Cymylau Tystion – Clouds of Witnesses

Cymylau Tystion
Dros naw mis, mae pobl cymuned fach amaethyddol Bro Cegir a’r Fron Goch yn Nyffryn Dyfi wedi bod yn agor eu drysau i groesawu dwy wraig ifanc i’w plith. Mae Naomi Heath, o Lanafan yng Ngheredigion yn artist digidol a sain, ac mae Ciara O’Flynn o Swydd Kerry yng ngorllewin Iwerddon yn gerflunydd ac artist celf weledol. Mae’r ddwy wedi bod yn codi waliau cerrig, yn symud tom, yn bwydo defaid ac ŵyn, yn gyrru tractorau, yn gwrando ac yn dysgu. Maen nhw wedi bod yn gweithio hefyd â phlant ysgol gynradd y fro. A thrwy hyn i gyd mae pobl y gymuned wedi bod yn rhannu te, teisennau, chwedlau, atgofion, syniadau a’u hwyl gyda’u hymwelwyr. Mae’r artistiaid wedi ceisio bod yn ddrychau i’r gymuned ac adlewyrchu bywyd y dyffryn mewn ffordd onest a hardd – a thrwy hynny dod ag ystyr newydd, mwy annwyl a Chymreig, i’r term “community engagement”.

Clouds of Witness
Over nine months, the small farming community of Bro Cegir and Y Fron Goch in the Dyfi valley has opened its doors to welcome two young women. Naomi Heath, of Llanafan in Ceredigion, is a digital and sound artist; Ciara O’Flynn from County Kerry in the west of Ireland is a sculptor and visual artist. Over these months, they have been helping build stone walls, digging manure, feeding lambs and sheep, trying their hand on the tractors, listening and learning. They’ve spent time, too, working with children in the primary school nearby. People in the community have been sharing tea and cakes, stories and memories, ideas and good fun with the visitors. They, in turn, have been becoming mirrors of the community, trying to reflect people’s lives in a beautiful, honest way, and thereby throwing a very different light on the phrase “community engagement”. Meic Llewelyn

Cymylau Tystion — Clouds of Witnesses
Over nine months in Bro Cegir and Y Fron Goch in the Dyfi valley, I worked alongside sculptor Ciara O’Flynn in a co-creative residency with local communities. We immersed ourselves in everyday life collaborating with residents and primary school children to co-create soundscapes, maps, artworks, and playful installations that reflected the lived experience of place.

The project explored the relationship between people, place, memory, and language, connecting traditional land use, local knowledge, and contemporary art practice.

Through participatory methods, we foregrounded smaller-language culture and shared identity as key features, allowing participants to express and celebrate what it means to live, work, and create in a Welsh-speaking community.

Children created abstract maps using charcoal and handprints, inspired by the landscape, while a zoetrope built by a local farmer and animated with their drawings celebrated collaborative skills and everyday craft. Conversations with farmers also inspired a film response in which I became a tractor, blending humour, observation, and care.

Objects, poems in cynghanedd, and birdsong were incorporated into interactive teapot installations, giving participants intimate ways to explore stories, sound, and cultural identity.

The residency culminated in a public showcase attended by over 300 people, including families, community groups, artists, and cultural practitioners. Participants engaged with installations, performances, and interactive artworks documenting their co-created contributions and co curated exhibition.

Through this work, I developed methods of situated facilitation, enabling communities to guide artistic outcomes, amplify local voices, and foster networks of engagement that continue to influence the local cultural landscape.