Arbrofion/ Experiments
Utopias Bach:
arbrawf sy’n archwilio
/experiments that exploresyniadau i’r dyfodol
/ideas for the future (that may already be present)
wedi’u creu/meddwl/cyflwyno/fframio ar raddfa fach (yn llythrennol, neu fel microcosm)
/constructed/presented/framed in a small scale (physically, or as a microcosm)gall, mewn ffordd, ein helpu i ddychmygu'r byd fel lle gwell i bobol a mwy-na-phobol o bob math, yn arbennig y rhai sydd wedi’u heffeithio’n ddrwg gan stad bresennol y byd
/ that in some way might help us imagine the world a better place for humans and more-than-humans of all kinds, especially those who are most badly affected by the current state of the world or its transition
Mae arbrofion Utopias Bach (yn y byd mawr, efallai mai ‘prosiectau’ fyddai’r enw arnyn nhw) yn cael eu hysbrydoli gan y syniad nad ydym yn gallu gwybod yn iawn beth sy’n digwydd – beth ddylien ni wneud – yn yr amseroedd ansicr yma. Ond dan ni eisiau gwneud rhywbeth, felly pam ddim arbrofi gyda phethau, ar raddfa bach yn lle rydan ni. Fel mae Tyson Yunkaporta yn dweud:
“The minute you have an idea and you think this is an important idea, everyone should know about this, everybody should be doing this, as soon as you’ve done that you’ve made an ideology and you are stuffed….All we can do is foster the conditions for emergence”
Mae pob arbrawf yn wahanol, wedi ei ddylunio gan y rhai sy’n cymeryd rhan. Mae rhai yn ei wneud yn unigol, tra mae eraill yn gweithio yn y gymuned
Mae’n ymddangos bod dau gyfeiriad (ac yn aml mae un yn arwain at y llall):
Un yn mynegi angen i wneud newidiadau gwirioneddol yn ein cymuned a ffordd o fyw, cael mwy o gyswllt gyda bodau dynol neu mwy-na-dynol eraill, gan gofleidio amrywioldeb.
Y llall ydi gwneud bydoedd bach dychmygol, yn mynegi angen am ddihangfa dychmygus ac efallai ymbyliad o’r dychymyg sydd wedi ei ddatblygu mewn cyfnod o ynysu a phendroni.
Utopias Bach experiments (yn y byd mawr, they might be called ‘projects’) are inspired by the idea that we can’t really know what will work - what we should do - in these precarious times. But we want to do something, so why not try things out, at small scale in the place where we are. As Tyson Yunkaporta says:
“The minute you have an idea and you think this is an important idea, everyone should know about this, everybody should be doing this, as soon as you’ve done that you’ve made an ideology and you are stuffed….All we can do is foster the conditions for emergence”
Each experiment is different, designed by those taking part. Some are being done individually, while others are working in community.
There seem to be two directions (and often one leads to the other):
one expressing a need to make actual changes in our communities and ways of living, being more connected with other humans and more-than-humans, embracing diversity.
the other is making miniature imaginary worlds, expressing a need for imaginative escapism and perhaps the stimulation of the imagination developed by isolation and reflection.
“It isn’t about having the number one best idea,
but having ideas that come from and work for more people”
- Emergent Strategy, Adrienne Maree Brown
Gweithio mewn cymuned
Mae rhai o’n harbrofion yn ymwneud ag artistiaid a chymunedau amrywiol yn gweithio gyda’i gilydd i ailddychmygu’r byd ar raddfa fach trwy hybiau creadigol, cefnogol a rhyngweithiol yng ngogledd Cymru a thu hwnt. Mae’r arbrofion yn amrywio o gymunedau daearyddol yn cyfarfod gyda’i gilydd yn wythnosol i drafod syniadau i ryngweithiau ar wasgar yn rhanu sylwadaeth manwl i wyliau bach a gweithredoedd bach traed ar y ddaear. Mae’r darganfyddiadau a chysylltiadau sydd wedi eu gwneud yn dod yn bwynt cychwynnol ar gyfer trafodaethau, yn cynhyrchu rhwydweithiau, cefnogaeth, deunyddiau a strategaethau hirdymor ar gyfer meddwl a gweithredu.
Os hoffech chi egino eich syniad-blanhigyn bach chi, efallai y gallwn eich cefnogi chi! Gweler yma
Working in community
Some of our experiments involve artists and diverse communities working together to re-imagine the world on a small scale through interconnected, supportive, creative hubs in North Wales and beyond. The experiments range from geographical communities meeting together weekly to discuss ideas to dispersed networks sharing detailed observations to mini-festivals and small scale on-the-ground actions. The discoveries and connections made become the starting point for discussion, generating lasting networks, support, tools and strategies for thought and action.
If you might like to sprout your own plantlet of an idea, we might be able to support you!
Ein arbrofion - Our experiments…
Working with a Culture of Care
Rewilding the Artist - Breaking New Ground
Rewilding the Artist is a project by Gaia Redgrave, testing and developing ways to support well-being through the creation of individualised sustainable practice. In the first phase of the project, Gaia went on a journey with her own practice, and in this second phase, Breaking New Ground, Gaia’s vision is share it with others to support:
Artists thriving using the rewilding process.
A shift in cultural outlook that fully embraces and integrates nontraditional ways of working and creating.
Employing a culture of Care & Kindness to All, that manifests true equity within the sector.
Removal of barriers for all artists through different artist approaches, access support and attitudinal change.
Utopias Bach is partnering Gaia in this second phase of the Rewilding journey.
Theory and Post-dramatic Theatre
Proposal for “Experimental Theotre” by Sarah Pogoda
Dear all,
Some of you might know about my passion for theory and my obsession with post-dramatic theatre.
I would like to explore how we can bring the two together, how can theoretical texts act as epiphytes for dramatic texts, how can we graft theoretical textbites and stage, what does theatricality (theatre = θέατρον (théatron = place for viewing) help us to see in a dramatic vs a theoretical text?
I have no clue how this will take form, where it will go, nor whether these are the real questions to inquire, but I am very sure that I would like to experiment on this with you.
I envisage a regular date for coming together (in-person, in Bangor with hybrid Zoom link option for those further afield), starting early February 2026.
Please let me know if you are interested by sending me an email, including preferences for days and times. As I am back teaching, Monday-Thursday is only possible after 4pm, or anytime Friday - Sunday.
Thank you all,
Sarah
https://verifiktion.jimdosite.com/ - a hyper-text experiment enquiring into how to bring theory into practice, and practice into theory. Mostly with reference to the post-war Avant-Gardes
https://nkw-aufbauorganisation.jimdosite.com/ - a starting point for encountering the incompetent non-art New Welsh Art pre and post art formation, mostly glorifying the work of Christoph Schlingensief
https://petaeonoearep.jimdosite.com/ - Theatre magazine, Welsh, English, German
Sacred landscapes and thin spaces
Take my hand: Art as a form of prayer; liminal spaces in sacred landscapes
The ‘betysai’ or houses of prayer in the Ministry Area of Bro Padrig on the north coast of Ynys Môn are situated in remote locations by the sea sometimes felt as ‘thin places’. The embodied experience of spirituality during Utopias Bach gatherings has prompted the desire to consider how sacred sites and landscapes offer a liminal space in which a sense of ‘otherness’ might lead to new knowledge. It will start with a creative deliberation of such spaces and, treading lightly, explore art as a form of prayer.
Sacred spaces … are not doctrinal, but experiential. They draw us into deeper community with each other and the whole circle of creation. Margaret Silf, 2001
This experiment is being created by Steph Shipley. If you would like to take a gentle walk with her email: stephyshipley@hotmail.com
Cwilt Utopias Bach Quilt
The idea of Cwilt Utopias Bach Quilt came from our Collaboratory in September, where, in partnership with Rewilding the Artist, we were discussing how we might embody our Utopias Bach evolving ‘feel, experience, invitation, system, policies, etiquette, cultures’ rather than having a dry set of ‘fixed’ paper-based policies and descriptions.
The idea is that you, as a member of the Utopias Bach community, are invited to make some kind of contribution to the Quilt. These will at some point be brought together (or not!) in some way.
Join the Quilting Circle!
We will be working individually at home, and having zoom and in-person meet ups too, quilting over conversation, over the winter 2024/5. See our events page for the next sessions
There are no rights or wrongs (the more different approaches and ideas the better!), and how we do it and what results will be constantly evolving.
Barddoniaeth - Poetry
Grwp Barddoniaeth Utopias Bach Poetry Group
An online reading group (at 4pm on the last friday of each month) that focuses on poems we feel relate to Utopias Bach's concerns in some way. We will take it in turn to circulate a poem (nothing too long!) and then meet online to discuss it.
If you would like to take part, email Iain Biggs
Cronecast
Bydd Crone Cast, o'r hen air Nordig kasta, ar ffurf ac arolwg - yn siâp, heb ffurf wedi'i wrthdroi, yn ddeunydd wedi'i ffurfio tu fewn i blisgyn y corff, y wyneb allanol y gragen neu sgerbwd, lapied o bridd.
Crone Cast, from Old Norse kasta, will be in form and appearance – an unfixed twist or distortion of shape, material formed in a body cavity, the external surface of shell or skeleton, a coil of earth.
Responding and experimenting with the conditions of the pandemic, in the context of climate change, societal and eco-system collapse, we are re- imagining crone as noticed, seen and heard, whilst noticing, looking and listening.
Unheard voices, creativity and recovery
Cysylltu… Connecting…
Created by Ellen Davies, this experiment will hear, connect and share unheard voices in multidisciplinary workshops with arts professionals and individuals including BAME, neurodiverse, LGBTQ+, those with poor mental health, addiction issues and trauma. With their families and supporting organisations we are creatively exploring combatting social isolation, making recovery visible in the community. We will share the results as a public experience at Pontio in 2024 enabling learning and ongoing development.
Click here to see the Cysylltu…Connecting facebook page
For more information contact Ellie
Unheard voices, creativity and recovery
Ysgol Chwyn - Weeds School
“We need to begin to recognise how we could conspire with the plants – seeding plant-people conspiracies - connecting people and plants together to breathe together, justice for people, their plants, plants and their people” - Natasha Myers
Yn yr arbrawf hwn, dan ni’n mynd i archwilio'n greadigol gyda'n gilydd yr hyn y gallwn ei ddysgu oddi wrth a gyda chwyn?
In this experiment we will be creatively exploring together what can we learn from and with weeds?
This experiment will build on what we learned at Ysgol Arbrofol Dod at Ein Coed: Experimental TreeSense School in 2023, and our residency at Oriel Mostyn in 2022.
We have submitted an application for funding and if successful, this experiment will start in September 2025.
Tir, straeon - Land, stories
Stori’r Tir Dyffryn Peris
Prosiect creadigol sy’n casglu a rhannu storiau ynghylch ein perthynas gyda’r tir yn Nyffryn Peris. Rydym eisiau dod a’r gymuned at ei gilydd i gipio doethineb y cenedlaethau blaenorol, hybu hunaniaeth a chyswllt gyda’r tir a’r iaith Gymraeg.
A creative project gathering and sharing stories of our relationship to land in Dyffryn Peris. We want to use some of the things we’ve learned in Utopias Bach to bring the community together to capture the wisdom of previous generations, promote identity and connection to the land, creativity and the Welsh language.
Angharad Owen, Emily Meilleur, Lowri Hedd, Lindsey Colbourme
Socially and environmentally engaged art - [sut I fynd] i mewn ac allan o’r cabinet: [how to get] into and out of the cabinet
Sgwrs Chwilgar: Tân a Llif
in partnership with Carreg Creative as part of a commission by Oriel Celf Gyfoes Genedlaethol i Gymru/Wales Contemporary Art Gallery and Storiel.
Our ‘Curious Conversation’ (March - October 2024) will explore how creative practice that focuses on collaboration, process and engagement* can get into and out of the cabinet: How could our (individual and Utopias Bach) engaged practice relate to the national contemporary art gallery for Wales (Celf ar y Cyd website) and Storiel’s collection?
This ‘curious conversation’ will of itself be part of, and will lead into the creation of work for and beyond the cabinet in Storiel. Part of our collective activity will involve various forms of documentation to [collect? Represent? Make visual?] and reflect on the nature and location of the engaged art – how is it manifest?
Our starting point for our ‘curious conversation’ will be:
Tan â Llif (poster BECA) by Paul Davies in Storiel’s collection
Mappa Mundi by Paul Davies on Celf ar y Cyd website and Michael Iwanowski’s ‘Map according to You’ on Celf ar y Cyd
[*The ‘outside the gallery’ nature of engaged contemporary practice often results in artefacts/art works as a parallel strand of collaborative, embodied activity which encompasses conversation, performance, film, sound and installation. These are difficult to ‘contain’ or represent within a ‘cabinet’, whether the cabinet of a website (Celf ar y Cyd) or a physical cabinet (at Storiel) and even within the ‘cabinet’ of the art world as a whole.]
Human - more-than-human relationships
‘Mudiad (Hu)Mycelium Movement
Mae tebygrwydd rhwng pobl a myceliwm ... maent i gyd yn teimlo, yn synhwyro, yn reddfol, yn faethlon, yn rhyng-gysylltiedig â phopeth o'u cwmpas ac yn cyfathrebu'n gyson. Mae'r ddau angen dŵr, golau, tywyllwch a bwyd i fyw, ond mewn llawer o ardaloedd trefol, rydym yn colli rhywfaint o'r cnawdolrwydd rhyfeddol hwn. Cael ein symud gan sŵn, siarad yn hytrach na synhwyro, peidio â theimlo ein gilydd, peidio â rhoi'r hyn sy’n angenrheidiol i feithrin ein hamgylchedd, peidio â bod yn sensitif i'n hamgylchedd a sut rydym yn effeithio arno neu'n cael ein heffeithio ganddo. Byddwn yn archwilio'r polareddau hynny ac yn ailgyflwyno'r agweddau hyn i bobl. Gan fynd i bob cyfeiriad, chwilio am gysylltiadau a chreu cyfnewidiadau symbiotig, yn y gofod rhwng pobl a phethau byw eraill.
____________________________
Humans and mycelium have many similarities....they are all feeling, sensing, intuitive, nourishing, interconnected to everything around them constantly communicating. Both require water, darkness light, food to survive, but in many built up areas, we lose some of this amazing sensuality. Removed by noise, talking rather than sensing, not feeling into each other, not giving what's needed to nourish our surroundings, not being sensitive to our environment and how we are impacting it or being impacted. We will explore those polarities and re-introduce these aspects to humanity. Radiating in all directions, seeking connections and creating symbiotic exchanges, in the space between people and other living things.
Cymraeg - Welsh
Grwp Dysgu Cymraeg Utopias Bach
Mae grwp bach ohonon ni, sy isio ymarfer a dysgu Cymraeg are meeting dros zoom ar bore dydd gwener pob wythnos. There is no tutor, we are just dysgu together, and supporting each other to teimlo mwy hyderus to siarad Cymraeg, yn arbennig efo geiriau ‘art’ related.
We you would like to take part, email Utopias Bach
Newid Hinsawdd - Climate Change
Cynulliad Cymunedol ar yr Hinsawdd - Community Climate Change Assembly
Dan ni wedi bod yn gweithio efo GwyrddNi, fudiad gweithredu ar newid hinsawdd sydd wedi ei leoli yn y gymuned ac yn cael ei arwain gan y gymuned. Mae’n dod â phobl ynghyd mewn pum ardal yng Ngwynedd i drafod, dysgu a gweithredu yn lleol ar newid hinsawdd.
We have been working with GwyrddNi, a community-based, community-led climate action movement that brings people together in five areas of Gwynedd to discuss, share and act locally to tackle climate change.
In Dyffryn Peris, we are using the approach to Utopias Bach ‘Experiments’ to create Stori’r Tir Dyffryn Peris…
Preswyliad - Arddangosfa
Gwahoddiadau Utopias Bach Invitations @ Galeri, Caernarfon
Galeri Caernarfon have offered Utopias Bach a residency in 2024! And in the run up to that…
We will be experimenting with creating Utopias Bach exhibition based on the various ‘invitations’ we have been working with, and responses to them. We use these as a way of engaging people and finding out what they might want from our residency.
Mae’r arddangosfa hon wedi ei strwythuro ac yn cwmpasu ein gwahoddiadau ac archwiliadau. Rydyn ni wedi defnyddio celf, ffotograffiaeth, barddoniaeth, mapio, cyfarwyddo a ymholi cydweithredol i archwilio ein milltir sgwar trwy gymuned, treftadaeth, tirlun, straeon personol a thrwy ffurfio perthnasau gyda deiliaid mwy-na-dynol.
Our opening night was on 2nd June, and the exhibition runs to 5th July 2023.
We will also be working with Galeri/GISDA’s programme of Llwybrau Celf Uwch which will focus on high quality art experiences for young people age 14-17, specifically for young people from diverse and hard to reach backgrounds.
Ysgol Arbrofol - Experimental School
At Ein Coed - Treesense
Mae popeth rydym yn ei wneud yn Utopias Bach yn arbrawf bach, a dydi Ysgol Dod At Ein Coed ddim yn wahanol yn hynny o beth. Rhwng 3ydd Mawrth a 27ain Mai 2023, rydym yn eich gwahodd chi – amrywiaeth hyfryd o bobl ddynol a phobl coed o bob oed, math a chefndir – i ddod yn gyfranogwyr sumbiotig mewn cyd-ymholiad gyda choed.
Byddwn yn archwilio “Sut allwn ni ddod yn ôl at ein coed trwy gydweithred coed-ddynol?” Yn defnyddio celf, ffotograffiaeth, barddoniaeth, mapio, gwneud gwisgoedd, perfformiadau, dweud straeon ac ymholiad cydweithredol, byddwn yn creu cymuned rhyng-gysylltiol fel coedwig o symudiad, synhwyrau, sain, tyfiant a chysylltiadau.
_____
Everything we do in Utopias Bach is a bit of an experiment, and the Tree Sense Experimental School is no different. Between 3rd March and 27th May 2023, we will invite you – a wonderful diversity of human people and tree people of all ages, types and backgrounds - to become a symbiotic participants in a co-enquiry with trees.
We will be exploring “How can we come back to our senses through human-tree collaborations?” Using art, photography, poetry, mapping, costume making, performance, storytelling and collaborative enquiry, we will create a forest-like interconnected community of movement, senses, sound, growth and connection.
Women and Land
Merched y Tir
“The power of solidarity with the plants is that with just a bit of soil and one seed, we can begin the work of transformation.
We can activate processes to heal the planet”
- Dr Natasha Myers
Mae’r arbrawf hwn yn archwilio, mewn modd greadigol, y berthynas rhwng merched a thir – yn enwedig merched sy’n siarad Cymraeg a merched o liw – fel nôd bach posibl i drawsnewid cyfiawnder amgylcheddol a chymdeithasol.
This experiment is creatively exploring the relationship between women and land - particularly welsh speaking women and women of colour - as a potential mini node of transformation for environmental and social justice
Os oes gennych ddiddordeb mewn ymuno efo ni, cysylltwch â Lindsey / If you are interested in joining us, please contact lindsey
Conversation
TEXTure
- Asemic text and communication with the non-human.
How can we de-code the language of trees and rocks? Artists Lisa Hudson and Kar Rowson, and poet Peter Hughes, are engaged in conversation with trees and rocks in North-West Wales.
A new project at Plas Bodfa and at yours,
inspired by lockdown
possible within its constraints
Succession/ Olyniaeth
Inviting individuals to engage in a process that is to last a long time, to enter into conversations about work and practice, time and creation without a predetermined outcome, to connect to naturally occurring processes around us, and to connect to each other
Collaborative research, writing and performance
Bwystori - Bestiary
Bwystori, Bestiary is a collaboration led by Lindsey Colbourne and Emily Meilleur (artist, poet and Biodiversity Officer) celebrating our “CYDFOD / Interbeing” with all other species (more-than-human beings) who inhabit the places we live. It is a celebratory work in the face of the enormity of climate change, the “loss of 200 species a day”, atrocities across the planet, the destruction of the rain forest and the sense of a global crisis in which we can feel insignificant and hopeless.
Each incarnation of the Bwystori experiment would be a location-specific event or series of events that could combine elements of discovery (eg walks, forays), storytelling (close encounters, mythology), installation, performance and publication.
Experiment with
Sgôr Boced - Scores
Exploring how mini-texts and performance scripts (‘scores’) might make something happen in the world, even if that ‘in the world’ is only in the reader’s brief imagining of potential enactments
Experiments which have ‘finished’ in some way (although they may continue within other experiments, or be integrated into Utopias Bach’s ways of working etc)
Community conversation: Y Fron, Carmel, Rhosgadfan
Cyfarfod Casgliad Aurora Gatherings
Cyfarfod Casgliad Aurora: Amser i rannu’r teimladau’r galon - adeg lle rydym yn gwrando ar galonnau ni a hefyd cyfathrebu o’i chalonnau ni hunain
Rwyf efo’r ffydd gyda’r bydysawd yn dod a sgwrs gyda thema sydd yn dod a budd i gymryd rhan
Rwyf yn cyfarfod i wrando gyda gilydd a chynnig cymorth gyda gilydd
Rwyf yn cwrdd yn Ganolfan y Fron LL54 7BB dydd Sul gyntaf y mis o amser 11.00yb tan 12.30yp
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Aurora gathering:a heart sharing space where we listen from our hearts as well as speak from our hearts
We trust the Universe to bring the themes that will be of most benefit to all participating
We do not meet to fix, teach or lean on each other but rather to support and listen to each other
We meet on the first Sunday of every month at Canolfan y Fron LL54 7BB From 11.00am until 12.30pm
Gyda/with Samina Ali
E-bost: saminaali78@btinternet.com
Embodied reflection on Aurora by Samina Ali. Film by Lisa Hudson.
Reconnection and communication with the landscape and more than human
Cathedral of the Trees: A Triad of Being
The next iteration of Cathedral of the Trees: A Triad of Being is an experiment in reconnection and communication with the landscape, & more than human. It will comprise a series of five events, spending creative time with the natural world, experiencing three journey packages received through your letterbox.
Please sign up to receive the packages, prompts, emails etc from Gaia.
If you have any questions please email: cathedralofthetrees@gmail.com
Instagram: @cathedralofthetrees
Learning
Cwrs Utopias Bach course
Cwrs Utopias Bach Course is an experiment in how aspects of Utopias Bach can fit into more traditional educational settings. Lisa Hudson is running an 8 week course for Adult Learning Wales, based on Utopias Bach methodologies. One course is online and the other is at the Institute Building, Pavillion Hill, Caernarfon LL55 1AS.
Utopias Bach course is a series of creative invitations to explore a personal and communal relationship to your own square mile. Using art, photography, poetry, mapping, storytelling and collaborative enquiry, we are examining our local areas through community, heritage, landscape, personal stories and by forming relationships with the more-than-human occupants. This course is being delivered a partnership with Gwynedd and Anglesey Community Learning Network’s provision.
If you would like to take part in future courses, please email Lisa
Imagining Peace
Cathedral of Trees
This experiment, by Gaia Redgrave, will explore and consider the following questions using our wildest and widest imaginations.
What could peace be?
Where does peace reside?
What could other names for peace be?
How can peace be made tangible?
The experiment includes two events (virtual & in real life), and a series of micro residencies.
All outcomes will be documented and shared on the Utopias Bach website & cathedral of the trees Instagram page.
Cathedral of the trees is open to all, all kinds of voices (human and non-human), all kinds of people, all kinds of experiences, all kinds of dreams, all are equally welcomed.
If you see a barrier, speak to Gaia , there will be a way.
Dyfodol - Future
Maniffesto o Le - Manifesto of Place
As part of Hwb Bangor’s Being Human Festival, Lisa Hudson, Lindsey Colbourne and Wanda Zyborska ran this experiment to engage with the complex history and inter-species agencies embodied by Bangor University’s George Building at Normal Site Campus. We wanted to see if we could re-imagine Normal Site Campus for a more-than-human future. How can human and more-than-human people break through to new relationships with place?
20 people came to the event and all contributions were brought together to create a Manifesto of Place.
Oriel - Gallery
Ailddychmygu’r Oriel - Reimaginging the Gallery
Y Gwahoddiad: Gwahoddir chi i Oriel Brondanw i ailddychmygu’r oriel / tŷ yma fel petai chi’n byw yma, neu fel petai’r tŷ yn berson, neu fel petai croeso i bob math o fodau ymweld ac ymgartrefu yma.
Cyfle i ailystyried beth yw pwrpas a rôl lle fel hyn. Cyfle i fwynhau cacen, paned, gwisgo i fynnu, cambihafio, creu, a chael gweledigaeth o isymwybod Plas Brondanw.
The invitation: You are invited to Oriel Brondanw to re-imagine this gallery / house as if you lived here, or as if the house was a person, or that all types of beings were welcome to visit and settle here.
An opportunity to rethink the purpose and role of such a place. Enjoy a cake, a cup of tea, dress up, misbehave, create, and have a vision from the subconscious of Plas Brondanw.
Gororau'r Gogledd-ddwyrain - North-East borderlands
Yr Awen o sach Modryb Venodotia
- The ‘Awen’ from the sack of Aunty Venodotia
Mae enw’r prosiect yn deillio o’r darlun enwog o Gymru fel y Fonesig Venodotia/ Modryb Gwen (sy’n deillio o sir Gwynedd). Darlunnir Gogledd-ddwyrain Cymru fel sach ar ei chefn. Yn fy llun diwygiedig fy hun, rwy’n dangos yr ‘awen’ anadferadwy yn dianc o’i sach.
The name of the project derives from the famous drawing of Wales as Dame Venodotia/ Modryb Gwen (derivative of the county of Gwynedd). North-East Wales is depicted as a sack on her back. In my own revised drawing, I show the irrepressible ‘awen’ (poetic muse) escaping from her sack.
Tra bod gan Gymru sîn lenyddol Gymraeg lewyrchus, yn enwedig o ran barddoniaeth, mae gororau'r Gogledd-ddwyrain yn aml yn cael eu tangynrychioli, neu fel arall yn gwbl absennol. Yn gyffredinol, mae esboniadau'n canolbwyntio ar ddiffyg sgiliau Cymraeg ac/neu ddiffyg diddordeb yn y celfyddydau. Rwy'n fardd, yn wreiddiol o'r Gogledd Ddwyrain, ac ar hyn o bryd rwy’n ymwneud ag amrywiaeth o weithgareddau celfyddydol yn yr ardal. Fel y cyfryw, yr wyf yn ymwybodol bod ffactorau eraill ar waith, gan gynnwys tlodi ac amddifadedd cymdeithasol, diffyg cyfalaf cymdeithasol, a diffyg hyder cyffredinol mewn sgiliau iaith a llenyddiaeth. Wedi gwrando’n ddiweddar ar rai naratifau lleol, ynghyd â’m profiadau fy hun, rwyf wedi penderfynu cynnig fy sgiliau ieithyddol a llenyddol yn y gobaith o bontio’r bwlch a hyrwyddo cydraddoldeb a chyfiawnder cymdeithasol yn y rhanbarth hwn. Dechreuaf gyda helpu band lleol i gyfieithu geiriau a dod o hyd i gyfleoedd i lwyfannu. Byddaf hefyd yn ceisio hyrwyddo ysgrifennu fel ffurf o fynegiant ymhlith unigolion nad ydynt wedi cael y math hwn o gyfle o'r blaen. Byddaf yn ceisio creu cysylltiadau rhwng y gweithgareddau hyn, gan groesbeillio'r gwaith o baratoi geiriau sydd â naws Gogledd-Ddwyreiniol amlwg, ynglŷn â bywyd ar y gororau.
Whilst Wales has a thriving Welsh literary scene, particularly with regards to poetry, the North-East borderlands are frequently under-represented, or else are even entirely absent. Explanations generally centre around a lack of Welsh language skills and/ or a lack of interest in the arts. I am a poet originally from the North-East, currently engaged in a variety of arts-related activities in the area. As such, I am aware that other factors are at work, including poverty and social deprivation, lack of social capital, and a general lack of confidence in both language and literature skills. Having recently listened to some local narratives, coupled with my own experiences, I have resolved to offer my language and literary skills in the hope of bridging the gap and promoting equality and social justice in this region. I will begin with helping a local band to translate lyrics and finding opportunities for platforming. I will also seek to promote writing as a form of expression amongst individuals who have not previously had this kind of opportunity made available. I will seek to make links between these activities, cross-pollinating the preparation of lyrics which have a distinctly North-East flavour, regarding life in the borderlands.
Sawl grwp gwahanol o bobl ifanc a phlant i oedolion
Y Llais Bach
Mae geiriau BACH yn gallu dweud a gwneud pethau MAWR!
Dw i wrth fy modd yn cael gwneud hyn fel rhan o Utopias Bach!
Dros yr wythnosau nesaf, byddwn yn mynd ati i gasglu recordiadau o eiriau, brawddegau, synau BACH ond pwysig sy'n rhoi cip o be' ydi swn iwtopaidd a geirfa eith a ni i ddyfodol gwell...mewn unrhyw iaith liciwch chi!
Os hoffech chi gymryd rhan neu os fasai gynnoch chi gyswllt efo grwpiau yn eich cymuned fasai'n licio ymuno, cysylltwch!
LITTLE words can have a BIG impact!
I'm delighted to take part in this as part of Utopias Bach!
During the next few weeks, we'll be collecting recordings of utopic words, sentences and sounds that might give us an idea of what in fact is a utopic sound as well as collecting vocab that might play a crucial role in taking us to a better future...in any language you want!
If you'd like to take part or if a group in your community might like to join in, get in touch!
Llinos Griffin & Steffan Harri
Arhoswch gyda'r drafferth - Stay with the trouble
Capel Problemau Heb Ateb
Does dim lle terfynol i adael gwastraff niwclear, dim ond hirbahad o atgyfodiadau. Mae niwclear yn dod nôl o hyd ac o hyd i'n hatgoffa i rhoi’r gorau i'n huchelgeisiau o datrys problemau. Mae’n ein hatgoffa ni i addoli problemau. Mae datrys problemau ond yn creu problemau mwy. Gwastraff niwclear ydy’r ffurf gelfyddydol berffaith o broblem. Mae trwsio yn dwyll, ac iechydwriaeth hefyd. Arhoswch gyda'r drafferth. Haleliwia!
Gadewch i ni brosesu, bod yn feddyliol, gwneud ffilm - nid yw celf yn ateb neu’n broblem. Mae'n orymdaith.
____________________________
The Chapel of Unanswerable Problems
There is no final deposit site for nucleart waste, but a hirbarhad of resurrections. Nucleart returns and returns and returns for reminding us to resign from our ambitions to resolve problems. Reminding us to worship problems. Solving problems only creates bigger problems. Nuclear waste is the ultimate artform of a problem. Repair is delusion, as is redemption. Stay with the trouble. Hallelujah!
Let’s process, be mental, make film – art is not an answer nor a problem. It is procession.
Gan/by Sarah Pogoda
Pobl di-catref
Boxes for the Homeless
A small group of 6 artists based in the Bangor area, created via the Utopias Bach facebook community. The group came together at Christmas 2021 to curate Utopias Bach shoe boxes for homeless individuals as part of the Un Galon Christmas Shoebox appeal. Alongside traditional practical items such as tins , toothbrushes and warm socks etc, there were gifts of creativity such as art materials and craft kits, radical colouring books, thought experiments, postcards, pens and stamps with which to send them. Through this activity, the group has made connections with St Mary’s Hostel, Partneirieath Ogwen and Un Galon and is beginning to explore potential future actions in Bangor.
New ways of running meetings
Dadadeiladu’r Gynhadledd - Deconstructed Conference 12.6.22
Roedd gynnon ni’r defnydd o’r tŷ cyfan a’r 35 ystafell ynddo, y tŷ gwydr a’r gerddi ym Mhlas Bodfa i ddod â’r rhannau amrywiol o’r planhigyn mefus at ei gilydd i weld yr hyn dan ni wedi ei wneud, ble’r ydan ni, beth nesa’. Roedd y digwyddiad hwn yn agored i bawb, ac wedi ei ffocysu ar y rhai sy’n ymwneud ag Utopias Bach.
• profiad ymdrwythol sain a fideo Y Llais Bach • Ystafell Fapio • Picnic Mwy-na’r-Dynol • Ystafell Begynnau • Cyflwyniadau, gweithdai a thrafodaethau • Cyfnewidfa Cardyn Post • ystafell sinema Utopias Bach • Cerddorfa ‘Lastig Band
__________
The deconstructed conference experiment was for those involved in Utopias Bach (and open to all), bringing together the various parts of the strawberry plant to exchange experiences, ideas, learnings, to see what we’ve done, where we are at and what next. We were celebrating 1.5 years of becoming!
• Y Llais Bach immersive experience of sound and video • Mapping Room • More-than-human Picnic • Polarities Room • Presentations, workshops and discussions • Postcard Exchange • Utopias Bach Cinema room • Moss Room • ‘Lastig Band Orchestra
Collaborative writing
Straeon Byrion Cydweithredol Utopias Bach Collaborative Short Stories
Mae Seran Dolma, awdur Preswyl Utopias Bach wedi cychwyn ar brosiect i ysgrifennu cyfres o straeon byrion yn seiliedig ar sgyrsiau gyda cyfranogwyr a phartneriaid Utopias Bach.
Seran Dolma, Author in Residence at Utopias Bach, has embarked on a project to write a series of short stories based on conversations with participants and partners of Utopias Bach.
Stori Sycamorwydden - A Sycamore’s story (with Lisa Hudson)
Stori Aderyn Du - A Blackbird’s story (with Lindsey Colbourne)
Cerddorfa Lastic Band Utopias Bach Rubber Band Orchestra
Experimental orchestra created by Kar Rowson, as part of her Collaboratory meeting. Seen here at Femke van Gent’s ‘Mother Island Whispers’, as part of the ‘Band to Welcome Spring’ global project 20.3.22
“Welcome in the Vernal Equinox by playing instruments outside wherever you are, and people all around the world will be doing the same!” Nick Tobier
Polish, Portugese and Homeless communities in Wrexham
Home-Dom-Adra
The result of a continuing conversation Lisa Hudson and Iolande Viegas, a community organiser from the Portuguese speaking diaspora in Wrexham, Home-Dom-Adra will be a short film exploring the possibilities of domestic utopia and the meaning of the word ‘Home’. The film will document a meeting with Jarek, a first generation Polish immigrant to Wrexham who has made their tiny flat into a utopic garden, and then spent the lockdown building a dream doll’s house for his grand-daughter in Poland
We are interested in any contributions and conversations on the subject of HOME - to be involved, contact Lisa on lisasantana@hotmail.co.uk
Preswyl Oriel Mostyn Residency
Utopias Bach & Cwrdd â Ni Wrth yr Afon
Roedd Utopias Bach a’r bobl a’r planhigion sy’n rhan o ‘cwrdd â mi wrth yr afon’ yn rhan o breswyliad cydweithredol drwy gydol yr haf i ymateb i comisiwn Gofod Prosiect Mostyn a ddatblygwyd gan Mostyn a’r artist Frances Disley.
Yn ystod y cyfnod preswyl arbrofol hwn, wnaeth artistiaid, planhigion a’r clwb gydweithio i archwilio prosesau sy’n anelu at feithrin cysylltiadau dyfnach sy’n dod â’r dynol a’r mwy-na-dynol at ei gilydd.
———
DATES: 4 August, 12 August, 18 August, 25 August
TIME: 12:30 – 14:30
Utopias Bach and the people and plants that make up cwrdd â mi wrth yr afon were part of a collaborative residency throughout the summer 2022 to respond to Mostyn’s Project Space commission developed by Mostyn and artist Frances Disley.
During this experimental residency, artists, plants and the club worked together to explore processes that aim to foster deeper connections that bring together the human and more-than-human.
Lisa Hudson, Seran Dolma, Gaia Redgrave, Samina Ali, Wanda Zyborska and Lindsey Colbourne
Mini concrete poetry
Femtopoems
Experimenting with ultraminimal poetry with Rhys Trimble using letterpress, (lead moveable type), lettraset (transfer) or word-processing software. Drawing inspiration from such minimalists as Aram Saroyan, Concrete poets like Catherine Vidler and your own microimpulses. Using small fonts and microtools to create poems for our little members of utopias bach to read in their dioramas, and using procedural constraints to create the nano/femtopoems. From these constraints a great (and diminutive) richness emerges!
Gwl - Festival
Utopias Bach @ Draig Beats
Mi wnaethon ni ddod â “cysylltiadau creadigon” i’r parti - dod â bodau dynol, llefydd a’r mwy-na’r-dynol ynghyd trwy sgwrs, cymuned a chreadigrwydd:
Gofod sgwrsio
Gwelediadau tywys trawsffurfiol a gweithdy ymgorfforiad i brofi bod yn fod gwahanol
Helfa drysor sylwi o utopias bach
ewch ar helfa drysor ac ychwanegwch eich cliwiau eich hunain i eraill ddod o hyd iddynt
TEXTure - dadgodio sumbolau Asemig
Picnic mwy-na-dynol - dewch â’ch picnic eich hun ac ymunwch gyda 10 o westeiwyr mwy-na-dynol mewn 10 lleoliad
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We offered “creative connections”, bringing together humans, place, more-than-human in conversation, community and creativity through:
A space for conversation
Trawsffurfiad guided visualisations and embodiment workshop to experience becoming another being
A noticing treasure hunt of tiny utopias - go on the treasure hunt and add your own clues for others to find
TEXTure - decoding Asemic symbols
More-than-human picnic - bring your own picnic and join 10 more-than-human hosts in 10 locations
Older women, Caernarfon
Hi Hen
Wanda Zyborska, Samina Ali and Iola Ynyr will be working with old/older/vulnerable women who live around the Caernarfon area, co-creating a space of safety, creative expression, authentic and deep explorations around be-coming old/older. The idea is that the project team is made up of the same demographic so that there is no division between artist and community.
Image: Figure 3 Aleah Chapin (2014) IT WAS THE SOUND OF THEIR FEET. Oil on linen, 84 x 120 inches.
Welcoming, culture, embodied evaluation
The Octopus of Omnipotence:
An Experiment in Kindness
Gaia Redgrave, Samina Ali and Lindsey Colbourne are undertaking an experiment (meeting over zoom) of an embodied investigation into our ‘micro-culture’ in which we hope to better understand Utopias Bach’s welcome to neurodiverse artists (specifically Gaia) and what can be learned to consciously welcome others. To start with, we will be creatively exploring these questions:
“What does it take to create a space where it is ok and safe to be vulnerable?”
“How do/have Utopias Bach created a safe space?”
“Is the welcome innate due to the people involved… or can it be learned”
“How can needs, difficulties, challenging interactions and personal insecurities be explored in this space?”
“Can this be art as well as beneficial to the participants?”
“How does what we learn feed into other interactions, communications and meetings we individually and collectively do?”
“Could this become something of interest for the arts sector?”
Questioning
Exercises for White People
Exercises for white people sought to ask answer some questions:
· What does it mean to be white in the world right now?
· What is the emotional labour involved in being white, is there any?
· How can white people create a culture of anti-racism?
Emily Laurens came together with two other artists - Osian Meilir and Avi Allen - to talk about whiteness, our whiteness and whether we could come up with any exercises for white people that would help white people explore and understand their whiteness and the things that come with it.
We had to name the discomfort around being paid for this work, that people of colour have to do this work (understanding their race and what goes/comes with it) for birth in order to survive in a white supremacist world. That for white people it’s part of the privilege that there is choice around engaging with whiteness. And then artists like the three of us are getting paid for it feels wrong. We talked about donating a proportion of our fee to Black Lives Matter UK or a similar charitable organisation but I felt like (due to the precarity of being a freelance artist, especially post covid) I needed to leave that to individuals to decide.
We felt that taking authorship of some kind of generic exercise for white people would be in keeping with white supremacist thinking and therefore not appropriate. That white people are of course all different and have other minorities characteristics. That lumping people together in categories based on skin colour is part of white supremacist thinking.
We didn’t feel that it was appropriate to take this work out to the community in person, but Emily is making a short film as a creative way of sharing some of our thoughts and what we talked about.
Quotes from the day:
How do we do this work without centering whiteness- without using Bipoc people to legitimize the work? Doing the work – what is it? Feelings of guilt at being paid to be here. Crossing over into true effective solidarity. Alliance. Allyship is passive/ Allyship is violent because it replicates the system that marginalized, ally/victim, think more. Fear of getting it wrong hinders solidarity. White supremacist thinking – definite, must be correct, must complete. But let’s make mistakes. Uncertainty! Be uncertain!
Y BYD, NATUR, POBOL - Y DYFODOL
THE WORLD, PEOPLE, NATURE - THE FUTURE
Penrhyndeudraeth a’r Cylch
Newyddion cyffrous! Exciting news!
Mae’na brosiect Utopias Bach ym Mhenrhyndeudraeth ac mae lle i BAWB rownd y bwrdd creu-byd-newydd!
There is a Utopias Bach project in Penrhyndeudraeth and there's room for ALL around the table to create a new world!
Newid Hinsawdd - Climate Change
Utopias Bach Malawi
Led by Wanda Zyborska, Agnes Mpando and Esther Mwalilino, working with children in an after school club (multi-lingual). The children were taken through a guided visualisation to help them imagine a better future. They were asked to think about something they love about where they live, and something they would like to change. They were shown a film made for them by the children of Gwalchmai showing them the Gwalchmai childrens' answers to these questions. They were very interested in hearing that the Welsh children live in a bilingual culture where Welsh is encouraged in school. Most children there are multi-lingual, yet the predominant language of Chichewe is not encouraged in most schools.
After the film and visualisation each child was given a hand made colourful cardboard box containing materials, and invited to make a mini-(utopian)-landscape, peopled by mini-people, of their perfect place in the future. Inside the boxes were models of tiny people and materials such as wooden shapes, play dough, soil and pieces of plants that looked like miniature trees of various types. They could choose which of the materials to use, and given small plates as sites for the miniature landscapes. They were allowed to take everything they made home with them, plus any surplus materials. Presenting the materials for the workshop as colourful and attractive gifts encouraged a feeling of being special that seemed to stimulate their imaginations and resulted in a joyful atmosphere of deep engagement with what they were doing.
Agnes Mpando
School and Community
Gwalchmai, Ynys Môn
& Limbe, Malawi
In this experiment, Seran Arianwen, Lindsey Colbourne and Samina Ali worked with children from Ysgol y Ffridd and 60 young people in Gwalchmai to develop their visions for the future, curating the results into an immersive ‘story studio’ event, to which the adults of Gwalchmai were invited to respond to the children’s ideas, as the basis for further dialogue and projects. You can see the results by pressing the more button.
Part of the experiment has been exchanging ideas with young people in Limbe, Malawi, who are doing a similar process, led by Agnes Mpando, Esther Mwalilino and Wanda Zyborska
This project is supported by Rural Futures, who are working in Gwalchmai to address and create effective long-term solutions to the issues associated with living in rural areas.
Mini-Festival
Metamorffosis
Beth ydy’r gweithgaredd bach, sy’n cael eu creu gyda dychymig radicalaidd, sydd yn ein helpu ni i ddarganfod ac ail-feddwl ein perthynas gyda’r dyfodol ar raddfa rydan ni’n teimlo ein bod ni’n colli ein ddylanwad arno? Sut gallen ni danseilio’r mawrion a ffiniau amser a lle, creu dolennau efo pobol eraill o agos a bell sydd yn arbrofi gyda – ac yn pwyntio i – ffyrdd newydd o fod yn y dyfodol.
What are the smallest gestures, created with radical imagination, that will help us explore and reconfigure our relationship with the future at a scale we feel we can influence? How can we subvert scales and temporal and spatial frontiers, creating entanglements with others near and far that experiment with – and point to – new ways of being for the future?
This experiment, a week-long mini-festival in June 2021, was held in partnership with Sarah Pogoda and Anna Powell at Bangor University, and about 40 creatives, looked to re-imagine the event as small scale, in response to the pandemic.
Miniaturists around the world
Micro EXPO Bach
There are many Miniaturist groups around the world. Often miniatures are sweet or nostalgic, touching our hearts in a way that nothing else can. But we are experimenting with ways of making that power of miniature future-focused, ways of expressing ideas for change. Tiny revolutions!
We are trying a call-out to miniaturists around the world to create miniatures that imagine the world a better place for humans and more-than-humans of all kinds, especially those who are most badly affected by the current state of the world.
““It’s not about conquering the world
but of making a world capable of holding many worlds.”
-Ernst Bloch
Thought experiment
Deity Dyfodol?
Gruff Ellis Jolley, Catrin Ellis, Ed Straw, Tom Jolley and Lindsey Colbourne have been using Exquisite Corps to explore what deities might we want for the future?
Image: Cylch - goddess of cycles
Sesiwn 1: Hedfan dros dy fro: Blwyddyn 5&6 20.5.21
School and regeneration
Ysgol Bro Siôn Cwilt, Ceredigion
Seran Arianwen and Lindsey Colbourne worked with Ysgol Bro Siôn Cwilt and Rural Futures to run a series of creative mapping and visioning and sessions for years 4 - 6. Initially envisaged as a series of online sessions, these morphed into us being online with the classes in the classroom. May - June 2021.
Online Performance
Sarah Pogoda: Imagination of an Imaginary Museum of Imagined Utopia Bach
A collective ephemeral imagination of an imaginary museum of imagined utopia bach. everyone and everything have utopia bach which never materialised.
everyone and everything might have a museum full of utopia bach never materialised.
everyone and everything can imagine an imaginary museum without limits.
everyone and everything imagine the imaginary museum without limits as a utopia bach never materialised.
everyone and everything.
Organising an online participatory event of individual and collective imagination of imaginary museums of imagined utopia bach. Involving artists, non-artists and utopia bach. Creating a framework and loose script for the performance – allowing a variety of instructed imaginations.
Personal Utopias Bach
Gruff Ellis Jolley:
Floating Farm to Feed the World (2020)
“With the sea levels rising and consumption for farm land leading to deforestation and habitat loss it may come to a point were farming on sea may become a legitimate option. I imagine these floating bio-domes to each have different climates to grow a verity of veg and fruit capable of supporting a variety of annimals within them, all connected together by a series of bridges.these large floating structures could also suport habitats for small creatures to latch onto. With new farming space we would no longer have to expand into annimals habitats and we would have a sufficient food source with many more jobs available to accompany it.”
Samina Ali’s Utopias Bach Lle-chi
“Miniature utopian worlds created in nature, based on specific themes and inspired by the locality I live in – which keeps changing as I gypsy around in my caravan, living simply with the earth and discovering new natural beauty around North Wales. Ones I have created to date….
Inspiring spiritual connection to nature connections with love… A stone circle with a magical elemental component to create a sense of wonder…using Pentir mossy rock, more local moss, slate from nearby, Citrine gemstones discovered on the ground at a Buddhist temple in Sri Lanka, naked figure as a faery elemental with wings from a very small bird found on the ground nearby my caravan in Pentir
What is our version of ceremony in these times (Winter of 2020)? A stone circle clearing with people doing ceremony around a fire with elemental representations as naked figures. Made with wood, nearby moss, nearby slate, ash made from burning local wood near dwelling in Pentir. Plastic miniature models/men/faeries. Also made with 2 children’s impromptu involvement and inspirations!
The evolution of mother nature reclaiming slate tips. 2 slate tips reclaimed by nature’s amazing way she brings beauty back to areas desolate or pillaged by human interference. Invoking a mystical element too with the inclusion of a miniature stone circle – something that keeps arising organically in my miniature utopias which hasn’t been planned apart from in the 1st one! Made from local slate in Fron – where I have now moved to! Plants, heather, moss, lichen, and quartz crystal from Mynydd Mawr nearby.
Derelicts – future development and usage for creating basic natural homes, local art /creative studios, communal gathering spaces for meetings, ceremonies etc….work in progress….Derelicts recreated and then using local dumped rubbish and other recyclables – creating innovative and creative ways to honor, celebrate and utilize these spaces. Made using local slate in y Fron, wood, local heather, local crystal quartz, local rubbish, recycling of tins, plastic bottles – all used/bought locally. “
Nantperis Distributed Orchard
Lindsey Colbourne: Perllan Nantperis Ddosbarthedig
Imagining the creation of a distributed orchard of apple and other productive trees, one for each house (including holiday homes), chosen to reflect the history of the house eg Ty Gwyn was famous for its damson trees. A community project, involving research and creation of a plaque for each tree, each plaque based on a Welsh language poem (eg “Avellenau” (Llyfr Du Caerfyrddin Xv11)). The idea would be that the village comes together to do the research, plant the trees, and each year to maintain/celebrate. I hope it would also integrate the owners of holiday homes, and encourage visitors to appreciate Welsh language and culture.
I have created individual buildings using Fimo, and sprouted apple pips to grow the apple trees.
The next step is to see if my mini-imagining might turn into a real world intervention.
Lindsey Colbourne: Call A Tiny Council of All Beings - Achub y Byd!
What if…
Syniadau sy heb fynd ymlaen (eto?) - Ideas that haven’t gone ahead (yet?)
Porthaethwy/Menai Bridge (also possibly in Bethesda)
Pentre Bach Gwyrdd
- Little Green Village
Working in the suburban area of Menai Bridge to make gardens and public areas greener through forming a group and mapping positive interventions such as planting trees and plants for birds and insects, hedgehog routes, fruit trees and wildflower meadows on Council greens, bee hotels and bird boxes. Could be extended to include plastic free shops or other local business initiatives as well. As well as an online map it could be manifest in homemade maps, miniature gardens, amongst other things.
Contact Wanda on wandazyborska.art@gmail.com
Young people and working 1:1 with the whole community
Utopias Bach Capel Curig
Working with Capel Curig to think about the post-pandemic future, making the most of this time of transition to explore ways of supporting young people and adults to imagine, create, map and have conversations about new possibilities, perhaps following the flow of the rivers as a source of inspiration.
We are at a very early stage - contact lindsey.colbourne@me.com if you are interested
Re-imagining monuments
Cofio/Remembering
Collectively re-thinking monuments, what they are for, who decides, the radical act of remembering. Trying out a process to bridge the increasingly polarised debate around ‘keep/remove’ monuments, building on Wanda Zyborska’s HM Stanley re-veiling ceremony in Denbigh, GRRRLS in the Garage’s Mini Monument lab in Llandudno.
Idea in development…
Contact: TBD
Multi-generational project
Future generations
Julie Upmeyer fround that the third lockdown showed it was possible to share and involve her children in an artistic life. She is now wondering if this can be done more deliberately? How to engage multi-generations in the artistic process - not as ‘a kids project’ but as art in itself. Is this a matter of widening the definition of artistic practice? Do successful experiences take more effort or less? More planning or less planning?
Contact Julie on julie@plasbodfa.com
Water power in Bethesda
Utopic Water
Lisa Hudson has seeded the germ of an idea to my contacts in Ynni Ogwen, Partneriaeth Ogwen and Ysgol Dyffryn Ogwen to create a project based in Bethesda that gives school kids the opportunity to examine the energy sources, such as water, available in the Dyffryn Ogwen valley and allow their radical imagination to run free and think up wild ways to use the energy. Lisa hopes to start to solidify the idea through Gwyl Afon Ogwen.
In development
Contact Lisa on lisasantana@hotmail.co.uk
Language
Dwy/aml - ieithog
Exploring how can Utopias Bach work creatively with Cymraeg, English and other languages and culture, going beyond ‘straight translation’ to open up new ways of working together, listening and perceiving…
We are hoping to convene a group to explore … let us know if you are interested in joining!
Contact lindsey on lindsey.colbourne@me.com
Arts and Health
Health Utopias
Frances Williams will be facilitating the discussion of ‘health utopias’ with students from Glyndwr University, developing questions around health and well-being through the arts.
Make artwork which reflects your own idea of what would make an ideal or utopian context and setting for your own arts and health practice (course work)
Write-up your own critical reflections on what makes an ideal context in relation to your own work, drawing your own ethical values
Lisa Hudson: Witness
“My personal Utopias Bach is a research project based in my garden.
I will be observing Utopian systems that exist in the small space that I also inhabit.
I will begin by observing the wild strawberries in the southwestern corner of my garden. I will draw them, photograph them and document their growth. My role will be just that of witness.
My usual approach would be to study them as a model or a metaphor for an inter-human relationship or process, or I would look at them and wonder what I need to learn from them for my personal growth. This as an acquisitional approach that I want to challenge. My observation of the strawberry and research into its properties, histories and symbolism has no goal beyond that of learning about the strawberry plant and observing it as what it is rather than what it is for or what it means to me.”
Wanda Zyborska (2008) Wanda and Trish go South: An Australian Utopia Bach
“Two cherished mini ideas were first to come to the surface; one was to make mini-(no)places to go under the domes I have been collecting over the years. The other was a mini-(utopian)-landscape, peopled by mini-people, this should manifest within a bigger landscape. This idea is one of my oldest, arising from childhood imaginings in the vast spaces of Australia, where I devised tiny peopled landscapes within landscapes projected imaginatively on the landscape around me in chosen places, like the gullies alongside the road, as a coping mechanism to avoid being overwhelmed by the enormous scale of that country. I know from experience the pleasurable escapist benefits of this kind of mini-utopic imaginings, manifest in dolls houses and miniature towns and villages. They can be nostalgic and sad, as in The Bottle city of Kandor in Superman, miniaturised and saved when the planet Krypton was destroyed by the supervillain Brainiac. An example of the dark side of miniaturising utopias. I must keep something of the dystopian in my mini-utopias, they must never reach the horror of the realised utopia, utopia must be something strived for but not quite arrived at or fixed, if it wants to avoid the dangers spelled out in literature and fact in utopian exploits of the past. I want to keep the striving for utopia in process, on a moving polarity of deterritorialisation.”
WILD Garden of the Unwanted Monument
Lindsey Colbourne: Gardd GWYLLT yr Heneb Ddiangen
Inspired by Wanda Zyborska’s Stanley Re-veiling project and BLM, an imagining of a wild space where no-longer wanted monuments are taken to return to nature.
The garden includes a miniature visitor’s leaflet/map, explaining why monuments have been removed, and encouraging new monument proposals. Created as part of Utopias Bach Penrhyndeudraeth a’r cylch (week 3, ‘Make a Revolutionary Garden on a plate’)
Cipolwg - Glimpse
Found Utopias Bach
These found Utopias Bach remember that seeds of the future may already be here.
Take a look at what we’ve found, and send in images or recordings or observations of your own