Hotel Et Al, the collaborative project of Richard James (Evolution of Beauty) and Angharad Van Rijswijk (Accü), are set to debut new music created in response to exhibitions at the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea.
Photographer: Paul Battenbough. Photo editor: Angharad Van Rijswijk
Inspired by both Kameelah Janan Rasheed’s Artes Mundi 11 exhibition and Linder: Danger Came Smiling, currently showing at the gallery, the musicians have created a series of brand-new pieces of work combining music, sound and poetry.
Kameelah Janan Rasheed is one of the artists selected for this year’s Artes Mundi 11 International art prize. The installation at Glynn Vivian explores the poetics, politics and pleasures of communication through her multidisciplinary practice. Her work involves an immersive graphic installation of new and existing prints, writing, drawings, banners, photographs and video that infiltrate the atrium at Glynn Vivian occupying the ground floor space while reaching up into the mezzanine above.
Linder first achieved prominence in the 1970s, within the dynamic landscape of punk and post-punk music, gaining widespread recognition with her band, Ludus, and for her groundbreaking album covers. Five decades later, Linder is an internationally recognised artist renowned for her multifaceted practice. The Hayward Gallery Touring exhibition Linder: Danger Came Smiling offers an illuminating overview of this iconic artist’s 50 year-long career, from the early work that grew from her involvement in the punk scene of 1970s Manchester to new works that have never been shown before. Linder’s distinct visual language is characterised by a playful irreverence and examine our shifting attitudes to aspirational lifestyles, sex, food and fashion.
By spending time with these exhibitions, engaging with the artwork and researching both the artists themselves and the themes and concepts that arise in their work, Hotel Et Al have produced a response using a variety of approaches using both acoustic and electronic instruments to capture their emotional connection to the artworks.
Hotel Et Al’s musical response to these exhibitions was commissioned as part of a new partnership between Swansea Council’s Cultural Services department and Menter Iaith Abertawe, Swansea’s Welsh language initiative. The work produced will feature Dadaist experimental poetry in the Welsh language in response to and in dialogue with the artworks. It also features polyphonic vocal and choral works, utilising language and voice in a more serene, emotionally direct and reverential form, with these two forms combined creating a new and unique approach to using the Welsh language creatively.
Elliott King, Cabinet Member for Culture & Equalities, commented,
“We are delighted to be working in partnership with Menter Iaith Abertawe, who deliver Welsh Language events throughout Swansea and beyond.”
“Hotel et Al will be joined by special guests and are set to perform their brand-new album at Glynn Vivian Art Gallery as a cultural first for the city.”
“This event highlights our ongoing commitment to supporting the arts and offering diverse cultural experiences for residents and visitors alike. This partnership will continue with events across Swansea Council’s cultural venues over the coming year.”
This new work will be presented as a series of recordings for an album which will be made available on the Glynn Vivian website, preceded by a live performance at the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery on Thursday 12 February 2026. Free tickets are available to book now via this link, and more information about special guest performers who will be joining Hotel Et Al to present this new work will be announced soon.
The live event will also be supported by NAWR. NAWR (meaning NOW in Welsh) is a multidisciplinary concert series in Swansea and Hay-on-Wye, covering experimental music, free improvisation, film, lo-fi, free jazz, sound art, alternative folk, and new music. NAWR’s work aims to offer an open and reflective space for an audience to experience new music in a welcoming and intimate setting.
Hotel Et Al are composer, musician, sound artist and producer Richard James (Evolution Of Beauty), and composer, musician, producer and sound and visual artist Angharad Van Rijswijk (Accü). They have worked together on various music, sound and visual art projects for over ten years, producing work for radio, installations, live performance and record releases, for Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Contemporary, BBC Radio Cymru and Radio 3, Resonance FM, Cardiff University, Swansea Museum, Swansea International Festival, and Libertino Records.
All enquiries: swyddfa@menterabertawe.org
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