What’s On
image credit: Jason Thomas
GWRACH | WITCH Clive Hicks - Jenkins A Fairy Tale Retold
Gwrach | Witch | A Fairytale Retold by Clive Hicks-Jenkins invites you into the enchanted vision of one of Wales' most esteemed artists, whose work brings a new depth to the beloved fairytale of Hansel & Gretel. Opening in late 2025, this immersive exhibition conjures a spellbinding retelling, blending Welsh folklore with handcrafted artistry to guide visitors through a landscape of mystery and magic.
OM x CWRW Clwb Collage
Clwb Collage: Spring Equinox
After an incredible first session, we’re thrilled to return to CWRW for another night of creative collage-making led by Abby Poulson, this time celebrating the Spring Equinox! As the seasons shift, we’ll explore themes of renewal, balance, and transformation through art, all in a relaxed and friendly setting.
We’ll be working with images from local and national collections inspired by the visual narrative of Spring. We’re excited to share that collaborating with us on image collecting are Carmarthenshire based El James and Matt Walker. Both will be sharing local images that aren’t usually seen, to cut and paste with on the night.
El James (she/her) is a Carmarthenshire based Horticulturist, Photographer & Science Engagement Officer at the National Botanic Garden of Wales. El is currently working on digitising the Herbarium, a botanical archive, and engaging the public with the 30,000 pressed plant collection as part of the National Heritage Lottery Funded project, ‘Plants Past, Present and Future’. El will be sharing a curated selection of digitised plant specimens.
Matt Walker (he/him) is a Collections Assistant at Carmarthenshire Museum and will be sharing relevant photographs from the CofGâr collection. The collection holds more than 50,000 years of Carmarthenshire’s history, from the last Ice Age to today so we are excited to see what gems will be shared.
No need to book, just drop in, grab a drink, maybe a snack, and get stuck into some old-fashioned cut-and-paste with like-minded folks. We can’t wait to see you all there!
Oriel Myrddin x NT Dinefwr
Woodland Witches!On Sunday 16th of March 2-4 pm, in the Old Kitchen at Dinefwr, join us in creating your own witch from the woods. Using materials gathered from the parkland, you’ll have the opportunity to make your own puppet witch, inspired by fairytales and folklore in a family friendly setting.
This workshop is part of a series of sessions delivered by Oriel Myrddin for the community to celebrate the upcoming reopening of the gallery, and to explore the themes of our launch exhibition Gwrach/Witch Clive Hicks-Jenkins - A Fairy Tale Retold. The gallery is set to reopen in the Autumn.
The workshop is free, and there’s no need to book!
OM x CWRW: GWRACH | WITCH
Collage Night
Come join us for a creative evening at CWRW reimagining the identity of the witch. Inspired by Oriel Myrddin’s relaunch exhibition GWRACH | WITCH - Clive Hicks Jenkins A Fairy Tale Retold, we’ll delve into what this iconic figure means in today’s world. Expect a fun mix of magical collage-making and mythically inspired Welsh tunes to spark your imagination!
Food and drinks will be available to purchase from the bar.
Kathryn Campbell Dodd Cargen Beca I'R GAD
7 June - 2 July
On the First of May 2022, on the sounding of a single conch shell blast blown from the wall of St Peter’s Church, the Cragen Beca Parade set off in the rain from Oriel Myrddin Gallery and processed to Guildhall Square.
Huw Alden Davies: The Last Valley
19 March - 28 May 2022
Set on the slope of the Great Mountain in the Gwendraeth Valley, Huw Alden Davies forthcoming multi-media exhibition draws our attention to a small ex-mining village called Y Tumbl. Exploring concepts such as cultural identity, sense of place, nostalgia, and technological determinism, ‘The Last Valley’, titled by its geographical position, as the furthermost part in line of twenty-one recorded valleys, and the last before the sea; brings together for the first time, a culmination of works produced over fourteen years, dedicated to a community that was once one of the most important centres of coal production in the world.
Gareth Hugh Davies: TIR COF
8 Jan - 12 March 2022
The series of paintings and drawings is the result of work carried out on location and in the studio during recent restrictions. Everything begins with drawing, and remembering. They begin as an immediate response to a particular landscape but may transform with continual reworking and re-examining to the extent that topographical concerns become secondary, and a more personal visceral response is allowed to develop.
G A E A F: The Welsh House
13 Nov - 31 Dec 2021
Co-curated with Dorian Bowen of The Welsh House, this year’s exhibition looks at the idea of ‘home’ and what it has come to mean to us all over the past year. What are our most treasured comforts and who are the crafters behind some of our favourite possessions? We are joined by some of the most skilled crafters working across Wales and the UK today, all housed in our very own Tŷ Unnos (One Night House) - a belief in Welsh folk culture of claiming back a home over the course of one night.
Step into our makeshift Tŷ (house) and explore an array of exceptional, handcrafted objects that are sure to be passed down through generations to come.
Unlearned
23 Oct - 6 Nov 2021
Unlearned brings together three Welsh floral designers Leigh Chappell, Melissa Ashley and Donna Bowen-Heath, working towards the common goal of re-defining contemporary floristry. Long gone is the floral foam and characterless mass bred sterile blooms of old. This exhibition sees our three designers breaking down all traditional notions of floristry, looking towards the unsuspecting beauty of even the lowliest of common finds within our hedgerows.
Criw Celf 21
7 Oct - 16 Oct 2021
Criw Celf at Oriel Myrddin Gallery creates opportunities for young people ranging in age from 9-14 years of age to work with professional artists and designers in a series of visual arts Masterclasses. The exhibition in the main gallery space is a curated sample of the young people’s work created throughout 2021.
Oriel Myrddin Gallery Open 2021
28 Aug - 30 Sept 2021
To celebrate 30 years of Oriel Myrddin Gallery, we have invited creatives from Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire, to submit work for our OPEN Exhibition.
Showcasing a diverse range of work by local, established and emerging talent, the OPEN is our way of offering thanks and giving back to our wonderful community who have supported us over the past 30 years. Most of the art works are for sale, this is an excellent opportunity to purchase work by a rising star and to support an independent artist.
Charles Burton: painting still
19 June - 19 Aug 2021
This retrospective at Oriel Myrddin Gallery draws out the constants in Charles Burton’s work from the 1940s to the present – his subject matter in the people, objects and places that surround him, his fascination with pictorial structure and representation, and above all the brilliant serenity and stillness of his paintings. The artist has chosen the works in collaboration with the gallery and Peter Wakelin, who wrote the book Charles Burton: Painting Still.
B R E A T H E: Helen Booth
9 March - 12 March 2021
Oriel Myrddin Gallery are delighted to present the solo exhibition B R E A T H E by West Wales based artist Helen Booth this coming January 2021.
The majority of work in this exhibition will be a direct response to Helens residency at Hafnarborg Arts and Culture Centre in Iceland earlier this year. Witnessing what Helen describes as a ‘Divine landscape’, these works will interpret Nature in its purist form using the limitless variations of the single dot.
T H E W I N T E R S H O W: y bwrdd
10 Nov - 31 Dec 2020
Our Winter show The Table // Y Bwrdd returns for a second year to offer you the best in timeless craft and contemporary art from some of the finest creatives that Wales and across the UK has to offer.
Peter Bodenham: Sea Vessel
15 August – 24 October 2020
‘Sea Vessel’ is an exploration and extension of Peter’s site-specific research project in which he has been studying the human impact and ecology on a small section of the West Wales coastline. Peter has spent the past year combing the shoreline of plastic as well as seaweed and clay, using these in his own ceramic practice to respond to the everyday ‘beauty’ but no less harmful effect of found plastic debris.