The first issue of what promises to be a leading journal for new criticism and an important source of information on the Welsh art scene. It also provides an important new forum for Welsh artists, institutions and initiatives. Contains provocative and contemporary essays by leading commentators on the visual arts in Wales.

Rhifyn cyntaf cyfres addawol a fydd yn bwrw golwg feirniadol, a darparu gwybodaeth bwysig ar y byd celf yng Nghymru. Mae hefyd yn rhoi fforwm i arlunwyr Cymreig ynghyd â sefydliadau a mentrau. Mae'n cynnwys traethodau ffraeth a chyfoes gan feirniaid y celfyddydau gweledol yng Nghymru.

For a long time, anyone looking in at Wales might well be forgiven for thinking that visual art in the country meant Kyffin Williams. But Kyffin Williams is dead, and as Hugh Adams points out in his (albeit rather ungenerous) obituary to Williams in his opening editorial in Re:Imaging Wales, his influence has probably died with him. Now it is time for the modern visual arts to take their rightful place in a modern Wales, unhampered, Adams clearly hopes, by the tethering influence of the traditional, namely Williams.

Personally, I’m excited when the traditional and the modern meet and are forced into a debate, but I do agree with Adams for the need for the modern to have a louder voice. Re:Imaging Wales looks like it will be a loud and clear voice. The annual journal is a forum for debate and criticism, reviewing the current contemporary art scene at an exciting time with Wales sending its own artists to the Venice Biennale, and celebrating contemporary art from around the world here in Wales with the Artes Mundi. More reminiscent of an exhibition catalogue than a journal, this is a visually exciting publication with high production values and a serious approach.

In this, its inaugural issue, Re:Imaging Wales includes articles by Debbie Savage examining networking among artists in Wales, Derrick Price offering an overview of how artists are making use of the new digital technologies in their practice, and a must-read article by Iwan Bala which eloquently makes the case for the confident artist-led visual culture in Wales that Re:Imaging Wales hopes to both reflect and further invigorate.

Michael Nobbs

It is possible to use this review for promotional purposes, but the following acknowledgment should be included: A review from www.gwales.com, with the permission of the Welsh Books Council.

Gellir defnyddio'r adolygiad hwn at bwrpas hybu, ond gofynnir i chi gynnwys y gydnabyddiaeth ganlynol: Adolygiad oddi ar www.gwales.com, trwy ganiatâd Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru.