Wales in Venice: Manon Awst and Dylan Huw in conversation

Manon Awst and Dylan Huw will represent Wales at the 61st Venice Biennale, opening in May. Their collaborative project, organised by Oriel Davies and Oriel Myrddin, proposes an architecture of entanglement, where material, linguistic, and ecological threads converge. The project is partly informed by Awst’s recent Research Fellowship with the Henry Moore Institute, where she has been developing her long-term material research with peatlands. The collaboration between Awst and Huw invites connections across borders, informed by Wales’ celebrated history of site-specific collective practice and its oral poetic tradition.

An illustrated talk from the artists outlining the project’s origins and collaborative approach will be followed by a conversation with Steffan Jones-Hughes, the project’s curator and Director of Oriel Davies Gallery, Newtown. This event will be the first public opportunity to hear the artists discuss their plans for the forthcoming Venice Biennale, which is Wales’ first representation at the event since Sean Edwards in 2019.

Manon Awst is an artist living in Caernarfon, Wales, whose sculptural and performative practice is rooted in specific sites. Over two decades, she has exhibited in venues across Wales and Europe including Mostyn, IMMA, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg and Georg Kolbe Museum. Her work is part of the National Library of Wales, the UK Government and Welsh Parliament art collections.

Dylan Huw is a writer and artist who works collaboratively across languages and disciplines. Recent projects have been supported by Jerwood Foundation, Artes Mundi, LUX and Mostyn. His critical writing has been published with Frieze, e-flux and Art Monthly, and he has been twice-shortlisted for the International Award for Art Criticism.

Steffan Jones-Hughes has worked with major cultural institutions including Tate, the Whitworth and the Walker Art Gallery, and has taught at art schools across the UK. He established the Regional Print Centre and Paul Peter Piech Archive, later working for Arts Council England before developing Tŷ Pawb in Wrexham. Director of Oriel Davies since 2017, his research focuses on Welsh artists, materiality and audience engagement.

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