Over the past several months, Meadow Arts artist in residence Maya Rose Edwards has been working with communities across England and Wales to develop a major new commission for BorderLands, opening at Hay Castle (15 May – 31 August 2026).

Working with residents and community groups in Hay-on-Wye, Kington and Presteigne, Maya’s project explores ideas of borders, belonging and rural identity through walking, conversation and collective making. The residency has invited participants to reflect on the landscapes they move through every day and the ways borders shape memory, identity and connection.

At the centre of the commission is a sculptural hedge created in collaboration with professional hedgelayer Trefor Prothero. Rooted in traditional rural craft practices, the work draws on the physical language of hedgerows, features that both divide and connect landscapes across the Welsh Marches.

Unlike rigid political borders, hedges are living boundaries: constantly growing, shifting and requiring care. Maya’s collaboration with Trefor reflects the wider themes of BorderLands, suggesting alternative ways of understanding territory, stewardship and coexistence.

Alongside the hedge sculpture, Maya’s commission includes collaborative maps, film and sound works shaped through encounters with local residents and communities across the border region. Together, these works offer a layered portrait of the borderlands as a lived and evolving space, shaped as much by memory, labour and conversation as by geography itself.

Maya Rose Edwards’ practice explores rural culture, public space and the politics of place through participatory and site-responsive work. Throughout the residency, Maya has worked closely with communities and land workers to uncover stories and forms of knowledge that often exist outside formal archives.

Presented throughout the historic spaces of Hay Castle, BorderLands brings together twenty-two contemporary artists exploring territory, identity and belonging from perspectives spanning the Welsh borders to Antarctica. Maya’s newly commissioned work forms a central part of the exhibition, grounding these wider conversations within the textures, histories and communities of the border landscape itself.

Watch the film

A new short film following Maya Rose Edwards throughout the residency offers further insight into the development of the commission, the collaborative process behind the work and the ideas that have shaped it.

Visit BorderLands

BorderLands
15 May – 31 August 2026
Hay Castle, Hay-on-Wye HR3 5DG

BorderLands in 2025-26 was part-funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) which aimed to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills.

BorderLands (15 May – 31 August 2026) is presented in partnership with Hay Castle Trust. Made possible thanks to funding from The de Laszlo Foundation, The Colwinston Charitable Trust 30th Anniversary Fund and Arts Council England.