Today Creative Wales and Collective Cymru announces the making of GALWAD for UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK, 2022.
Inspired by global expertise in the climatic, technological and social conditions of the next thirty years, communities across Wales have been exploring the possibilities of Wales in 2052, creating a ‘story-world’ for a major cultural event in September 2022.
The story world of 2052 will form the basis of GALWAD: a new kind of multi-platform, multi-lingual story that will unfold across TV drama, digital platforms and live events for a week in September 2022.
Inspired by the Well Being of Future Generations (Wales) Act, the project has been developed by Collective Cymru, a partnership of organisations and creatives led by National Theatre Wales across science, technology and the arts.
This process of ‘world-building’ (in which fictional, but plausible worlds are imagined for film or gaming) is led by Alex McDowell, production designer of Minority Report, and has been underway online and in locations across Wales including Swansea, Merthyr Tydfil, Blaenau Ffestiniog and Machynlleth over the past month.
The ‘world-builders’ have been brought together by a pan-Wales network of community partners including Citizens Cymru, Disability Arts Cymru, CellB (Blaenau Ffestiniog), Leisure Trust (Merthyr Tydfil), the Ethnic Minorities and Youth Support Team (EYST) and hosted by the Centre for Alternative Technology (Machynlleth), Frân Wen theatre company and Experimental Design Studio (California).
GALWAD will be brought to life by a unique collaboration between Welsh communities and exceptional creative talent in production design, creative technology, live performance, sound design, Radio and TV drama.
One of the participants from Cardiff who travelled to Machynlleth for world-building said:
“Being involved has really made me feel like my opinion matters and that I’m part of something bigger. As young people, we are the future. This is the future we get to create, I feel that now.
Deputy Minister for the Arts and Sport, Dawn Bowden, said:
“We are looking forward to an exciting celebration of creativity, based on co-creating, and involving communities right across Wales.
“The work of GALWAD will champion the Well-being of Future Generations Act, our creative talent and will showcase Wales on an international stage. It will invest in the creative and technology sectors, creating opportunities for under-represented talent and supporting the creative industries as we emerge from the pandemic with investment and job opportunities.
“We have pledged to improve our social, cultural, environmental and economic wellbeing through creative solutions to problems that affect our future. This project is a call – an invitation – to join that conversation.
“We also look forward to welcoming the other four projects which will be working in Wales as part of a number of events next year.
GALWAD is commissioned by Creative Wales as part of UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK, and is one of 10 commissioned projects chosen to celebrate and showcase innovation and creativity. As part of the events in 2022, four of the ten commissioned projects will visit Wales during 2022, these are:
- About Us created by 59 Productions Collective
- Dreamachine created by Collective Act
- StoryTrails, created by StoryFutures Collective
- Green Space Dark Skies created by Walk the Plank Collective
Dates and locations will be announced in due course.
More information on the project and opportunities to get involved with GALWAD will be released across social media and the GALWAD Cymru website.