Borderlands at the Castle

 Before I dived into the first day of Hay Festival, I went up to the Castle to see the new exhibition there.

 This isn't a brilliant picture, but the best I could get of the Antarctic flag now flying from the Castle tower.  It's made up of flags from all round the world.

The exhibition is called Borderlands: From the Welsh Borders to Antarctica, and the most spectacular exhibits are the Antarctic tents decorated with multicoloured gloves, flags and sleeves, representing many different cultures.

 Here's one of the flags, overprinted with words from the Declaration of Human Rights: "Everyone has the right to move freely and circulate beyond the state borders to a territory of their choice."  On some flags the wording was in French.

There was also a film in the entrance hall about beating the bounds, with a laid hedge, local maps on cloth hung over the balustrade, and there are pictures and sculptures scattered around the Castle.

Outside in the grounds, Sally Matthews had just installed one of her animal sculptures:

 This year it's a lynx, and Sally Matthews was still there when I passed, so I got to have a chat with her, and tell her how much I like her work.

Meanwhile in the Castle Yard, there's a small pop up art gallery - the exhibition there is called Fragile Wild, and the paintings are detailed panels of foliage and flowers. 

The Borderlands exhibition runs until the 31st August.