PEOPLE passing the Conwy Railway Bridge on Saturday (March 5) may have been surprised to see a film being projected onto the 19th-century, Grade I listed structure, which spans the mouth of the River Conwy.

The film, initiated by artists Lauren Heckler and Alex Paveley and commissioned by National Trust Cymru in partnership with Arts Council of Wales, responds to the question: “How do our local communities feel about the changing climate?”.

From January to March 2022, Lauren and Alex have worked with members of communities down the Conwy catchment to co-create the work, exploring lived experiences of climate change and the environment.

The film combined workshop outcomes, interviews and a record of the process, weaving together the landscapes, expressions and opinions of communities linked together by weather and water.

Alex said: “We were interested in the role that collective creative action can have in facilitating meaningful conversations around climate change, within and across communities.

“Together, we co-created a moving image work, where the production moved down the course of the River Conwy.”

Lauren added: “Residents of Cwm Penmachno captured footage for the artwork, in response to a series of conversations around the effects of climate change on their village, the resilience of the community, and the broader context of the climate emergency.

“Participants took home cameras to frame and record imagery that visualised their personal thoughts and feelings on the issue. Then walking as a group, they also collectively captured footage as they moved towards the source of the River Machno.”

Downstream in Llanrwst, a town prone to flooding, public workshops were held to add a soundscape and atmosphere to the film.

Participants used an arsenal of everyday objects to recreate, perform and record environmental sounds - from the swishing clothes and squelching footsteps, to rustling trees and crashing waterfalls.

Finally, in Conwy itself the artists worked together with Creative Enterprise trainees and students from the Centre of Alternative Technology to build screening furniture for the film’s premier on Conwy Suspension Bridge.

Hawys Dafis, experiences and partnerships curator at National Trust Cymru, said: “The effects of climate change are already having an impact on our organisation and the wider world.

“By working with Lauren and Alex, we wanted to engage our Welsh communities in conversation so we could build a picture of their experiences, thoughts and concerns about the changing climate, and develop an understanding of how we might work together to mitigate against these.

“We’re really pleased with the way that people have engaged with the project, and we’ve built some great relationships with local communities and members of the Youth Climate Ambassadors for Wales.

“It’s given us a great opportunity to explore how we might work together in the future, and we’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who took part.”

To find out more about the project and watch the film, visit the website here: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/features/climate-change-creative-conversations.