PWSH creates radical and joyful public art in Cardiff that celebrates difference and re-imagines public spaces. Thanks to an Arts Council of Wales Create grant, PWSH has created new murals with artists in Cardiff.
Five new public artworks have been installed in Aubergine Cafe, Womanby Street, Cardiff Indoor Market and a non-public mural at Llanishen High School. The new PWSH artists were co-curated by Artistic Director Rachel Kinchin alongside the previous PWSH cohort. The longlist was made up of artists who had been in touch with PWSH as well as suggestions from previous artists.
Matt Joyce has created a mural on Womanby Street (back of Bar Revolution) which is themed around losing yourself in nature, a love of plants, exploring, adventure and fun. Matt is a freelance illustrator based in Cardiff and Matt's illustrations mix bold lines and bright colours with humour and a playful aesthetic.
Sahar Saki has been representing her work in the form of mural art for the past couple of years in public places, and last year, ran a mural festival to amplify the feminist movement in Iran. Her PWSH mural is a Persian pattern design inspired by old Persian rugs in contemporary bold colours. It is upstairs in Cardiff Indoor Market.
Regan Creates is a multidisciplinary artist based in Cardiff. Her art embraces the playful, youthful spirit that resides within us all. The ‘Dream Bigger’ piece she created for PWSH is upstairs in Cardiff Indoor Market and centres around a young boy wielding a slingshot, evoking memories of a time when dreams knew no limits. Regan sheds light on the challenges faced by marginalised communities, reminding us of the significance of acknowledging and celebrating diversity.
Hunk Williams is a Queer Welsh artist and absurdist whose work explores themes of pop culture and counterculture. Owing to his complex relationship with growing up queer and autistic in The Valleys, his work harks back to kitschy and campy icons of the past and often uses satire as it invites the observer to consider "But what does it all mean, like?" Hunk's PWSH mural is at Aubergine Cafe and is an ode to long struggles now overcome, solidarity, freedom and good luck.
Ren Wolfe is an early career, Cardiff-based, multi-disciplinary artist whose practice explores how we can use play and imagination to understand ourselves, our communities, and the world around us. Ren’s piece for PWSH explores masking, imagination, and the relationship between diversity in both the natural world and the human world. Ren’s mural is in Aubergine Cafe.
Aubergine Cafe plans to re-open at their new home in Cathays Community Centre on Wednesday 16 August - keep your eye on their socials for confirmation of opening dates and times.
Alongside installing the new artwork, PWSH worked with two Deaf A-Level Art and Photography students who approached PWSH via Hear We Are about doing work experience. Hamzah Ahmed and Maisarah Bodor are the two students who supported PWSH artists and the creative team to install the artworks all week as well as learning about project management and curation. Matt Joyce also worked with artist Nikolett Kovacs to create a mural with the young people who are students at the Hearing Impaired Resource Base at Llanishen High School.
PWSH aims to celebrate difference, contribute to change and re-imagine public spaces - and centre inclusion whilst creating safe spaces for artists and creatives. PWSH is an ever-evolving public art project that first came to life in Cardiff City Centre in August 2021 - and has now worked with 15 local artists.
“I created PWSH to enable more paid opportunities and create inclusive and safe spaces for artists to make public-facing work that is not just about visibility. PWSH is all about meaningful inclusion. I wanted to create artwork that contributes to the fabric of our city, whether that be large walls or nooks and crannies. Co-curating with the previous PWSH artists feels like a collaborative and meaningful way of working to include and pay our previous PWSH artists whilst also having the opportunity to engage more artists.
Partnering with the right sites is vital - we need partners who appreciate that artists and creatives need to get paid for their work, who will create an authentic project with us and care for the artwork. PWSH is not about branding or artists responding to a brief - it is about them doing what they love and getting paid for it. We sign off every artwork with our sites - it is important that they love it.
If you’d like to be involved in the future, people can get in touch with via the PWSH website if you have budget for us to create work that sits alongside our ethos or if you would like to be included in a future funding bid. I have big plans for PWSH in 2024 which extends beyond murals and into arts and wellness in public spaces.” Rachel Kinchin, Artistic Director.
"Womanby Street has always been home to vibrant art in Cardiff. When I saw all the great work the PWSH team had done with previous installations, I knew our big empty back gate at Revolution was crying out to have some amazing art on it too! Big thank you to Rachel Kinchin and Matt Joyce for making it all happen!" Matt Drew, Bar Revolution Cardiff.
“We’re just in love with Ren’s and Reg’s work. Their murals have made the new place feel like home before we’re even finished unpacking. We were sad to have to leave behind our big Aubergine mural at the old premises on Clare Street so it’s been a great morale boost to see some new art going on the walls. Thank you so much Rachel, Ren and Reg.” - Aarwn Brown, Aubergine Cafe.
All of the PWSH non-permanent and non-public facing digital work can also be seen here https://www.pwshcardiff.co.uk/locations
Back in June 2023 PWSH was commissioned by Music Theatre Wales to create a new artwork in response to street art operas - The Scorched Earth Trilogy. Molly Sinclair-Thomson has created a new PWSH mural at Spit & Sawdust.
Molly said of her PWSH artwork, “I wanted to capture the struggle nature experiences due to humans taking advantage of the earth’s resources. The bright lights capturing the birds and disrupting wildlife. Humans venturing on land that belongs to other beings. Whilst the sun gets hotter and hotter, the trees turn to matches and the stars fall away. The bright colours pull you in but look closer to find the story.”
To find out more about all of the PWSH artists and projects to date, as well as take a look at the updated PWSH map - https://www.pwshcardiff.co.uk/artists
PWSH would like to thank Aubergine Cafe, Cardiff Indoor Market, Bar Revolution and Llanishen High for providing safe spaces to create their work and to Arts Council of Wales for the funding to make it happen.