This is the work of Yinka Shonibare MBE. It’s called End of Empire.
At first glance I thought it was a ‘fun’ way of showing the balance of world power. I could also write here that it's a 'moving piece of work' because it does move. The Glynn Vivian Gallery gives a much more detailed blurb :
Glynn Vivian is delighted to be exhibiting Yinka Shonibare's powerful work exploring themes of conflict, empire and migration in the centenary year of the end of the First World War (...) Shonibare's sculptural work End of Empire explores how alliances forged in the First World War changed British society forever, and continue to affect us today.
I also walked around the gallery taking in other exhibitions and collections.
I was also very interested in the gallery showing how some of the acquired work has had to be restored, for instance:
The painter behind this huge work was Archie Rhys Griffiths, ARCA (1902-1971). It is called ‘Portrait of Catherine Morse in School Uniform’, 1922.
A video shown alongside this piece explained how this work was in dire need of restoration when it was given to the Gallery by the Morse-Jones family. Some of the paint was peeling off and the back showed signs of damp. This problem had apparently cause the actual canvas to shrink.
The restorer explained in detail how the work had had to be renewed using the right type of materials. It was incredibly interesting (to me anyway; the only person in that section of the gallery at the time).
The gallery exhibited part of the equipment needed to carry out the restoration work :
and
I am sure that you appreciate that some of my interest in all of this is also partly linguistic as I get to see Welsh words not commonly used :D
After all that hard work, I went to meet up with @tinygalaxy after her lectures and had some lovely food at Caffi Tapestri nearby.
All in all it was a very busy day full of driving and surviving the traffic, but it was great to have the museum visit and the meet-up.
_ photos by @cryptocariad_