Friday 10 October 2025
10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Tigers & Dragons: Art, Wales & The British Empire
If India was the Jewel in the Imperial Crown, could we argue that Wales was England’s colony? As Wales struggles for its identity within ‘British-ness’, are there meaningful comparisons to be drawn with the Indian experience? This Conference coincides with the Glynn Vivian’s major exhibition, Tigers and Dragons: India and Wales in Britain (until 2 November 2025) which contains more than 120 artworks by over 70 artists from Wales, India, Pakistan, England and the USA. This programme explores the main thematic sections of the exhibition; unpicking the historical and contemporary threads that link the Indian subcontinent and Wales with the help of artists, curators, historians and cultural theorists.
Free, everyone welcome. Booking essential.
Call 01792 516900 or book online
Book now – Conference for Tigers & Dragons: India and Wales in Britain
Exhibition book available
Tigers & Dragons – India and Wales in Britain | Teigrod a Dreigiau – India a Chymru ym Mhrydain
By Zehra Jumabhoy (Author), Salima Hashmi (Author), Iwan Bala (Author), Peter Finnemore (Author)
Published by the H’mm Foundation
£20.00
Purchase in person at the Gallery. To order a copy, please call the Gallery on 01792 516900 or email us at glynn.vivian.gallery@swansea.gov.uk.
Download the full Conference Programme here
10:00am –11:00am
Study Morning within the exhibition, Tigers & Dragons
11:15am – 11:25am
Welcome from Karen MacKinnon (MBE), Curator of Swansea’s Glynn Vivian Art Gallery
Welcome from Dr Peter Dent, Head of History of Art, University of Bristol, UK
Short Overview from the Curators of Tigers & Dragons exhibition:
Katy Freer & Dr Zehra Jumabhoy
11:30am – 1:00pm
Session 1: Landscapes: Britishness, Battles and Tigers
11:30am – 11:50am: Viewing India (from Flintshire): Thomas Pennant’s View of ‘Hindoostan’ (1798)
Dr Rhys Kaminski-Jones (University of Wales) – 20 mins
11:55am – 12:15pm: Romantic Landscapes: J.M.W. Turner’s Visions of Wales and India
Dr Nicole Cochrane (Tate Britain, London) – 20 mins
12:20pm – 12:40pm: Victoria’s ‘Hunting’ Scenes: Amna Walayat’s Paintings and their Mughal-era sources
Dr Mehreen Chida-Razvi (SOAS, University of London) – 20mins
12:45pm – 1:00pm: Respondent: Katy Freer (Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea)
1:00pm – 1:45pm Lunch Break (45 mins)
1.45pm – 2.15pm
Session 2: Dragons & Mother-lands
Chair: Prof Martin Johnes (Swansea University)
1:45pm – 2:15pm: Wales as Woman (how The Bard lost out to Blodwen)
Peter Lord (Wales’ award-winning art historian) – 30 minutes
2:20pm – 2:40pm: The Welsh Dragon is a Ludic Being
Dr Sarah Pogoda (Bangor University) – 20 mins
2:45pm – 3:00pm Discussion led by the Chair
3:15pm – 5:00pm
Session 3: Roots & Language
3:15pm – 3:35pm: On Welshness and Whiteness
Prof Daniel G. Williams (Swansea University) – 20 mins
3:40pm – 4:00pm: Of Roots and Rooted-ness
Dr Zehra Jumabhoy (University of Bristol) – 20 mins
4:05pm – 4:25pm: Gardening the Archive: Anthotypes, Empire and Photographic Resistance
David Alesworth (Artist, Bristol) – 20 mins
4:25pm – 4:35pm: Respondent: Dr Rhys Kaminski-Jones (University of Wales)
4:35pm – 5:00pm
DRINKS & TIGERS & DRAGONS BOOK LAUNCH
Conference Co-organised by: University of Bristol & Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea
Convened by: Zehra Jumabhoy & Katy Freer to coincide with the exhibition, Tigers & Dragons: India and Wales in Britain at the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery.
Tigers and Dragons: India & Wales in Britain is curated by Glynn Vivian’s Exhibitions Officer, Katy Freer, and art historian Dr Zehra Jumabhoy at University of Bristol. Jumabhoy’s research for the exhibition was funded by a Paul Mellon Centre for British Art Curatorial Research Fellowship.
This exhibition was made possible with a grant from the Weston Loan Programme with Art Fund.
The exhibition is grateful for support from the Arts Council of Wales, Taimur Hassan Collection; Canvas Gallery, Karachi; Grosvenor Gallery, London; Chatterjee & Lal Gallery, Mumbai, and Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai.
Zehra is the inaugural Berger Trust Future Leaders Fellow in the History of British Art 2025-26 (launched by Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and The Huntington, California). This conference has been facilitated by the award of this Fellowship.
Contact the Gallery for all access information.
Please get in touch ahead of the workshop if you have specific access needs.
Telephone: 01792 516900
Email: glynn.vivian.gallery@swansea.gov.uk
Read the Gallery’s access statement – click here
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