A beautiful new mural of the Mari Lwyd is the latest piece of artwork to hit the streets of Cardiff. The mural, on Cardiff's Womanby Street, has been unveiled at the recently opened Mad Dog Brewery and Taproom.
Drawn by students at the University of South Wales, the mural depicts the Mari Lwyd, with the words 'Dim cerddoriaeth ar blaned farw' which translates to 'No music on a dead planet.' The artwork has been created in partnership with Music Declares Emergency, a group of artists, music industry professionals and organisations "that stand together to declare a climate and ecological emergency and call for an immediate governmental response to protect all life on Earth."
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The 'No Music on a Dead Planet' slogan comes from the Music Declares Emergency campaign, with an event recently held in partnership with the Univeristy of South Wales at Tramshed in Cardiff. The event, Climate Clash Cymru, was part of the Immersed! Festival run by students from the University of South Wales, which is taking place in Cardiff until March 31. Other murals made by illustration students at the University of South Wales for Music Declares Emergency were also displayed at Tramshed as part of the Climate Clash Cymru Festival, including a replica of the Mari Lwyd mural on Womanby Street.
The Mari Lwyd is a Welsh tradition that sees a horse skull on a pole, decorated with lights or baubles for eyes, colourful streamers, holly or ivy, and a white cloak. The centuries-old tradition sees the Mari Lwyd taken from house to house to usher in the New Year. In the more modern version, the Mari Lwyd group would spar in rhyme with those inside the house, making up mocking verses about each other in turn. If the Mari Lwyd group won, they would have to be invited in and provided with a drink - usually alcoholic.
The mural of the Mari Lwyd joins other well-known artworks in the vicinity, including the striking mural of award-winning musician Gwenno on the side of Clwb Ifor Bach and the My City, My Shirt mural of Nicole Ready on the side of La Pantera, just around the corner on Quay Street. A mural by My Dog Sighs also appeared on Northcote Lane in Cathays last month, depicting the colours of the Ukrainian flag with its capital, Kyiv, reflected in a person's tearful eye. You can find out more about the different street art around Cardiff here.
