There was an excellent response to the nationally advertised Contemporary Welsh Printmakers exhibition opportunity as submissions piled into the Workshop over a period of 3 days. From almost 100 pieces of work, the selection panel, led by Peter Ford and Sybil Crouch, 45 prints representing artists from all corners of Wales were finally selected; the prints reflecting aspects of culture, heritage and contemporary themes.

April 2007: Contemporary Welsh Printmakers, VM Art Gallery, Karachi, Pakistan

May: 2007: Contemporary Welsh Printmakers, Alhambra Arts Centre, Lahore, Pakistan

September:2007 Contemporary Welsh Printmakers, Arts Wing: Grand Theatre, Swansea

The contemporary Welsh printmakers catalogue is now out of print, it is available here as a downloadable pdf file.

In addition to the selection of artwork, one artist from the group was invited to represent Contemporary Welsh Printmakers and travel to Pakistan to support this cultural exchange. Robert Macdonald from Brecon delivered a series of artist talks in Karachi and Lahore in conjunction with the exhibition. He also had the opportunity to visit areas of interest and develop his own work.

His account of this visit can be found in the newsletter for June 2007 along with several of our members also went to Pakistan earlier in the year.

Peter Ford, Sameera Khan and Jackie Ford on selection day

The Selection Panel

Peter Ford

Born in Hereford, Peter Ford studied art in London and Brighton. After fourteen years in the teaching profession, he became a self employed artist. He is largely self-taught as a printmaker. On moving to Bristol about 25 years ago, he established Off-Centre Gallery which evolved from a showcase for his own work to an art business specialising in international printmaking and artists’ books, with a programme of touring exhibitions. Peter has curated many exhibitions including survey collections of contemporary work from Russia, 1992 and Japan, 2001. He has wide experience of exhibiting his own work in Britain and abroad. In 2006 he received a major prize in the International Print Triennial in Krakow, Poland.

Sybil Crouch

Sybil Crouch trained as an art teacher in Swansea in 1981, but after a brief foray into teaching moved into arts administration. For eleven years she worked for the

Regional Arts Association in West Wales, ‘specialising’ in visual arts, theatre and dance, advising artists and arts organisations. In 1990 she was appointed as Manager of Taliesin Arts Centre in Swansea with artistic and administrative responsibility for the gallery and theatre programmes. She held the unpaid position of Chairman, Arts Council of Wales from 1999 to 2003.

Artwork can also be seen in the Gallery