Ym Mehefin, dan ni’n gwahodd pawb sy’n cyfrannu (neu ddim yn cyfrannu eto!) i ddod at ei gilydd i gael profiadau, myfyrio a dathlu pobl elfen o’r planhigyn mefus esblygedig ag yr ydi Utopias Bach. B’asen ni wrth ein boddau petaech chi’n dod yn rhan o’i greu!

In June, we are inviting all involved - whether you have been with us from the beginning or have just come upon us now - to gather, experience, reflect and celebrate all aspects of the evolving Utopias Bach strawberry plant. We’d love you to be part of creating it!

An invitation from Gaia Redgrave: Join the Cathedral of The Trees at the Utopias Bach May Collaboratories

The Blueprint of Peace Explored Through Ma / online (Zoom): Wednesday 11th May 11am - 12.30pm

Peaceful play / outdoor event : Saturday 14th May - at a time and place to suit you

If you’d like to attend one, the other or both, you need to book your (free) place….

Mapio Ennydau – sut dan ni’n cysylltu trwy Utopias Bach?

Mae Frances Williams, ein Arsylwr Cyfranogol/Cyfranwr Arsylwgar yn eich gwahodd chi i’n helpu ni fynd ‘Tu Hwnt i Werthuso’ trwy greu map o’ch cysylltiadau ac ennydau arwyddocaol ac mewnwelediadau gydag Utopias Bach.

Mapping Moments - how do we connect through Utopias Bach?
Frances Williams, our Participant Observer/Observant Participant invites you to help us go to go ‘Beyond Evaluation’ by creating a map of your connections and significant moments with Utopias Bach.

Digwyddiad - Event 16.4.22. Yn Oed Oesoedd - Hirbarhad 2.

Dewch i ni ymgynnull - Let us gather!

Gwastraff niwclear ydy’r ffurf gelfyddydol berffaith o broblem. Nuclear waste is the ultimate artform of a problem.

Ynys Faelog, Porthaethwy, Menai Bridge 11yb/am

In this blog our ‘Participant Observer’ Frances Williams, reflects on the Utopias Bach March Collaboratory meeting helping us go ‘Beyond Evaluation: The Elephant’s Ears and Tail’. She asks can we evaluate Utopias Bach through articulating our collective sense of value(s)?…

Diweddariad ar ein gweithgareddau a chyfleon! ! Updates on our latest activities and opportunities!

Llun: Yr Awen o sach Modryb Venodotia - The ‘Awen’ from the sack of Aunty Venodotia. Arbrawf newydd gan - a new experiment by - Sara Louise Wheeler

“Precarity is the condition of our time - the condition of being vulnerable to others. We can’t rely on the status quo; everything is in flux, including our ability to survive. There might not be a collective happy ending. The only reason this sounds odd is that most of us were raised on dreams of modernisation and progress
As progress tales lose traction, it becomes possible to look differently”

Anna Tsing, The Mushroom at the End of the World

In this blog, Lindsey Colbourne brings us some “looking differently” by children that Utopias Bach have been working with in Gwalmai, Ynys Mon, and how their vision of the future can free adults to think and act differently

This residency is a call to peace to members of Utopias Bach by Gaia Redgrave, a chance to play, an opportunity to give voice to that which is often unheard. In conjunction with Utopias Bach, Gaia Redgrave & Cathedral of the Trees are inviting expressions of interest for 2 micro residencies. Each artist will receive a talking stick made by Gaia in collaboration with the land & the sea. Your stick will have emerged from either and be waiting to communicate its message through your interaction with it. Deadline for expressions of interest: 20 March 2022

Diweddariadau ar ein gweithgareddau a'n cyfleoedd diweddaraf! Updates on our latest activities and opportunities!

Seran Dolma & Lisa Hudson

Fe arhosais amdani hi am amser hir.  Roeddwn i’n gwybod ers oeddwn yn egin bach newydd o’r hedyn y deuai hi rhyw ddydd.  Mae gan pob coeden ei dyfyn;  Bod arall y mae nhw’n gyfarwydd â hwy, rhywun i rannu eu doethineb, eu dysg, eu dail, eu pren, weithiau, os mai dyna’r ffawd sy’n eu cysylltu…. Darllen mwy

I waited for her for a long time. I knew since I was a tiny seedling that one day she would come. Every tree has a familiar; a being that they know, someone to share their wisdom, their learning, their leaves, their wood, sometimes, if that is the fate that binds them…

Y Llais Bach: A Little Howl from Penrhyndeudraeth to the world….

Mae un gair bach yn gallu cael effaith mawr. Effaith ar deimladau ac emosiwn. Effaith ar weithredoedd. Effaith ar unigolyn. Effaith byd-eang. Yn yr un modd, mae un sŵn yn gallu cael effaith mawr. Mae adar wrth gwrs yn defnyddio eu cân i ddenu cymar. Mae bleiddiaid yn udo i yrru negeseuon at fleiddiaid eraill sydd yn bell i ffwrdd. Ac mae sawl creadur gyda llais yn ei ddefnyddio fel ymateb i boen.

One little word can have a big impact. An impact on feelings and emotions. An impact on actions. An impact on the individual. An international impact. In the same way, sounds can have a great impact. Birds sing to attract a mate. Wolves howl to send messages to other wolves that are faraway. Many a creature uses their voice as a response to pain.

Diweddariad ar ein gweithgareddau a chyfleon!

Updates on our latest activities and opportunities!

Blog by Julie Upmeyer

The Utopias Bach Collaboratory Postcard Exchange: thought become image and disperses with time

Blog by Lisa Hudson, Head of Reflective Practice

How do you create a toolkit for Utopias Bach, while acknowledging the reality that there is no single tool, no quick fix, one-size- fits-all process formula for Utopias Bach?

Utopias Bach partner, Julie Upmeyer, was tasked with this question and she has proposed a conceptual toolkit, housed in a physical space of the greenhouse at Plas Bodfa:   

Mae geiriau BACH yn gallu dweud a gwneud pethau MAWR!

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!…
//
LITTLE words can have a BIG impact!

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!…

Diweddariad ar ein gweithgareddau a chyfleon!

Updates on our latest activities and opportunities!

Un dydd Sadwrn di-nod yn mis Tachwedd, meddiannwyd Ynys Faelog, Porthaethwy gan griw o artistiaid o dan faner ‘Neue Walisische Kunst’. Mae amcangyfrif y niferoedd o drefedigaethwyr yn amrywio o saith i dros gant, ond mae llygaid dystion yn cytuno bod yr artistiaid wedi bod yn cario baner, uchelseinydd a chadair swyddfa, a bod rhai ohonynt o dan deg oed….

One unpromising Saturday in November, Ynys Faelog, Menai Bridge was occupied by a group of artists under the banner of 'Neue Walisische Kunst'. Estimates of numbers range from seven to over a hundred, but eyewitnesses agree that the artists were carrying a flag, a loudspeaker and an office chair, and that some were under ten years old…

by Julie Upmeyer

I was startled by the sound of chickens last week, which is strange considering I live directly adjacent to a huge flock of them. Their banter is a near constant backdrop to many of our activities here. Normally I don’t hear them at all. My brain automatically edits that channel out, leaving my mind open to focus on other sounds. The reason that I jumped, I realised shortly afterwards, was not the sound itself but the direction from which the sound came. Inexplicably, the sound had echoed in such a way that it seemed to be coming from the front of our house instead of the back – for a fleeting moment, my brain perceived there to be chickens in our area and not that of our neighbours. My mind and body sprung to action in response. No chickens.



I don’t hear the clock in our house unless I choose to listen.

I don’t hear the refrigerator gently humming.

There are other, more urgent sounds.

Yet they mingle together.

Where do they go?

“…above all, let’s seek out accomplices… for the sake of life”
- SupGaleano

Blog gan Lindsey Colbourne

On Saturday morning (23.10.21), I had the huge privilege to join an extraordinary group of people convened in solidarity at Llety Arall in Caernarfon. It was one of the most inspiring gatherings I have ever been to, thanks to The Listening and Speaking Zapatista Delegation from indigenous communities in Chiapas, south Mexico and about 15 people from North Wales who stand in solidarity with them, with their Welsh-language led organising, thinking, writing and actions in communities. And it brought together pretty much everything that I feel Utopias Bach is trying to explore, and I’d like to at least attempt to share some of it with you.

Blog by Frances Williams, Participant Observer

How do you recount or reflect on an art project, conducted over zoom, without just pressing the record button? In this blog - the first of three others planned across this year and next - I will attempt this tricky, potentially pointless task. Previously, working as a curator for a London University, I tried to document the reflections of nurses and doctors on the topic of utopia by way of a booklet and exhibition made in 2015. ‘How do imperfect people embody utopian ideals?’ we had asked, responding to this large question by creating a Secret Society for Imperfect Nurses.