Swansea City Centre will soon be alive with the words of Dylan Thomas and William Shakespeare.
A series of minute-long sound installations are being introduced to mark the 100th anniversary of Dylan’s birth in late October and early November.
The train station, Swansea Market, the Grand Theatre, the No Sign Wine Bar and the Uplands Tavern are among the locations where the bite-size recordings will be installed. They’ll either be heard through concealed speakers or PA systems.
The Poems in October project, running from October 25 to November 9, is part of the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery’s programme of off-site events and activities.
Texts to be recorded by Royal Shakespeare Company actors have been chosen by CREW, Swansea University’s Centre for Research into the English Literature and Language of Wales.
The project is part of Swansea Council’s year-long Dylan Thomas 2014 Festival.
Cllr Nick Bradley, Cabinet Member for Regeneration, said: “Dylan is Swansea‘s most famous son and it’s important we do all we can to raise the profile of our links with him. He was one of our own who went onto become one of the most influential wordsmiths of all-time.
“His enduring legacy and his love of Shakespeare means the sound installation project is particularly relevant at a time when we’re celebrating his centenary, but this is one of many events and activities being planned for the near future. A greatly improved permanent Dylan Thomas exhibition will also be opening in readiness for this year’s Dylan Thomas Festival and leading names including theatre director Michael Bogdanov will soon be in the city to celebrate our links with the poet.
“This all helps boost our growing status as Wales’s city of culture.”
The permanent Dylan Thomas exhibition based at Swansea’s Dylan Thomas Centre is now temporarily closed for a major refurbishment and expansion project.
Access to the exhibition is being improved, artefacts are being digitised and new information telling Dylan’s life story are being developed thanks to a major grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The permanent exhibition area will also be refurbished and a new learning space and temporary exhibition room will be introduced.
Throughout its temporary closure, visitors can still access an ongoing Dylan notebooks exhibition until August 31 before the arrival of a new manuscripts exhibition on September 13. An exhibition all about Dylan’s Swansea is also ongoing at Swansea Museum.
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