:10 > 0:18:12into the score.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17# Sosban fach yn berwi ar y tan
0:18:17 > 0:18:21# Sosban fawr yn berwi ar y llawr
0:18:21 > 0:18:28# A'r gath wedi sgrapo Jonni bach. #
0:18:31 > 0:18:34The Battle of Mametz Wood was also commemorated
0:18:34 > 0:18:36at the National Museum of Wales,
0:18:36 > 0:18:39where the "War's Hell!" exhibition
0:18:39 > 0:18:42brought together Wales' artistic depictions of the battle
0:18:42 > 0:18:44and its aftermath.
0:18:47 > 0:18:48On loan from Caernarfon
0:18:48 > 0:18:51was Christopher Williams' powerful painting,
0:18:51 > 0:18:55a work commissioned by David Lloyd George in 1916
0:18:55 > 0:19:00and designed by the pacifist painter to depict the terrors of war.
0:19:06 > 0:19:08# We're here because
0:19:08 > 0:19:11# We're here because
0:19:11 > 0:19:15- ALL:- # We're here because we're here... #
0:19:15 > 0:19:18It was, however, an original piece of performance art
0:19:18 > 0:19:22that most poignantly commemorated the Battle of the Somme.
0:19:22 > 0:19:24We're Here Because We're Here
0:19:24 > 0:19:29saw volunteers organised by National Theatre Wales take to the streets,
0:19:29 > 0:19:32stations and skate parks of Wales,
0:19:32 > 0:19:35acting as First World War Tommies.
0:19:35 > 0:19:37Part of a UK-wide event,
0:19:37 > 0:19:40each volunteer represented a soldier killed
0:19:40 > 0:19:42on the first day of the Somme,
0:19:42 > 0:19:46when nearly 20,000 men from across the UK died.
0:19:56 > 0:20:012016 was a memorable year for one of Wales' most exciting writers,
0:20:01 > 0:20:04Thomas Morris, who won Wales Book of the Year
0:20:04 > 0:20:07with his debut publication, We Don't Know What We're Doing.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13The Caerphilly-based writer recently returned home from Dublin,
0:20:13 > 0:20:15where he'd been living for ten years.
0:20:16 > 0:20:20We spoke to him about the importance of his hometown in his work.
0:20:22 > 0:20:24We Don't Know What We're Doing is a short-story collection,
0:20:24 > 0:20:27set in my hometown of Caerphilly.
0:20:27 > 0:20:32I really wanted to write about people as I knew them in real life.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36I've felt for a long time there's a kind of conspiracy against
0:20:36 > 0:20:38my part of the world and people I knew.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41I never saw them in film, I didn't read about them in books,
0:20:41 > 0:20:45and I wanted to somehow put on the page life as I knew it.
0:20:48 > 0:20:53"The barmaid asks to see ID. You hand over your passport.
0:20:53 > 0:20:57"'25?', she says. 'Well, it'll catch up with you eventually.'
0:20:58 > 0:21:01"'What will?', you shout over the noise.
0:21:01 > 0:21:03"'Time,' she says,
0:21:03 > 0:21:06"though she might have actually said, 'Wine'. It's loud.
0:21:06 > 0:21:08"It's hard to tell."
0:21:10 > 0:21:13My research of Caerphilly had been living there for 25 years,
0:21:13 > 0:21:17and having a life and having family there,
0:21:17 > 0:21:20and kind of knowing the texture of the place,
0:21:20 > 0:21:23and sometimes just I'd be walking around the supermarket,
0:21:23 > 0:21:28and I would just hear one line, and whole stories would come from there,
0:21:28 > 0:21:32whole lives, whole families, would just kind of emerge.
0:21:34 > 0:21:38"I'd known it was love when Jessica confessed that she wanted to
0:21:38 > 0:21:39"have a black friend.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41"I, too, had known this feeling
0:21:41 > 0:21:44"and wanted to prove myself in our small, white town."
0:21:49 > 0:21:52Small towns aren't represented in the way I understand them,
0:21:52 > 0:21:56in the way that people who live there actually live life,
0:21:56 > 0:22:00and it can even be a kind of overly romantic representation where
0:22:00 > 0:22:03there's a community, and everybody knows each other, or it's a
0:22:03 > 0:22:07lonely place where people just need to get out, or they're going to rot.
0:22:11 > 0:22:13Caerphilly's kind of like an in-between place,
0:22:13 > 0:22:17and I think an in-between place is particularly useful when you're
0:22:17 > 0:22:19writing short stories, and I think for a lot of the characters,
0:22:19 > 0:22:22they're kind of in-between places as well.
0:22:28 > 0:22:30"You haven't been back in a year,
0:22:30 > 0:22:33"and you've forgotten that these places even exist.
0:22:33 > 0:22:37"Your father once asked, 'What are you running away from?'
0:22:38 > 0:22:40"You told him you weren't running away from anything.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44"He said, 'You what? You're running away from reality.'
0:22:44 > 0:22:47"For your father, 'reality' means living in South Wales,
0:22:47 > 0:22:49"working a job you hate."
0:22:54 > 0:22:55In Wales at the moment,
0:22:55 > 0:22:57I think it's a good time and a good place to be a writer.
0:22:57 > 0:23:02There's new voices emerging, and I have a feeling now that, so often,
0:23:02 > 0:23:05people were telling the stories they thought they had to tell.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08They were representing a kind of Wales that they thought
0:23:08 > 0:23:12people wanted to see and hear, but there's now, I think,
0:23:12 > 0:23:16a bit more confidence, and actually, it's not like that.
0:23:16 > 0:23:17It's not...
0:23:17 > 0:23:23male-voice choirs and ex-miners crying into their pints, you know?
0:23:23 > 0:23:25There's other stuff going on here,
0:23:25 > 0:23:29and I think there's a new confidence in what we're trying to say.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34Thomas is currently working on his second publication
0:23:34 > 0:23:35for Faber & Faber.
0:23:53 > 0:23:54In the last few years,
0:23:54 > 0:23:58music festivals have become something of a national speciality.
0:23:59 > 0:24:03At this year's Swn Festival, we caught up with Radio 1 DJ
0:24:03 > 0:24:05Huw Stephens, who gave us his take
0:24:05 > 0:24:08on the festival scene in Wales in 2016.
0:24:12 > 0:24:14Music festivals - they mean a lot of different things
0:24:14 > 0:24:15to a lot of different people.
0:24:15 > 0:24:19Essentially, what you need is some music, some people,
0:24:19 > 0:24:21and good times will be had,
0:24:21 > 0:24:24but here in Wales, I think we do things a little bit differently.
0:24:24 > 0:24:26From the historic National Eisteffod Of Wales,
0:24:26 > 0:24:28to little festivals in towns and villages,
0:24:28 > 0:24:31to newer, bigger ones, like Festival Number Six and Green Man,
0:24:31 > 0:24:34there's been a whole load going on.
0:24:34 > 0:24:36Even Wrexham and Cardiff have their own festivals,
0:24:36 > 0:24:38without a field in sight.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45An ambitious new festival stood out in June.
0:24:45 > 0:24:49Wales Millennium Centre's Festival Of Voice saw international
0:24:49 > 0:24:53and home-grown stars like Charlotte Church and John Cale
0:24:53 > 0:24:55prove just how versatile the human voice can be.
0:25:02 > 0:25:07The Festival Of Voice celebrates the voice and singing in
0:25:07 > 0:25:11all of its glory across all genres, and that is what makes it unique.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18It's the most direct form of artistic expression,
0:25:18 > 0:25:22and it cuts across every culture that we know.
0:25:23 > 0:25:28The thrill of it, and having someone else receive what you're feeling,
0:25:28 > 0:25:31is just so epic.
0:25:31 > 0:25:34So I know what I'm going to do - I'm going to sing it out!
0:25:44 > 0:25:47For those seeking the full-blown festival experience,
0:25:47 > 0:25:50Green Man was the highlight of August.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53This fiercely independent festival in the Brecon Beacons
0:25:53 > 0:25:56is a family-run affair, with real personality,
0:25:56 > 0:25:59no advertising, and no sponsorship.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02I go every year, and wouldn't miss it for the world.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10Or, if you'd rather something a bit more boutique,
0:26:10 > 0:26:13check out Festival Number Six in Portmeirion,
0:26:13 > 0:26:16possibly one of the most beautiful festivals in the world.
0:26:20 > 0:26:21This year, cruelly,
0:26:21 > 0:26:24it was battered by a storm that left some visitors stuck
0:26:24 > 0:26:26in a very muddy car park,
0:26:26 > 0:26:29but don't let that put you off - it's a truly unique festival,
0:26:29 > 0:26:32in an incredible setting, and a bit of rain
0:26:32 > 0:26:34- well, it's all part of the experience.
0:26:40 > 0:26:42And after the summer festivals are done,
0:26:42 > 0:26:46I get to pack away my wellies, come back to Cardiff, it's October,
0:26:46 > 0:26:48and it's Swn Festival all of a sudden.
0:26:48 > 0:26:52Now, unbelievably, this festival is ten years old now.
0:26:52 > 0:26:54It's close to my heart, as I set it up with my friend John,
0:26:54 > 0:26:56and even though I'm no longer involved,
0:26:56 > 0:27:00I still love coming here and seeing some incredible bands playing live,
0:27:00 > 0:27:04some artists, and the atmosphere here is always very special.
0:27:05 > 0:27:11# Can you cradle me and tell me that I'll sleep tonight?
0:27:11 > 0:27:15- # Can you hold my hand... # - Swn is an intimate, multi-venue
0:27:15 > 0:27:20festival that makes imaginative use of the city's clubs and spaces,
0:27:20 > 0:27:23and is perfect for getting up close and personal to bands.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25For, like, three days,
0:27:25 > 0:27:28everybody's talking about music and small bands and new bands and
0:27:28 > 0:27:32Welsh bands and Welsh language, and that's the bit that I love the most.
0:27:32 > 0:27:36It makes a point of booking exciting, local Welsh bands
0:27:36 > 0:27:39early in their careers, like one of this year's headliners,
0:27:39 > 0:27:43Bangor's Casi, who this year signed to Chess Club Records.
0:27:46 > 0:27:50You have yourself and Gwenno and Cate Le Bon, who are touring the
0:27:50 > 0:27:54- world and making music in both Welsh and English, in some cases.- Yeah.
0:27:54 > 0:27:56And it's getting a worldwide audience.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59What's happened to make that happen, do you think?
0:27:59 > 0:28:02You know, I think, as someone from Wales,
0:28:02 > 0:28:08there's so many stories within our culture, literature, poetry,
0:28:08 > 0:28:14and I feel quite passionate in sharing that, and making it quite...
0:28:14 > 0:28:18bringing a universal sound to something that, you know,
0:28:18 > 0:28:21belongs to a minority culture.
0:28:38 > 0:28:42Not only are Welsh festivals hugely significant musically,
0:28:42 > 0:28:46they're also important economically, and to the culture at large.
0:28:46 > 0:28:49This year, Cardiff University is exploring the significance of
0:28:49 > 0:28:53festivals, with a pop-up museum made of donated memorabilia,
0:28:53 > 0:28:57and a research group led by Jacqui Mulville.
0:28:57 > 0:28:59Festivals are really interesting.
0:28:59 > 0:29:00If you talk to people, they...
0:29:00 > 0:29:03There's a sort of a series of cultural norms that are
0:29:03 > 0:29:06associated with being at a festival,
0:29:06 > 0:29:09and I wonder whether it offers people a space to move outside of
0:29:09 > 0:29:12the sort of anonymous modern society,
0:29:12 > 0:29:14and actually link with whole new groups of people,
0:29:14 > 0:29:19and if you're not you, then somehow you can change your behaviour.
0:29:19 > 0:29:22Perhaps you become a better person, or the person you want to be.
0:29:25 > 0:29:30The reason Swn Festival was started ten years ago was to make
0:29:30 > 0:29:31something happen in Cardiff,
0:29:31 > 0:29:33to celebrate the scene that's already here,
0:29:33 > 0:29:36to celebrate Welsh and international music,
0:29:36 > 0:29:41so to look back at what Swn's done, it's been fantastic, and it's made
0:29:41 > 0:29:44a lot of music be heard, which was the point of it in the first place.
0:29:44 > 0:29:48After all, the Welsh word "swn" means "noise",
0:29:48 > 0:29:50and there's been a lot of it.
0:30:08 > 0:30:11In classical music, Cardiff's Charlie Lovell-Jones reached
0:30:11 > 0:30:16the final of the BBC Young Musician Of The Year competition in May.
0:30:16 > 0:30:19Still only 17 years old,
0:30:19 > 0:30:22he's one of the most promising virtuosos in the UK.
0:30:40 > 0:30:452016 also saw Xian Zhang unveiled as Principal Guest Conductor of the
0:30:45 > 0:30:50BBC National Orchestra Of Wales, the first woman to take on that role.
0:30:50 > 0:30:54She'll conduct the orchestra in Wales and at the BBC Proms
0:30:54 > 0:30:56for the next three years.
0:30:57 > 0:31:02I'm very honoured to be one of the first, which, in a way,
0:31:02 > 0:31:05brings me more pressure,
0:31:05 > 0:31:08in the way that I really want to set a really good record.
0:31:26 > 0:31:30And in October, to mark 50 years since the tragedy at Aberfan,
0:31:30 > 0:31:35Wales Millennium Centre premiered Sir Karl Jenkins' Cantata Memoria.
0:31:35 > 0:31:40Commissioned by S4C and performed by Sinfonia Cymru, it featured some
0:31:40 > 0:31:44of Wales' most celebrated artists, including harpist Catrin Finch
0:31:44 > 0:31:47and world-renowned bass baritone Bryn Terfel.
0:31:47 > 0:31:51The work is music and a poem. It's not a documentary.
0:31:51 > 0:31:54It was a genuine attempt to depict the tragedy
0:31:54 > 0:31:58and express some hope, and celebrate childhood.
0:32:11 > 0:32:14With a mixed choir of over 150 singers
0:32:14 > 0:32:17and a children's choir of 116,
0:32:17 > 0:32:19the same number who died in the school,
0:32:19 > 0:32:23this extraordinary, haunting work managed to honour Aberfan
0:32:23 > 0:32:27and celebrate childhood, without pulling any punches.
0:32:27 > 0:32:32# Buried alive by the National Coal Board
0:32:32 > 0:32:37# Buried, buried, buried, buried
0:32:37 > 0:32:43# Buried, buried, buried, buried
0:32:43 > 0:32:48# Bu...
0:32:48 > 0:32:53# ..ried. #
0:33:09 > 0:33:13As the year drew to a close, Abertillery-based photographer
0:33:13 > 0:33:16Clementine Schneidermann found herself the winner
0:33:16 > 0:33:19of one of Europe's most prestigious arts prizes -
0:33:19 > 0:33:23the Leica Oscar Barnack Newcomer Prize For Photography.
0:33:25 > 0:33:26Originally from Paris,
0:33:26 > 0:33:29the 25-year-old moved to Blaenau Gwent last year,
0:33:29 > 0:33:33on a residency with Arts And Minds, a novel regeneration scheme
0:33:33 > 0:33:36partnered by Tai Calon Social Housing
0:33:36 > 0:33:38and the Arts Council Of Wales.
0:33:39 > 0:33:42Clementine's photographs aim to depict the region
0:33:42 > 0:33:44in a light not commonly seen.
0:33:50 > 0:33:53From what I've read on the internet,
0:33:53 > 0:33:56what I've read about the valley, it was always very pessimistic,
0:33:56 > 0:34:01always very negative, and I was just interested to see if there
0:34:01 > 0:34:04would be a different way to show this region,
0:34:04 > 0:34:08which is not all about poverty and people on the dole.
0:34:12 > 0:34:17So this is a picture I took for the first time I did
0:34:17 > 0:34:21a fashion shoot, and it was raining and windy,
0:34:21 > 0:34:24and you can see the shape of this.
0:34:24 > 0:34:27It's only when I saw the image I realised the perfect
0:34:27 > 0:34:31combination between the wall and her outfit,
0:34:31 > 0:34:35and when I saw the image, I was like, "Wow! I can't believe it."
0:34:35 > 0:34:40It was such a big surprise, and for me this picture stays...
0:34:40 > 0:34:44I think it's the most important picture of the project,
0:34:44 > 0:34:47the juxtaposition between the person and the environment
0:34:47 > 0:34:49and how suddenly everything collides.
0:34:56 > 0:34:59Heads Of The Valleys is a project I started specifically
0:34:59 > 0:35:04for the residency, and it's about these children,
0:35:04 > 0:35:07and it's them growing up in this environment.
0:35:12 > 0:35:15I told the children it was going to be a fashion shoot.
0:35:15 > 0:35:17I showed them fashion magazines, and I said,
0:35:17 > 0:35:20"This is the kind of image I'm interested in,
0:35:20 > 0:35:24"but it's about real people, it's not professional models.
0:35:24 > 0:35:27"It's about having fun, it's being outside,
0:35:27 > 0:35:30"and it's different kind of images."
0:35:33 > 0:35:36I love this community centre. It's so beautiful.
0:35:36 > 0:35:39You can feel the warmth of this place.
0:35:39 > 0:35:41They all made their outfit,
0:35:41 > 0:35:44and she is wearing my grandmother's dress that I brought, and for me,
0:35:44 > 0:35:47it's beautiful that she's wearing my grandmother's dress.
0:35:55 > 0:35:57- Like that? - No!
0:35:59 > 0:36:00All right, look at me, John.
0:36:04 > 0:36:06When I moved to the valleys, I...
0:36:08 > 0:36:10I didn't know what to do, and then the more time I spent here
0:36:10 > 0:36:12- it's been a year I live here -
0:36:12 > 0:36:16for me, there's an incredible story everywhere.
0:36:18 > 0:36:20So I feel like I will never leave.
0:36:35 > 0:36:39Unexpected - it's a fitting summary for 2016.
0:36:39 > 0:36:43From Wales' success at the Euros, to Brexit and Donald Trump,
0:36:43 > 0:36:46nobody quite saw this year coming.
0:36:46 > 0:36:48But did anybody expect so many people to turn out for
0:36:48 > 0:36:51City Of The Unexpected?
0:36:51 > 0:36:54September's centenary celebration of Roald Dahl was the biggest
0:36:54 > 0:36:59arts event Wales has ever seen. I went to have a look around.
0:37:01 > 0:37:05I'm here in Cardiff, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the
0:37:05 > 0:37:10birth of the city's most famous storyteller, Roald Dahl.
0:37:10 > 0:37:14The details of today's event have been kept top secret until now.
0:37:14 > 0:37:18Instead, we've been told to walk the streets,
0:37:18 > 0:37:20as unexpected moments arise.
0:37:21 > 0:37:24Good afternoon to the people of Wales.
0:37:24 > 0:37:26Members of the public should not, at this stage,
0:37:26 > 0:37:31ingest the peach juice which appears to have been deposited on streets,
0:37:31 > 0:37:34and please show due care and caution.
0:37:36 > 0:37:41Born in Cardiff 100 years ago, Roald Dahl's stories are of course adored
0:37:41 > 0:37:47the world over, famed for their fabulous fun and surreal invention.
0:37:47 > 0:37:51Inspired by his mischievous mind, City Of The Unexpected turned
0:37:51 > 0:37:55reality on its head, as if Dahl himself was in control of the city.
0:37:57 > 0:37:59Well, the streets are packed,
0:37:59 > 0:38:03as everybody's enjoying this sight of the giant peach.
0:38:03 > 0:38:06This is a big spectacle, but in every corner of the city,
0:38:06 > 0:38:10there are other events, truly unexpected.
0:38:10 > 0:38:14You just don't know what you're going to come across today.
0:38:14 > 0:38:16With nearly 6,000 volunteers,
0:38:16 > 0:38:21City Of The Unexpected was a project of jaw-dropping scale and ambition.
0:38:21 > 0:38:23A weekend-long event,
0:38:23 > 0:38:26it included not only street theatre and spectacle,
0:38:26 > 0:38:30but unexpected happenings, invoking the spirit of Dahl.
0:38:47 > 0:38:48Well, people are just joining in.
0:38:48 > 0:38:51They're being called up from the crowd.
0:38:51 > 0:38:53I don't know if they know what they're doing.
0:38:53 > 0:38:55They all seem to be pretty good.
0:38:55 > 0:38:58I just hope they're not going to pick on people - certainly not me.
0:39:02 > 0:39:05That was fantastic. That wasn't just spontaneous, was it?
0:39:05 > 0:39:06Er, not entirely, no.
0:39:06 > 0:39:09It was slightly unexpected, but it wasn't spontaneous.
0:39:09 > 0:39:14So what's it like, being part of an event that's this large?
0:39:14 > 0:39:16It's exhilarating.
0:39:16 > 0:39:19It's fuller here than on an international rugby day.
0:39:19 > 0:39:23It's great that people come out en masse to see an arts event,
0:39:23 > 0:39:27rather than a sporting event. It restores my faith in humanity.
0:39:37 > 0:39:39So we're in one of the arcades.
0:39:39 > 0:39:44I have never seen it this full of people, and up on the balcony,
0:39:44 > 0:39:48a Roald Dahl-inspired foxes string quartet.
0:39:48 > 0:39:49Course there is.
0:39:57 > 0:40:00APPLAUSE
0:40:06 > 0:40:10Most of the weekend was entirely free to attend,
0:40:10 > 0:40:14- but tickets to a few secret readings were sold in advance.- Are we ready?
0:40:14 > 0:40:17- Can you hear me at the back? - Yes.- Brilliant.
0:40:17 > 0:40:20All right, so this is The Twits, by Roald Dahl.
0:40:23 > 0:40:27I found myself listening to Game Of Thrones actress Gemma Whelan,
0:40:27 > 0:40:32who delighted audiences with her reading of The Twits.
0:40:32 > 0:40:37"What a lot of hairy-faced men there are around nowadays."
0:40:37 > 0:40:40You're the only one. You're going to get it all.
0:40:42 > 0:40:44I did read a lot of Roald Dahl as a child,
0:40:44 > 0:40:47and going back to it now, you really,
0:40:47 > 0:40:51really recognise in a different light just how brilliant they are
0:40:51 > 0:40:54at getting children to read, because they're so compelling,
0:40:54 > 0:40:57they're full of imagination, and they're full of all worms and
0:40:57 > 0:41:00squigglies and all that kind of stuff that children are into.
0:41:00 > 0:41:04"Mr Twit was one of these very hairy-faced men.
0:41:05 > 0:41:08"The stuff even sprouted out in revolting tufts from his
0:41:08 > 0:41:12"nostrils and earholes. 'What's the matter with you?', Mr Twit said.
0:41:12 > 0:41:15"'Help!', screamed Mrs Twit, bouncing about.
0:41:15 > 0:41:17"'There's something in my bed!'"
0:41:17 > 0:41:21Did you think that Gemma did a good job of doing the characters?
0:41:21 > 0:41:22Definitely. She was very animated.
0:41:22 > 0:41:25She sounded literally exactly like the real people.
0:41:27 > 0:41:31Produced by Wales Millennium Centre and National Theatre Wales,
0:41:31 > 0:41:35City Of The Unexpected drew a record number of people to Cardiff.
0:41:35 > 0:41:39Running it was a daunting prospect, and for the new head of
0:41:39 > 0:41:42National Theatre Wales, one of her first tasks in the job.
0:41:43 > 0:41:46Kully, this is your first year in the job,
0:41:46 > 0:41:50but not too far into the first year. It's a bit of a baptism of fire.
0:41:50 > 0:41:53Were you expecting the sheer numbers?
0:41:53 > 0:41:57The police have said to us it's had the biggest response ever
0:41:57 > 0:41:59in terms of people coming to the city,
0:41:59 > 0:42:02even bigger than any of our international games
0:42:02 > 0:42:07that have happened here, so it just shows you the appetite for culture.
0:42:07 > 0:42:10Can anything on this scale ever happen again?
0:42:10 > 0:42:12Well, you should never say never.
0:42:12 > 0:42:17Our ambition is to be bold, is to be radical, and to be relevant,
0:42:17 > 0:42:18and now more than ever
0:42:18 > 0:42:22to kind of take the world to Wales and Wales to the world.
0:42:24 > 0:42:28City Of The Unexpected was a breathtaking event
0:42:28 > 0:42:32- ambitious, bold, and a fitting close to a remarkable year.
0:42:32 > 0:42:36For 2016, we leave you with highlights from its beautiful
0:42:36 > 0:42:39evening finale at Cardiff City Hall.
0:42:39 > 0:42:42MUSIC: Flower Duet from Lakme by Delibes