John Rea – Atgyfodi at Diffusion 2019

Archives are where we deposit and gather our stories, both on a personal and National level; whether on paper, Edison cylinder, shellac, vinyl, tape, film, hard drive, these are all the textures of memory, of history, culture, of belonging and identity.

Atgyfodi introduces the lost voices and recordings from the sound archives of The National Museum of History: St Fagans in the form of an immersive surround-sound installation with found and specially filmed images. These are interwoven complemented by a contemporary musical composition, returning them, and what they represent, into our collective memory. The songs and stories are ‘collaged’ with original field recordings made in the original locations of the historic buildings of the Museum, also places and people of iconic or symbolic importance such as Tower Colliery’s Tyrone O’Sullivan, and farmer Arthur Morris Roberts who witnessed the drowning of Capel Celyn as a young boy.

Atgyfodi brings to light a rich, partly hidden Welsh musical tradition: songs and stories sung and told by real people. The compositional approach was influenced by the textures and sounds of these lives; the traditional melodies, the poetry and musicality of the spoken word guiding the process.

Filmed and edited by Philip Jenkins