TWO WEST Wales artists have been chosen to explore Celtic diaspora, pilgrimage and sacred places in north Pembrokeshire and north Wexford as part of the Ancient Connections project.

In the summer the call was put out for local artists to get in touch with proposals for the public artwork project.

The three-year arts, heritage and tourism linking the two counties has now appointed four artists in total, two in Wales and two in Ireland.

The two Welsh artists are Seán Vicary from Cardigan and Linda Norris from Maenclochog. The Welsh visual artists will be joined by artist/archaeologist John Sunderland and writer Sylvia Cullen, both based in Ireland's south-east.

The artists will produce new artworks over the next two years, inspired by their own research as well as the findings uncovered by the Ancient Connections teams of story gatherers, community researchers and archaeologists.

Each artist is expected to create work that can be shared online, in order to engage with both local audiences and with people much further afield. The artists will also present their work in a final public showing in both Wexford and Pembrokeshire in 2022.

Linda Norris proposes to use 'sherds' or found pottery fragments as the starting point for her project, encouraging people to send sherds to her and upload photos of them on an online map.

"Far from the glamour of precious metal hordes or celebrated monuments, sherds speak of anonymous domestic stories and link us with the people who lived in our homes in the past," she said.

"I propose to initiate a 'citizen archaeology' project in Pembrokeshire and Wexford extending into the Celtic diaspora. I will be researching people who emigrated from these regions to the diaspora in the 19th century and trying to trace their descendants."

Multi-media artist Seán Vicary recently discovered that his great-grandmother was born in 1874, just 3.5 miles from Ferns in Camolin, Co Wexford.

"I want to understand the forces that shaped me living here across the water from my great grandmother's home," he said.

"By excavating my own past, I'll undertake a process that mirrors the archaeological and historical research underway in both communities."

Seán will be discovering 'hidden narratives' in the landscape and creatively working them into a personal travelogue that moves back and forth between Pembrokeshire and Wexford.

"Voice, text, music, film and animation will combine to evoke these places in an exciting, contemporary way; building a deeper sense of identity through sharing experiences of reconnection."

Project officer, Ruth Jones, added: "We are thrilled to have engaged four artists of such high calibre and are excited to see how their projects develop individually, and over time, how they interweave into one another as well as other aspects of the wider Ancient Connections project."

Ancient Connections is led by Pembrokeshire County Council, together with partners Wexford County Council, Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority and Visit Wexford funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Ireland Wales co-operation programme.

If you are interested in finding out more or getting involved in any aspect of the Ancient Connections project please email the team at AncientConnections@pembrokeshire.gov.uk