Gwerthoedd - Values

Beth ydy - what is - a Utopia Bach?

• arbrawf sy’n archwilio
  /experiments that explore

• syniadau 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.

Sut dan ni’n gweithio - How we work

Dan ni’n chwilio am gwestiynau yn hytrach nag atebion, neu o leiaf byddwn yn osgoi canlyniadau anhyblyg.

We seek questions rather than answers, or at least we will avoid rigid conclusions.

Dan ni’n ystyried ein hunain i fod yn datblygu diwylliant ar ffurf bach fel un o’n nodau tuag at Utopia Bach. Byddwn yn gweithio gyda ymwybyddiaeth, gofal a pharch i’r amgylchedd, ein gilydd a phob bod dynol a mwy-na-dynol, gan dalu sylw i’n proses, dulliau ac ein datblygiad yn yr arbrawf hwn wrth fod yn: Dan ni’n gwneud hyn trwy gael meddwl sy’n dysgu a thrwy:

We consider ourselves to be developing a miniature culture as one of our attempts towards a Utopia Bach.  We will work with awareness, care and respect to the environment, each other and all humans and more-than-humans, paying attention to our process, methods and our own becoming in this experiment by being: We do this by keeping a learning mind and through:

• Amrywioldeb: Yn chwilio am a dathlu amrywioldeb a gwahaniaeth, a gwerthfawrogi beth mae pob un ohonom yn ddod i’r profiad cydweithredol. Yn gobeithio rhoi platform i bobl a materion sydd yn aml yn cael eu hanwybyddu neu ddim yn cael sylw digonol.

  • Diversity:  Seeking and celebrating diversity and difference, and appreciating what we each bring to the collective experience. Aspiring to give a platform to people and issues which may often be ignored or insufficiently recognised.

• Newid: Herio uniongredoau sy’n bodoli a ffyrdd o weithio[1]. Yn cofleidio grym pegynnau, yn creu gofod ble gall newid radical ddigwydd. Yn annog trafodaeth a dadl ar bynciau anodd. Weithiau mae newid bach yr un mor bwysig ag un mawr.

  • Change: Challenging prevailing orthodoxies and ways of working[1]. Embracing the power of polarities, generating a space where radical change can happen. Encourage discussion and debate on difficult issues. Sometimes a tiny change is as important as a big one.

• Lledaenu: Fel planhigyn mefus, yn lledaenu a magu hadau bach ac eginau: adeiladu capasiti trwy rannu sgiliau, syniadau, digwyddiadau a ffynhonellau.

  • Spread: Like a strawberry plant, spreading and nurturing little seeds and offshoots: capacity building through sharing skills, ideas, events and resources.

• Agored ac adfyfyriol: Yn hael gyda gofod ac amser ar gyfer adfyfyrio parhaus a deialog ac yn agored i heriau. Yn hyblyg gydag amser, canlyniadau, dulliau. Byddwn yn arbrofi gyda ffyrdd gwahanol i ddogfennu ein prosesau unigol a chydweithredol a’n cynhyrchiadau.

  • Open and reflective:  Generous with space and time for on-going reflection and dialogue and open to challenge. Flexible on time, outcomes, methods. We will experiment with different ways to document our individual and collective processes and our production

• Cyd-greu: Mae pob un sy’n cymeryd rhan yn chwarae rhan allweddol mewn penderfynu beth fydd yn digwydd. Mae hunan-hwyluso, cyfrifoldeb a chymeryd rhan ymwybodol yn ein helpu ni i archwilio ffyrdd newydd o weithio gyda’n gilydd.

  • Co-creation: All those involved play a significant role in determining what happens. Self-facilitation, accountability and conscious participation help us explore new ways of working together.

• Ymateb i anghenion: yn ymwybodol o, yn ymateb i anghenion y rheini sy’n cymeryd rhan, yn annog gonestrwydd, caredigrwydd, empathi a dealltwriaeth

  • Responsive to needs: aware of, and respond to the needs of those taking part, encouraging honesty, kindness, empathy and understanding.  

• Safon artistig: Agwedd gwestiynol at safon, fel rhywbeth i anelu tuag ato. Datblygu diwylliant o sylwi, yn enwedig cwestiynu a sylwi ble mai’r celf ydi cymeryd rhan neu ddatblygu. Mae’r byd yn gelf!

  • Artistic quality: A questioning approach to quality, as something to strive towards. Developing a culture of noticing, especially questioning and noticing where the art is taking place or becoming. The whole thing is art!

[1] Os byddai’n rhaid i’n amcanion ni fod yn GLYFAR, daw hynny o fewn arbrofion: yn Greadigol, yn Ledrith, yn Ysbrydoledig, yn Fach, yn Arbrofol, yn Radical

[1] If our objectives had to be SMART, they’d be seeking experiments that are: Small, Magical, Attentive, Radical and Terrestrial.

Cwestiynau - Questions
Be’ dan ni isio’i ddarganfod?

What do we want to find out?

Noder: Gofyn cwestiynau’n hytrach na darganfod atebion!

Note: Asking questions rather than coming up with answers!

“And even asking questions isn’t necessarily the beginning of the process – articulating what it is you want to find out can be quite a difficult thing to do, and often I find I go off on an exploration and its only half way through the question reveals itself as part of the process. Why did I do this?” Seran Dolma

Gweithio gyda’r syniad o Utopias Bach

Working with the idea of Utopias Bach

• Be’ sy’n digwydd pan dach chi’n dechrau teimlo Utopias Bach, fel hadau bach o syniadau? Ydi hyn yn gwneud gwahaniaeth cyn i chi hyd yn oed wneud unrhyw beth? Ydi pobl yn ei deimlo, ydi o’n lledaenu’n bellach, ai dim ond yn eich meddwl mae’n bodoli neu ydi o’n effeithio pawb arall? What happens when you start to feel into Utopias Bach in your mind, as seeds of ideas? Does that make a difference to your world before you do even do anything? Do people feel it, does it spread further, is it just a thought or does it trigger something that affects everyone else?

• Sut dach chi/eich syniadau yn cael ei effeithio trwy weithio ar y syniad o Utopia? O raddfa bach? O’r dyfodol? O’r arbrofol? O ddychymyg radical? O chwyldro? O weithio ar raddfa gallwch ei ddylanwadu? How are you/your ideas affected by working with the concept of Utopia? Of miniature/small scale? Of the future? Of experimental? Of radical imaginings? Of revolution? Of working at a scale you can influence?

• Pam ei fod mor anodd i ddychmygu byd gwell? Sut i osgoi’r nostalgic, sut i symud ymhellach na’r ‘bach a del’, sut i ryddhau dychymyg radiacl? Why is it so hard to imagine a better world? How to avoid the nostalgic, how to move beyond the cute, how to free radical imagination?

• Plannu hadau, o ble mae’r ysbrydoliaeth yn tarddu? Be’ sy’n helpu i ryddhau eich dychymyg radical ar gyfer y dyfodol? Planting seeds, where does that inspiration come from? What helps to free your radical imagination about the future?

• Be’ ydi’ch gweledigaeth chi ar gyfer y dyfodol? Pa un peth bach all newid hynny? What’s your vision of the future? What little thing might make a change?

• Sut allwn ni wyrdroi graddfa a ffiniau amserol a gofodol o fewn ein Utopias Bach? How can we subvert scales and temporal and spatial frontiers within our Utopias Bach?

• Sut allwn ni greu plethfa gyda bodau dynol a mwy-na-dynol yn agos ac yn bell sy’n arbrofi gyda – ac yn anelu tuag at – ffyrdd newydd o fod? How can we create entanglements with human and more-than-human others near and far that experiment with – and point to - new ways of being?

• Sut allwn ni weithio gyda, a derbyn, yr elfen distopaidd – y darn hwnnw o hylltra sydd ei angen er mwyn gwneud rhywbeth yn hardd? Ydan ni angen ei gadw o fewn y broses, yn hytrach na chyrraedd rhywle penodol? How can we work with, and accept, the dystopic element – that bit of ugliness that’s needed to make something beautiful? Do we need to keep it always in process, rather than something to arrive at?

• Ar gyfer pwy/beth mae’ch utopia chi (a phwy sydd wedi ei eithrio)? Am faint y gall barhau? Beth sy’n llechu o dan eich utopia chi? Beth mae’n rhaid i chi ddinistrio cyn creu eich Utopia? Be’ fyddwch chi’n ei wneud gyda’ch emosiynau anodd o fewn Utopia? Be’ fyddwch yn wneud gyda’r bobl dach chi’n anghytuno gyda nhw? Beth am fodau ddim-yn-ddynol? Ble mae natur? Oes yna grefydd? Sut dach chi’n delio gyda phethau… Who/what is your utopia for (and who/what is excluded)? For how long can it last? What’s lurking under your utopia? What do you have to destroy before you create a Utopia? What will you do with your difficult emotions in Utopia? What will you do with people who disagree with you? What about non-human beings? Where is nature? Is there religion? How do you deal with things…

• Ym mha ffyrdd allwch chi ymarfer/arbrofi ar raddfa fach/microcosm a defnyddio hynny i newid y byd (mewn ffordd fach, fach)? Ydi gweithio ar raddfa fach yn gallu arwain at newidiadau mawr? Sut all fod yn ‘ddigon’ i ni deimlo’n iawn yn y cyfnod hwn o newid/bygythiad dirfodol? In what ways can you practice/experiment at small scale/microcosm and use that to change the world (in some tiny way)? Can working on a small scale lead to big changes? Does it need to be a big change? How can it ‘be enough’ for us to feel OK in this time of great change/existential threat?

• Beth ydi goblygiadau iechyd/llesiant o weithio ar raddfa fach, gyda dychymyg radical? Gyda phopeth mor eithafol, sut y gall greu cydbwysedd yn ein bywydau ni’n hunain? What are the health/wellbeing implications of working at small scale, with radical imagination? With everything so extreme, how can it create a balance in our own life?

• Sut dan ni’n dysgu o’r gorffennol wrth greu Utopias Bach (Hanes Disgwylgar) How do we learn from the past in creating Utopias Bach (Anticipatory History)

• Sut gallwn ei gadw’n berthnasol, yn codi ymwybyddiaeth o rymoedd pegynol i greu gofod ble gall newidiadau radical ddigwydd? How can we keep it relational, raising awareness of the power of polarities to generate a space where radical change can happen? eg

o   Graddfa fach vs newid mawr / Small scale vs big change

o   Microcosm vs macrocosm

o   Dychmygwyd vs. gwir / Imagined vs real

o   Dychymyg vs gwneud pethau / Imagination vs making/doing things

o   Rhyddid creadigol vs disgyblaeth i wneud pethau ddigwydd / Creative freedom vs discipline to make things happen

o   Personol vs. cynhwysol / Personal vs inclusive

o   Sylwgar vs gweithredol / Observation vs action

o   Utopia – (Heterotopia) - Dystopia

o   Rheoli vs amlygu / Control vs emergence

Adeiladu cymuned ddysgu (y Gymuned)…Utopia Bach ynddo’i hun?
Building a learning community (the Collabatory) …  a Utopia Bach in itself?

• How can we create a culture of self-facilitation, accountability and conscious participation where all those involved focus on their self- awareness within meetings, our contribution, how it fits in with the group on the day, is the share of voice fair? Do people feel comfortable to contribute? Is there adequate space and time for reflective thinkers? Is the flow of conversation honoured or is there many interjections?

• How can we celebrate difference, appreciating what we each bring to the collective experience? Not shying away from strengths and skills, being a lever for the interconnected workings of each of us in this project and the reciprocal interdependent nature of organic development in the wild [strawberry plant], while remaining open to the wisdom of the moment?

• How does just being here, asking questions, make a difference?

• Where’s the art in this collaboration, the process as art in itself? With process the most important thing - building networks and community and resilience

• How is being together supporting something bigger to emerge? Eg how do ideas cross-fertilise? How does it help us feel more confident, resilient, more able to do things?

• How does art change the world? You have to believe in these encounters having some kind of meaning. If we are all going to be changed by this, and we will all be in the world, acting in the world, how will we make a difference as a result of this?

• That’s why the inclusivity is so important. That’s why the more people we get involved in it will be touched and changed by it. How can we build that inclusivity? How do people find out about us?

• Where does bringing joy in miniatures, where is it coming from, not just in Utopias Bach but outside? How can we engage with this?

• How can we support each other and learn from the process of collaboration, and working with communities? How can we find new ways to show, exhibit etc in a time of a pandemic (and beyond)?

Arbrofion cymuned wedi eu cyd-greu
Co-created community experiments

• What are the different forms of co-creation? What is the scale between co-creation (deciding things together) and participation (where an artist invites people to take part in activities)? What difference does it make to run projects on different parts of that scale?

• How can creatives and ‘community–connectors’ work together with communities in ways to co-create with voices and ideas not heard in the mainstream?

• What processes support a community to engage with radical imagination? How are they affected by the experience? How do those outside those immediately involved engage with the results?

• In what ways can working in community help those taking part move from their individual ideation to collective ideation? What are the processes of negotiation? What is gained/lost in the process?

• (How) can radical imaginings move onto (small scale) real world interventions, while maintaining the idea of keeping things in process, in ‘experimentation’?

• (How) can we leave a lasting legacy of increased imagination, creativity, cooperation in the communities with which we are working?

• What support do artists new to socially engaged art, and to collaboration, need to develop their practice, and to work well within communities? What do those active in communities (community connectors) need to work effectively in collaboration with artists?

• What are the smallest gestures, created with radical imagination, that will help individuals and communities - especially those who don’t ‘usually’ engage with the arts/who don’t have a voice -  explore and reconfigure our relationship with the future?

Dogfennu / ‘cynnyrch’
Documentation/’products’

• Sut allwn ni gofnodi’r dysgu heb iddo fod yn ormodol? How can we capture the learning without getting overwhelmed?

• Beth ydan ni eisiau ei ddogfennu, i bwy, sut? What do we want to document, for whom, how?

• Sut byddwn ni’n rhannu beth sydd gennym ni, i gefnogi eraill i ymgysylltu ag Utopias Bach? How might we share what we have, to support others to engage with Utopias Bach?