Made in Roath 2016

Made in Roath 2016

Saturday 19 November 2016

28 the Parade

One of the largest venues in this years Made in Roath festival was 28 the Parade. This former Edwardian family home, very kindly lent to us for the week by Cardiff council, played a key role in the happenings and events this year hosting the launch celebration, the Made in Roath Open as well as exhibitions such as “Ain’tnozooinRoath, Pillow multimedia exhibition, Nonarchym Sensors and Sensibility and “remember always to imagine you know me”.



 The history of 28 the Parade is worth mentioning. Built by an Edwardian shipping magnet as his home with the unusual feature of a dome like tower on the roof which contained a telescope so that he could watch his ships coming and going from Cardiff docks. At the turn of the century Cardiff docks was actually busier than New York with ships leaving bound for every port in the world. You can still see the owners family crests on the upper parts of 28 the Parade. After the shipping magnate had died and Cardiff dock was in decline, the property was given to the local education board where it become an adult learning centre. Until quite recently it operated as  a language school. 

Currently uninhabited and up for sale 28 the Parade briefly came to life again, becoming a centre for the arts, a home to creativity and entertainment and a place to enjoy and think before going forward into the next chapter of its life.

 On the opening Sunday we saw a fantastic musical celebration taking place,with lights being projected onto the back of the building in one of the most technology advanced things MiR has ever done. We watched as blues and purples rolled over the 120 year old stone work, creating pattens and shapes interplaying with the Edwardian stone work. Below this a fantastic mixture of musicians played, entertaining the crowd who were gathered on the grass in the cool October air.
  


 Later on in the week 28 the Parade played host to the MiR open. This open exhibition of work was a great success and generated a lot of interest with people voting for their favourite work. Meanwhile below in the basement an interesting series of rooms led visitors into another world of work with Sensors and Sensibility. Opposite the Open we had Nonarchy and as you ventured outside Pillow multimedia exhibition was located in the back building.

    28 the Parade was a fantastic venue which served the festival well leaving everyone who visited with fond memories. I doubt I will ever pass the building again without remember the week it was host to so much art. Whatever the future holds for 28 the Parade, be it offices, flats or just a hollow shell containing only memories it will always have been, for a brief point in its history, a gallery. 




Wednesday 16 November 2016

Cross Stitching of Roath

We cannot go any further without mentioning the amazing Cross Stitching which appeared all around Roath during the festival. This was one of the most surprising and fantastic aspect of the festival. We knew it was going to happen but we had no idea how large and how broad this project would be.
  I don't think there was a street in Roath or Adamsdown that didn't have some Cross Stitching on it somewhere.
 Put together by Cross paths CDF this project, without question brightened and brought creativity to the streets. It was amazing to watch a stream of tweets and posts coming in on the Monday of Made in Roath by people making the school run or heading to work and just encountering these cross stitch interventions.

 It was a fantastic project and one that is a personal favourite of this years festival, below is just a tiny few of the many fantastic cross stitch creations that appeared all around Roath. 











Thanks for reading, we hope you have a great week.