Written by Tom Gilhespy from Llanfyllin:

"Symposia in all disciplines of the arts are very popular in many countries around the world but for some strange reason, not in the UK. In Eastern Europe, during the communist era, they were an excellent way for artists, normally under political restrictions, to travel, meet and exchange information with artists from other countries.

These remain the essential reasons why artists attend symposia and why they are so popular. During symposia artists usually make one piece of work from the material supplied (which remains on site) and are given the opportunity to see something of the culture and the country they are visiting.

The first symposium I attended was in the1980s. It was a ceramic symposium in the former USSR and many of the colleagues that I met then still remain close friends. Soon I became embarrassed, as I attended more symposia and met more artists who invited me to attend even more symposia.

The reason was simply that there were no similar events in Wales or the UK to which I could direct foreign artists. So, in order to repay some of the amazing hospitality I had received in various countries in Europe, I managed, in 1996, to organise Resources Wales, an International Art in the Landscape Symposium on privately owned land in Llanfyllin.

Later, in 1999, an opportunity arose to organise an annual symposium at Lake Vyrnwy. This began in a very humble way, with one friend and colleague of mine from St Petersburg and a small budget. Each year since then it has grown in ambition and stature. Currently, five invited international artists work alongside five artists from the region, each producing one work from the timber supplied from the natural management of the Vyrnwy Estate.

Although the symposium is based around the material available, it would be wrong to assume that the involved artists are principally wood carvers and they are certainly not chainsaw carvers. They come from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds, but all are prominent artists exhibiting and working within their own country and internationally. Chainsaws are sometimes used but only as a means to an end.

The Lake Vyrnwy Symposium has been sponsored by Severn Trent Water and has received funding from the Arts Council of Wales and Arts & Business Cymru.

The work produced by the symposium has been erected on the "Island" below the dam. This, over the years, has created an International Sculpture Park of around 60 works. It contains examples of sculpture by artists from Australia, England, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the Ukraine as well as Wales. It is the largest and most comprehensive collection of international contemporary sculpture in the landscape in Wales.

This has become a major tourist attraction and an excellent example of how art can be used to increase tourism and aid regeneration in the countryside. The park is free of charge, open all year round, has disabled access and is particularly popular with children.

The International Sculpture Park will be completed later this year, when further disabled paths and signage are installed and new specimen trees planted. Until the current sculptures (made out of soft pine) deteriorate, no new sculptures can be added. In the meantime, it is envisaged that the symposium will continue in other areas of Powys and for next year plans are in progress to hold the event in Newtown, to provide sculptures for a riverbank walk."

Written by Tom Gilhespy from Llanfyllin.