andrew_dodds_arcadia-300dpiAddo, in conjunction with partners, Glandŵr Cymru – the Canal & River Trust in Wales – and the Arts Council of Wales, are pleased to announce the appointment of artists Andrew Dodds and Alan Goulbourne to posts within a unique three year programme of artists residencies on the waterways of Wales.

Glandŵr Cymru has teamed up with the Arts Council of Wales to create six artists’ residencies across Welsh waterways. This partnership will highlight not only the heritage and historic significance of Wales’ canals, but also celebrate and increase their current relevance to local communities and contemporary Welsh culture. The charity is exploring how contemporary arts can play a new role in conserving, animating and re-interpreting the waterways in Wales.

The first residency, the North Wales and Borders Residency, was awarded to Andrew Dodds, a Belfast-born artist working in London. He will be investigating the crossing of borders between Wales and England, the relevance of this to current cultural practices and interpreting the role that the Shropshire Union Canal played in the past and continues to play today. This residency runs during February to October 2014. Andrew says:

“My artwork is usually made for a particular place or time, often within the context of contested or highly charged settings. I adopt a range of artistic roles and strategies to critically research our historical and social relationship to ‘nature’, the voice and the built environment. Social engagement and collaboration are central to my practice and it’s important to that others can become directly involved in the imagining, production and realization of the artwork.”

Andrew has received critical and popular acclaim internationally and his recent projects include ‘Tho I Am But Small I Will Be Heard Among You All’ (2011) engaging with Kent’s Change Ringing (bell ringing) tradition and I, Sparkie (2013) examining the wider cultural resonance of the world’s most famous talking budgerigar, Sparkie Williams.

Alan Goulbourne is an artist based in Cardiff and began the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal residency in February for a four-month period, ending in June. His current practice involves the creation of sculptural, gallery-based and public realm works. He has recently completed an artist in residency at Aberystwyth Arts Centre and has previously exhibited and made work in Bahrain, and across the UK. Alan says:

“My practice relies upon a process of implementing order and chaos, effectively within random sequences, in order to drive a progression from a single moment and mark, to something that is visually riddled with complexity. With this residency I’m looking forward to building work which interacts with the community and environment of the area reflecting the relevant history and future of the canal’.