After
spending extended periods of time in The Gambia (in West Africa) the
film Anthem was conceived following my desire to make a piece of video
that included the residents of the village where I was living. The work
is in part homage to the village of Tintinto and all the people featured
in the video are people I got to know over 4 years.
To make the
film I dictated the lines from the Welsh national anthem, one at a time
and then asked the villagers to repeat back to me what they thought I
had said. I wasn't too fussy in them being perfect in their delivery –
as an 80% fluent Welsh speaker myself I couldn't be too harsh!
The
work for me addresses several issues. Firstly it is a reflection of the
homesickness I felt, being the only 'foreigner' in the village, and
having no way to communicate my culture to the local people.
The
video was filmed on a cheap camera to allude to the notion of travel and
the holiday video. In some ways it is trying to represent the gap in
understanding of culture that falls between the tourist and the local. I
also wanted to film the African people speaking Welsh as I thought that
those who watch it who do not know Welsh may not realise that it is
Welsh and may presume they are speaking a native African language.
This
aspect of the idea comes from the real communication barrier which was
present in my relationships with the people of the village. The film was
a bit of an ice breaker for me, and the shared experience of me trying
to communicate a language that meant nothing to them actually helped us
to bond!
The Way To Do It
A series of 5 short films exploring the darker side of the personality
of the character Mr Punch and his position within British folk customs. The film was shown as part of the Installation The Way to do It, first shown at Pidgin Gallery as part of Hackney WickED festival 2011.
Anthem 2011
The Way To Do It
Traed Poeth
