Opening event: Saturday 27 October. 1pm – 3.30pm. Four veteran activists have been invited to speak at the opening: Hanif Bhanjee, former secretary Wales Anti-Apartheid; Ray Davies, left wing activist; Ray Lawrence, former NUM; Jill Gough, Wales CND. This is a free event, open to the public and includes refreshments and musical entertainment from The Chartists and Roy Zeal.

The exhibition Through Disobedience We Progress is a collection of newly commissioned radical Christmas card designs which compliment Glad Tidings of Struggle and Strife. The designs reflect the spirit of Llew and Pam Smith’s collection and feature work by thirteen contemporary artists and designers including: Jamie Reid, Jeff Pigott and Julia Warin, Brian Jones, Control, Jon Langford, Maurice Burns, Terry Sandhu, David J Morris, David Mabb, Chris Partridge, Robert Rubbish, Jac Saorsa and Steve Smith. Themes include animal rights, greed and social justice, free speech, anti-war, austerity and anti-cuts, consumerism/capitalism, peace and anti-nuclear sentiment. The designs will be available for sale as limited edition cards during the exhibition, individually and as a set.

“Jamie Reid is best known for the graphic montage designs for the sex pistols in the late 1970’s, his work has consistently maintained a political edge; Jon Langford is a musician from Newport often associated with the ‘left’ he now lives in Chicago, his bands include the Mekons and The Three Johns; David Mabb works almost exclusively with original William Morris designs, subverting, exploiting and reinvigorating their political potential; Jeff Pigott and Julia Warin often work together on projects with a political, socially commentative theme; David J Morris is a designer with longstanding roots within the activist tradition; Control, Chris Partridge and Terry Sandhu all live and work in the Newport area and often producing work of a satirical nature; Steve Smith (brother of Llew) is a graduate of Newport Art School, he has been producing radical Christmas cards for several decades; Maurice Burns is an artist and illustrator living in Manchester, and artist Robert Rubbish lives in London – both create works which often reflects a social, political dimension; Brian Jones is a contemporary pop artist living in mid-Wales and Jac Saorsa is a drawing specialist and academic from Cardiff. Seven of the artists were also featured in the recent anti jubilee publication ‘the great frock n robe swindle’ published independently by the curator, Shaun Featherstone.”

A world premiere commissioned by Alverno Presents, Walker Art Center and the National Performance Network. “Possessed by the demon of rock’n’roll, haunted by the ghosts of old country music.” Paul Verna, Billboard The 2004/2005 season concludes with Alverno Presents first commissioning of a new work from protean artist Jon Langford. Best known as the fiery frontman for the Mekons, one of the most resilient pop-punk bands to emerge from Britain in the late ’70s, Jon has also been involved in numerous side projects, including the Waco Brothers and the Pine Valley Cosmonauts. Langford fell in love with American country music when he was a kid, and he’s played his permutation of it ever since. When Langford met anti-death penalty lawyer Dick Cunningham in 1999, he became involved with the Illinois Coalition Against the Death Penalty and decided to use his music to make an anti-death penalty statement to benefit this cause. “Murder. It’s as American as apple pie, lynching, trial by the press, life imprisonment and other cruel and unusual punishments. Songs of murder, revenge, infanticide and other bloody minded pursuits have a long history in both Britain and the United States, so when head Cosmonaut Jon Langford got involved with the Illinois Coalition Against the Death Penalty, he decided to use music to make his contribution.” (J. Poet, “Pulse”, April 2001.) Continue reading→