Newyddion Arbrofion/Experiments News

The latest sprouting of new experiments (in the ‘real world’ people might call them projects)….

Recently reported: Gwalchmai - see what happened when we tried working with young people to create a vision for the future for the whole village, and then invited adults in to respond here

Newly started: Samina Ali has started Aurora Gatherings (Y Fron): a heart sharing space where we listen from our hearts as well as speak from our hearts. Meeting the first Sunday each month. And Merched y Tir began in November, as an open-ended exploration of the relationship between women and plants/land. Particularly welsh speaking women and women of colour, as a potential little node of transformation for environmental and social justice.

Coming soon - seed funding has been recently been awarded to Utopias Bach projects in Capel Curig, Malawi and Y Llais Bach.

If you have an idea for a new ‘experiment’, let us know! We may be able to support you with seed funding to develop the idea. See here for more details

Collaboratory

Our Collaboratory is open to all interested in Utopias Bach (you don’t have to be ‘actively doing something’!). We come together to generate ideas, support experiments and personal and professional development by sharing skills and knowledge in co-created art practice, working with communities and working small scale with radical imagination.

Over the last few months, we’ve had Collaboratory meetings over zoom and in the real world, and are usually attended by between about 6 and 20 people.

We take it in turns to host our meetings - there’s a budget to cover your time (and expenses such as venues) if you fancy hosting one - either to explore a particular place, or a topic/idea, or to try out a different way of running a meeting. See more here. There is also a ‘documentation/response’ budget, to support your time if you would like to work with the results of a collaboratory (or any other aspect of Utopias Bach).

With many thanks to Kar Rowson (our Head of Noticing), Sarah Pogoda and Samina Ali for hosting recent Collaboratories. Sarah is hosting a follow up event to her Ynys Faelog collaboratory on 11th September in Bangor.

Our next collaboratory - on 15th September 11-12.30 on Zoom and on 18th September 11 - 1 at Bangor University is hosted by Lisa Hudson, our Head of Reflective Practice.

Sarah Pogoda is inviting contributions to an online conference “Small Scale Solutions: Re-inventing the live event (21-22 February 2022)“, deadline 18th December. See here for details

Pethau Bychain: Utopias Bach in the headlines!

With many thanks to Frances Williams, our Participant Observer/Observant Participant for the introduction to Planet - The Welsh Internationalist: We are featured on the front cover! This is Lindsey Colbourne’s ‘Wild Garden of the Unwanted Monument’, created for the Utopias Bach Penrhyndeudraeth group. They included the image on the cover because it speaks quite directly to much of the content inside the magazine :)

We were also delighted that Marc Rees included Utopias Bach and our ffilm of Trawsffurfiad as part of his #pethaubychain post-COP26 curation of creative responses for Wales Arts International. You can see what he said about us here.

He also included Crone Cast - Hagira, which is part of our potential new ‘experiment’ working with older women…

Hwyl am y tro! Bye for now!