PERTHYN

by John Meirion Rea

  • Gloria Arcerito

  • Louis Conti

  • Enrico Orsi

  • Larraine Gilbert (Rea)

Friday 2nd May
10:00am – 5:00pm
Saturday 3rd May 10:00am – 8:00pm
YMa Pontypridd

Though I feel a 100% Cymraeg, I have always been aware of my Italian ancestry, as I retain an Italian surname as a direct descendant of my Great-Grandfather Emiddio Rea, the first to migrate here, with my Great-Grandmother Santa.

They travelled from an impoverished life in rural Arpino, in the district of Frosinone in Southern Italy, initially to London, eventually settling in Tonypandy in the South Wales Valleys at the turn of the 20th Century.

I am curious to investigate what influence this migration has had and continues to have on our culture. We all know of the ‘Bracchis’; the cafes and Ice cream parlours that proliferated in the Welsh Valleys in the late 19thCentury and early 20th Century, and the many who came originally from Northern Italian town of Bardi, which is widely known. It’s no surprise that The Amici Val Ceno Galles, is still going strong today.

But what about the families from other parts of Italy we know less about, who were they, what are their stories, and what is my family’s place in this wider history? I have spent the past eight months meeting and speaking to those who live in this unique community, also those, like me, who are descendants. By blending original recordings based on first-hand accounts, with abstract soundscape, music and film, I wish to present an auto-ethnographic, artistic realisation of my journey into the Welsh Italian Campanilismo.

My encounters have raised suggested a range of modalities, or frequencies of belonging and of language, identity and community, and by giving voice to the Welsh-Italian diaspora, both new and old, my wish is to present the immersive sound film as a communal experience; alongside a digital iteration of the work which will act as a legacy. I see this as a modern ‘monument’, but online rather than physical and representing a community.

My Great-Grandfather’s journey was a long one; from the Medieval town of Arpino, ending up selling chestnuts and playing the barrel organ on the streets of Clerkenwell in London, before settling in South Wales and opening his first Bracchi. What did he, and the many migrants from Italy bring with them, how did they maintain their distinct identity having travelled so far, both geographically and culturally?

I see this journey as an attempt to discover their story, and the ‘part of me I barely know’.

www.johnmeirionrea.com

The Rea Family

  • John Meirion Rea

    John is a composer and sound artist based in Cardiff. His work is deeply rooted in Welsh culture and landscape, and in cross-cultural connections and collaborations. His interest is in responding to place, community, and in exploring new interdisciplinary approaches. Since leaving Cardiff University with an M.Mus. in composition, under the guidance of Alun Hoddinott CBE, John has subsequently worked as a freelance composer for concert platform, theatre, and film, whilst also pursuing his own interests in sound installation, and sound-art.

  • Huw Talfryn Walters

    Huw is an award winning cinematographer with a passion for wilderness and large format stills photography. Huw has three BAFTA Cymru awards for his camerawork Scott Gibbs - His own man for the BBC, Frank Lloyd Wright- The Man who built America for the BBC and Burton Y Gyfrinach a Welsh language feature film for S4C about Richard Burton, filmed in Switzerland. His most recent film was The Girls of Favela Street,a documentary for FIFA TV on how football is empowering young girls in the favelas of Rio.This is the fourth collaboration with John.