I can't believe how quickly the summer is flying past - and not a lot of the projects I meant to catch up on have made the envisaged strides forwards! But I have caught up on a lot of reading and a lot of visiting - friends to hear how their work is going, festivals to see what's new and Welsh events to try to progress my language learning.
 |
| Emergency Blanket by Daniel Trivedy |
A day at the Eisteddfod in Llanrwst last Saturday certainly helped on the Welsh front. Everyone there was so welcoming towards learners and people went out of their way to be helpful. I loved the music (especially the folk groups) and spent far too much in the book tents. But my favourite of the day had to be the art exhibition - there was some amazing work there. The Gold Medal for Fine Art had been won by Daniel Trivedy for his installation "Emergency Blanket". It takes symbols of two worlds and marries them; the survival blankets seen wrapped around so many refugees and migrants rescued from the ravages of the sea and the Welsh carthen (wool blanket), warm and comforting, reinforcing identity and belonging. The installation makes a very powerful impression. My one regret was that my Welsh is still far too basic to understand the poems that had been written to accompany each exhibit and for which there were no translations.
No translation needed on Wednesday, though, at the Wye Valley Seasons event at Pygmy Pinetum near Coleford. Celebrating the area where they, and we, live, the Forest of Dean poets (Elizabeth Parker, Meryl Pugh, Stewart Carswell and David Pownall) read their poems to accompany the composer Justin Nicholls' new jazz symphony "Four Seasons". It was a magical evening, sitting out in stunning gardens in the heart of the Forest, listening to superb musicians and very talented poets interweaving their work with consummate skill. It must be something in the Forest air or the Wye water, but the locality certainly produces some very gifted artists!
 |
| Justin Nicholls conducts |
No comments:
Post a Comment