Visions of Wales: visual artists and cultural futures

This article explores the narrative of prominent visual artists practising within post-devolution Wales. The article adopts a sociological approach and does not seek to engage with perspectives promoted by art history or cultural studies. It utilises exemplar narratives gathered from over 20 in-depth ethnographic interviews with established visual artists working in Wales and explores the manner through which practitioners display various configurations of cultural futures and, at the same time, occupy discursive roles in which the voice of the artist performs visionary and moralizing work in relation to Welsh art-world futures. The article concludes by arguing that such positions and narrative form crucial data and resources for re-conceptualizing cultural policy formation and modernization in which the voice of the artist is recognized, acknowledged and heard