“Our old dreams are exhausted. Throughout the world there is a cry for a new way of being, a new freedom for social justice and fairness. One of the most fundamental cries springing from our hearts in these earth – shaking times are in fact giving us a new chance to re dream our lives, and we should take it with courage” – Ben Okri

I had risen early, organised myself in order to fully engage myself with the Tumbleweed performance.  I felt sure this event was an important one and would set the tone of the two days to come. I felt a little bit smug about my choice of route along the Taff on this beautiful pale blue morning and idled along enjoying the experience! I arrived at the meeting point near the station and was surprised not to find a single person to greet me – eventually I realised why – I was an hour late! In my reverie I had completely lost track of time!!

Along the way I had seen a whole flock of pigeons silhouetted against the sky. The scourge of most cities, dirty thieving birds but today I saw them in a new way. It was because of a story I had been told, about an artist who had trained homing pigeons to imprint themselves on him so that when he released them they came home to him. Then this artist attached tiny flutes to their tail feathers which meant that they became a natural wind orchestra, the idea filled me with wonder. I saw the pigeons in a completely different way.

After I had finished kicking myself for beginning this important conference in such a muddled way, I began to realise that I had not completely messed up. Artists tell stories by whichever means they choose, these stories change the way we view the world and by doing so the way we interact with the world. Throughout the history of mankind there has probably never been a time when we have needed new stories more than now.