A look back at developments in the arts and media in Wales 2002
Jon Gower BBC Wales Arts Correspondent

The year is ending as one of the supreme symbols of a new Wales takes shape in Cardiff Bay.

The armadillo hump of the Wales Millennium Centre, which will house a 2,000 seat theatre and offer a home to eight arts companies, is now rising to the sky next to the Welsh Assembly - on budget and on course to open at the end of 2004.

It's been a pretty positive year for the arts in Wales.

In February, Culture Minister Jenny Randerson launched her 10 year strategy 'Creative Future: Cymru Creadigol' which placed emphasis on young people, communities, cultural diversity, the cultural industries and the development of professional arts and artists.

The Arts Council for Wales got a 23% increase in its budget and passed on the lion's share to its clients.

Clwyd Theatr Cymru had its debts wiped out as did Welsh National Opera, bringing much needed financial stability to companies which have precious few problems in delivering on the artistic front.

Sarah Waters: Shortlisted for Booker and Orange prizes

Terry Hands continued to build on the reputation of the Mold theatre with stage offerings including a revival of Arnold Wesker's 'Four Seasons' and a lively 'Romeo and Juliet,' performed by a spirited young cast.

Clwyd's 'To Kill a Mockingbird' continued to be a success having been seen by 61,000 people in 24 venues and winning the Manchester Evening News award for Best Touring Production.

WNO welcomed a new musical director, the young Russian Tugan Sokhiev, who takes up the baton in the New Year, conducting two operas 'Cavalleria rusticana" and "Pagliacci" - which were the first operas to be performed by the company in 1946.

One of the media milestones of the year was S4C celebrating twenty years of programme making and of being a cornerstone of the Welsh language.

One of its main anniversary offerings was 'Otherworld' - an animated account of Wales' best loved folk tales 'The Mabinogion.'

BBC2W, the English language digital service in Wales celebrated a year of broadcasting, while many people in Rhondda Cynon Taf popped champagne corks when they heard the news that a �300 million film studio and theme park development had been given the green light.

After years of making artistically successful yet uncommercial films Cardiff director Marc Evans finally became bankable with 'My Little Eye' a film described as redefining the horror genre.

Sir Anthony Hopkins; Reprised his Hannibal Lecter

Meanwhile, Welsh actors stayed in the limelight. Rhys Ifans turned in a screen-stealing cameo to rival Spike in 'Notting Hill' in Lasse Halstrom's 'The Shipping News' while Anthony Hopkins reprised his slurpingly horrible role as Hannibal Lecter for another case of on-screen cannibalism in 'Red Dragon'.

The Wales Screen Commission was officially launched in November, offering a one-stop shop for film makers who want to use Wales as a location.

The same month saw the last Cardiff International Film Festival in its current form, with Sgrin, the Welsh media agency taking over the running of it next year.

As one festival bowed out another made its debut.

The Cardiff International Festival of Musical Theatre in October involved over a thousand performers in shows across the city.

It was a bumper year for Welsh fiction with poet Dannie Abse getting on the long list for the Man Booker Prize for fiction and Neyland-born Sarah Waters getting onto the shortlists for both the Booker and the Orange prize for fiction with her tale of Victorian duplicity 'Fingersmith.'

The year also saw the appearance of new novels by Aberystwyth based Niall Griffiths - 'Kelly and Victor' - a story about violent love; James Hawes with 'Green Powder, Green Light' - a satire about media life in Wales and London and Desmond Barry's 'A Bloody Good Friday' - a tale of skinhead riots in Merthyr.

'Residues' a posthumous volume of verse by R.S. Thomas which prove that he was still wrestling with God and questioning love at the end of his life was also published.