It’s the week of the National Eisteddfod which is back here in Cardiff for the first time in 30 years. Lots of buzz on the Maes. I met Gwion Llwyd of Sbarc! yesterday while watching Mr Huw play live. Sbarc! is a successful Digital Storytelling project based in Caernarfon, run by Rhian Cadwaladr. Gwion said they’re experimenting with some interesting new story forms and he’s also part of Rhyfeddod.com – a performing art group which is planning an autumn show where projected couplets written by different poets are triggered depending on where on a stage a person stands. They’re also working on a newly-funded slate-mining heritage project. Gwion’s fascinated by this enigma: so many people died in the Dorothea north Wales slate quarry in Llanberis when it was active in the C19-early20; after it closed, it was flooded to make a deep lake in which people today go diving; many of these divers die today in that flooded quarry…
Tomorrow, I’m attending the Wales Media Literacy Network event at the S4C stall. Nia M Davies of BBC Cymru’s Mosgito is speaking about the work that TV programme has done in giving access to the airwaves with live webcam linkups. Mosgito has been working alongside BBC Ffeil with Eisteddfod-goers to make films with young people this week.
On a personal note, I’ve been working with the BBC website team this year. Nice to see so much publicity for our Eisteddfod promo, all because it starred Ioan Gruffudd, Matthew Rhys and Gethin Jones…