Press Releases

The Attraction of Onlookers: an Anatomy of a Welsh Village by world-renowned artist Shimon Attie is on show at the Jack Shainman Gallery in New York from 23 September to 4 October 2008.

Attie spent several months in Aberfan in 2006 working with the residents of the village to create a video installation. To create the installation, Attie asked villagers to pose in a way that reflected their social or occupational role within the village while he filmed them on an unseen slowly revolving stage. He has used stage and lighting techniques to create a video installation and a still photographs featuring key village figures such as the fish-and-chip man, the ex-coal miner, the headmaster, the minister, the boxer, male voice choir singers, their conductor and the barman.

The project received support from the Welsh Assembly Government as well as funding through the Arts Council of Wales and the Heritage Lottery Fund.

First Minister Rhodri Morgan said: “The Aberfan disaster, which devastated a whole community, was a defining moment in Welsh history … I’m sure this work was a cathartic and positive experience for the residents of Aberfan as they were able to come together as a community and voice their own experiences and feelings through the language of contemporary art. I’m pleased that this work will gain international recognition.”

The exhibition is accompanied by a book of the same title, published by Parthian Books, and the creation of the work was the subject of a BBC Wales documentary called An American in Aberfan.

Attie has also collaborated with former Welsh National Poet Gwyneth Lewis to create a poem for The Attraction of Onlookers.

Attie said: “It has given me great pleasure to spend time in Wales working with so many interesting and talented people – not just on The Attraction of Onlookers but also on other pieces. It has been a particular joy to create poetry with Gwyneth Lewis and to work with the talented editor Dylan Evans at Mwnci production studios. I hope to be able to continue the relationship and bring more business to Wales in the future.”

This work appears at National Museum Cardiff from early December 2008.