British Council Wales and Wales Arts International, with the support of Welsh Government, have invested in projects through a dedicated culture fund as part of the Year of Wales in India.
The projects will focus on deepening existing cultural relationships between artists from Wales and India, including those from Nagaland and the northeast, between November 2024 and January 2026.
Read about the funded projects below:
Khasi-Cymru Collective
Welsh musician Gareth Bonello will be returning to north-east India and recording new music with his partners from the Khasi- Cymru Collective.
He’ll be spending 10 days in Shillong to create new music and poetry in Khasi and Welsh languages.
He says: “I want this to be an ongoing dialogue that keeps happening and letting people drive where they want collaboration to go.”
This opportunity will be another step in the ongoing creative dialogue between Welsh and Khasi artists, which has been flourishing in recent years.
Gareth will then finish his ten-day tour and head to Hornbill Festival in Nagaland where he’ll be performing together with Indian musician Benedict Hynniewta. Benedict is an award-winning flautist and visual artist based in Shillong. The pair have been collaborating for many years and both artists are looking forward to performing together again. The Hornbill Festival is India’s largest celebration of tribal heritage with visitors immersed in the rich traditions, music, and folklore of the region.
Sarah Argent and Kevin Lewis
Theatre makers Sarah Argent and Kevin Lewis will collaborate with Kolkata based ThinkArts and Wales based d/disabled artist, Jony Cotsen, to work with four young writers and dramaturges to help them create their own original stories for children and young people across multiple languages, including BSL and ISL.
They are keen to explore storytelling and how it is more than just words.
They said: “What we learn from this experience will inform our Welsh artists and vice versa. We want to tell stories that are accessible and enjoyable by all children.”
Khamira
Khamira, the Indo Welsh collaboration that brings together Welsh folk, Indian classical, and Jazz, will undertake a six-day tour across India, with local musicians joining each performance.
The tour will start celebrations of the group’s 10-year anniversary in 2025. During this period, Khamira has already recorded two albums and performed to audiences across Wales, UK, India and as far as South Korea. The group is now looking forward to not only a new tour in India but the opportunity to create and record new material.
Tomos Williams, founder and member of the band, said: “The power of music is to unify. We want to unify with different cultures but still be proud of who we are.”
As well as performing, they will also be hosting workshops and masterclasses to share their knowledge and talent connecting to new people.
Kate Perridge and Meta Arts: Page of Two Lands
Page of Two Lands is a project that will feature four female writers and illustrators from Wales and north-east India to collaborate with each other and create a series of contemporary narratives inspired by folk stories. The project is delivered by independent theatre producer Kate Perridge in Wales and Meta Arts in India, and follows on from a previous project, InterCut Labs, they produced together.
Designed as a hybrid project, the four artists will work in pairs to research and develop this project that will conclude as an exhibition tour in India.
The tour will feature a learning programme comprising of workshops and talks for high school and university students.
Canolfan Gerdd William Mathias
Canolfan Gerdd William Mathias has been working on a special project with partners in Shillong since 2022. The project was originally developed in memory of Welsh harpist Mair Jones who bequeathed harps to communities in Shillong and the Khasi Hills.
Since then, students from Martin Luther Christian University have been receiving online harp lessons through Canolfan Gerdd William Mathias, with some going on to forge new careers in music.
This year they will be sending three tutors to Martin Luther Christian University in Shillong to further explore Welsh and Khasi music together, as well as give the tutors a chance to meet the students in person.
They will also return to the hospital in Shillong to develop new arts, health and wellbeing projects in healthcare settings originally set up by Welsh doctors, delivering activities for patients and performing for staff. Canolfan Gerdd William Mathias trustee, Dr Rajan Madhok, who is associated with the Health Foundation Public India in Shillong, will also be joining to further the arts and health connections.
The three tutors – Catrin Morris Jones, Gwennan Gibbard and Nia Davies Wiliams – will also be performing as a celebration of the Wales-Khasi Hills relationship at the Tri-Hills Festival and at a specially hosted Noson Lawen in Shillong.
Cefyn Burgess
North Wales based textile artist Cefyn Burgess has been instrumental in developing contemporary cultural relationships between Khasi Hills and Wales and will be visiting the region alongside Canolfan Gerdd William Mathias to extend links with organisational partners.
He will be developing a new artistic project during his visit which will focus on Khasi language, land and tribal culture.
His recent artistic projects explored the connections between the Khasi Hills and the Welsh missionaries which has resulted in an extensive body of textile work and accompanying archival material.
We’ll be sharing progress of these projects on our social channels.
Follow @WalesinIndia on X and Wales in India on LinkedIn to see how they all get on.