A Swansea community is forging links with a town immortalised by Picasso thanks to a primary school art project.
Year five and six pupils at Tregwyr Junior School have teamed up with their counterparts at San Fidel School in Guernica in the Basque region of Spain after studying the life and works of Pablo Picasso.
Now teacher Russell Casey wants to try and cement those links and is investigating whether Swansea could potentially be twinned with Guernica, which was bombed in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War and saw some of its children evacuated to Swansea to escape the raids.
Mr Casey explained how the Welsh-Basque link-up developed.
He said: “Given Picasso’s long life we were looking at him and his work as an eyewitness to history. As part of that we focussed on the history of flight during his lifetime and in 1937 his art and the history of flight collided in his Guernica’ painting.”
The painting brought the world’s attention to the indiscriminate bombing of civilians of a defenceless city and its citizens by German bombers of the Condor Legion working for Franco during the Spanish Civil War. The blitz was a foretaste of what was to happen to Swansea and other cities in Britain in the Second World War.
Mr Casey said there is even evidence that the Condor Legion carried out at least one bombing raid over Swansea during the war.
He added: “We’ve also been looking at the lives of some of the Welsh volunteers who fought against the Fascists in the war and the Basque evacuee children who stayed in Sketty Hall.”
The Tregwyr children teamed up with pupils from San Fidel School who explained what the Guernica work meant to them and sent their interpretations which are now on display at Tregwyr Junior School.
Now Mr Casey is investigating the potential for a twinning link between the two communities.
He said: “Like Wales, the Basques live in a country within a country and Welsh fighters went to join forces against the Fascists.”
Narberth-based artist Ben Lloyd is currently working with children at the school to produce a version of the painting to mark the 70th anniversary of Swansea’s Three Nights Blitz during the Second World War.
Cllr Mike Day, Cabinet Member for Education in Swansea Council, said: “This is a terrific example of how schools in Swansea use innovative ideas to bring history and art to life for new generations of young people.”
The art project was funded by Swansea Council, the Welsh Arts Council and Gowerton Community Council.
