NORTH East Wales’ beautiful and historic landscape is the subject of a new art project.
The Our Picturesque Landscape project is a landscape partnership scheme funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund that centres on the landscapes of the Dee Valley and the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal World Heritage Site, which aims to connect the local community with its rich natural heritage.
The picturesque beauty of the Dee Valley has been a source of inspiration to artists, poets and writers for centuries, and to continue with this tradition, the Our Picturesque Landscape project is hosting four literary themed Artist Residencies this year.
The River Dee at Llangollen.
The following artists who will be working with them on this project include Hywel Griffiths, a poet and geographer in the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences at Aberystwyth University, Jessica and Philip Hatcher-Moore, who are a husband and wife team based in the Dee Valley, James Hudson, who is a visual artist working on semi-fictional projects that combine original photography, text and collage, and Sian Northey, who is a poet, author, translator and workshop leader.
The residencies will explore the connections between people and place, past and present.
Throughout the year the artists will be spending time in the landscapes of the Dee Valley and meeting the people that live and work within it.
Their work - including poetry, writing, spoken word and visual art - will be created in response to these experiences and shared with local residents and visitors to the area through exhibition, performance, in print and digitally.
Andrew White, director of The National Lottery Heritage Fund in Wales, said: “The Dee Valley – with its stunning scenery, rich industrial architecture and history, is not only an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and a World Heritage Site, it is also a national treasure.
“For the last two years, we have supported the ‘Our Picturesque Landscape’ project to connect people with this inspiring landscape and improve access to it.
"This latest stage of the project which has been made possible thanks to National Lottery players, is continuing this important work."
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