In this blog Sarah Holyfield reflects on how she’s been thinking about things of late – and how coming to gatherings of Utopias Bach has been for her.

Mis Gorffenaf is the end of summer, and it is also the end of Utopias Bach’s year of Arts Council Wales funding. To reflect on and celebrate what this means, we held a weekend of events in June, and the good news (we think) is that we decided that Utopias Bach isn’t stopping! At the end of July we will be returning to our ‘unfunded’ selves, as we were for the first six months of Utopias Bach. And we have started to think of ourselves (thanks to Lisa Hudson for the idea) as a collective. We don’t yet know what that means, but there are things already afoot…

Llinos Griffin a Steffan Harri

Yn Hydref 2021, mi roddon ni alwad allan yn archwilio’r syniad o iwtopias. Pa frawddegau sy’n dod i’r meddwl wrth feddwl am iwtopias? Beth ydi’ch syniadau iwtopaidd chi? Oes ‘na synau sy’n iwtopaidd i chi? Allwch chi eu recordio nhw…
Mae’r hyn dan ni wedi ei dderbyn gan bobl o bob cwr wedi bod yn ddychmygus, yn her i’n meddyliau, yn bwerus dros ben. I ni, mae’r blethiad yma o leisiau dynol, offerynnau a synau byd natur yn iwtopia ynddo’i hun…

In Autumn 2021, we made a call out to explore the idea of utopias.Which phrases spring to mind when you think of utopia? What are your utopic ideas? Are there sounds that are utopic to you? Can you record them…
The recordings that we have received from people from all over have been imaginative, challenging to the mind and extremely powerful…. For us, this weaving of human voices, instruments and natural sounds is most definitely a utopia in itself…

By Wanda Zyborska

I am exploring four questions that have been tickling me, not as someone who knows the answers, but who is asking the questions.

What is socially engaged art? How can it be defined?

How do you tell if it is any good (and does it matter)?

Is there a place for formal, aesthetic criticism of socially engaged art, and of Utopias Bach as an example?

What does socially engaged art look like (and does it matter)?

Dan ni’n dathlu 1.5 blwyddyn o flaguro!

We are celebrating 1.5 years of becoming!

Ymuno â ni - Join us!

Dydd Sadwrn/ Saturday 11.6.22 @ Draig Beats, Treborth

Dydd Sul/Sunday 12.6.22 @ Plas Bodfa, Llangoed

Ym Mehefin, dan ni’n gwahodd pawb sy’n cyfrannu (neu ddim yn cyfrannu eto!) i ddod at ei gilydd i gael profiadau, myfyrio a dathlu pobl elfen o’r planhigyn mefus esblygedig ag yr ydi Utopias Bach. B’asen ni wrth ein boddau petaech chi’n dod yn rhan o’i greu!

In June, we are inviting all involved - whether you have been with us from the beginning or have just come upon us now - to gather, experience, reflect and celebrate all aspects of the evolving Utopias Bach strawberry plant. We’d love you to be part of creating it!

An invitation from Gaia Redgrave: Join the Cathedral of The Trees at the Utopias Bach May Collaboratories

The Blueprint of Peace Explored Through Ma / online (Zoom): Wednesday 11th May 11am - 12.30pm

Peaceful play / outdoor event : Saturday 14th May - at a time and place to suit you

If you’d like to attend one, the other or both, you need to book your (free) place….

Mapio Ennydau – sut dan ni’n cysylltu trwy Utopias Bach?

Mae Frances Williams, ein Arsylwr Cyfranogol/Cyfranwr Arsylwgar yn eich gwahodd chi i’n helpu ni fynd ‘Tu Hwnt i Werthuso’ trwy greu map o’ch cysylltiadau ac ennydau arwyddocaol ac mewnwelediadau gydag Utopias Bach.

Mapping Moments - how do we connect through Utopias Bach?
Frances Williams, our Participant Observer/Observant Participant invites you to help us go to go ‘Beyond Evaluation’ by creating a map of your connections and significant moments with Utopias Bach.

Digwyddiad - Event 16.4.22. Yn Oed Oesoedd - Hirbarhad 2.

Dewch i ni ymgynnull - Let us gather!

Gwastraff niwclear ydy’r ffurf gelfyddydol berffaith o broblem. Nuclear waste is the ultimate artform of a problem.

Ynys Faelog, Porthaethwy, Menai Bridge 11yb/am

In this blog our ‘Participant Observer’ Frances Williams, reflects on the Utopias Bach March Collaboratory meeting helping us go ‘Beyond Evaluation: The Elephant’s Ears and Tail’. She asks can we evaluate Utopias Bach through articulating our collective sense of value(s)?…

Diweddariad ar ein gweithgareddau a chyfleon! ! Updates on our latest activities and opportunities!

Llun: Yr Awen o sach Modryb Venodotia - The ‘Awen’ from the sack of Aunty Venodotia. Arbrawf newydd gan - a new experiment by - Sara Louise Wheeler

“Precarity is the condition of our time - the condition of being vulnerable to others. We can’t rely on the status quo; everything is in flux, including our ability to survive. There might not be a collective happy ending. The only reason this sounds odd is that most of us were raised on dreams of modernisation and progress
As progress tales lose traction, it becomes possible to look differently”

Anna Tsing, The Mushroom at the End of the World

In this blog, Lindsey Colbourne brings us some “looking differently” by children that Utopias Bach have been working with in Gwalmai, Ynys Mon, and how their vision of the future can free adults to think and act differently

This residency is a call to peace to members of Utopias Bach by Gaia Redgrave, a chance to play, an opportunity to give voice to that which is often unheard. In conjunction with Utopias Bach, Gaia Redgrave & Cathedral of the Trees are inviting expressions of interest for 2 micro residencies. Each artist will receive a talking stick made by Gaia in collaboration with the land & the sea. Your stick will have emerged from either and be waiting to communicate its message through your interaction with it. Deadline for expressions of interest: 20 March 2022

Diweddariadau ar ein gweithgareddau a'n cyfleoedd diweddaraf! Updates on our latest activities and opportunities!

Seran Dolma & Lisa Hudson

Fe arhosais amdani hi am amser hir.  Roeddwn i’n gwybod ers oeddwn yn egin bach newydd o’r hedyn y deuai hi rhyw ddydd.  Mae gan pob coeden ei dyfyn;  Bod arall y mae nhw’n gyfarwydd â hwy, rhywun i rannu eu doethineb, eu dysg, eu dail, eu pren, weithiau, os mai dyna’r ffawd sy’n eu cysylltu…. Darllen mwy

I waited for her for a long time. I knew since I was a tiny seedling that one day she would come. Every tree has a familiar; a being that they know, someone to share their wisdom, their learning, their leaves, their wood, sometimes, if that is the fate that binds them…

Y Llais Bach: A Little Howl from Penrhyndeudraeth to the world….

Mae un gair bach yn gallu cael effaith mawr. Effaith ar deimladau ac emosiwn. Effaith ar weithredoedd. Effaith ar unigolyn. Effaith byd-eang. Yn yr un modd, mae un sŵn yn gallu cael effaith mawr. Mae adar wrth gwrs yn defnyddio eu cân i ddenu cymar. Mae bleiddiaid yn udo i yrru negeseuon at fleiddiaid eraill sydd yn bell i ffwrdd. Ac mae sawl creadur gyda llais yn ei ddefnyddio fel ymateb i boen.

One little word can have a big impact. An impact on feelings and emotions. An impact on actions. An impact on the individual. An international impact. In the same way, sounds can have a great impact. Birds sing to attract a mate. Wolves howl to send messages to other wolves that are faraway. Many a creature uses their voice as a response to pain.

Diweddariad ar ein gweithgareddau a chyfleon!

Updates on our latest activities and opportunities!

Blog by Julie Upmeyer

The Utopias Bach Collaboratory Postcard Exchange: thought become image and disperses with time

Blog by Lisa Hudson, Head of Reflective Practice

How do you create a toolkit for Utopias Bach, while acknowledging the reality that there is no single tool, no quick fix, one-size- fits-all process formula for Utopias Bach?

Utopias Bach partner, Julie Upmeyer, was tasked with this question and she has proposed a conceptual toolkit, housed in a physical space of the greenhouse at Plas Bodfa:   

Mae geiriau BACH yn gallu dweud a gwneud pethau MAWR!

Dros yr wythnosau nesaf, byddwn yn mynd ati i gasglu recordiadau o eiriau, brawddegau, synau BACH ond pwysig sy'n rhoi cip o be' ydi swn iwtopaidd a geirfa eith a ni i ddyfodol gwell...mewn unrhyw iaith liciwch chi!…
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LITTLE words can have a BIG impact!

During the next few weeks, we'll be collecting recordings of utopic words, sentences and sounds that might give us an idea of what in fact is a utopic sound as well as collecting vocab that might play a crucial role in taking us to a better future...in any language you want!…