Press Releases

8 October – 7 November 2010

National Waterfront Museum, Swansea

John Cale’s five screen installation Dyddiau Du / Dark Days moves from representing Wales at the 53rd Venice Biennale to its first showing in Wales at the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea from 8 October as part of the Swansea Festival of Music and The Arts. This follows a showing in the MONA FOMA festival in Australia early in 2010 and a presentation of a live version at the Theater der Welt Festival in Essen Germany.

Staged in Venice in an evocative old brewery on the island of Giudecca, the installation, titled Dyddiau Du/Dark Days, takes the form of four episodes in film and sound across five screens. It was made in several locations in Wales including the unoccupied former family home in Garnant, Ammanford and with the collaborations of a choir and young orchestral players.

Cale, primarily known for his music and involvement with bands from the seminal Velvet Underground in New York, to the present day, has made an audio-visual work which is a reflection on the pain and power of a cultural inheritance and its contradictions and meaning for him.

Dyddiau Du/Dark Days was commissioned by Arts Council of Wales. This collaboration with Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales to tour the work, and through the kind generosity of the artist, present it to the nation has been made possible thanks to additional support from the Welsh Assembly Government. Following its first showing in Wales, at Swansea, it will be shown during summer 2011, as part of the opening of the extended new art galleries at National Museum Cardiff.

Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales operates seven museums across Wales including National Museum Cardiff, St Fagans: National History Museum, the National Roman Legion Museum, Big Pit: National Coal Museum, the National Wool Museum, the National Slate Museum and the National Waterfront Museum.

Entry to the show and the Museum is free, thanks to the support of the Welsh Assembly Government.

For further information, please contact Marie Szymonski, Communications Officer, National Waterfront Museum Swansea on 01792 638970 or marie.szymonski@museumwales.ac.uk