The Visual Culture of Wales

‘The Visual Culture of Wales’ research project was established at the Centre in 1994, with the intention of researching, writing and publishing a history of the visual culture of Wales from the period following Roman rule in Britain and into the mid-twentieth century.

The project was led by the art historian Peter Lord, supported by research assistants focusing on particular aspects of the study and providing practical support procuring photographic work and copyright agreements.

The research was published in three volumes written by Peter Lord. The first volume, The Visual Culture of Wales: Industrial Society, was published in 1998. This innovative art historical study included many forms of visual art created in, for, and of industrial communities in Wales from the late seventeenth century and into the 1950s. The second volume, The Visual Culture of Wales: Imaging the Nation, was published in 2000 and traced broader developments in Welsh visual culture from the sixteenth century into the mid-twentieth century. The Visual Culture of Wales: Medieval Vision completed the series in 2003, exploring visual arts from the time of the emergence of Wales as a nation in the fifth and sixth centuries, and up to the sixteenth century, where Imaging the Nation begins. 

Each volume was published in separate English and Welsh books, and following their publication electronic versions were made available on CD-ROM in both languages. The CD-ROMs included all of the images and text from the books, with hundreds of additional images and audio-visual contextual material, including music, animation and illustrated interviews. ‘Time Galleries’ addressed the importance and continuing emergence of historical visual culture in the present. The second CD-ROM, The Visual Culture of Wales: Imaging the Nation, was awarded the Besterman/McColvin medal for an outstanding work of reference in their electronic category in 2002.