Abounding with fish?
A youth-led exploration of the
River Usk’s past, present and future

4 - 14 November 2025
The Riverfront, Newport

The River Usk is the longest river to flow entirely through Wales. Its ancient name means 'abounding with fish'.

‘Abounding with fish?’ explores the role of the River Usk in the lives and livelihoods of the people and wildlife who call the Usk Valley home - from the Bannau Brycheiniog to the Newport wetlands. The exhibition brings together work by young artists aged 12-30 - Dan, Alma, Rey, Felix, Arron, Callum, Ella, Katie, Eve, Millie, Mariama, Isla, Emily, Betsi, Tia, Aneurin, Zeta, Cerys, Eben, Hannah, Ben and Rhys - created in conversation with over 200 Usk Valley residents.

At the heart of the exhibition is a new, large-scale map of the entire Usk Catchment. This is no ordinary map: it moves across time, feeling and memory to record what communities love about the river today while also tracing the losses and damage they witness. Because the Usk is no longer abounding with fish. Pollution, habitat degradation and climate change are taking their toll on salmon, trout and wildlife of many kinds. People who swim in the river risk falling ill, and water flashing off depleted uplands carries floods and fear downstream.

‘Abounding with fish?’ looks to the past to help us understand the present and chart a course toward a future in which the river — which connects more than 200,000 people — can thrive.

The exhibition, initiated by Ben Roberts, is organised by Action for Conservation and Peak Cymru. It marks the launch of Action for Conservation’s new project, Llifo/Flow, funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. Partnering with Peak Cymru, Landed Futures and the Usk Catchment Partnership, Action for Conservation is working with Young People to restore the River Usk, encouraging decision-makers to embrace community knowledge and youth leadership in the design, development and delivery of nature restoration efforts on Welsh rivers.

Yn gyforiog o bysgod? 

Criw o bobl ifanc yn archwilio gorffennol, presennol a dyfodol yr Afon Wysg.  

4 - 14 Tachwedd 2025
Glan yr Afon, Casnewydd

Yr Afon Wysg yw’r afon hiraf i lifo drwy Gymru gyfan. Mae ei henw hynafol yn golygu ‘yn gyforiog o bysgod’. 

Mae ‘Yn gyforiog o bysgod?’ yn archwilio rôl yr Afon Wysg ym mywyd a gwaith y bobl a’r bywyd gwyllt sy’n galw Dyffryn Wysg yn gartref – o’r Bannau Brycheiniog hyd at wlyptiroedd Casnewydd. Mae’r arddangosfa’n cynnull gwaith gan artistiaid ifanc rhwng 12-30 oed - Dan, Alma, Rey, Felix, Arron, Callum, Ella, Katie, Eve, Millie, Mariama, Isla, Emily, Betsi, Tia, Aneurin, Zeta, Cerys, Eben, Hannah, Ben a Rhys – wedi eu creu drwy gydweithio gyda dros 200 o bobl ardal Dyffryn Wysg. 

Wrth galon yr arddangosfa mae map graddfa fawr newydd o Ddalgylch Wysg. Nid map cyffredin mohono: mae’n symud ar draws amser, greddf a chof i gofnodi yr hyn y mae cymunedau’n ei garu am yr afon heddiw, gan olrhain ar yr un pryd y colledion a’r niwed maen nhw’n ei weld. Am nad yw’r afon bellach yn gyforiog o bysgod. Mae llygredd, diraddiad cynefinoedd a newid hinsawdd yn niweidio poblogaethau eog a brithyll yn ogystal â bywyd gwyllt o bob math. Mae nofio yn yr Afon Wysg yn gwneud pobl yn sâl, ac mae dŵr yn fflachio oddi ar ucheldiroedd diffygiol, gan greu llifogydd, ac ofn. 

Mae ‘Yn gyforiog o bysgod?’ yn defnyddio’r gorffennol i’n helpu i wneud synnwyr o’r presennol a phennu llwybr tuag at ddyfodol lle mae’r afon — sy’n cysylltu dros 200,000 o bobl — yn gallu ffynnu. 

Mae’r arddangosfa hon, a sbardunwyd gan Ben Roberts, wedi ei drefnu gan Action for Conservation a Peak Cymru. Mae’n nodi lansiad project newydd Action for Conservation, Llifo/Flow, sy’n cael ei ariannu gan Sefydliad Esmée Fairbairn. Wrth bartneru gyda Peak Cymru, Landed Futures a Phartneriaeth Dalgylch Wysg, mae Action for Conservation yn gweithio gyda Phobl Ifanc i adfer yr Afon Wysg, gan annog pobl sy’n gwneud penderfyniadau i gofleidio gwybodaeth gymunedol ac arweiniad gan bobl ifanc wrth ddylunio, datblygu a chyflwyno ymdrechion i adfer natur ar afonydd Cymru.