In 2020, the world shut down to go into the first of a series of lockdowns, and the arts world was forced to close along with it. Yet, never to be defeated even by the enormity of a global pandemic, the arts found multiple new manifestations via online digital offerings. From live-streamed festivals to digithons to digital poetry readings and much more in between, here are Wales Arts Review’s 10 best digitally-hosted festivals, shows and events to come out in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gŵyl 2021 | Wales’ Superfestival
Gary Raymond takes a look at superfestival Gŵyl 2021, a major collaboration between live festivals from all around Wales, and asks if online can ever do the job of the in person experience.
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Brecon Jazz Festival devotees can only summon nostalgia to relive its glory days as one of the world’s most important events of its kind. But, as Nigel Jarrett discovers, the continuity established a few years ago had enough momentum this year to defy the limitations of a pandemic: it goes ‘virtual.
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We don’t want to blow our own trumpet, but we do want to spotlight all the wonderful artists across disciplines who contributed to Wales Arts Review’s Digithon to help raise money for our Wales Artist and Freelancers Coronavirus Fund. Digithon raised £6450 and every penny of it went to fund bursaries handed out to freelancers. Check out some of the artists who made it possible via the Digithon programme.
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Festivals Go Digital: End of the Road
The COVID-19 pandemic has seen many artists take their work online. Here, Caragh Medlicott shares her thoughts on festivals going digital, drawing on her recent experience of End of the Road’s digital event, ‘In the garden of streaming’.
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Epona at National Eisteddfod | Exhibition
Gary Raymond discusses the recent emphasis on “digital” projects in Welsh art, and looks at the recent innovative partnership between 4Pi Productions and the National Eisteddfod, bringing an exhibition, Epona, alive during lockdown.
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Elysium Gallery Plays Host to International Film Festival
Elysium gallery premieried four days of experimental short films created by artists from all over the world. The films are all under 10 mins in length and were made across 2019 and 2020, with many created during the COVID-19 lockdown.
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The Darling buds Re-Record “Isolation”
The Darling Buds, one of Wales’s most successful indie bands of the 80s and 90s, have recorded a new version of the track “Isolation”, from their 1992 album, Erotica, each band member recorded their own contribution on phones and tablets from their own homes during lockdown. The Newport collective have been performing regularly around the UK since reforming in 2010 for a memorial concert, and released an EP in 2017.
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Digital Theatre | The Creative Simulacrum
Adam Somerset reflects on the artistic vitality of live productions, pondering if digital theatre can ever supplant the physical experience of live staged productions.
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Kill Me Now | Dirty Protest Theatre
Gareth Smith reviews Kill Me Now, the story of an undertaker’s “end-of-life celebration” funeral business experienced via a Zoom webinar, live-streamed directly from the Edinburgh Fringe.
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Iris Prize Goes All Digital for 2020
The Iris Prize LGBT+ Film Festival went online last October and was available for free, with the £30,000 Iris Prize, supported by The Michael Bishop Foundation, still in place.
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Access the full Wales Arts Review digital archives here.
