Rope

by Lal Davies


I threw out a line

of connection 

out of distress

and hoped

against hope

that it would 

reach you 

somehow

in the abyss


And that 

you’d find it

in the dark

And that

you’d know

it was me

on the other

end of it

And that  

you’d take hold

of it so you 

could use it

to haul your way

back to me

And to my 

utter disbelief

and profound relief

eventually

you did


Lal Davies deals in words and pictures – she is an award-winning film-maker, photographer and poet. Lal has South Indian and Southern Irish heritages. Three generations of her Indian family have been born in North Wales since coming to the UK. Lal has an established practice of first-person narrative and short documentary film-making and an emergent multi-disciplinary practice using film, photography and poetry as distinct disciplines and at the blurred edges where they meet, This work explores her relationship with the land, post-colonial narratives in Wales, race, representation and visible difference, as well as broader themes of love and loss. In 2022 Lal’s film Buckra Massa Pickney - Life of Enrico Stennett Windrush Elder is a nominee for The Gogs International Film Festival. Lal exhibited Dark/Light as a multidisciplinary visual poetry film and photography exhibition at NEW Arts Festival Wrexham in 2022. Her poetry film series Stories We Cannot Tell was selected for Gŵyl Y Ferch film festival in March 2022 and for the Bloomsday Film Festival Dublin Ireland May 2022.Lal was an Interlude bursary and professional development awardee 2021/22 (Visual Arts Group Wales), Hen Wlad Ein Plant/Land of our Children artist in residence (National Theatre Wales/Natural Resources Wales) 2021; Creative Practitioner on Cynefin Black Asian and minority ethnic Wales scheme (Arts Council of Wales) 2021/22; film producer for Cefnogi Ysgolion I Herio Hiliaeth/Supporting Schools in Challenging Racism (NWREN/Welsh Government) 2020/21; co-creator and film-maker on Embedding Equality in the Curriculum (NWREN/Ysgol Aberconwy/Welsh Government) film producer/educator on Casglu’r Straeon/Gathering The Stories (Ffilm Cymru) 2019/2020. Lal has exhibited photographic work on race and representation at the Ty Pawb Open; Open Windows (Oriel Colwyn) 2021 and in the North Wales Open (Theatr Clwyd). Lal’s poetry was published in Nawr magazine and Forget-Me-Not Press in 2021 and 2022. Lal is in the final stages of her MA in Art Practice.

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