Swansea: Postcards during Covid send message to future in Glynn Vivian exhibit

Ideas of the future were both specific to individuals and society-wide

Postcards sent in from people as far away as China are being used in a public art exhibit to reopen an art gallery after lockdown.

The Postcards to the Future piece at Glynn Vivian Art Gallery in Swansea uses images and words capturing people's hopes for the future.

The gallery will keep the cards in its collection as a "reminder of these extraordinary times".

Themes include Covid, climate change and the Black Lives Matter movement.

The gallery put out requests for people to send postcards to the museum last summer, asking them to imagine what the future could be, what their dreams were, what was important to them and what changes they hoped to see.

Staff received hundreds of responses which included paintings, drawings, photography, poetry and collage.

Swansea's investment and tourism cabinet member Robert Francis-Davies said: "They came from all over Wales and the UK, Europe and even China. Swansea's communities are well represented, including adult and young people's groups who - in normal times - meet regularly at the gallery.

"The cards will be held in the gallery's main collection as a reminder to future generations of these extraordinary times and how creativity and community play a vital part in our everyday lives."

Local artist Barry Plummer sent in this contribution

One of the contributors was local artist and art historian Barry Plummer, who sent in a card with the message: "We are going back to the stars."

He said the message resonated with his current work using his dog to represent nature in his paintings.

"The need to respect and work with the natural world is paramount to sustain life on earth. The wisdom of animals has a message for us," he said.

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"As the wording of the postcard implies, we are going back to the stars - we need to contemplate our origins to have a future."

Local groups which usually meet at the galley have joined in, including its Young Art Force group for people outside mainstream education.

The exhibition is running at the Glynn Vivian gallery until Sunday, 10 October 2021.

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