Wales Arts International (WAI) was established in 1997 as a partnership between Arts Council of Wales and the British Council, with a view to promoting knowledge about contemporary culture from Wales and encouraging international contact, exchange and collaboration. It was considered that Wales’ external profile and the development of international work would be best served through a joint agency that provided a single access point for presenters, programmers and cultural professionals. By collaborating in this way, limited resources could be pooled to maximise benefits for the arts in Wales. A new agreement between the two bodies to further promote Welsh arts abroad was signed in April 2008.
The agreement was signed by the British Council’s CEO, Martin Davidson, and Peter Tyndall, Chief Executive of the Arts Council of Wales, and also marks the tenth anniversary of WAI, paving the way for new, longer term projects on an international platform.
The agreement came at the same time as the development of WAI’s new five year strategy, Creating 2013, which outlines plans for increased artistic connections between Wales and the world.
Looking towards 2013, WAI’s strategy aims are:
- to create more international opportunities for the arts in Wales by empowering more artists and cultural organisations from Wales to work internationally
- to increase investment into the arts through WAI’s work
- to increase visibility and recognition for the arts and culture of Wales and to develop cultural relations with others.
WAI Director, Eluned Hâf says: ‘We now focus our sights towards 2013 and plan how we want the arts and creativity in Wales to engage with the world, and also how to benefit from the growth and confidence of our creative sector. We must continuously develop our collective capacity to participate internationally.’
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