Llais yr afon

Llais yr Afon is a partnership project between Small World Theatre , spacetocreate, West Wales Rivers Trust and Save the Teifi supported by the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation’s Blue Spaces Programme and The National Lottery Heritage Fund

The project worked with communities across the Lower Teifi Valley – Cenarth, Llechryd, Cilgerran, Aberteifi, and Llandudoch – using arts and citizen science. A schools programme was developed and piloted with pupils from Cenarth and Llechryd primary schools, taking as its inspiration and starting point the magnificent Idris Mathias manuscript map, made between 1945 and 1962 (see here). This phase also supported West Wales Rivers Trust to produce The People’s Plan for the River Teifi (see link here).

The next phase rolled the programme out to the schools and communities of Cilgerran, Aberteifi and Llandudoch, culminating in a season of creative mapping workshops at community events and festivals throughout the summer of 2025.

Running in parallel with experimental mapping techniques, the workshops also provided opportunities for participants of all ages and abilities to contribute to a growing portfolio of images exploring different aspects of the natural and cultural heritage of the river.

Building on the themes from the people’s plan, spacetocreate worked in a creative collaboration with graphic designer Heidi Baker, to develop the concept and design of the Llais yr Afon contemporary folk map, giving a voice to the river, the people who care for it, and creating a lasting legacy for future generations.

This new map was exhibited alongside a copy of the Idris Mathias map, accompanied by a series of colourful banners and postcards, signposting people to a digital version of the contemporary folk map (see here).

Many thanks to:

The Welsh Place-Name Society for permission to use a copy of the Idris Mathias manuscript map.

Cathryn Gwyn who helped to develop our understanding of the relationship between the place-names of Wales and the languages, landscape, history and culture of the lower Teifi

Rowan O’Neill, an artist, writer and performance maker from Felinwynt, Ceredigion for her essay Mapping pasts, mapping futures: a blueprint from the Teifi valley which can be viewed as a pdf here

Featured image: A close up of the contemporary folk map.

Other images: A small selection of work made in school and community workshops and the banners and postcards made to promote the map.