Storylines collected memories and reflections about Mounts Bay to feed a series of podcasts to accompany Gwelen. Gwelan is an artwork by award winning artist Emma Smith and residents of West Penwith. Inspired by Cornwall’s largest submerged forest that sits in the bay, this community podcast series shares different perspectives of Mounts Bay. It also explores its unique geology, ecology, history and culture.
Storylines were particularly involved with the podcasts exploring different perspectives of Mounts Bay. The themes were ‘On, in and under the Sea,‘ ‘Stories from the Land’ and ‘Myths, Language and Legends.’ A final podcast brings together some of these themes and is designed to be listened to whilst journeying along the coast-
For these we had the joy of spending many hours sat with locals, often outdoors overlooking Mounts Bay, listening to their experiences and reflections of the bay. We then wove these together in a series of audio stories. These are narrated by artist Emma Smith, who considers their relationship to her artwork. From divers to bus drivers, foragers to fishermen, walkers to wild swimmers, poets to historians, it’s been wonderful to be able to take a deep look at Mounts Bay and explore what makes it unique through this community podcast series.
Listen in
We were delighted to see the podcasts in this Guardian article. The full series of podcasts will be made available through the Newlyn Art Gallery website as well as other podcasting platforms.
Interpretation Panels
Following on from these podcasts Storylines enjoyed producing content for a series of interpretation panels to help people discover both the artworks and Mounts Bay. 4 colourful panels and 3 markers are now dotted along the Marazion to Penzance coast path, helping people delve deeper into this fascinating landscape and its stories.
The podcasts are part of the project led by artist Emma Smith, commissioned by Cornwall Council. The artwork is part of the EXPERIENCE project which promotes experiential tourism and sustainable economic growth during October to March. The project is co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Interreg France (Channel) England Programme under the Natural and Cultural Heritage funding category.
Photos
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- Stephen on the Mount
Funders & Links
