Mythbusters Stories

This collection of stories was made as part of a project funded by Arts Council of Wales. The project sought to discover and bust the myths about living in the Ebbw Fach Valley. The project collected stories from people living in the Valley, which runs from Brynmawr to Soffrydd. The stories were edited together to create, the film Vanishing Point which was shown at Brynmawr Market Hall Cinema in 2012.  A multi-screen installation followed at St Michael's Church, Abertillery.

My role was Project Manager managing the outreach project across the valleys east, engaging with communities and sourcing multiple screens and dvd players for the installation. Matt White and Katrina Kirkwood were lead artists.  Together they re-purposed a standard white ford van to become a travelling studio and drove from hill to hill recording the real voices of the valleys.  They documented their journey on blogspot.

Both strands of the Mythbuster's project were concerned with negative stereotypes given to people living in the Valleys by those living outside.  The culmination of which brands a large geographical area with negativity and hopelessness.

Activism is about motivating change, Breaking Barriers Community Arts used digital storytelling as a method to motivate change.  In this project digital stories captured the voices of the real valley’s people.  However we often find their voices are obfuscated by those in positions of power and influence such as BBC Home Correspondent Mark Easton.  In his article for BBC News “The unbearable sadness of the Welsh Valleys” he propagated every conceivable stereotype associated with the Valleys.  

Here are some examples of the digital stories created: