Centenary chair honours Welsh poet who died at Flanders Fields

Evans – better known under his artist name Hedd Wyn (Welsh for “Blessed Peace”) – died on 31 July 1917, near the West Flemish town of Langemark-Poelkapelle, only six weeks before he was to receive the prestigious Bardic Chair prize for Welsh poetry.

The laureates of the prize receive a wooden bard’s chair that’s been designed especially for them. The chair which was given to Hedd Wyn posthumously in 1917 – dubbed the “Black Chair” – was carved by Flemish carpenter Eugeen Vanfleteren, who fled his home in Mechelen for the UK.

To commemorate the poet’s death, the Welsh National Memorial and Hedd Wyn Society and the Mechelen campus of Thomas More created a contest for contemporary designs of Bardic Chairs. Groups of students in furniture design at Thomas More made their own versions, integrating references to the First World War and to Wales, including, for example, the red dragon from Wales’ national flag.

The winning design, “Ravages of Time”, was made from wooden railway sleepers found buried in a field near the site of the battle. Railway sleepers were often used to reinforce trenches and shelters during the First World War.

The different Bardic Chair designs made by the Flemish students are being exhibited at the Flemish Parliament. The winning design will be given to the Welsh government later this year.