News
Talking Pictures
Celebrity photographer Cambridge Jones captures creative personalities in poses that surprise, delight and go against type. In order that visitors to his new autumn show can really connect with each image, Cambridge asked each of his subjects, to deliver a short audio message. So accompanying each image is a spontaneous answer to the question CJ poses at the end of each shoot – Tell me who or what inspired you?
Stars include: Anthony Hopkins, Michael Sheen, Bryn Terfel, Terry Jones, Rhys Ifans, Stereophonics, Jonathan Pryce, Damian Lewis and Shirley Bassey
A unique exhibition that opens over the month of September at four major transatlantic gallery spaces:
Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff
Bute Place, Cardiff Bay, CF10 5AL http://www.wmc.org.uk//ohttp://www.wmc.org.uk/
Sep 6 to Oct 25
Proud Galleries Central, London
32 John Adam Street, WC2N 6BP http://www.proud.co.uk//ohttp://www.proud.co.uk/
Sep 6 to Sept 12
Canary Wharf, London,
The Lobby, One Canada Square, E14 5AB http://www.canarywharf.com/mainfrm1.asp/ohttp://www.canarywharf.com/mainfrm1.asp
Sep 14 to Oct 1
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
40 Lincoln Center Plaza, NY 10023 http://www.nypl.org/locations/lpa/ohttp://www.nypl.org/locations/lpa
Sep 20 to Nov 27
Culminating in a prestigious invitation for an exhibition at:
The Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Barnsdall Art Park
4800 Hollywood Blvd, CA 90027 http://www.barnsdallartpark.com//ohttp://www.barnsdallartpark.com/
March 3 – April 3. 2011
ABOUT THE EXHIBIT:
Looking at Cambridge Jones’ portraits is often like visiting old friends but marveling at how revealing and different they look. Talking Pictures is a collection of fresh and dynamic images. Cambridge Jones’ portraits are revealing and direct and often playful. He says, " I shoot celebrities as people rather than people as celebrities.
I like my portraits to be honest without any veneer. I want a visual connection between the viewer and the subject, often jumping out of the frame. I am pleased when they walk out of a session an hour or so later and comment that they don't feel they have been photographed. It’s almost incidental that the encounter involved a camera."
He’s been described as Britain’s answer to Annie Leibovitz and he is flattered with the comparison but in the audio accompanying the exhibit he explains that his process is more relaxed.
David Bailey was the greatest influence for Cambridge and he tells us about that and the tricks of his process in the accompanying audio. For one of his subjects, Michael Sheen, surprisingly it was not an actor but a controversial and often stinging critic, Kenneth Tynan that inspired him. For Damian Lewis, dashing star of Band of Brothers, incongruously perhaps, it’s traditional Gilbert and Sullivan and Terry Jones says it was going to the Esher Embassy and watching Danny Kaye "being silly". The subjects of Talking Pictures span many generations. The elegant young designer Emma Griffiths, who looks stunning in her monochrome outfit, says that her idol was Alexander McQueen. She adds, "ironically I worked for him later on and it was a little bit surreal".
A common DNA joins photographer and subject and that’s simply and magnificently - Wales. As Cambridge worked his way through the shoot and met these celebrities who are passionate about Wales, he too became more inspired by his heritage.
INTERVIEW SUBJECTS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST
Cambridge Jones photographer
Cambridge Jones photographer
http://www.cambridgejones.com/tvappeareances.html
World’s Top Cash Award for Young Writers Launches with Literary Fireworks in Boston
Literary figures and cultural celebrities gathered on March 2 at the British Consulate in Boston to celebrate and officially launch the world’s top prize exclusively for young writers, the 2010 University of Wales Dylan Thomas Prize.
The new, ultra-high-tech "green" Consulate was abuzz with a mix of literary stars from nearby MIT and Harvard mingling with the elite of British academia who had flown out for this unusual transcontinental cultural event. Remarkable in its scope, the Prize pits poetry, short stories, novels, novellas, stage plays and screenplays in a head-to-head battle for international prestige and a cash award of nearly $50,000 (£30,000).
The gala, featuring lectures and readings from guest speakers including Chair of the Dylan Thomas Prize Peter Stead, author Tessa Dahl, the poet Kurt Heinzelman from the University of Texas, and former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky, was marked by excitement and even controversy over an unprecedented competition between the various forms of literature.
"It’s a bit of a mare’s nest," was Harvard Review Editor Christina Thompson’s friendly warning, speaking to the challenges of judging poems against prose, novels against screenplays.
"Whatever your metier is, you’ll think yours is the best. A poet of course will think poetry ought to win, and a novelist or dramatist will think their form is best," insisted Tessa Dahl, and wondered, "But how can you, really, pit a ten-line poem against a 300-word novel? It’s not really fair, is it?"
But despite the controversy, Professor Stead was, true to his name, steadfast in his defense of the competition rules. "The Prize was given this unique format as a reflection of Dylan Thomas’s own writing—for he was a poet, prose writer and playwright. Just as with the Nobel Prize and the Pulitzer, our judges seek excellence," countered Professor Stead, "And the judges, each of whom have their own individual area of expertise, are charged with the task of establishing true excellence. It is our view and our experience that any literary critic worth his or her salt can identify excellence whatever the genre. It would be a poor critic indeed who stood out for their own form of writing in the face of true quality in another genre."
Held to coincide with Wales’ most important national holiday, St David’s Day, the date of the ceremony also marked the exact 60th anniversary of the first public reading by Dylan Thomas in Boston, on March 1, 1950.
A "rock star" of poetry known worldwide, Dylan Thomas was a regular visitor to the United States, drawing sold out crowds and thrilling audiences with his dramatic readings before he died in New York at the age of 39. The eponymous Prize reflects Thomas’ own creative diversity, for while best known as a poet, in his brief life he excelled in a wide range of literary forms.
Entries for the 2010 University of Wales Dylan Thomas Prize must be submitted by the publisher, editor, literary agent, or in the case of film scripts and stage plays, by the producer. Writers must be 18-30 years old, and the literary works must have been published within the past year to be eligible for competition. Submission deadline is April 30, 2010.
The selected finalists who make the short list of this year’s competition will be flown to the British Isles, where they will be feted at prestigious Prize events, as well as participate in educational programs presented by the Prize’s title sponsor the University of Wales at schools, colleges and universities across the country.
For more information about the University of Wales Dylan Thomas Prize, and for complete entry rules and guidelines, please visit www.thedylanthomasprize.com
Wales Week New York: Celebrate Welsh Art, Culture, and More
Join the Welsh Assembly Government in celebrating St. David’s Day with a week of events in New York City
New York, NY, March 2 - 7, 2010 – The Welsh Assembly Government invites New Yorkers to experience Wales without leaving NYC. This year’s events focus on Dylan Thomas with an exhibit at the Morgan Library of rare poems and letters and a walking tour of Dylan Thomas’ New York with celebrated Welsh guide and raconteur Ianto Roberts. A worldwide "rock star" of poetry, Dylan Thomas was a regular visitor to the United States, drawing sold out crowds and thrilling audiences with his dramatic readings The week also features celebrated composer Karl Jenkins conducting his own work at Carnegie Hall.
The Welsh Assembly Government invites New Yorkers to experience Wales without leaving NYC. This year’s events focus on Dylan Thomas with an exhibit at the Morgan Library of rare poems and letters and a walking tour of Dylan Thomas’ New York with celebrated Welsh guide and raconteur Ianto Roberts. A worldwide "rock star" of poetry, Dylan Thomas was a regular visitor to the United States, drawing sold out crowds and thrilling audiences with his dramatic readings The week also features celebrated composer Karl Jenkins conducting his own work at Carnegie Hall.
Saint David’s Day, in honor of the patron saint of Wales – his Welsh name is Dewi Sant - beats Saint Patrick’s Day and Tartan Week in the calendar year!
"Each year we celebrate different aspects of the unique Welsh culture in New York City," said Catrin Brace, from the Office of the First Minister of the Welsh Assembly Government and festival organizer.
Did you know?
From Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln to Hillary Clinton, from Harold Lloyd and Humphrey Bogart to Tom Cruise and Anthony Hopkins, from Harriet Beecher Stowe to Jack London, from Jesse James to Daniel Boone to JP Morgan to Frank Lloyd Wright,
Welsh‐Americans have made significant contributions to American history and culture.
Wales Week events include:
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Dylan Thomas Manuscripts and Welsh Teas exhibition of rare letters and poems at the Morgan Library (March 2-7)
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It’s Alec Templeton Time! with Rhian Davies and pianist Simon Crawford-Phillips showcasing and performing the work of the famous blind composer-pianist at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. (March 6)
- Music Masters of Wales at Carnegie Hall with a premiere of the Euphonium Concerto by renown composer Karl Jenkins, and a premiere of Dewi Sant by Arwel Hughes. (March 6)
- Dylan Thomas Walking Tour of Greenwich Village: a literary odyssey researched and composed by Dylan’s daughter Aeronwy Thomas and Welsh poet and scholar Peter Thabit Jones (March 7, limited spaces, $25, contact catrin.brace@wales-uk
- The Organ Works of Cesar Franck’s Southfield Organ performed by Welsh-Canadian organist David Enlow at Rutgers Presbyterian Church (March 7)
The week will be an exciting exploration of contemporary Wales. Additional information and activities can be found on our Wales Week USA pages.
Photos are available on request.
Press Contact:
Judith Kampfner
judithkampfnerwales@gmail.com
347-587-9617
CIM is the new PR company for the Welsh Assembly Government in the USA
CIM, an independent media company working on projects in the US and the UK, has been awarded the contract to handle media outreach for the Welsh Assembly Government in the USA. The contract will be handled by Catrin Brace of the Assembly's New York office.
CEO Judith Kampfner began her career as a broadcaster and journalist and has made documentaries for National Public Radio in the US and the BBC. She is dual citizen (British/American) and has lived in the USA for thirteen years and worked half that time on the staff of New York Public Radio as cultural producer. In her team are Ilene Rapkin (New York) and Greg Hittelman (San Fransisco) - both highly experienced media relations practitioners.
CIM will focus on getting press coverage for a number of key events in the US calendar such as the Turner to Cezanne exhibition from the National Museum Wales in Washington D.C. and Albuquerque, New Mexico; the launch of the new yearly Dylan Thomas Prize in Boston; the many events in Wales Week 2010 in New York including the Music Masters from Wales concert at Carnegie Hall featuring works by Karl Jenkins and Arwel Hughes; the appearance of Only Men Aloud! on national public television In June; and the Talking Heads exhibition of Cambridge Jones’ portraits at the Lincoln Center for the performing Arts in New York and in Los Angeles in September and October.
Evening in New York to celebrate the life and works of Aeronwy Thomas (1943-2009)
On Thursday, December 10, 2009, an event was held at the Wales International Center in New York to celebrate the life of Aeronwy Thomas poet and daughter of Dylan Thomas who passed away in July 2009. The event was organised by Stanley H.Barkan of Cross-Cultural Communications in association with the Welsh Assembly Government in New York, The Seventh Quarry (Swansea, Wales) and Poetry Monthly (Nottingham, UK).
The presentation of Aeronwy’s life included audio-visual images of her filmed during her historic Dylan Thomas Tribute Tour of America with Peter Thabit Jones in 2008 - the first such tour since Dylan Thomas’s death in 1953 and Aeronwy’s first and only such tour, which launched her first book published in America, Burning Bridges. Hosts of this tour paid tribute to her on the evening by reading from Aeronwy’s poetry.
Original poetry was also written for the occasion and read out on the evening and there were other readings and performances from Stanley H. Barkan, Mark Barkan, Laura Boss, Sultan Catto, Aleksey Dayen, Jim Gwyn, Charles Fishman, Maria Mazziotti Gillan, Tammy Nuzzo-Morgan, and Michela Musolino. The original poems can be found under the section 'Welsh Arts in America' on this website.
New York premier of I Know You Know
A screening of the independent movie ‘I Know You Know’, written and directed by Welsh moviemaker Justin Kerrigan (Human Traffic) and starring Robert Carlyle (The Full Monty; Trainspotting), was held at the Bryant Park Hotel in Manhattan on Dec 1st. The screening was a partnership event with BAFTA East Coast; Welsh Assembly Government New York Office; Film Agency for Wales; Wales Arts International; and International Business Wales (Creative Industries) and included a pre-screening cocktail party and a Q & A with Justin Kerrigan moderated by Pauline Burt, CEO of Film Agency for Wales.
I Know You Know won the BAFTA Cymru award for Best Film in 2009. It has been screened at a number of festivals worldwide, including the Berlin International Film Festival 2009 and the Seattle International Film Festival on 2009 and goes on release in the UK in early 2010.
Actor Christian McKay is a transatlantic success
Wales International Center November 30, 2009: Actor Christian McKay, who frequently performs in Welsh theatre productions, has just opened (Friday 27 November) in the US in Richard Linklater’s new movie ‘Me and Orson Welles’ to huge critical acclaim. From the New York Times to the New Yorker, Yahoo and The Hollywood Reporter, critics are wowed by Christian’s performance in the title role.
Some of the archest critics in the USA have given him exceptional praise: ‘Christian McKay… clearly has the part down pat — the ever-shifting eyebrows, the sonorous, arch baritone, the "old man,’ (Jake Coyle of the Associated Press). ‘Christian McKay…has the necessary stature and the vaunting authority for the job’ (David Denby in the New Yorker). ‘The ego and the brilliance of Welles… are captured, with a brio and wit that puts most biopic mummery to shame, by Christian McKay, a British actor with a slender resume and superhuman confidence. His evident relish in the dimensions of this role is a crucial part of the performance’ (A.O. Scott in the New York Times). ‘This pleasant, low-key dramedy is most memorable for the discovery of co-star Christian McKay.’(New York Daily News).
McKay was playing Orson Welles in New York in 2007 in the one-man play ‘Rosebud: the Lives of Orson Welles’ by Welsh author Mark Jenkins when Robert Kaplow, author of the historical novel on which the movie is based, came to the performance. Linklater (Slacker,Fast Food Nation,Dazed and Confused) was at that time looking for someone to play Welles in his movie, Kaplow alerted Linklater, Linklater travelled up from Texas to see the play and a star was born!
Before opening in ‘Rosebud,’ McKay also played The Director in Theatr Clwyd’s production of ‘Memory ‘by Welsh playwright Jonathan Lichtenstein, directed by Terry Hands, both plays being part of the annual ‘Brits off Broadway’ festival in New York. Swansea actor Simon Nehan, also in the 2007 ‘Memory’ cast, plays Joe Holland in the Linklater movie. McKay also recently played Robert in Wyndham Price’s movie ‘Abraham’s Point.’
Both ‘Memory’ and ‘Rosebud: the Lives of Orson Welles’ were supported by the Welsh Assembly Government in New York during their run in Manhattan in 2007.
Irish, Welsh, Scottish, and Breton Celts celebrate Halloween in New York
Wales International Center, New York, Nov 2: On Friday October 30, the Consulate General of Ireland in New York hosted a Celtic celebration of Halloween/Samhain in association with the Office of the First Minister of Wales, the American-Scottish Foundation, the New York Caledonian Society and BZH New York (Breton Society of NY).
Halloween dates back to an ancient Celtic tradition called ‘Samhain’ and some of the elements of the early Celtic festival still live on in modern-day celebrations at this time of year such as ducking apples, carving vegetables, lighting bonfires, and the fear of witches and evil spirits. People from the modern-day Celtic countries such as Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and Brittany have a shared heritage in many of these ancient customs.
The event at the Irish Consulate was a celebration of Celtic language, music, dance, poetry, and food.The entertainment included, from Ireland, the award-winning Irish singer and songwriter Susan McKeown and renowned traditional musicians, Seamus Mac an Aonaigh, Marie and Martin Reilly and Máire Ní Raghallaigh. From Wales came ‘Jones and Davies’- a medley of Welsh song and poetry from bass Michael Douglas Jones and poet and author Grahame Davies. Scotland put forward Emmy award-winning actor Andrew Macmillan; kilted juggler John Grimaldi; and Scottish dancer Bonnie Heather Green. The evening finished with Breton musicians Yoann LeGoff and Mike McNintch.
Food and drink from each Celtic country was served. From Ireland there was oaked smoked Irish salmon on Irish brown bread; Irish cocktail sausages with Guinness mustard; Irish cheeses; Lily O'Brien's Irish Chocolates; and Guinness and other Irish beers. Wales offered a selection of Welsh cheeses - Tintern, Red Dragon, Black Mountain - Penderyn single malt Welsh whisky, and Llanllyr Source water. Scotland provided Walkers Shortbread and single malt Scotch whisky and, to finish, Brittany provided ‘Gateau Breton’ and ‘Sables Bretons.’
This unique event in New York also gave the participating Celtic groups an opportunity to offer the guests information on tourism opportunities as well as further information about their respective countries' culture, geography and points of interest. Guests also had an opportunity to network among fellow Celts.
Commenting on the success of the evening, Deputy Consul General of Ireland, Breandán Ó Caollaí, encouraged participants to consider the event's potential as an ‘additional informal New York network of business,cultural,and promotional friends brought together under the all-embracing umbrella of a shared interest in Celtic identity and heritage."
Catrin Brace of the Welsh Assembly Government added, ‘I hope that this will be the first of many joint celebrations between the Celts of New York. There is certainly a special relationship between people of Celtic nations and I hope that we can look forward to developing this to its full potential.’
View photos of this event on our photo pages.
Two new Marshall Scholars from U.S. at Cardiff University
The Marshall Foundation supports outstanding American students wanting to study at graduate level in the UK. This year, they include Rachel Kincaid and Christina Thatcher, a composer and a writer respectively, who will be studying at Cardiff, capital city of Wales.
Winning a Marshall Scholarship is not easy. Offering funding for study at a UK University of the students’ choice, the Scholarships draw competition from the most talented and committed undergraduates across the USA. Only around 40 are selected each year.
Two young women have made it through the selection process to start a year’s study at Cardiff this autumn. Rachel Kincaid, from Ohio, will be taking an MA in Ethnomusicology at the School of Music. Christina Thatcher, from Pennsylvania, will be taking the Creative Writing MA run by the School of English, Communication and Philosophy.
While their subjects are different, the two scholars share an interest in the transforming social effects of the creative arts. Rachel Kincaid cannot remember a time when she was not interested in music. She sang in the church choir at a young age, took up the trumpet at 10 and wrote her first compositions at 16. Rachel’s music has now been played at venues in the US, the UK and Germany. Her piece Forever Changed was inspired by the book A Long Way Gone, about a boy soldier’s experiences in Sierra Leone. Rachel was able to introduce the piece when it was performed at the Severance Hall, Cleveland, aiming to raise awareness of the thousands of child soldiers around the world. A graduate of the University of Rochester, New York, Rachel has already spent one year in the UK, studying trumpet performance and composition at the Royal Northern College of Music.
She was drawn to the Ethnomusicology course at Cardiff, as it seemed a good fit with her drive to connect music with a wider audience. The MA will provide insights into how people experience music, and also the importance of music in non-western cultures. Rachel said: “This will be an invaluable experience for someone trying to understand how to bring music back to the general public in the US.”
Christina Thatcher is a strong believer in the inspirational powers of writing. Having herself known hardship while growing up in Pennsylvania, she started keeping a daily journal while in the first grade. She later branched out into poetry, short stories, and prose, benefiting from the encouragement of her middle and high school teachers.
Christina said: “Although I cannot confidently pinpoint the exact moment I decided to become a teacher, I know their collective encouragement led me to simply ‘know’ that teaching was what I wanted to do.” Inspired by her teachers’ example, Christina gave up time while studying English and Secondary Education at Temple University to teach in some of the most impoverished areas of Philadelphia. This interest has now brought her to Cardiff and the MA in Teaching and Practicing Creative Writing. Christina wants to research the benefits of creative writing teaching in UK secondary schools, so she can argue the case for the US doing likewise. She will follow up her year at Cardiff studying equity issues in education at York. Her ultimate goal is to establish summer creative arts foundations in high poverty urban areas like Philadelphia, where students can be encouraged to write creatively and therapeutically.
Both are excited by the opportunities the Scholarship offers them. Rachel said: “It is truly an honour to have been selected to receive a Marshall Scholarship. The other Marshall Scholars are an incredibly varied and gifted group of people and I feel extremely lucky that I have had the chance to know them.”
Christina agreed, and added of Cardiff: “The University is beautiful and easily accessible. I have found Cardiff an incredibly welcoming, accommodating and very lively place to be.”
Sandra Elliott, Director of the University’s Communications and International Relations Division, said: “It is a great tribute for the University to host two Marshall Scholars in one year. It is particularly thrilling that they are two such committed and dynamic individuals as Rachel and Christina.”
Adirondack Park, NY, to host Welsh arts, culture and history
As part of its 2-year tour of the USA, ‘Turner to Cézanne – Masterpieces from the Davies Collection, National Museum Wales’ will be at the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, NY, from Oct 9, 2009 – Jan 3, 2010.
National Museum Wales counts among its treasures the Davies Collection, an extraordinary group of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century paintings that is remarkable for its breadth and quality. Assembled between 1908 and 1923 by sisters Gwendoline and Margaret Davies, the collection is exceptionally strong in Realist and Impressionist works and includes masterpieces by, among others, Cézanne, Daumier, Manet, Millet, Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, and Van Gogh. Further information www.everson.org/home.php
Just an hour’s drive away in Oneida County, the exhibition entitled ‘Welsh in America’ will be at Remsen, New York, until November 2009. ‘Welsh in America’ is a 12-panel exhibition, researched and produced by the Welsh Assembly Government in New York, that tells the story of the Welsh contribution to life in America from colonial days to the present. It is housed in Remsen’s historic Stone Church which is listed on the New York State and National Registers of Historic Places.
Welsh immigration to the Remsen/Steuben area began over two hundred years ago in 1795 with fifteen families and continued well into the twentieth century. During that time Remsen held a pre-eminent role in Welsh immigration to the United States.
Remsen continues to celebrate its Welsh heritage and is part of a unique project which is being carried out by the Remsen Development Corporation. ‘Ty Gwaith Crefft’ will be a community fashioned around a railroad-oriented, mixed-use, neighborhood in upstate New York in the early twentieth century and will include artisans and small-scale fabricators from both Wales and New York State. The project will interpret the history of Remsen and the legacy of Welsh immigration to the area
and will build social, cultural, and economic links between Wales and the Welsh community in North America. For further info visit www.villageofremsen.org
Exhibition on the Welsh in America now for hire free-of-charge
A brand new 12-panel travelling exhibition telling the story of the Welsh in America is now available from the Welsh Assembly in New York for hire anywhere in the USA at no cost to the hirers providing they meet certain requirements. Please see our Exhibitions page for more details.
A celebration of the Life and Works of Aeronwy Thomas
In memory of our recently departed friend Aeronwy Thomas, the Welsh Assembly Government, in association with Cross-Cultural Communications, will hold an event at the Wales International Center, New York, on the evening of Thursday December 10. The daughter of Dylan Thomas, Aeronwy was herself a talented poet. She joined the Welsh Assembly Government in 2008 for our first Dylan Thomas Walking Tour of Greenwich Village - which she helped write. She passed away on July 27 of this year.
Keeping up with the Joneses newswire
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