Name: Visions of the Valleys
Genre: Documentary
Released: 2015-03-29
Duration: 59 min
Cast: Gwyn Evans, Kim Howells, Elin Jones

Comprehensive if Somewhat Rushed Account of the Development of Twentieth Century Welsh Art

The stereotype of the Welsh valleys is an alluring one: the rolling hills interspersed with settlements built in and around the iron and steel industries that formed the backbone of Britain's industry until well into the Eighties.

Presented by Kim Howells, the former Member of Parliament for Pontypridd as well as being an ex-union official, this program looked at how artists responded to the changing socio-historical conditions of the area. In the pre-Industrial Revolution period it was seen as something of a tranquil region, a respite for many travelers from the hurly-burly of city life in London. 

Once the coal and steel industries developed, so the landscape acquired many of its familiar characteristics: smoke billowing out from innumerable chimneys, faceless workers walking from their anonymous terraced houses to the collieries or steel-mills, and cramped streets thronged with wives and children. Artists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries either romanticized them, looking for the nobility of the manual worker; or they expressed vehement social criticism of the economic conditions in which many Welsh citizens worked.

In the post-1945 era the trend veered towards Expressionism, with artists looking for non-realistic representations of familiar scenes. The aim was to capture the workers' emotions in any way possible; although the paintings might appear 'difficult,' they expressed a kind of psychological empathy that was absent from earlier work.

Since the Eighties most of the heavy industries have either closed or are in the process of closing. Howells spend some melancholy times walking through disused collieries and commenting on the human waste that the act of closure involved (not really appreciated at the time by the Thatcher government). Interestingly not many artists spent time on portraying the miners' strike of 1984-85; but since then they have tried their utmost to represent a post- industrial landscape that has an untapped potential, both for new industries and artistic endeavor.

The program introduced us to many artists whose names might have either been forgotten or denied the recognition that they truly deserved. I have only one criticism; perhaps so many artists should not have been featured, as it made the narrative seem rushed and confusing.

The documentary is a form of non-fiction storytelling that aims to present factual information, insights, and perspectives on real-world subjects, events, issues, or people. Documentaries can cover a wide range of topics, including history, science, culture, social issues, nature, biographies, and more.

Dziga Vertov in Man with a Movie Camera (1929)

A close look at the relationship between Welsh painting and the valleys that inspired it from the early nineteenth century to the present.

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Visions of the Valleys

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