A community takes flight after Covid
Cwmbwrla, in Swansea, is a densely and diversely populated neighbourhood where 8,000 people share half a square mile. Cwmbwrla Community Events (CCE) was set up in 2018 to create a mix of inclusive social opportunities in the neighbourhood. When the first lockdown was imposed, CCE rapidly became a voluntary coalition acting as a focal point for creative DIY activism and mutual aid to respond to people’s needs and to channel ideas, volunteers and resources. The results of this mutuality were huge, varying from providing bespoke individual support to creating a Food Resource Centre, a Christmas Toy Bank, an edible community garden, and a book ‘Circling the Square’ about the lived experience of the pandemic.
As the pandemic shifted and needs changed, CCE began to consider its role in the neighbourhood and how to plan resiliently for an uncertain future. At this point, ‘Cawr o Farcud’ was developed, following a collaboration in the Summer of 2020 when sustainable kite-making kits were distributed to local households.
Cawr o Farcud was respectfully inspired by Guatemala’s ‘Barriletes Gigantes’ where giant kites are metaphors for life, used to explore past and present, suffering and hope, social, environmental and political injustices. We decided to make a Welsh ‘Gigantic Kite’ – ‘Cawr o Farcud’ to explore Cwmbwrla community’s extraordinary responses to Covid (and the systemic problems it has exposed). The process created spaces and opportunities to address these huge considerations and provoke individual and shared reflection of what to hold onto and what to let go of in a visible collaborative public artwork.
Mae Cwmbwrla, yn Abertawe, yn gymdogaeth amrywiol, drwchus ei phoblogaeth, lle mae 8,000 o bobl yn rhannu hanner milltir sgwâr. Cychwynnodd cynllun Digwyddiadau Cymunedol Cwmbwrla (CCE) yn 2018 i greu amrywiaeth o gyfleoedd cymdeithasol, cynhwysol yn y gymdogaeth. Pan ddechreuodd y cyfnod clo cyntaf, daeth CCE dros nos yn gynghrair wirfoddol a roddai ganolbwynt i ymgyrchu creadigol ac yn fodd o roi cymorth cydfuddiannol wrth ymateb i anghenion pobl. Roedd hefyd yn fodd o sianelu syniadau, gwirfoddolwyr ac adnoddau. Deilliodd canlyniadau anferth o’r gwaith cydfuddiannol hwn, yn amrywio o roi cefnogaeth unigryw i unigolion i greu Canolfan Adnoddau Bwyd, Banc Teganau i’r Nadolig, gardd gymunedol a dyfai fwyd, a llyfr ‘Circling the Square’ am brofiad bywydau pobl yn ystod y pandemig.
Wrth i’r pandemig newid ac felly hefyd anghenion pobl, dechreuodd CCE ystyried ei rôl yn y gymdogaeth a sut i gynllunio’n gadarn at ddyfodol ansicr. Dyma pryd y datblygwyd y cynllun ‘Cawr o Farcud’, yn dilyn cydweithio yn haf 2020 pan ddosbarthwyd pecynnau creu barcudiaid i gartrefi lleol.
Roedd cynllun Cawr o Farcud wedi’i ysbrydoli gan y ‘Barriletes Gigantes’ yn Guatemala, lle mae barcudiaid anferth yn cael eu defnyddio fel trosiadau o fywyd. Maen nhw’n cyfleu’r gorffennol a’r presennol, dioddefaint a gobaith, a phryderon cymdeithasol, amgylcheddol a gwleidyddol.
Penderfynwyd creu ‘Cawr o Farcud’ Cymreig er mwyn edrych ar ymatebion rhyfeddol cymuned
Cwmbwrla i Covid (a’r problemau systemig sydd wedi dod i’r amlwg yn sgil y pandemig). Yn sgil y broses, aethpwyd ati i greu gofodau a chyfleoedd i fynd i’r afael â’r ystyriaethau anferthol hyn, gan annog pobl i fyfyrio fel unigolion ac ar y cyd ynghylch y pethau y mae angen dal gafael a gollwng gafael arnyn nhw, a hynny mewn gwaith celf cyhoeddus, torfol.