Exhibition
Inspired by networks that occur in nature which enable communities of plants and wildlife to thrive, share nourishment and send cross species alerts, cwrdd â mi wrth yr afon aims to intersect, overlay and highlight connecting threads between art, the land and people living in North Wales.
Gradually taking shape as a regular club represented by local communities of Conwy, native plants and artist Frances Disley, cwrdd â mi wrth yr afon has been active since spring 2022 as a nomadic collaboration between human and non-human networks connected via the afon Conwy and its tributaries.
During the programme, the club took part in rural encounters in Capel Curig, Coed Hafod and RSPB Cowny, and workshops at Menter Iaith, Llanrwst and Conwy Culture Centre, where the club slowed down and exchanged knowledge and histories with and around the plants living in the three sites.
This summer, cwrdd â mi wrth yr afon will inhabit the Project Space and invites the wider public into the project through a presentation of film, sculpture, textiles and participatory activities.
Mostyn offers its sincere thanks to all the project collaborators: Iona, Myfanwy, Sheila, Lynzi, Irene, Janey, Mair, Eirlys, Sharon, George, Jim, Delyth and Rhiannon.
See the journey of cwrdd â mi wrth yr afon by following the project instagram: cwrdd_a_mi
Read Utopias Bach residency blog.
Gwlyptir Coetir Rhostir Coetir Gwlyptir / Wetland Woodland Heath Woodland Wetland, 2022
Video, 7 min 36 sec,
Artist: Frances Disley
Camera and editing: George Ellis
Featuring: Afon Conwy, Capel Curig, Coed Hafod, RSPB Conwy
yr hyn sy’n tyfu lle rydym yn crwydro / what grows where we wander, 2022
Video, 9 min 32 sec
Artist: Frances Disley
Camera and editing: George Ellis
Featuring: cwrdd â mi wrth yr afon, Delyth Williams and Jim
Langley – Natures Works, Afon Conwy, Capel Curig, Coed Hafod, RSPB Conwy, Menter Iaith
Artist profiles and statements
Utopias Bach
Utopias Bach is an art project created by those taking part, and open to all. It is a multimedia project tackling the uncertainties of our post-lockdown world, exploring how we can face the overwhelming gravity of our post-COVID situation, including climate change issues and the collapse of our ecosystem.
Nature’s Work
Nature’s Work is directed by Jim Langley, a specialist outdoor, plant and geology educator and provides guided walks, educational training events and skills courses to individuals and groups across the UK and on the European continent.
Frances Disley
Frances Disley is a multidisciplinary artist based in Liverpool with a practice that spans sculpture, participation, performance and installation. Disley is influenced by the therapeutic effect that art, and even individual objects, can have on mood, whether it’s the calming fragrance of a geranium leaf, or the smooth, time-whittled surface of a pebble clasped in your palm.