Features
Newsday reporter
Reframing Picton, a community-led exhibition opened at the National Museum Cardiff on 1 August. The exhibition includes two newly commissioned artworks which will become part of the National Collection of Wales. The two new commissions include a comprehensive sculpture installation, objects from the Amgueddfa Cymru collections, stunning photography and film. These works will help reframe the legacy of Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton (1758-1815) and give a voice to those most affected by Picton’s actions and those living with the legacy today, a statement said. media release.
Alongside the new commissions, Picton’s portrait will return to the museum’s walls in a traveling frame after its removal in November 2021. The portrait of Sir Martin Archer Shee has been part of Amgueddfa Cymru’s collections since its foundation in 1907.
The decision to reinterpret the portrait was made as part of Reframing Picton – a youth-led project team involving SSAP Youth Leadership Network and Amgueddfa Cymru Producers. The project team worked with museum curators to provide additional information and context about Picton’s legacy as Governor of Trinidad in the late 19th century. This includes his brutal treatment of the people of Trinidad, including the torture of 14-year-old Luisa Calderon – information that was not part of the museum’s previous interpretation of the portrait.
(Calderon, a free “mulatto” girl, had been accused of theft. The form of torture she suffered was known as “picketing”: she hung from a scaffold by the wrist for nearly an hour, with all her weight resting on an inverted wooden stake.
Sir Thomas Picton is a controversial figure known for his brutality during his lifetime and was known by the nicknames “The Tyrant of Trinidad” and “The Bloody Governor” due to his governance of Trinidad and his treatment of slaves.)
The project team looked at objects across Amgueddfa Cymru’s collections to reinterpret the narrative around Picton. Objects included in the interpretation included a newly acquired transcript of Picton’s trial in London in 1806; anti-slavery medals produced to support the anti-slavery movement in late 18th century Great Britain; and a medal from the 1819 Eisteddfod, won by Walter Davies in 1819 for an ode to Picton.
The Reframing Picton project team said in the release:
“For generations, even until recent years, the saying ‘Black Lives Matter’ has been controversial. While working on this project, we made a point to expose—not erase—history, and it was essential to directly include people connected to Trinidad, where Picton cemented his reputation for barbarism during his tenure as governor. .
“One of our goals for this exhibit was to create a place of awareness, not indoctrination. To create a dialogue between museums, the governments that fund them and the communities they serve. To create healthy ways to deal with trauma. We hope this exhibition will encourage visitors of all backgrounds to listen and learn from the past and put these lessons into practice today.”
The commissions follow a call from Amgueddfa Cymru in January 2021 for artists to explore alternatives to the colonial narrative represented by Picton’s portrait and focus on black experiences. The new artworks by Gesiye and Laku Neg explore narratives of origin, healing, transformation and empowerment and they challenge the colonial narratives that have traditionally existed in the galleries of the National Museum Cardiff by focusing on black consciousness, experiences and voices. Gesiye (pronounced gay-see-yay) is a multidisciplinary artist from TT. Her work with individuals and communities explores storytelling, connection and healing in various mediums and is inspired by a deep love and respect for the land. Her commission, The Wound is a Portal, uses the cathartic process of tattooing to explore generational traumas in relation to the land. Her installation includes a series of portraits and a short film. Each tattoo in this intergenerational work is linked through a stop motion animation, facilitating a recovery of agency and acting as a portal for reconnecting with self, each other and the earth.
Gesiye said in the announcement:
“This healing offering is a portal, an ode to our island, to its beauty and to our belonging. The trauma of slavery and colonialism continues to affect the African diaspora’s relationship to the land. In The Wound is a Portal, I use Afro – healing modalities of diaspora to weave a mythology of land and personhood, celebrating individual identity while creating space to know our truths and air our pain I am grateful to have created this work in collaboration with musicians , designers, filmmakers, photographers and eight volunteers from across the island who met through this experience.”
Laku Neg (Black Yard in Haitian Kwéyòl) is represented by four artists, three of Trinidadian heritage, who live and work in the UK. The group promotes expressions of knowledge of the African diaspora through the arts. Laku Neg’s Spirited Commission is an immersive installation – a tapestry of memory and understanding, comprising a metal sculpture, bamboo frames, twisted paper, found objects and audio-visual elements. It is inspired by the ole mas traditions, practices and aesthetics of the TT Carnival. Their commission considers a re-introduction of Luisa, Thisbe and Present, named victims of Picton’s brutal regime in Trinidad.
Laku Neg said:
“This ancestral work honors the rugged African traditions in Trinidad that nurture and sustain our island culture. Here, we offer re-imaginings and re-creations of a period in which Trinidadian and Welsh history overlap – and which continues to fill our lives with inequality. We recognize that injustice and racism are still with us, as is the power of transformation. We celebrate our presence and belonging. We are here.”
Dr Kath Davies, director of collections and research at Amgueddfa Cymru, said:
“This project is the culmination of such positive work between Amgueddfa Cymru and the Sub Sahara Advisory Panel (SSAP) Youth Leadership Network and Amgueddfa Cymru Producers. It emphasizes the importance and positive outcomes that come from working together and listening to each other.
“We are very grateful to the young people of the SSAP Youth Network who gave their time to work with us at the museum, and we are very proud of the works of art that have now entered the national collection. We thank the artists for their work. a pandemic and across international borders. We hope they spark conversations about the representation and multiple histories of Wales in a modern day museum.”
Fadhili Maghiya, director at the Sub Sahara Advisory Panel said:
“For the longest time Picton has been celebrated in Wales, now, for the first time, communities that have historically been exploited and abused by Picton have a reason to celebrate:
“Our stories, told through beautiful and affirming pieces of art, celebrating our resilience and remembering our heritage and history, our side of the story.
“There may be misconceptions that Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum of Wales and the Sub-Sahara Advisory Panel Youth Network aim to rewrite history with this project. However, this is far from the truth. Reframing Picton aims to rewrite our future by challenging the way we engage with history. The project enables us to expand the attention that has hidden for many years the darkness of Picton in all its full and true context. The SSAP Youth Network and Amgueddfa Cymru have played a key role in shaping important conversations involving our nation and our past. We hope this is the start of uncovering the many neglected voices that make Wales a prosperous and globally responsive nation that brings communities together to thrive.”
Amgueddfa Cymru belongs to everyone and is here for everyone to use. We are a charity and a family of seven national museums and a collection centre, located across the country. Our aim is to inspire everyone through Welsh history, in our museums, communities and digitally.
Our welcome is free thanks to funding from the Welsh Government and is open to people from all communities. Play your part in Welsh history: by visiting, volunteering, joining, donating,
www.museum.wales
Youth-led projects across the museum are part of the Hands on Heritage initiative, made possible by the National Heritage Lottery Fund’s Kick the Dust Grant.
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