TAIR Collective

Based in rural mid-Wales, poet and artist collective TAIR – Manon Awst, Beth Celyn & Judith Musker Turner – worked in close collaboration with Summit to Sea and local communities to support the project in its exploration phase.

Integral to their practice is their multi-lingual heritage, as well as the tradition of poetry in Welsh culture which is part of everyday life, especially in the farming community and which is a powerful vehicle to reach and connect people. The artists’ residency is focused on finding the ‘middle ground’ to bring different pockets of communities together, for example the agricultural community, local businesses and residents as well as urban and rural, and support a multi-lingual ownership of the landscape.

Using poetry, textiles, film and sculpture, the collective delivered participatory workshops with local communities which allows them to ask and help ‘unwind’ difficult questions. Since the landscape area is so large and varied, the artists are being guided by the people’s relationship to materials. By creating spaces for conversation, and asking questions for example ‘what materials relate to you’, local communities were invited to share their stories, experiences and hopes for the place where they live and work.

With materials and stories gathered by and with the community, TAIR created a multi media performance which toured within the project area, including at the National Eisteddfod, Tregarona, farmers markets and in a barn on a farm over the summer in 2022.

This project has been established through the Endangered Landscapes Artist Residencies and Arts Prize – a new collaboration between the Endangered Landscapes Programme and the  CCI Arts, Science and Conservation Programme.

About the artists

Manon Awst

Having studied Architecture at Cambridge University and Artistic Research at the Royal College of Art, Manon Awst explores sites through sculptures, films and performances. She is a recipient of a Creative Wales Award, Arts Council of Wales and works as Coordinator of Public Spaces at Pontio, Bangor University.

Beth Celyn

Beth Celyn is a singer-songwriter and poet. She has worked with communities across Wales and performed at the likes of Festival No.6 and BBC 1. She is a King’s College London graduate, has an MA in Welsh Creative Writing from Bangor University and was a commissioned poet at the National Eisteddfod of Wales in 2019.

Judith Musker Turner

Judith Musker Turner is a poet and textile artist from Ceredigion. She has exhibited at Suns Europe and the European Festival of Performing Arts in Minority Languages. She graduated with an MA in Welsh and Celtic Studies from Cardiff University in 2019, and is a Development Officer at Wales Arts International.