Carta Fragmentada

I come from a background and sometimes inhabit still, a world of unquestioning certainty about what, where, what Cymru is and who the Cymry are. A Cymru Profundo, to use the phrase of the Mexican sosio-anthropologist Guillermo Bonfil Batalla from his book "Mexico Profundo, Reclaiming a Civilisation" gives voice to the idea that the remaining Indian communities, the "de-Indianized" rural mestizo communities, and vast sectors of the poor urban population constitute the México profundo. This Cymru Profundo is a deeply embedded place. This 'in deep' connection is a cultural one that is tied to the language and possibly, to a rural, agricultural past. The language connects via poetry and myth to the very fabric and geology (it seems) of the landscape and place in which it is spoken. Shared assumptions, memory, political awareness, deceptively perhaps assumed to be inseparable from knowledge of the language. But it's an identity that is alien to, and alienating, to two thirds of Wales' inhabitants. It might seem far-fetched to compare Wales' culture to Mexico's, but like mestizo culture everywhere, this Wales has a mixed heritage, history and culture. And like Mestizo, everyone is an outsider to one part or another of the culture. Artist's suceed in delving into this 'depth', even if (or because) they feel partly 'outsiders' to it.