To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Pwllglas village hall Cefyn Burgess was asked to become the artistic director and also the curator of a community art project to depict the cultural heritage of the region in an embroidered Welsh tapestry.

Cefyn wanted to involve as many people from the community as possible both young and old so he started by involving the next generation of villagers… the children from Ysgol Llanfir Dyffryn Clwyd primary school.

The children worked with Cefyn on the research by delving into the history of not just the village hall but also the village and the surrounding region. This research soon turned into creative interpretation and whilst under Cefyn’s direction the children started to turn what they had learnt into the tapestries design.

This activity soon grabbed the attention of parents as well as relatives and other villagers so once the children had completed their research and the design the parents then leant a hand by adding more detail and also started to put the composition together.

As the tapestry took shape the true size and scope of the project started to be seen. Not only in the actual size of the tapestry which was 2 meters x 3 meters (7’ x 12’) in size but also in the cultural heritage which the tapestry revealed as it literally became a woven cultural map of the area showing key landmarks such as farms, chapels, houses and fields.

Although the Pwllglas Welsh tapestry is big in size what really makes this a huge cultural event for the villagers and the surrounding area is that this was done by a community who have great pride in their culture, but… the real legacy of this tapestry is yet to come.

By celebrating their cultural heritage with this tapestry they have in turn made themselves part of the future heritage of their community and in another 50 years the children and grand children of the people who helped make the Pwllglas tapestry will look back with pride and who knows maybe be inspired to do their own version of the Pwllglas Welsh tapestry.