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The fourth Artes Mundi competition opened today, billed as an international contemporary art exhibition and the UK's largest art prize.

The work of emerging artists from seven different countries is on show at the National Museum in Cathays Park, Cardiff until 6 June. The prize - a hefty £40,000 - will be awarded in the middle of May and the judges base their decision on a body of work created by the artists over five to eight years.

This year the work on show is by artists from Israel, Peru, Bulgaria, Russia, Taiwan, Kyrgyzstan and Albania. Interestingly, many of them now live and work elsewhere in the world and much of the work has a strong political message. There's a lot of photography and video represented so anyone expecting an exhibition of painting or 3D work will be disappointed. I suppose it's inevitable in an age where moving images surround us all, but I sometimes wonder about the difference between video installations and film making. Ìý

I went to the exhibition preview with Welsh artist, Iwan Bala to get his impressions for the Radio Wales Arts Show.