Ar hyn of bryd mae'r cynnwys hwn ar gael yn Saesneg yn unig.
Ar hyn of bryd mae'r cynnwys hwn ar gael yn Saesneg yn unig.
Ar hyn of bryd mae'r cynnwys hwn ar gael yn Saesneg yn unig.
hyrwyddo a dathlu cerddoriaeth Cymru
promoting and celebrating the music of Wales
+44 (0)29 2063 5640
Womex in Wales – 10 years on
▶ 1. WOMEX in the 2000s – Where were the Welsh?
▶ 4. The bid process and Winning the bid
3. The legacy objectives
Prior to WOMEX coming to Cardiff, the Welsh Government had only ever supported sports events, the most recent one having been the successful bid to host golf’s Ryder Cup in 2010.
“That’s why we used the Ryder Cup model to win WOMEX,” explains Hâf, which she summarises as follows: "‘If you go to Scotland, you won’t do anything for golf. If you come to Wales, you can change the game of golf here.’"
“That’s exactly what we wanted to do with music. In Scotland and in Ireland, they've got their infrastructure, and we haven’t got it. So it’s the legacy that we went for, how can we change not just how people see us, but how we see ourselves, how we value folk music and our traditions and, more than anything, our language? The language thing was really important.”
It was the international aspect of WOMEX that was a crucial element for Trac’s KilBride. “What I wanted very clearly was to have the music of Wales in that international context so it could be compared with and seen as equally exotic as music from Azerbaijan or Māori music. We’re a very small country with our own unique voice and unique traditions and so we ought to be in that place.”
How can we change not just how people see us, but how we see ourselves, how we value folk music and our traditions and our language?”
Roberts’s objectives were similar: “One was to show Welsh audiences and Welsh artists what world music was all about, what other musicians across the world were doing. How they were able to earn a living, performing in their own language across the world. Because the tendency in Wales was to look to London all the time and to follow the Anglo-American model. But there was a huge market out there that people in Wales didn't really know about. Secondly, to showcase what we had in Wales. We’d been quite good at hiding our own music and culture over the years!”
Another contributing factor that happened in the late noughties was a change in how royalties were distributed by PRS, which had a serious impact on the amount of money artists and labels in Wales received. “Their old models of income just didn’t exist anymore,” explains KilBride. “That wasn’t the only reason, but it certainly meant that we also had an industry that wanted to work internationally because it had no other choice.”
“All of this is about ambition and aspiration,” says Davies from Mwldan. “And I think, historically, the Arts Council of Wales had always ignored traditional or world music – call it what you want – as a serious art form. So I thought, this is a sign that they were taking it seriously, and Eluned and WAI were taking it seriously. And presumably could see its potential and relevance was a good sign. I thought it was a really great achievement.”