Welsh-Medium Art and Design Students Thrive at 'Golwg ar Gelf' Exhibition

‘Golwg ar Gelf’ is an innovative exhibition that provides Art and Design students from Swansea College of Art at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David and Cardiff School of Art and Design at Cardiff Metropolitan University with an opportunity to showcase their work and potential.

Article by Caryl Bulman, BA Surface Pattern and Textiles at Swansea College of Art.

The exhibition showcases a diverse range of artwork from students studying various fields of Art and Design. The purpose of the exhibition is to focus on artistic experimentation and to highlight the unique talents of each individual student. The displayed work is a representation of the students studying part of their coursework through the medium of Welsh, at all levels of undergraduate study, from both institutions. These students study some of their courses in Welsh and receive support from Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol, which also supports other fields in addition to Art and Design.

Studying in Welsh provides students with a distinctive experience and opportunities. The exhibition showcases Art and Design Student’s talents and potentials with the continuous support and encouragements of the lecturers. Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol believes that this exhibition will further contribute to the development of the students and be an essential step in their creative journey in the world of Art in Wales and beyond.

Owain Sparnon curator of the exhibition says: “Curating the exhibition was a great experience. As a former student of Swansea College of Art, it was a privilege to be able to be involved with the exhibition from a different perspective. I am aware of the importance of giving young artists the opportunity to showcase their work. The exhibition features striking, powerful and unique works from Swansea College of Art and Cardiff Metropolitan School of Art and Design. Their work is not to be missed!”

Here are some students exhibiting in the exhibition talking about their work and how this experience had an impact on them.

Meet the makers

• Caryl Bulman: Caryl Bulman is studying Surface Pattern and Textiles Course at UWTSD and exhibiting her ‘Workshop Wonders’ screen print. “Being a part of ‘Golwg ar Gelf’ 2023 has been an outstanding opportunity to promote young artists in Wales and to give us confidence within our work. I was a part of ‘Golwg ar Gelf’ 2021 and 2022 virtual exhibitions and it was a pleasure to be a part of this years in person live exhibition.
• Niamh Morgan: Niamh Morgan is a Surface Pattern and Textiles student at UWTSD exhibiting her collection ‘Hafan’. Niamh states: “collaborating with Coleg Cymraeg has been exciting as often despite the Welsh language still existing, Welsh artists barely communicate their work through the medium of Welsh. I loved how I could display previous work as it gave it a new meaning- now transferred in Welsh in terms of discussion.”
• Luke Cotter: Fine art UWTSD student Luke Cotter displaying his work ‘Y Byd yn cromfachau’. He states “this is new work that plays with people’s minds on what can be seen on the other side of the window, and how you can open a new shore for viewers.”

Welsh Lecturer UWTSD Gwenllian Beynon says: “Golwg ar Gelf is a great opportunity for students from different universities to display their work and to consider the importance of studying through the medium of Welsh. The exhibitions pop up for about 4 days. The purpose of these pop-up exhibitions is to start a conversation by showing student work at all undergraduate levels. It was wonderful on the opening nights of the exhibitions to see students bringing friends to see their work and to see students chatting to each other.”

Further Information

For more information about Welsh medium Art and Design degree courses, please visit the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol website.

The exhibition is kindly sponsored by Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol.

Location

The Alex Design Exchange, Swansea College of Art, Alexandra Road, Swansea SA1 5DX