Explore Diffusion Festival exhibitions with interactive tours made by 4π Productions

A Million Mutinies Later India / Wales 

Interview with John Rea 

CONCRÈTE: A SONIC INTERVENTION

Explore Diffusion Festival exhibitions with interactive tours made by 4π Productions

Born Nowhere / Born Now Here Llais Pontes

Explore Diffusion Festival exhibitions with interactive tours made by 4π Productions

Peace Signs Edward Barber 

Explore Diffusion Festival exhibitions with interactive tours made by 4π Productions

State of the Nations Kennardphillipps

Explore Diffusion Festival exhibitions with interactive tours made by 4π Productions

Rab Harling is a London-based contemporary artist and film maker who investigates the social occupation of space, focusing on how people construct a sense of place, and how the design of built environments reflects and actively produces particular social configurations and political ideologies. Harling’s work intersects with a long-term debate in urban culture and policy regarding the relationships between environment and behaviour, particularly in the context of the current housing crisis in the United Kingdom. His practice-based research has a particular focus on the effects of gentrification on the vulnerable, and in particular on the socially excluded and insecurely housed.

Marcelo Brodsky is an Argentine artist and human rights activist, working with images and documents of specific events to investigate broader social, political and historical issues. In 1968 – the Fire of Ideas Brodsky features archival images of student and worker demonstrations around the world, carefully annotated by hand in order to deconstruct what lay behind worldwide social turbulence in the late 1960s. Images of anti-Vietnam war demonstrations in London and Tokyo sit alongside protests in Bogota, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico, Prague and San Paolo against military regimes and oppressive government structures. For decades, Brodsky owned and directed a photo agency with offices throughout Latin America. His sophisticated understanding of picture editing, of how they are sequenced changes the way audiences read images, enables him to use text and graphical devices in association with each image to shift the viewer’s perspective and to reveal new layers of meaning.

This project is an investigation into the industrial site of the British Nylon Spinners at Mamhilad near Pontypool, which was built as a high-tech facility for the production of nylon thread, a man-made fabric developed by DuPont in the 1930s. Built in 1948, the factory was designed by architect Sir Percy Thomas and, at the height of nylon production in the 1960s, it was estimated that nearly 10,000 people worked throughout this vast industrial complex.

In common with other new technology industries based on research and development, the plastics industry was associated with technological advancements that would lead to the material enhancement in the lives of ordinary people. The development of new man made fabrics, plastics and chemicals were credited with helping to lighten the burden of everyday domestic chores and promised a new world of comfort and convenience.

The exhibition shows contemporary images taken at the Mamhilad factory over the last three years, together with historical archive images and films on the manufacturing process of nylon from the Pontypool Museum Archive. The workforce at Mamhilad shared a faith in the benefits of scientific and technological progress and felt they were contributing to a promise held by society at large that all subsequent generations might look forward to a future characterised by material and social improvement. Through the presentation of these diverse threads of testimony we can perceive the aspirations of a generation that hoped to create a new and better society, a bright new social fabric for everyone.

Bay Art

Explore Diffusion Festival exhibitions with interactive tours made by 4π Productions

David Garner is developing a new work for Diffusion, Tears, looking at Nye Bevan’s legacy, inspired by an archival photograph depicting Bevan rubbing his eyes, as if weeping at the dismantling of the National Health Service, whose establishment he spearheaded. Tears will be sited as an intervention in the National Museum Cardiff, alongside 19th Century paintings and artefacts in one of the art galleries. Between the stammer and le mot juste features the only two remaining speeches by Aneurin Bevan sourced and then reconfigured into twenty five segments, in order to emphasise the significance and stress the importance of the NHS and the need for a just society in the narrative.

In Respond, the artist presents two contemporary works that link the Chartist movement with the current austerity climate in South Wales. In one of these, Pennies for the People, an ornate chandelier, a symbol of decadence associated with opulent lifestyles, is constructed from 576 coins with a monetary value of a mere £11.52. Each coin has been hand stamped with bilingual words relating to the media vocabulary of austerity.

Victoria is a Producer at Watershed, where she designs and delivers creative labs and artistsʼ residency opportunities within the Pervasive Media Studio. Victoria has a background is visual art and previously co-produced projects as part of the Collect, a loose affiliation of creative producers working out the role and nature of collaboration through the act of collaboration itself.

Am nifer o flynyddoedd, bu Diane Meyer yn gweithio ar gyfres o ffotograffau wedi’u brodio â llaw yn dilyn cylchedd 104 milltir Mur Berlin yn ei gyfanrwydd. Mae rhannau o’r ddelwedd wedi’u cuddio gan frodwaith pwyth croes wedi’i frodio yn uniongyrchol ar y ffotograff. Mae’r brodwaith wedi’i greu i ymdebygu i bicseli ac mae’n benthyg yr iaith weledig o ddelweddu digidol mewn proses analog, wnaethpwyd â llaw. Yn ogystal â’r nodweddion corfforol sy’n cyfeirio at y cyn-raniad yn y ddinas, ron i â diddordeb yn y pwysau seicolegol yn y safleoedd hyn a’r modd y mae cyn hanes yn parhau’n gryf yn y presennol.

Drwy gael y brodwaith i gymryd ffurf y picseli digidol, mae Meyer yn creu cysylltiad rhwng anghofio â llygredd ffeiliau digidol. Mae ei diddordeb yn gorwedd yn natur dyllog y cof yn ogystal â’r modd y mae ffotograffiaeth yn trawsffurfio hanes i wrthrychau hiraethus sy’n cuddio dirnadaeth wrthrychol o’r gorffennol.

In The Icon/The Star, Slovenian artist Bojan Radovič examines how the five-pointed star as a revolutionary symbol is appropriated and re-used in a contemporary globalised world. With the fall of the Berlin wall and the demise of communism in Europe, the red star is progressively emptied of its ‘original’ meaning. Today, as time passes, the star symbol simply floats around different countries and brands, in various advertising and consumer contexts. Radovič points to this shifting of the meaning of the star as the consequence of the capitalist process of re-branding, which slowly and steadily divests the red star of its historical and revolutionary power. Rather than simply observing this phenomenon, the artist highlights a revolutionary symbol that is caught in the process of being assimilated into the easy consumerist world of capitalism and emptied of its past socialism. Radovič is also concerned with how the act of photographing the star in such contexts prompts new ways of seeing the image and thinking about its meaning. Unfettered from its more indexical meaning, the red star signifies things other than itself, as part of a wider system of signs.

Mae Delhi: Communities of Belonging yn gronicl o gymunedau LGBTQ cyfoes dinas Delhi. Mae prosiect Sunil Gupta a Charan Singh yn rhoi golwg i ni o eiliadau personol, cyffredin a chariadus dau ar bymtheg o unigolion a chyplau amrywiol. Creodd Gupta a Singh fosaig cyfoethog a thyner o’r ffyrdd y mae gwrthrychau eu lluniau yn llywio’u ffordd trwy fywyd, gwaith a chariad a hynny mewn gwlad lle cafodd y deddfau gwrth-sodomiaeth, a ddeilliai o gyfnod yr Ymerodraeth Brydeinig, eu diddymu yn 2009 yn unig. Cafodd y cyfreithiau hynny eu hadfer yn 2013, ar ôl i’r Goruchaf Lys wyrdroi’r dyfarniad blaenorol.

Aeth Gupta a Singh ati i dynnu lluniau o rwydweithiau cyfeillgarwch sy’n pwysleisio cynhesrwydd dynol a hynny mewn deialog ystyrlon sydd yn cwestiynu hefyd y naratifau rhagdybiedig am ‘ddioddefaint’ bywydau hoyw. 

The Jamaica-born ‘godfather of black British photography’ spent the 70s and 80s documenting street protests in the city. His work can be seen at Cardiff’s Diffusion festival until 31 May. 

See the full feature here.

Mae llyfr newydd gan Oriel Caravan yn coffáu eu prosiect hynod boblogaidd, 'Cardiff Pride of Place', a gynhaliwyd yn The Abacus yn ystod gŵyl Diffusion 2015. Mae'r cyhoeddiad lliw llawn maint poced hwn yn ymateb creadigol i Gaerdydd ac yn cynnwys enghreifftiau o waith celfyddydol, sylwadau ysgrifenedig a phethau cofiadwy a gyfrannwyd gan ymwelwyr â'r arddangosfa. Fe gewch chi wybod beth yn union sy'n nodweddiadol o Gaerdydd ('Bod yn annodweddiadol'), cewch flas ar fwyd Cymreig amlddiwylliannol (bhaji caws Caerffili a chennin) a chlywed disgrifiadau pobl o Gaerdydd (''Fel pentref a dyfodd y tu hwnt i bob rheolaeth''). Mae'r llyfr yn gipolwg unigryw a doniol ar brydiau ar brifddinas Cymru sydd hefyd yn cynnwys ffotograffau o Gaerdydd gan artistiaid Oriel Caravan, Jan Williams a Chris Teasdale.

Unit 15 @ Mermaid Quay

Explore Diffusion Festival exhibitions with interactive tours made by 4π Productions

Gweithdy 'Seianodeipiau'
gyda Andy Pearsall o Brifysgol De Cymru
Dydd Sul 21 Mai 2017

Mae Andy Pearson yn gweithio yng nghymoedd De Cymru. Mae e'n arweinydd cwrs BA Ffotonewyddiaduraeth Prifysgol De Cymru ac yn ymddiddori ym mhrosesau ffotograffig Oes Fictoria.

Cafodd proses y seianodeip ei dyfeisio gan y seryddwr Syr John Herschel yn 1842 ac fe'i defnyddiwyd gan y botanegydd Anna Atkins ym 1843 i greu'r llyfr cyntaf wedi'i ddarlunio â ffotograffau. 

Explore Diffusion Festival exhibitions with interactive tours made by 4π Productions

Third culture clash: Mehdi Bahmed's identity crisis – in pictures

With troubling, dreamlike compositions, French photographer Mehdi Bahmed conveys the awkwardness of being caught between western and Arab identity.

Photographer Mehdi Bahmed uses staged images to probe the tensions between the western and Arab worlds – and the experience of living between the two. His series Entre­-Deux is showing at Diffusion: Cardiff international festival of photography, Millennium Centre, until 31 May. All images: Mehdi Bahmed.

Woodblock Prints from Digital Images. Interview with CSAD Tutor: Laura Welsman

Canllaw cynhwysfawr i gynhyrchu prosiect dogfennol eich hun

Mae ffotograffydd Lee Stow, wrth weithio ar y cyd gyda Cymru Dros Heddwch a Ffotogallery, yn trafod ei phrofiadau o weithio ar ‘Pabïau: Merched, Rhyfel a Heddwch’, ac yn rhannu cyngor i ffotograffwyr ifanc sydd yn bwriadu datblygu prosiect dogfennol cryf a cydlynol. Mae mewnwelediadau ac awgrymiadau Lee yn rhoi cyd-destun proffesiynol i ein canllaw a fideo cam wrth gam.

Mae plant Ysgol Gynradd Radnor Road yn gwneud eu meddyliau yn glir ynglŷn â gwleidyddiaeth heddiw, yn eu cerdd ac animeiddiad gwych.

Creuwyd y ffilm gan Ffotogallery wrth weithio gydag Ysgol Gynradd Radnor, mewn partneriaeth gyda A2 Connect: Rhwydwaith Celf ac Addysg De Canolog fel rhan o brosiect Tidy! 2017. 

Am fwy o wybodaeth am y prosiect ac A2 Connect, ewch i A2connect.org

Today we took #Diffusion2017 Hijack live and have hijacked some local instagram accounts to get people discussing #revolution

Take a look and get involved on Instagram

College Gwent students visit Diffusion, with talk from Rowan Lear

A photography festival featuring more than 60 artists from across the world has descended on Cardiff for a month-long programme of exhibitions and events across the city .

Read the article here

1968: The Fire of Ideas by Marcelo Brodsky and Taking Liberties by John 'Hoppy' Hopkins at ffotogallery Turner House

Ffotogallery is proud to present the third edition of Diffusion, a biennial festival of world class photography and contemporary art featuring over 60 artists in a month long programme of exhibitions, events and activities

Diffusion 2017 looks at REVOLUTION in its widest context, investigating social change, freedom of expression, popular protest, human rights and the pursuit of utopias through the prism of photography and lens-based media.

The month-long Diffusion festival brings photography from around the world to venues across Cardiff.

See more here.

Esther Hovers’ False Positives features intelligent surveillance systems – cameras that are able to detect deviant behaviour within public spaces, questioning the normality of human behaviour in a globalised world. This is realised through eight “anomalies”, which become signs of body language or movement that could indicate criminal intent to passersby, or voyeurs of the photograph.

Download our Diffusion Festival Map

Amak Mahmoodian (b.1980) is an Iranian photographer, filmmaker and curator living in the UK, whose work questions identity. Her latest series, Shenasnemeh, is on display this month as part of Diffusion Festival at Ffotogallery, Cardiff, looking at the deeper complexities of identity, personhood and an intersection between the personal with the universal. “Shenasnameh” is the name of the official Iranian Birth Certificate. It is valid for life, but the photograph which it contains must be updated according to the standards. For a woman in Iran, the making of this photograph is a personally charged affair; her hair must be covered in keeping with official standards, and any excess of make-up will be met with official disapproval.

In State of the Nations, specially commissioned for Diffusion 2017, resistance to the status quo is embedded in the deconstruction of news images and narratives built from everyday materials, photomontage and text. kennardphillipps dig into the surface of words and images to visualise the connection between the oppressed majority and the political and financial elites of the everyday, remixing earlier work and creating new artwork addressing contemporary issues relating to Trump, Brexit, the refugee and migrant crisis and nuclear proliferation.

The Munitions Factory @ The Sustainable Studio 

Photographs by Arran Davis

Bydd arddangosfa arbennig yng Nghanolfan y Mileniwm, Zeitgeist, yn dangos gwaith a gyflwynwyd mewn ymateb i Alwad Agored fyd-eang Diffusion. Y nod yw dal ysbryd ein hoes, tanlinellu beth sy’n digwydd go iawn, cynnig mewnwelediad ac atebion newydd, a herio’r stwtws quo. Gyda’n porthwyr newyddion yn ddiweddar dan eu sang â Brexit, Trumpiaeth, newid hinsawdd, tlodi, anoddefgarwch crefyddol, yr argyfwng mewnfudwyr a ffoaduriaid, rheoli ffiniau a boneddigeiddio, bydd Zeitgeist yn holi beth mae hyn oll yn ei olygu i’r unigolyn a chymdeithas wrth symud ymlaen.

Mae Ffotogallery mewn cydweithrediad gydag I Loves The Diff yn rhoi ffotograffiaeth yn nwylo pobl Caerdydd. Rydym wedi trawsnewid pump o beiriannau gwerthu a'u gosod mewn lleoliadau ar draws y ddinas. Bydd pob un o'r peiriannau gwerthu yma'n gwerthu blychau arbennig sy'n cynnwys gweithiau celf bychain unigryw a phethau amrywiol, ardderchog eraill. Os llwyddwch i fachu un ohonynt, rhanwch lun arlein #ffotomatic.

Lawrlwythwch papur newydd Gŵyl Diffusion ar gyfer 2017

Mae The Glass Work yn eich gwahodd i gymryd llun ac i'w glywed wedyn, ar ffurf seinwedd, yn cael ei chwarae ar chwe gong gwydr.

Mae pob llun yn swnio'n wahanol iawn. Mae hi bron yn amhosib gwneud, ond ceisiwch ddyfalu pa lun sy'n cyfateb i ba seinwedd!

Cymerwch eich llun eich hun a rhowch gynnig arni!

1. Cymerwch lun ar eich ffôn, tabled neu liniadur

2. Ar Twitter - ysgrifennwch drydariad gyda'ch llun a'r hashtag #theglasswork

3. Anfonwch eich trydariad

Bydd The Glass Work yn derbyn eich trydariad ac yn dechrau ei chwarae ar ffurf cerddoriaeth.

Mae'r ddyfais yn dewis nodau ar sail y lliwiau ym mhob picsel yn y llun ac yn chwarae'r gong sy'n cyfateb i'r arlliw hwnnw. Mae goleuadau'n fflachio er mwyn dangos i chi pa liw yn union a ddewiswyd.

Mwynhewch eich cerddoriaeth! Cofiwch dagio @_diffusion!

Mae stiwdio portread popio-lan Saturday Girl yn teithio o amgylch Prydain fawr yn 2017, yn caglu portreadau o ferched ifainc a’r modd yr ydym yn mynegi ein hunain yn chwareus ac yn bwerus. Ryn ni’n ymweld â threfi a dinasoedd ar y Sadyrnau pan fo pobl allan yn cwrdd â ffrindiau, yn siopa, yn cymdeithasu, yn edrych o gwmpas ac yno i gael eu gweld.

Mae llyfr newydd gan Oriel Caravan yn coffáu eu prosiect hynod boblogaidd, 'Cardiff Pride of Place', a gynhaliwyd yn The Abacus yn ystod gŵyl Diffusion 2015. Mae'r cyhoeddiad lliw llawn maint poced hwn yn ymateb creadigol i Gaerdydd ac yn cynnwys enghreifftiau o waith celfyddydol, sylwadau ysgrifenedig a phethau cofiadwy a gyfrannwyd gan ymwelwyr â'r arddangosfa. Fe gewch chi wybod beth yn union sy'n nodweddiadol o Gaerdydd ('Bod yn annodweddiadol'), cewch flas ar fwyd Cymreig amlddiwylliannol (bhaji caws Caerffili a chennin) a chlywed disgrifiadau pobl o Gaerdydd (''Fel pentref a dyfodd y tu hwnt i bob rheolaeth''). Mae'r llyfr yn gipolwg unigryw a doniol ar brydiau ar brifddinas Cymru sydd hefyd yn cynnwys ffotograffau o Gaerdydd gan artistiaid Oriel Caravan, Jan Williams a Chris Teasdale.

Mae’r graffeg ar y mur gan Edward Barber, Mind Map of Nuclear Protest, a grëwyd yn benodol ar gyfer yr arddangosfa Peace Signs yn Amgueddfa Rhyfel Imperial Llundain (26 Mai - 4 Medi 2016) yn rhoi mewn cyd-destun ei ffotograffau o brotestiadau gwrth-niwcliar a osodwyd gan y Symudiad Prydeinig dros Heddwch yn y 1980au.

Mae Laís Pontes yn artist ffotograffig sy'n gweithio yn Llundain ac sydd yn archwilio'r amryfal ffyrdd y caiff cymeriadau eu datblygu a'u creu ar blatfformau'r cyfryngau cymdeithasol. Wedi'i hysbrydoli gan gyd-destun aml-ddiwylliannol ei mamwlad, Brasil, mae Pontes yn ymchwilio i'r syniad o gyfryngau cymdeithasol fel estyniad o'r hunan a syniad o hunaniaeth hylifog yn y gymdeithas gyfoes. I'r perwyl hwn, mae'r artist yn defnyddio ei chorff a'i bywyd ei hun i gynnal arbrofion ar wahanol safleoedd rhwydweithio cymdeithasol fel Facebook, Instagram a OkCupid. Mae ei phroses yn caniatáu i bobl eraill gyfrannu'n uniongyrchol at y gwaith, gan annog gwylwyr i ddatblygu golwg feirniadol ar y cyfryngau cymdeithasol a'i heffeithiau ar ein bywydau bob dydd.

The opening of ffotogallery Turner House with 1968: The Fire of Ideas by Marcelo Brodsky and Taking Liberties by John 'Hoppy' Hopkins.

Friday 5 May 2017

Photographs by Phil Scully 

Lawrlwythwch rhaglen Gŵyl Diffusion ar gyfer 2017

The official launch of Diffusion Festival at the Coal Exchange Hotel 

Thursday 4 May 2017

Photographs by Phil Scully