Welsh-language music and the Māori punk scene will be explored as part of an international research project.
Academics from Cardiff University are collaborating with colleagues at the University of Waikato in New Zealand to find points of connection between te reo Māori (the Māori Language), te ao Māori (the Māori world/world view) and Welsh-language culture through the lens of grassroots music.
Musicians from both Cymru (Wales) and Aotearoa (New Zealand) will be brought together, kicking off at the forthcoming FOCUS Wales festival, where Māori band Half/Time are set to perform alongside Welsh bands, including CHROMA, Adwaith and Lemfreck. Researchers will also be there interviewing artists about their experiences.
Dr Elen Ifan, based at Cardiff University's School of Welsh, explained: "It's a musical exchange as well as an opportunity to gather and share thoughts about what it means to perform music in a minority language. We will be interviewing musicians and creative practitioners, as well as analysing songs as cultural texts as part of the research.
"We hope this project will be of real benefit to up-and-coming musical talent in both Cymru and Aotearoa."
As well as academic research, there will also be a creative aspect to the project, with an Instagram profile that will act as a collaborative digital journal. This will allow artists and researchers to explore the themes of the project through film, text and images.
Later in the year, academics and one Welsh language artist will travel to Aotearoa with a member of Focus Wales to gain first-hand experience of the emerging Māori punk music scene and develop further collaboration with academics at Waikato University. There will be an open call for musicians to apply for the opportunity later in the year.
Dr Joseph O'Connell, based at Cardiff University's School of Music, said: "The Welsh language saw a huge regeneration in younger generations through the DIY music scene of the Eighties and Nineties and again more recently with artists like Adwaith and Gwenno gaining recognition across the world.
"The Māori punk music scene is relatively new in Aotearoa, and we'd like to show our support of the movement through this exciting international exchange. Although thousands of miles apart, there is much that both cultures can learn from each other."
