Gallery picked to take part in war project
SWANSEA’S Glynn Vivian Art Gallery has been picked to take part in a prestigious £2.5 million programme linked to the UK’S Imperial War Museums.
Five cultural organisations from across the UK have been appointed as major co-commissioning partners by Imperial War Museums. Each will receive £250,000 to commission an artist for the 14-18 Now Legacy Fund programme.
Swansea University has also been picked to receive a smaller grant as part of the same project.
The 14-18 Now programme is the official UK arts programme for the First World War centenary. It will see 22 ambitious artist commissions.
Each commission will be inspired by the heritage of conflict.
The five appointed partners are the Glynn Vivian, The Hunterian in Glasgow, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead, Ulster University in Londonderry, and Leicester Museums.
Each location will work with an artist. The joint commissions will be displayed between 2023 and 2024 and explore themes ranging from care work in conflict to the current refugee crisis.
The programme has been made possible after a share of the royalties from Peter Jackson’s criticallyacclaimed film They Shall Not Grow Old was reserved for investment in artists and art experiences.
Turner Prize 2022 nominee Heather Phillipson will propose a vision from the skies, inspired by the US government’s 2021 report into unidentified aerial phenomena, for her commission at Glynn Vivian Art Gallery.
Phillipson, 44, is a British artist working in a variety of media, including video, sculpture, music, large-scale installations, online works, text and drawing. She is also an acclaimed poet whose writing has appeared widely online, in print and broadcast.
Her work has been presented at major venues internationally and she has received multiple awards for her artwork, videos and poetry.
Phillipson was in the UK arts spotlight back in the summer of 2020 when her work entitled ‘The End’ was chosen for the celebrated fourth plinth at Trafalgar Square.
‘The End’ measured 9.4m and weighed nine tonnes and was one of the largest artworks chosen for display on the fourth plinth.
Phillipson’s artwork was selected following an exhibition at the National Gallery, where 10,000 people voted for their favourite shortlisted artwork.
Alongside the five major partner and two Imperial War Museums commissions in the 14-18 Now programme, 15 member organisations from Imperial War Museums War and Conflict Subject Specialist Network will receive smaller grants of £20,000.
The eight already selected include Swansea University.
Working alongside both established and emerging artists, the network commissions will explore conflict from the First World War to the present day.
Seven remaining places are now open for expressions of interest from interested cultural organisations.