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Call-out: Ar y Dibyn

Published Tue 8 Jun 2021 - By Literature Wales
Call-out: Ar y Dibyn
Literature Wales and Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru are looking for multi-disciplined artists, as well as participants, to contribute to Ar y Dibyn, an innovative and ambitious project.

The Ar y Dibyn project will be continued in 2021 through the medium of 6 creative workshops for individuals who live with addiction. This will be the fourth series of workshops since the project was established in 2019, as a part of Literature Wales’ Lit for Wellbeing Scheme.

The aim of the workshops is to promote creativity to process our experiences of the world. Each workshop will include short playful tasks to prod our imaginations and release our ideas. There will be no wrong answers, just a whole world full of possibilities.

Our vision is to create a safe space to be able to express ourselves freely, without judgement, and without having to reveal any details of our personal circumstances. We realise that we all have varied experiences of addiction, and the individual’s personal struggles will be respected and kept in a safe environment.

We will start to collect written work and develop it within the sessions, supporting each other to move it forward in our own time. Our hope is to develop work that comes from the heart and is powerful, brave and ambitious, and to find ways of sharing it widely, anonymously or otherwise.

We all have a bank of stories that are not often heard, especially in Welsh. The workshops give us an opportunity to venture together in a spirit of celebrating the possibilities we have, not the obstacles of addiction.

We will laugh, notice things anew, and shed a tear or two, but we will also celebrate that we’re still here and that we see the best in each other.

One of the 2020 participants said:

“Fear held me in a tight grip, and I didn’t mention to a living soul apart from my husband that I was attending the workshops. Fear, shame, nervousness . . . but by the end I was looking forward to the next session. I hadn’t realised that there was an intention to create a film or script or anything – I had no end goal in sight, I just wanted to give myself some time and space to recover, to be in a room with people who were similar to myself, people who understood, and to have the opportunity and the permission, in a way, to be myself, in my own language.”

Artists/Leaders

  • Iola Ynyr specialises in creating theatre work and using the arts as a way of creating theatre work and utilising the arts to maintain the well-being of individuals and communities; she is a recovering alcoholic.
  • Mirain Fflur is an actress, visual artist, theatre and film maker; she supports individuals in addiction.

Specialist Counselling Consultant

  • Wynford Ellis Owen will be present at each session and available to offer help, support, and aftercare as required. At the end of each session there will be a 30-minute slot for informal discussion, but attendance is not compulsory.

 

Call for Participants

  • The first series will be held between Tuesday 6 July and Tuesday 10 August 2021.
  • We can offer 6 places in the face-to-face workshops held at the Living Room, Adferiad Building, Neville Street, Cardiff CF11 6LS, and digitally over Zoom.
  • Please register to declare an interest by emailing Nia on nia.skyrme@theatr.com and we can arrange an informal chat with Iola to discuss any question you may have.
  • If you have any barries that may prevent you from joining us, please get in touch so that we can try to overcome them. We are keen to create a project that is accessible to all, and to offer inclusive ways of taking part. No concern is too small or too big to discuss.

 

Call for Artists

We are looking for multi-disciplined artists to contribute to Ar y Dibyn.

  • Training and professional mentoring will be offered to the artists before starting the work, and support from a professional health worker/counsellor will be available at every workshop for participants and artists.
  • There will be 4 series of workshops, each of 6 weeks’ duration, held in several locations and online.
  • Artists may declare an interest in contributing occasionally or more regularly, in the period between September and December 2021.
  • We are looking for brave and open-minded artists who are willing to work towards creating experimental and provocative art.
  • We are offering a fee of £175 to include a 2-hour workshop, together with preparation work with the lead artist.

Please send your CV by email to nia.skyrme@theatr.com or a short video to 07903 842562, noting why you would like to join the project.

Closing date to declare an interest: 24 June 2021.