“#NOEXCUSE”: NOT JUST AN EXHIBITION

A group show and beyond by Welsh artists:

dinahvagina, Rosie Scribblah, and the RAD Collective.

November 25th 2023 to February 2nd 2024

Cinema & Co.ffee, 17 Castle Street, Swansea SA1 1JF, 07305 908260

#NOEXCUSE is a creative response to the topic of misogyny and the United Nations campaign against violence towards women and girls. It features works of mixed media, painting and collage by Welsh artists dinahvagina, Rosie Scribblah and The RAD Collective. But it’s not just an exhibition of artworks.

Over the coming weeks, the artists will be building interest and engagement on social media and using videos and QR codes to take the artworks beyond a gallery setting and ending with a “Closing Event” at the venue early in the New Year.

The United Nations campaign is called “The 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence” and it’s an annual international event that starts on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and runs until 10 December, which is Human Rights Day.

Rosie Scribblah

My reaction to misogyny is to promote sisterhood, women sticking together and supporting each other.

My series of acrylic paintings on paper in a bright Pop Art style, called SISTERS, are loosely based on the concept of the ancient Celtic Trinity of Goddesses, sometimes called The Morrigan.

There is a tradition of sisterhood in the UK, of women coming together to achieve progress, from the Suffragettes campaigning for the vote, to the grass roots creation of women’s domestic violence refuges, taking collective action. It reminds me of this ancient Celtic motif of multiple goddesses pulling together.

dinahvagina

Dinah is a multi media artist living and working in Wales. Her work centres on a woman’s life, it speaks of both the bliss and the pain. Ranging from fun, interactive installations to impactful great books, printed work, ceramics and textiles.

Dinah’s work in the #NOEXCUSE exhibition relates to femicide and is based on the life and tragic death of the Cuban American artist, Ana Mendietta who fell to her death in 1985. Her husband, the artist Carl Andre was tried for her murder but acquitted in 1988 due to lack of evidence following witness statement suppression and a nonjury trial.

The RAD Collective

This is a newly formed collective of working-class creatives in South Wales and includes visual artists and writers who choose to work anonymously, “The first rule of the RAD Collective is you do not talk about the RAD Collective!”. Members of the Collective share ideas, resources, materials and concepts. Their three works in this exhibition are collages built up from screenprints, photocopies, stencils and text and they are linked to QR codes which explain the meaning behind each work.