Pleased to say that my new short piece on the contemporary role of the Mari Lwyd tradition in Wales, was today published in the Wales Arts Review. I'd been itching to produce a wider access piece on the Mari and intangible cultural heritage for some time, so it's great that this is now out for wider dissemination. This article will serve as a jumping off point for a more in-depth academic publication on the subject, hopefully for later this year.
Article opening: Once a year, the border town of Chepstow plays host to one of the more unusual scenes in the Welsh cultural calendar. Congregations of Border Morris dancers are certainly not unfamiliar to these parts of Wales, where the contested nature of regional identity is played out through what appears to be a far more aggressive, almost hostile variety of the folk dance, but the gathering of a herd of Mari Lwyds is perhaps somewhat more unusual. Yet, the so called ‘ancient’ tradition of the Mari Lwyd has found a unique gathering point in the south east, where the revival of this intangible form of heritage is at its most visible. While the idea of intangible cultural heritage is not formally recognised in the British Isles, there is no shortage of examples to be found in varying states of health. The Mari Lwyd is just one of a variety of such heritage types, defined by the fact that these are living, changing and participatory traditions. In terms of the performing arts, any of those to be displayed on the stage at a local or national Eisteddfod would fall into the criteria of intangible heritage. While the likes of clog dancing, cerdd dant and even the male voice choral tradition might all be considered ageing stereotypes, they nonetheless remain an important element of a particular aesthetic vision of Wales. Sadly though, there are few such heritage types which are not in some form of deterioration. Even male voice choirs, seen as being such a robust, near permanent element of the exported vision of Wales, are in a gradual state of submission, as ageing participants struggle to find the next generation to fill diminishing ranks. It is in this climate of decline that the ongoing resurgence of the Mari Lwyd is so significant. Please find the complete article at this link, and do take the time to explore the rest of Wales Arts Review, Issue 3.2.
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On the 24th of January, formal public consultation on the Newport City Council budget for 2014-15 will come to a close. In the coming seven days, it is possible that the fate of the Newport medieval ship will be determined, and there is little about the consultation that should make anyone feel comfortable or positive about what that fate might be. There is now a small window of opportunity for interested parties to voice their concerns and objections to the council, and I would encourage any and all who value the Newport ship, and see its potential, be that through education, tourism or simply on the grounds of preserving the heritage landscape of Newport, to get in touch with the local authority now. In terms of why we should be concerned about the future of the ship, a brief overview of the budget proposals reveals a number of suggested fiscal cuts, which would leave the ship homeless and without any curatorial or interpretive support in the near future. ‘The Council is committed to the completion of the conservation of the archaeological timbers, however, there is no funding to progress beyond this conservation phase.’ In the budget summary, while the council maintains its long standing commitment to completing the ongoing conservation process, it is quick to state that there is no additional money for the project beyond this point. Further, there is no mention of any intent to pursue additional funding, simply that the council intent is focused on reducing ship related costs to zero. In addition: ‘Staff working on the project will be at risk of redundancy (5 FTE staff impact, 2 vacant, 3 filled). This would result in limited knowledge within the organisation about the Ship. There will be a significant challenge to transfer the timbers to a suitable institution or organisation.’ While direct costs in relation to the presentation of the ship and ongoing costs, bar storage, would be removed in this scenario (open days for instance would, of course, end), there is the additional impact of staffing cuts. During the past decade and a bit, the Newport ship team has developed into a leading authority on this particularly unique archaeological collection. The creation of such expertise does not happen overnight, yet its loss can be instantaneous. Loss of funding for the ship would rob south east Wales of an assemblage which has the potential to be a significant tourist attraction, but as significant, we would lose the world class expertise which has grown around it. This is not so much a case of creating ‘limited knowledge within the organisation about the Ship’, it is a case of decimating it. While the ship has the potential to come and go in terms of where it is stored and displayed, the same cannot be said of the expertise. Once that is gone, it is gone. In terms of display, the council proposals make a token gesture: ‘However, some timbers will still be available to see at the Museum and the digital Archive will be available through Internet Archaeology in the next twelve months.’ The display of ‘some timbers’, however many that could plausibly be (i.e. not many), would be highly limited in scope and do little in terms of the potential of the collection. Yet this ‘display’ is dependent on the long term viability of the museum itself. Further to the proposed ship cuts, are reductions to the hours of provision provided by the current museum and library service. In addition, further recommendations on staff reductions within the museum service are made. Were these factors to combine, Newport could face the loss of access to the bulk of the Newport ship, the loss of all expertise on the collection, a reduced museum coupled with a reduction in expertise and staff numbers at that museum. The picture presented is a bleak one. Especially if one considers the gradual reduction of museum staffing and hours as the first step down a slippery slope towards closure. Back at the start of the year, I reflected on the short and long term future for the heritage sector in Wales, and cited the future of the Newport ship as a test case for the way in which we could expect our heritage resources to be treated in the coming years, as the full impacts of austerity gradually reveal themselves. At present, Newport City Council are arguing a case which would significantly undermine, if not totally erode the presence of the medieval ship in Newport, with no indication in their strategy that this artefact would play any role at all in the proposed regeneration of the city. This would be as critically short sighted as the same council’s original intention to bury the timbers under concrete. All is not lost though. In the last week, the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, faced with what seemed an inevitable ‘merger’ with Cadw, to be forced through by the Welsh Government, earned a reprieve. The weight of popular opinion, sent in to the Welsh Government, forced a rethink, and a stay of execution for the RCAHMW. This is what the ship, both the physical remains and the staff responsible for it, needs now. Comments can be sent in to Newport City Council via this link: http://www.newport.gov.uk/_dc/index.cfm?fuseaction=council.homepage&contentid=CONT543078 and I encourage any and all who value this unique element of both Newport, Welsh and British heritage, to voice their opinions as soon as possible. Re-blogged from:
http://heritagetortoise.wordpress.com/2014/01/09/caerleon-campus-history-lectures-2014/ University of South Wales (Caerleon Campus) History Public Seminar Programme Spring 2014 Wednesdays, 6pm A chance to share in some of the recent research from the History team at Caerleon: the lectures will be followed by informal discussion Wednesday, 29 January 2014, 6 pm, Caerleon Campus: Boardroom Erica Canela - https://twitter.com/ericanela ‘In the Name of God Amen: Tudor Wills in Breconshire, 1528 – 1571′ Wednesday, 5 February 2014, 6 pm, Caerleon Campus: Conference Suite, Main Building A45 Chris Gardiner Admiring the pugilistic art? Newspaper reports on boxing in nineteenth century south Wales Wednesday, 12 February 2014, 6pm , Caerleon Campus: Boardroom Maddy Gray - https://twitter.com/penrhyspilgrim Cross Slabs and Closet Catholics: some thoughts on seventeenth-century tombstones Wednesday, 19 February 2014, 6 pm , Caerleon Campus: Boardroom Paul Thomas An Investigation of Pre-Roman Communications in South Eastern Wales: with Special Reference to Possible Surviving Iron Age Road Networks in Gwent Wednesday, 5 March 2014, 6pm, Caerleon Campus: Conference Suite, Main Building A45 Jessica Powell - https://twitter.com/jess__powell ‘Breaking the Bonds’: The Rise (and Fall) of Monmouth’s Independent Burgesses Wednesday, 12 March 2014, 6 pm, Caerleon Campus: Boardroom David Howell - https://twitter.com/Kasuutta and Ray Howell Digging up the Past: Excavating Llanfihangel Tor-y-Mynydd For further information, email [email protected], [email protected] or [email protected] For last-minute updates and changes (and for further information on our activities) follow us on Twitter – http://twitter.com/HeritageUSW Well, it turned out to be quite a year for heritage in Wales. While there were occasions which provided cause for great optimism, there was a steady stream of reminders to highlight just how vulnerable our national heritage resource actually is. The sad truth of 2013 however, is that the real negative impacts will not truly reveal themselves until deep into 2014, if not later, as the creeping tendrils of fiscal cuts continue to slowly erode the foundations of museums and heritage organisations in Wales and beyond. Surely the most controversial moment of the year though had to be the Chartist mural debacle. I’ve promised myself on more than one occasion that I would just let the mural story go, but every once in a while we receive little reminders as to why the mural destruction was so symbolic. When Newport city council battered their way through with plans to obliterate the distinctive mural, they critically underestimated the sentiment of locals in Newport. Perhaps there were not thousands demonstrating against the council’s actions, but there were certainly hundreds, not to mention the odd Hollywood celeb to add to the mix. The anger regarding the loss of the mural stimulated a debate as to what constitutes heritage. Is a thirty year old wall mounted mural something that is worthy of protection? Is it part of the heritage landscape worth protecting? Opinion in Newport was clearly divided, with the city council making a concerted decision, that being that the mural was indeed not part of the heritage landscape, and certainly not worthy of saving. This though raises other more pressing concerns, namely what comes next? What else could a council decide to cast by the wayside in the name of development and gain? Perhaps our built heritage, in terms of castles for instance, may not seem under any immediate threat, but the heritage sector is in many respects standing on a precipice. Our museums are slowly being stripped down from the inside out, as budget cuts erode staff positions, education programmes and, in places, the very existence of museums in their entirety. Chapel heritage across Wales is gradually vanishing as more and more buildings fall out of use, while proposed developments seem to be encroaching closer and closer on to the edges of hillforts in Wales (not to mention Offa's Dyke), and it is questionable how close new buildings will get to rampart defences before new residents can confidently claim to actually live on top of an Iron Age fort. Sites and staff are threatened in a manner in which we have not experienced for several decades, and it should be an ongoing cause of concern for all in related fields. At the same time, Welsh Government moved ahead with its consultation on the Heritage Bill for Wales. Many will remember a similar white paper being drafted for heritage in the UK several years ago, before it was bumped in the list of priorities for a general election. Whether a similar fate awaits the Welsh Heritage Bill awaits to be seen, but at the very least government in Wales is actively discussing the future framework for heritage in this country, so the field is at least not being forgotten about. However, the poor old Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments for Wales looks set to buy the farm as a result of government involvement, despite almost everyone in public consultation stressing what an incredibly bad idea it would be to merge the RCAHMW and Cadw. While government is certainly focusing on heritage in Wales, the consequences may most clearly be manifest in the loss of another significant organisation. While the RCAHMW remains threatened, the archaeological trusts are fighting their corner, and the Archwilio application, developed by the four trusts, is a positive reminder both of the scale of the archaeological resources at our disposal in Wales, and the intent in this country to enhance public accessibility to those resources and archives. In this respect, Wales has forged a path as a world leader regarding accessibility. Few other, if indeed any nation, can boast the same level of access to historic environment records as Wales currently does. The next challenge is to make sure people know that they can access this information, and of course encourage potential audiences that this information is worth accessing in the first place, but perhaps that is a battle for 2014. For the moment, we can certainly welcome and celebrate the addition of Archwilio to the likes of the People’s Collection project. The real challenge for 2014 will be one of resilience. Local and national government have collectively lined up the culture sector with a succession of budget cut tipped bullets, and are only too keen to pull the trigger. What fate awaits the Newport medieval ship for instance? This internationally significant artefact is going to be evicted later this year, with no obvious home for it to go to. What happens to the Newport ship will probably serve as the acid test for the position of heritage in Wales for the rest of this decade, for if such an assemblage were to be lost to Wales, it would be an indictment on the attitudes of officials in this country regarding our heritage resource. Should the ship be saved, with an intention to display and develop, in a manner akin to the Mary Rose museum which dominated heritage headlines in 2013, then we might have some reason to be optimistic. That all awaits to be seen though, either way, some very significant decisions regarding the heritage of Wales will take place in 2014, and the ramifications will remain with us for much, much longer. The Llanfihangel Tor y Mynydd Mari Lwyd has been running for well over a decade now, and has only once before faced cancellation, thanks to the remarkable snow that settled a few years ago. Well, over the years the Mari in Llanfihangel grew and grew, becoming too large for the rural houses which once hosted the old mare, with only the local pub being capable of hosting this vast cultural event. Well, in 2014, the pub, which was supposed to be open, is in fact now due to be closed for refurbishment – for shame. As a result, with no time to reorganise, the Llanfihangel Mari will not be venturing forth in the parish for only the second time since 1998. However, this leaves me in an awkward situation, where I have a Mari Lwyd loitering in the entrance of my house in Caerleon. It seems a waste, having a Mari Lwyd at hand, to not then make use of it. So, if anyone is interested, I’m tempted on taking the Llanfihangel Mari out for a wonder in Caerleon on the evening of the 6th of January. In another spectacular moment of poor timing, I’m on a pre wedding, no booze, health drive (more to do with saving money for the wedding than actually being healthy for it), so the pubs I intend to visit will not be appreciated as fully as they might be usually, but if anyone fancies coming along, do feel free to drink heartily on my behalf. Fingers crossed the Llanfihangel Mari will at least be able to stretch its legs this year, before a triumphant return to form in 2015! Do drop me a line though if you fancy helping the Mari find her way around Caerleon! |
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