Help!
I'm delighted (and, to be honest, a bit terrified) to have been selected as one of Culture Action Llandudno (CALL)'s resident artists as part of their Shape My Town initiative which aims to facilitate the culture and experience-led regeneration of Llandudno, embedding the arts and cultural development in the long term progression and evolution of the town.
If you are - or able to be - in Llandudno between now and mid-September, please get in touch! I am looking for people to wander around the town with (plus a few events to come to too). See below for more.....
Between mid-September and mid-October 2017, I'm going to try to make a people’s map of Llandudno by collaboratively exploring day-to-day experiences of Llandudno on foot, by wheelchair, scooter or with prams within Llandudno. I hope to set routes and to travel together “from here to here”, studying along the way the ‘effects of the geographical environment, consciously organised or not, on the emotions and behaviour of individuals’[1] .
I'm interested in your everyday experience of Llandudno, where you go and how you feel and think about it. I'm hoping to be able to find out, using walking, mapping, re-naming and research, what are the layered symbolism, stories and opportunities that draw together the past, present and future (For example, could the naming of Llandudno after St Tudno, the saint who dedicated his life to making reparation for his father, the errant Seithenyn (he who let in the floods that lost us Cantref ofa Gwaelod), suggest Llandudno might have a role in tackling climate change and sea level rise?)
And maybe we'll even find out some hidden forces, assumptions and processes that are shaping our town. Are we still thinking about things from a Victorian mindset? What do the names of places (and routes and paths) affect us? How could we change/use these to support a thriving contemporary cultural experience in Llandudno, fit for the future?
Do you have routes, concerns, experiences, stories, sounds, ideas or places you’d like to put 'on the map'? I'd love to hear from you:
- Come to our opening event, ‘Finding the Centre’ at 2pm, Saturday 23rd September. It all starts here! A kind of treasure hunt with a difference, suitable for all ages. What, who, where, when would you say is the heart of Llandudno? Come along and get your 'centre-orientation' before heading off on your own personal quest alone or in groups to find what is personally for you, the epi-centre of the town. Come back with your findings, bring back photos, sounds, film, rubbings, objects or writing to add to the People's Map: There'll be tea and cake and all centres found will result in prizes!
- Take me on a journey – whether 10 minutes or 2 hours or more. Maybe it’s your route to work or school, a favourite walk with the dog or pushchair, a route that takes in your favourite places or things you’d like to change or re-name. Get in touch with Lindsey and we’ll arrange a time. A calendar of journeys will be published here: https://mapllandudno.org/calendar-of-events/?view=calendar&month=September-2017
- Send in your routes, that I and others can follow. These could be in the form of maps or directions, images, sound, text or film. Perhaps an unfolding story, or clues to piece together, or a route full of re-named places. For details see https://mapllandudno.org/ - /addtothemap/
Other ways to be involved will evolve during the residency. I've made a website for the project here: http://www.mapllandudno.org/ or get in touch on 07850 945511 or by email: Lindsey.colbourne@me.com
PS The wonderful Llawn arts festival is taking place in Llandudno this weekend, 15 - 17 September. The programme is packed full of arts, theatre, performance, film, events, happenings, sound stuff. Maybe see you there?
