Llais y Lle / The Voice of Place 2023

Here's a taste of the nine schemes funded by Llais y Lle / The Voice of Place:

Llais y Lle / The Voice of Place Montgomeryshire – Myfanwy Alexander

There is no point in having a million Welsh speakers if they do not use the language. Working with speakers of the language – old and new – Llais y Lle / The Voice of Place Montgomeryshire will develop connections, and creative ideas, to give the Welsh language a central place. Working with different community groups to develop the best ideas for them, this project will develop creative people and give everyone permission to be allowed to declare, "This is my language too".

Catrin Doyle – Pontypridd Creative Community

Llais y Lle / The Voice of Place Pontypridd: we are a community of creatives working locally in Pontypridd on participatory and diverse projects. Through the Llais y Lle / The Voice of Place scheme we will come together to explore through experimental approaches how to develop the use of the Welsh language within our community of creative people and beyond. It will be co-produced by artists Catrin Doyle, Bridie Doyle-Roberts and Becky Davies.

Eddie Ladd – Cwarel / Quarry

The village of Talgarreg in Ceredigion squats between two quarries - Crag-yr-Eryr and Caer Faerdre. The home of the local artist, Meinir Mathias, was built with the yellow stones from Caer Faerdre Quarry. Through conversations, theatre, dance, paint, film and photography Meinir, Eddie Ladd and Lleucu Meinir will explore with its inhabitants the significance of the two quarries to the village. They will provide a number of ways to use and maintain the Welsh language in their project in a number of creative ways.

Rhodri Owen – Ysbyty Ifan

Rhodri will bring together the creative individuals of the community to create distinct artistic interpretations of the mythology and folklore of the Ysbyty Ifan area in a fun and different way. The history is ancient but the creative experiences will be contemporary. Attendees will decide the direction of the project with an opportunity to try out multiple media.

Rhiannon White – We No Longer Talk

'We No Longer Talk' is a collaboration between artists Rhiannon White, who does not speak Welsh, and Ffion Wyn Morris, who does. Looking at the story of language, social class and the expectations of communities in a bilingual country, the artists will compare the experience of two distinct communities: a council estate in Bethesda and one in Cardiff. They will bring the two communities together to discuss what is different and what they have in common when considering language and identity.

Manon Williams – Llanfairfechan and Penmaenmawr

Collaborating with the communities of Llanfairfechan and Penmaenmawr and offering multidisciplinary creative activities with the Welsh language and culture at their core, Manon intends to weave together the landscape, history and legends to create community celebrations.

Iola Ynyr - Mwy

Mwy ('more’) is intended to offer users of the Porthi Dre community hub in Caernarfon a series of creative participatory workshops for adults who identify as female to promote the Welsh language. It will be a way to discover how a safe space can allow women of all ages in Caernarfon to experience 'more' and reveal 'more' of who they are creatively and to live 'more' through the medium of Welsh as healthy citizens, maintaining their well-being.

Gwenllian Spink – Lledrith ein Lleisiau / The Magic of Our Voices

The objective of the project is to embrace and explore the rich layers of ecological storytelling in relation to the Welsh language, history and culture of the Nantlle Valley. Through a series of workshops, Gwenllian will play with the language by reimagining the story of Blodeuwedd (who has strong links to the Valley) focusing on her nonhuman aspects, by imagining the story from the perspective of the legend’s plants, creatures and landmarks. We will celebrate the evolution of language itself, including the influences of other forms of language whether human or not.

Eric Lesdema - Perthyn / Belonging

Perthyn is a collaboration between the artist Eric Lesdema and members of Academi Gymraeg, Cardiff University. Working with both speakers and supporters, the project will challenge hierarchies and will centre on our lived experiences in a culturally democratic way within and across the university. It will be a huge stride towards realizing Academi Gymraeg's vision of a Welsh language culture across all our activities - one which is relevant and upholds the values of connectivity, diversity, sustainability, wellbeing, cultural understanding and our duty to future generations

The six individuals who have received a development grant are:

• Hedydd Ioan
• Jacqueline Ley
• Llinos Griffin
• Angharad Owen
• Rhiannon Mair
• Naomi Keevil