A cross-border collaboration between artists and technologists in Cornwall and Wales, the project brings together theatre-makers, musicians, writers, designers, sound artists and immersive technologists to create a shared mythology rooted in both landscapes.
Developed by DAUR & Hannah McPake, HAG/GWRACH explores how spatial audio, immersive technology, responsive environments, film and music can work alongside the natural world.
Rather than using technology to distract from nature, we are interested in how it might help us listen more closely.
This first phase of HAG/GWRACH has been made possible through the support of the Immersive Arts Experiment Fund, enabling us to spend two weeks across Cornwall and Cardiff researching how emerging technologies can deepen our relationship with landscape, memory and myth.
Hag/Gwrach
She calls you into the woods.
A landscape alive with ancient memory, where fungi sing, trees breathe and knowledge buried by witch-hunts flickers back to life.
HAG/GWRACH is an artist-led research and development project exploring how immersive technologies can deepen our relationship with ancient woodland environments.
The First R&D
Our first research and development period unfolded over two weeks, beginning in the ancient woodlands of West Cornwall before moving to Cardiff, where our team doubled in size as we were joined by artists and creatives from across Wales.
The first week was rooted in the landscape itself. We gathered binaural field recordings beneath the trees, captured film, experimented with responsive lighting and projection, and explored how story, technology and place might meet.
Alongside these experiments we began building the mythology of the piece. Characters emerged. Histories were imagined. Songs were written. Stories intertwined with folklore from both Cornwall and Wales, gradually revealing a world where memory lives within the landscape.
We also explored haptic experiences that invited audiences to encounter the woodland in unexpected ways: books that became too hot to hold, fir cones that whispered secrets and forgotten soft toys that revealed glowing hearts and heartbeats.
As darkness fell, the woodland itself became our collaborator.
Trees became faces. Bark appeared to breathe. Heartbeats pulsed beneath the surface. Figures emerged through branches. Portals opened between trunks and mycelium networks shimmered beneath the forest floor.
A Midway Sharing
At the halfway point of the R&D, we welcomed friends, artists and collaborators to the farm and woodlands in Cornwall for an informal sharing, gathering invaluable feedback and asking important questions that helped shape the direction of our second week in Cardiff.
The evening became more than a sharing. Around the fire we discussed the work together before leading everyone into the woods after dark, where they became part of a filmed search sequence. Their generosity, curiosity and thoughtful responses became an important part of the creative process, helping us understand what was resonating and where the project wanted to go next.
Taking the Wild Inside
The second week relocated to Cardiff.
We explored specialist immersive technologies and binaural recording techniques before bringing everything we had gathered in Cornwall into the studio.
Woodland footage was projected across the walls. Field recordings filled the space. Songs were written and recorded. Soundscapes were layered together from ticking clocks, storms, open fires, birdsong, creaking floorboards, boiling kettles, cassette rewinds and Welsh lullabies.
Every new sound changed the meaning of an image.
Every image suggested another story.
The world of HAG/GWRACH became richer with every creative exchange.
The First Audience
The R&D concluded with a sharing at Porters Cardiff, where an audience experienced the emerging world of HAG/GWRACH for the first time.
The final morning was spent editing sound, music, film and technical cues right up until the doors opened.
Sharing work at this stage is always an act of trust.
The generosity, curiosity and thoughtful feedback we received confirmed many of our instincts while opening entirely new directions for the next phase of development.
Collaboration
This project has been shaped by collaboration at every level.
Artists, musicians, performers, writers, designers, technicians, audiences, friends and colleagues from Cornwall and Wales have all contributed ideas, questions and perspectives that continue to influence the work.
Our heartfelt thanks go to everyone who has been part of this first phase, particularly Suzie Chaikin for opening her extraordinary woodland to us, Coven XP for the generous loan of specialist equipment and invaluable knowledge sharing, and Porters Cardiff for hosting the second week of the residency and our final sharing.
Supported by Immersive Arts
HAG/GWRACH has been supported by the Immersive Arts Experiment Fund, a UK-wide programme supporting artists to explore the creative possibilities of immersive technologies.
This funding has given us something invaluable: time.
Time to listen.
Time to experiment.
Time to collaborate across Cornwall and Wales.
Time to test ideas, question assumptions and invite audiences into the process long before a finished performance exists.
What’s Next?
The first phase of HAG/GWRACH has left us feeling that we’ve only just begun to uncover what this work could become.
Our next step is to secure further partnerships and funding so we can continue developing the project, deepen the collaboration and realise HAG/GWRACH as a full-scale immersive experience.
The Team
Hannah McPake – Co-Writer – Co-Director She/her
Mydd Pharo – Co-Writer – Co-Director He/they
Joshua Pharo – Lighting Video – Immersive Designer He/him
Lisa Jen Brown – Performer – vocalist She/her
Celyn of Gwent – Composer – Sound Designer. They/them
Danny Muir – Sound Engineer – Creative Explorer. He/him
“The Hag/Gwrach calls you into the woods – a landscape alive with memory.”
