Previous project - JAMRY
During a chance encounter between one of the Jamaican members of the team and a Welsh colleague, the question was posed: “Do you have Eisteddfod in Wales?” and on exploring further we found that there was this very substantive link, with much deeper significance, as Eisteddfod is well known in Jamaica as a festival of creative arts, sharing the same name for the common competitive performance practice of 'Eisteddfod' in Wales.
This opened up a whole range of new opportunities for research as we wanted to explore the Eisteddfod link and other links between Jamaican poetry and Welsh poetry. We based this on the well documented historical connection of the years of colonisation which embedded not only English and Scottish, but also Welsh culture on the “British” plantations across Jamaica. We found that even today schools, communities and colleges across Jamaica celebrate arts and culture competitively under the name and in the format of the Welsh Eisteddfod.
Link to the project website www.spanglefish.com/jamry
