A week of Lunchtime Conversations at this year’s Hay Festival of Literature and Arts will welcome the public to join in a series of lively informed debates. Hanes Cymru-History Wales, a partnership of Wales’s leading heritage organisations, will provide a platform for expert speakers from the heritage, arts and university sectors to discuss, question and celebrate history in modern Wales. Topics will include cultural tourism, economic regeneration and science teaching in Wales.
Hanes Cymru-History Wales’s Lunchtime Conversations are free of charge, and will be held at 1pm each day, running from Sunday 29th May until Sunday 5th June. You can find us on the Hanes Cymru-History Wales stand (No: 12-14) at Hay. Visitors are invited to come and soak up the lively but informal atmosphere, and join in the conversation over a sandwich.
All manner of Welsh history and culture experts will speak at the events throughout the week including; Marilyn Lewis, Cadw’s Director, who will explore how historic character can contribute to regeneration in Wales; Jonathan (Jo) Jones, Welsh Assembly Government’s Director of Tourism and Marketing (Director of Visit Wales) will lead a discussion examining the role of heritage in boosting Wales’ tourism offer.
David Anderson, Director General Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales will discuss the exciting £20 million Creu Hanes-Making History project which sets to transform the visitor experience at St Fagans while Tom Lloyd, prolific author on historic houses in Wales, will look at the contemporary role of Britain’s historic houses.
Marilyn Lewis, Cadw’s Director, said, “Hanes Cymru-History Wales is a great partnership between heritage organisations in Wales and one which we hope will resonate with visitors to Hay this year. The Lunchtime Conversations are an exciting development which we hope will provoke debate and inform visitors of the latest thinking on policies and actions being taken to ensure a vibrant and sustainable historic environment for Wales”.
David Anderson, Director General of Amgueddfa Cymru, said, “Amgueddfa Cymru is delighted is be part of the Hanes Cymru-History Wales partnership this year at the Hay Festival. I am very much looking forward to taking part and listening to the exciting topics being discussed in the lunchtime talks. I hope visitors to the stand will be joining in the discussions about the future of St Fagans as well as learning more about Wales’ national art collection.”
Swansea University’s Professor Huw Bowen, who is the Convener of History Research Wales, said ‘We are delighted to be taking part in the series of lunchtime conversations. It is vitally important that the research of academic historians is communicated to public audiences in as many ways as possible. As should be the case with all good history, we hope that our conversations at Hay will be informative, entertaining and, above all, thought-provoking.’
Nick Way, Director General, Historic Houses Association, said, “The HHA is delighted to join this partnership to focus on the value of Wales’s world acknowledged history. Our members act as custodians of a huge swathe of the built heritage. Across the UK they have more houses open to the public than all the public bodies and the National Trust put together, so it is natural for us to explore with Hanes Cymru-History Wales and the Welsh Assembly sponsored bodies, how every aspect of the heritage can work for the benefit of the people of Wales.”
Hanes Cymru-History Wales is a partnership between Cadw, Amgueddfa Cymru, Historic Houses Association and History Research Wales. Through the partnership, each organisation seeks to protect and promote the historic environment of Wales, and encourage people to enjoy and learn about the stories and people that made Wales. Hanes Cymru-History Wales aims to highlight how the past can contribute to the social, economic and environmental well-being of people in Wales today.
The full events programme includes (all starting at 1pm):
Sunday 29th May Tom Lloyd
Chair: Sir Brooke Boothby
Subject: Welsh Country Houses: What do they stand for today?
Monday 30th May: David Anderson, Director General, Amgueddfa Cymru
Chair: Dr Keir Waddington, Head of History, Cardiff University
Subject: Creu Hanes-Making History, St Fagans
Tuesday 31st May: Marilyn Lewis, Director, Cadw
Chair: Rhodri Ellis Owen
Subject: Regeneration and Heritage
Wednesday 1st June: Oliver Fairclough, Keeper of Art, Amgueddfa Cymru-National Museum Wales
Chair: Trevor Fishlock
Subject: The Davies Collection and the National Museum
Thursday 2nd June: Dr Robin Barlow, Aberystwyth University
Chair: Prof. Huw Bowen
Subject: War and its legacies in modern Wales
Friday 3rd June: Prof. Peter Stead
Chair: Prof Huw Bowen
Subject: Sport, history and identity in Wales
Saturday 4th June: Dr Iwan Morus, Aberystwyth University
Chair: Dr Adam Mosley, Swansea University
Subject: History and Science in Wales
Sunday 5th June: Jo Jones, Director, Visit Wales
Chair: Rhodri Ellis Owen
Subject: Tourism and Heritage
