If the river Severn were a person, how would you tell her story?

Visual artist Gemma Green-Hope and writer and audio producer Sofie Isenberg are aiming to answer this question as they gather material to make an art exhibition and an animated film about the river. The team will speak to glacial and fluvial geomorphologists in order to find out how the river first came into existence, whether and how its course has changed over time, and how it has influenced, and been influenced by, the surrounding landscape. They will gather information about the mythology and folklore surrounding the Severn, and about its history of human intervention (and intervention in human lives). They will also document the way life and death unfold around the river, including collecting oral histories from people who have lived, worked and played along the Severn.

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Pe bai’r afon Hafren yn berson, sut fyddech chi'n dweud ei stori?

Mae’r artist gweledol Gemma Green-Hope a’r awdur a chynhyrchydd sain Sofie Isenberg yn bwriadu ateb y cwestiwn hwn wrth iddyn nhw gasglu deunydd i wneud arddangosfa gelf a ffilm wedi’i hanimeiddio am yr afon. Bydd y tîm yn siarad â geomorffolegwyr rhewlifol ac afonol er mwyn darganfod sut y daeth yr afon i fodolaeth gyntaf, a yw ei chwrs wedi newid dros amser a sut, a sut y mae wedi dylanwadu, a chael ei dylanwadu gan, y dirwedd o’i chwmpas. Byddant yn casglu gwybodaeth am y fytholeg a’r llên gwerin sy’n amgylchynu’r Hafren, ac am ei hanes o ymyrraeth ddynol (a'i ymyrraeth ym mywydau dynol). Byddant hefyd yn dogfennu'r ffordd y mae bywyd a marwolaeth yn datblygu o amgylch yr afon, gan gynnwys casglu hanesion llafar gan bobl sydd wedi byw, gweithio a chwarae ar hyd yr Hafren.