An exhibition includes two newly commissioned artworks which will become part of Wales’ national collection. The new works are an immersive installation of sculpture, objects from the Amgueddfa Cymru collections, striking photographs and film.
They will all help reframe the legacy of Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton ( 1758 – 1815 ) and give a voice to those most affected by Pictons actions, and those that live with the legacy today. Pictons portrait will also return to the walls of the museum in a travel frame following its removal in November 2021. The decision to reinterpret the portrait was made as a part of Reframing Picton – a youth led project involving SSAP Youth Leadership Network and the Amgueddfa Cymru Producers.
The project team worked with the museum’s curators to provide additional information and context about Picton’s legacy as Governor of Trinidad at the turn of the 19th centuary. This includes the brutal treatment of the people of Trinidad including the torture of 14 year old Luisa Calderon – information that was not part of the museums previous interpretation of the portrait. The project team looked at objects across Amguedda Cymru’s collections to reinterpret the narrative around Picton. Objects included in the interpretation included a newly aquired transcript of the trial of Picton in London in 1806: anti-slavery medals produced to support the late 18 th centuary anti-slavery movement in Great Britain; and a medal from the 1819 Eisteddfod, won by Walter Davies for an ode to Picton.
The Reframing Picton project team said “for generations, even up to recent years, saying ‘Black Lives Matter’ has been controversial. In the time we worked on this project we made appoint to expose, not erase, history and it is essential that we directly involve people connected to Trinidad, where Picton entrenched his reputation for barbarism during his tenure as Governor”. “One of our goals for this exhibition was to create a site of conscience rather than indoctrination. To create a dialogue between museums, the governments than fund them and the communities they serve. To create healthy ways of addressing trauma. We hope this exhibition will encourage visitors of all backgrounds to listen and learn from the past, and to put this learning into practice today.
The new artworks by Gesiye and Laku Neg explore the narratives of ancestory, healing transformation and empowerment and they challenge the colonial narratives that have traditionally existed in National Museum Cardiff’s galleries by centering Black consciousness, experiences and voices.
Gesiye is a multidisciplinary artist from Trinidad and Tobago and her work with individuals and communities explores storytelling, connection and healing across various mediums and is inspired by a deep love and respect for earth. Her commission, The Wound is a Portal, uses the cathartic process of tattooing to explore generational trauma in relation to the land. Her installation included a series of portraits and a short film. Each tattoo in this intergenerational work is connected through a stop motion animation, facilitating a reclamation of agency and acting as a portal to re-connection with self, with each other and with the land.
Laku Neg ( Black Yard in Haitian Kweyol) is represented by four artists, three of Trinidadian heritage who live and work in the UK. The group promotes expressions of African diaspora knowledge through the arts. Laku Neg’s commission, Spirited, 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 Ol’ Mas traditions, practice and aesthetic of the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival. Their commission explores a re-presentation of Luisa, Thisbe and present , named victims of Pictons brutal regime in Trinidad.
Laku Neg said” This ancestoral work honours fractured African traditions in Trinidad that feed and underpin our island culture. Here we offer re imaginings and recreations of a period in which Trinidadian and Welsh history overlap. It is art borne of our imagination. It is motivated by experience and informed by, not responding to history”.
Dr Cath Davies , Director of Collections and Research at Amgueddfa Cymru said “ This project is the culmination of such positive working between Amgueddfa Cymru and the Sub Saharan Advisory Panel’s Youth Leadership Network and the Amgueddfa Cymru Producers. It highlights the importance and the positive outcomes that result from
working together and listening to one another. We hope that this will spark conversations on representation and the many histories of Wales in a modern day museum”.
Fadhili Maghiya, Director at the Sub Saharan Advisory Panel said “There might be misconceptions that we seek to rewrite history with this project. However that 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 widen the spotlight that has for many years hidden the darkness of Picton in all its full and truthful context. We hope this is the beginning of discovery to the many neglected voices that make Wales a prosperous globally responsibe nation that brings communities together to thrive”.