Coffee Morning: Cymru at COP26
Wales Arts International are pleased to be partnering with the Office of the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales as part of a programme of events around COP26 this November. This informal online coffee morning will bring the cultural sector in Wales together for open discussions on our role in the climate crisis, and to explore how creativity and culture can contribute to climate ambitions.
The event takes place online:
9 November 2021 | 09:30-10:30 am GMT
Contributing to the event will be a number of guests:
Marc Rees, who will be fresh from his presence at Day 4 of ‘Possible Dialogues’ at COP26 – an initiative to connect social and environmental leaders, activists and artists and academics with common interests in relation to climate change and justice. Marc Rees is an internationally renowned interdisciplinary artist. His work includes the short film ISOSTAY, made in collaboration with Simon Clode exploring ‘humanity’s legacy in Antarctica’ – UK Antarctic Heritage Trust’. More recently, CROMEN saw Marc collaborating with Tasmanian indigenous artist and activist Dave Mangenner Gough, before developing into CRO | PAN in collaboration with Pickle Factory Dance Foundation Kolcata and National Eisteddfod Wales as part of the British Council Connections through Culture initiative.
Gwenfair Hughes (Arts Council of Wales/Future Generations Leadership Academy 2019/20) will also be joining us to discuss the importance of collaboration, learning and imagination in the arts when tackling the climate emergency. Currently, Gwenfair works on the Creative Learning through the arts programme. A partnership between the Arts Council of Wales and Welsh Government designed to help schools develop creative skills across the curriculum, encouraging ambitious and enterprising learners, who are prepared with skills for life. She’s also a Future Generations Leadership Academy Alumni having took part in the first cohort of young people in 2019/20.
Jacob Ellis – Lead Change Maker for Public Affairs and International at the Office of the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales - joins us from COP26 itself, ahead of their Green Zone event ‘Climate, in the Visceral Sense. An Ongoing Story in Three Acts’ on the 12th of November.
Taylor Edmonds will also join us, to give more insight into the Green Zone event, and the project she’s been working on. Taylor is a poet, writer and creative facilitator from Barry. She is currently Poet in Residence for the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales. In 2020 Taylor was awarded a Rising Stars Award for her poetry from Literature Wales. She is also a team member at Where I’m Coming From, a community platform for underrepresented Welsh writers.
Captioning and Welsh-English simultaneous translation will be available.
Planning an event, content or campaign around COP26 and the climate crisis?
Alongside the event, Wales Arts International will be mapping the activity being planned, currently in practice, or being developed long-term in the cultural sector in Wales around the climate crisis, and specifically for COP26 itself. If you’re planning events or content relevant to this topic, please let us know by filling in the short survey below.