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On the National Eisteddfod field this year, the artist David Hastie has been busy creating an artwork commissioned by Cywaith Cymru. The fruit of his labour, The Gathering suggests a hybrid, one that is partly a sculpture, partly a building.
There are towers and castles, sheds made of corrugated iron and tents, and all are components of this 'building'. Its construction suggests farm buildings, or hastily put together temporary encampments, but the towers, like the model castles are symbols of an enduring heritage, or at least an outward expression of lasting institutions.
There is an 'inner room' within the complex, that operates perhaps as a symbol of the inner world, the world of the creative impulse and discourse. There are artefacts gathered into this 'caban', a table and chair set out ready for the poet, the architect or the artist to sit and work.
Within this 'caban' there will be occasions when it will be possible to listen and observe conversations between poets and between artists, and between poets and artists. These are not public performances as such, but opportunities to 'overhear' these informal dialogues, a little like listening in on a couple on another table in a pub or restaurant, people you don't know, or better still, celebrities.
Academi is organising The Conversation within The Gathering, which includes a session of 'clebran' between Mei Mac and Twm Morys on Monday, and Myrddin ap Dafydd and Aron Elis of Pep Le Pew discussing Cynghanedd and Hip-Hop on Friday. There will be something happening every day between 11.00 and 1.00. On top of this there will be more informal meetings taking place, and The Gathering will be a place of gathering for all those art wanderers on the Maes...
With the support of the Arts Council
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