Culturenet Cymru and Ohio
Culturenet Cymru’s presence on the web has inspired an exhibition of famous Welshmen and women in Ohio, USA.
The Madog Centre for Welsh Studies at the Rio Grande University, Ohio recently presented an exhibition which celebrated Wales’ best loved heroes. Based on the Culturenet Cymru 100 Welsh Heroes poll, 2008 Madog Research Fellow Benjy Davies has created 20 original digital illustrations.
The artwork celebrates historical and contemporary leaders in poetry, art, music and politics, including Owain Glyndwr, Richard Burton, Catherine Zeta Jones and poll winner Aneurin Bevan. The digital images incorporate portraiture, design, pattern and virtual painting and were exhibited at two locations in south-eastern Ohio, an area which attracted many Welsh settlers during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
The exhibition is the 2008 Madog Research project. The Madog Centre, named after Prince Madog who reputedly discovered America before Christopher Columbus, is an outgrowth of the North American Association for the Study of Welsh Culture and History and is based in one of the largest Welsh-American settlements in the USA. The Centre has close links with the National Library of Wales through the Wales-Ohio Project.
The exhibition demonstrates that the work of Culturenet Cymru extends worldwide, promoting the culture and heritage of Wales. In the past month, the Gathering the Jewels site has received over 10,000 visits from the United States, including over 200 from the state of Ohio.
The online digital resources provided by Culturenet allow the heritage and culture of Wales to be accessed and enjoyed internationally. Through digitisation and online interpretation, it is possible for Wales to see the world and the world to see Wales!
You can view the images online by clicking here.
Culturenet Cymru