Artist Bettina Furnée was awarded the High Brown Fritillary residency project, which is based in Ogmore and Old Castle Downs & Alun Valley, Vale of Glamorgan, and is in collaboration with Butterfly Conservation.
The residency explored the history and use of the site by different user groups, both historically and today. It also sought to raise awareness about the impact of human behaviour on the site, specifically on the High Brown Fritillary and its habitat.
A key objective of the project was to gather oral histories from the longstanding farming communities in the area and to engage with a wider range of people, including those with mental health concerns and harder-to-reach groups, to encourage them to experience the site for its well-being benefits.
Bettina's thoughts on her work with Natur am Byth:
I was appointed artist in residence at High Brown Fritillary project in the Vale of Glamorgan, that protects the common land of Old Castle Down, the last habitat of the High Brown Fritillary in Wales. I have created a short film featuring a song as a clarion call for this rare butterfly, with lyrics based on the words of the local volunteers, commoners and ecologists who, for many decades, have been involved in saving the High Brown Fritillary.
I collaborated with Welsh composer Emma Daman Thomas and choir leader Jenny Moore to create a community performance for film of ‘Britheg Brown’ performed on Old Castle Down by an ensemble of local singers and children of St Brides Mayor Primary school.
The choir rehearsals and recorded performance of Britheg Brown offered a shared learning experience for local singers, children and film students, as well as an opportunity for the local community to champion this land and biodiversity conservation initiative. The oral history recordings are archived by People’s Collection Wales and, as artist, I hope that the resulting film is a moving tribute to the High Brown Fritillary and will help galvanise the collective political will to secure its survival, and that of other threatened species and natural environments.