Roath Feast, Foraging

  A rather peculiar gathering assembled yesterday (April 27th) in front of the Roath Park clock tower. A collective mixture of peoples from all sorts of lives. All had heard the call and had mustered in the name of Foraging.

"Foraging you say? but you are in the middle of a city (Cardiff), what is there to forage in the middle of Cardiff? apart from, you know, discarded chips thrown to the floor in paper rags which you'll have to do battle with Cardiff's most fearsome predator in order to eat...... no thank you that sounds foul, pulse those harden Cardiff predators are pretty dangerous, they'll have your eye out" (I am of course referring here to that dreaded and treacherous native Cardiff species, Charadriiformes e.g the common hardcore Cardiff Seagull). 

But no, it turns out there is quite a lot of things you can forage and eat in the middle of Cardiff (without having to do battle with a Seagull) quite tasty things too. In this example we were after that most elusive and hard to find item, wild garlic. 

Which we found in surprisingly large amounts,  which we foraged and picked and ate with a very nice meal of pasta. Which most of us had no idea you could do, especially in the middle of a city (I am quite shocked by this fact, you may be able to tell), such a simple and historical act of foraging for ones food. A skill which in todays sociality has sadly fallen from the minds of common knowledge but thanks to yesterday adventure is now back, present in our understanding.

We were foraging because of one artists grand version for a project, Roath Feast. This ambitious project, designed and run by Artist  Clare Charles has been taking place over the last year on a monthly basis with each month a new skill sharing session taking place offering a different aspect of food.  Everything from biscuit making to smoking of foods has taken place, with the end goal of throwing one large feast encompassing every aspect that has been learned over the last year. The project is soon to be coming to an end, with the big feast taking place on the Summer solstice. Its been exciting watching this project take shape over the last year and it'll be interesting to see the final outcome. If you like to know more about Feast do have a look at the projects feast website.

All Back to Carol’s

In the arts you tend to find yourself attending exhibitions and events in unusual locations. In the past I’ve attended exhibitions in front rooms, old factories, old shops, basements, on boats, in a former public toilet, through my phone and, on one memorable occasion, the pointy, sticky out bit of Cardiff barrage at sunset with a trumpeter playing a selection of trumpet tunes.

      I guess it is either an example of the temporary, transitory nature of our buildings or the dexterity and flexibility of the arts. That they can, like water, flow into and appropriate any structure. Engels once said “the normal state (of man) is one appropriate to his consciousness, one that had yet to be created by himself.” This could be said to be especially true of the arts and their creative exhibition locations.

   Basically what I’m saying is you find art in the most surprising of places. So when I heard about “All Back to Carol’s” an exhibition in the famous former Roath pet shop “Albany Pets”, it only recorded slightly on the “oh thats unusual” scale. 

 All Back to Carol’s, an exhibition of contemporary art curated by Becca Thomas and Clare Charles took place in Carol Ivory’s iconic Roath pet shop just off Albany Road. This shop was, as I’m sure most readers will agree, a staple in the street life of Roath.

    The artists on display included AJ Stockwell, Elizabeth Hewson, Gail Howard and Nia Metcalfe. Their work was inspired by the space and featured a mixture of media. On offer was a thought provoking and enthralling display of work which seemed to fill and settle nicely, appropriating the former pet shop setting. While the former residences have all found new homes before the exhibition, a generous bowl of doggy treats was placed by the door which a few visiting dogs did enjoy, welcoming Roath’s four legged friends in. The two legged humans of Roath were also welcome of course and as the evening progressed the former pet shop began to fill with more people generating a lively, enjoyable and warm atmosphere. 

  It’s difficult to know what will become of the pet shop, the future has not written its next life yet but it is pleasant to think that, for a time, Carol’s Ivory store was an exhibition space, playing a key role in many Made in Roath events and exhibitions, displaying a wealth of art of a type too numerous to name and for one last time it did so again. Not just a show located in the shop but a show responding to the very shop itself. A fitting tribute to a fantastic and loved space.