How artists interpretate quarry communities .
In response to Bert Isaac’s exhibition at Storiel (05.07.2025 – 29.09.2025) a series of 4 talks curated by Dr. Dafydd Roberts to explore the history of quarrying communities through painted images and literature by various artists. There will be an opportunity to elaborate on how fine arts and literature represented the quarrying communities of Gwynedd. Each contributor will examine and detail fine art materials for historians to create a picture of the quarrying communities during that period.
Talk 1: Dr Dafydd Roberts
In the first of four talks, Dr. Dafydd Roberts, former Keeper of the National Slate Museum, Llanberis, will scrutinize examples of fine art by artists and see what can be learned from the work. The quarrying landscape in Gwynedd has attracted artists since the early days of the slate industry. Dr. Dafydd Roberts will guide us through prominent examples, starting with Henry Hawkins in the 1830s to Mary Elizabeth Thompson, who was a prominent artist documenting the culture of the quarries in the 1940s.
Talk 2: John Dilwyn Williams
The quarries of the Nantlle Valley and their impact on the landscape is the subject of the second talk presented by historian John Dilwyn Williams. This overview will providing insight into the history of the slate mine developments in the Nantlle Valley quarries. Through various images, it will detail how these mines affected the valley’s landscape, giving us the present post-industrial landscape, such as the Dorothea Quarry that inspired some of Bert Isaac’s art pieces. To this day, these remnants are appreciated enough to be included within the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Slate Landscape of North West Wales,but this was not the case in the 1970s when many of them were lost.
Talk 3: R Williams Parry, Sgwrs gan Ieuan Wyn
n the penultimate talk the National Eisteddfod’s chaired poet Ieuan Wyn will delve into the landscape’s infuence on seminal poet R. Williams Parry work . An overview of some themes in the poetry of one of the most notable poets of the twentieth century and his response to the circumstances in the landscape of Gwynedd’s quarries. This talk will focus on some themes in his poetry along with his response to the circumstances and events of his time. Some aspects of local society in the Ogwen Valley are highlighted, along with the natural environment and its wildlife.
Talk 4: Ieuan Wyn
In the final in the series of these talks National Eisteddfod’s chaired poet Ieuan Wyn will look at authour Caradog Pritchard’s classic novel from 1961 Un Nos Ola Leuad ‘( translated to English in 1973 and retitled Full Moon) ‘ and the ‘portrait’ depicted in it. It considers the events and upheavals that affected the lives and attitudes of the residents of Bethesda and the surrounding area during the early twentieth century.
