GWYRDH GLAS | LIWYOW A GERNOW
Gwyrdh Glas | Liwyow a Gernow (Green Green | Colours of Cornwall), 2023
Joint commission for Flamm & Platforma 7
In partnership with Creative Kernow, ArtNight Dundee & Counterpoints Arts
Gwyrdh Glas | Liwyow a Gernow is a multimedia installation comprising the film Gwyrdh Glas alongside a collection of cardboard 'rocks' created during public workshops. The work is part of the broader MESKLA | Brewyon Drudh project.
The film Gwyrdh Glas looks to the granite forms scattered across Kernow—such as Carn Brea*, Trencrom, and Rough Tor—and the connection to land shared by many throughout the MESKLA project. Exploring contemporary Kernewek/Cornish cultural identity, the work invites conversation around the impact of extraction industries, such as tourism and mining, through the collective act of making sculpture.
The accompanying Liwyow a Gernow installation grew from a series of making workshops where participants created 'rock' sculptures from reclaimed materials, painting them in colours that connect to their identities and relationships with the Cornish landscape. Each shade was given a name in Kernewek (Cornish), expanding the lexicon of this ancient language.
*Carn Brea is a rocky hill with granite outcrops shaped by the squeezing hands of giants; I grew up with it always in my vision.
Huge thank you to Kowethas an yeth Kernewek who loaned dictionaries to the project, and to Cornwall Council's Cornish Language Service who supported the project with Kernewek translation.
For more information and documentation of the Flamm festival, please head to the Flamm website.
Clip from Gwyrdh Glas, 2023