Artwork aiming to make Cardiff more “vibrant and welcoming” is removed in error by cleaning crews.
Image source, Raquel Garcia / Rachel Kinchin – Pwsh!
Artwork commissioned for Cardiff city centre has been washed away by cleaners following a “miscommunication error”.
The murals were commissioned by For Cardiff, a body aimed at making the city “vibrant and welcoming”.
They were painted to celebrate diversity by three young female artists, including Beth Blandford, who said she was “absolutely gutted”.
For Cardiff apologised and said it was “due to a devastating error involving our cleansing contractor”.
Image source, Raquel Garcia – Pwsh!
Image source, Rachel Kinchin – Pwsh
Beth, 25, from Cardiff, said: “I’m absolutely gutted, I can’t believe it, it took me about five days and most of those days were 12-16 hour days,” she said.
“We really planned this project out, we were so excited, it’s a real shame.
“I feel like public art in Cardiff is something that is lacking anyway, especially from female artists and showing female and diverse communities.
“These are voices that need to be heard, and it was just washed off due to a mistake, it feels a bit overwhelming really.”
Image source, Raquel Garcia – Pwsh!
Amber Forde, 20, from Cardiff, said she wanted her culture to be at the centre of the pieces she created.
“I had three murals, each one tied back to my culture, I’m half Bajan half Welsh, so I tied that into my colour scheme.
“I was really devastated, throughout the project I would finish work and go straight to work on the project. I was pretty distraught for me and the girls.”
Amber said it was vital to have public art celebrating diversity in Wales.
“I think it’s really important because it gives the visibility and shows how diverse how Cardiff is. Especially as a lot of the artists involved were working class or from minority groups.”
Image source, Raquel Garcia – Pwsh!
Rachel Kinchin, creative producer for Pwsh, the collective that created the artwork, said: “For Cardiff funded this, and are very supportive and are as gutted as we are, but something fundamentally horrific has happened in some sort of communication”.
In a statement, For Cardiff said that “due to a devastating error involving our cleansing contractor”, the “beautiful artworks” had been removed.
“We offer our sincere and heartfelt apology to the talented artists, Beth Blandford, Amber Forde and Temeka Davies who took the opportunity to brighten up Cardiff.
“We’re working with the creative director of the project as to how we can best rectify this situation as quickly as possible,” it added.