Mewnfudwyr ydyn ni / We Are Immigrants Konrad Gwozdz
“Merthyr - tref a adeiladwyd gan fewnfudwyr ar anterth y Chwyldro Diwydiannol. Lle’r oedd acenion Sbaenaidd, Gwyddelig, Eidalaidd a Chymreig yn gymysg oll i gyd. Er bod y diwydiannau trymion wedi mynd, heddiw mae math modern o fewnfudwyr wedi heidio i’r dref.” (We’ll Keep a Welcome, 2015). Mae fy mhrosiect yn gyfres o bortreadau amgylcheddol du a gwyn sy’n darlunio ac yn dogfennu pobl gyffredin sy’n “gudd” o ran data ystadegol. Aelodau o’r gymuned leol o fewnfudwyr Pwylaidd ydyn nhw: fy ffrindiau, eu teuluoedd, cymdogion, pobl a ddaeth i Ferthyr Tudful, fel y sawl a ddaeth dros ddau gan mlynedd yn ôl yn ystod y Chwyldro Diwydiannol, i geisio creu dyfodol gwell.
“Merthyr - a town built by immigrants at the peak of the Industrial Revolution. Where Spanish, Irish and Italian accents mingled with the Welsh. Though the heavy industry has gone, today a modern breed of immigrant has flocked to the town.” (We’ll Keep a Welcome, 2015). My project is a series of black and white environmental portraits depicting and documenting ordinary people, “hidden” in statistical data. They are members of the local community of Polish immigrants: my friends, their families, neighbours, people who, like those from over two hundred years ago, came to Merthyr Tydfil during the Industrial Revolution in the hopes of building a better future.