VIDEO: The Welsh Space Campaign – a project by Hefin Jones
The future can be daunting for old trades and industries who are finding it harder than ever to stay relevant in this new digital world. The Welsh Space Campaign, conceived by designer Hefin Jones, seeks to find a new “cosmic context for Welsh culture, skills and traditions” by asking wool mills, plumbers or clog makers to contribute to the space programme. Although he asks these crafts people to help him make a space suit, the project is not entirely about that. It’s about launching these people into a new cosmos of thought about their trade and what can be achieved with it – who’d have thought to make space clogs, for example.
Since the project started, Hefin has included a wider variety of contributors to the project, such as physics professors from Aberystwyth University to calculate how to send Welsh cultural artefacts into space or collaborating with the poet Ceri Wyn Jones to create a countdown poem where each number relates to something in Welsh Culture – you can read the english translation below.
Hefin Jones is a multi-disciplinary designer and since the start of the project in 2013, he has been documenting the project on The Welsh Space Campaign website and updates the film for the campaign with new trades people, you can view the latest version above. You can view Hefin’s other design and collaborative work on his personal website here or follow him on twitter to keep up to date with the campaign.
Launch Countdown Poem by Ceri Wyn Jones