4 Culture and language
95. Wales has a unique and diverse culture, and all
branches of the arts are well represented in Wales in both languages.
In this Chapter, we examine how Welsh culture is promoted overseas
and the benefits in doing so.
Value of cultural exports
96. The exchange of culture can help foster mutual
understanding between countries. It allows people from other countries
to have a positive view of a nation, its people, culture and policies.
The promotion of culture can also result in economic benefits,
through increased tourism, inward investment or trade.
97. Welsh cultural organisations agreed that cultural
links could help build relations between countries and also contribute
to business and investment opportunities. Amgueddfa Cymru and
the Welsh National Opera (WNO) had both worked closely with the
Welsh Government in promoting Wales overseas and had attended
events which supported the Welsh Government's relationships with
other countries.[106]
WNO told us that such partnerships helped the Welsh Government
"give a sense" of Wales and build relationships with
overseas partners:
If there are ways in which all arts and cultural
organisations can build links in different places, once you start
opening up these conversations, you never quite know where they
are going to end. Some extremely fruitful conversations have come
from these meetings.[107]
98. Wales Literature Exchange told us that a "productive
dimension" to Welsh culture was the Welsh language. Welsh
books had been translated into a number of languages, including
Spanish, Arabic, Chinese and Bengali. It believed that Welsh culture
and the Welsh language allowed countries—some of whom had
historically difficult relationships with the UK—to engage
with the UK "in a different way".[108]
99. Some witnesses, however, were unconvinced about
the value of cultural exports. Professor John Ball said that:
Certainly the success of individual activities
can provide a short term burst of interest—an example is
the Welsh language film. It is a matter of great pride that some
films produced for S4C have received the accolade of "Oscar"
nominations and similar programmes sold to European television
stations […] but I'm not sure that it would be of a great
magnitude [on the perception of Wales].[109]
International profile of Welsh
culture
100. Currently, Welsh culture does not enjoy as high
a profile overseas as other countries of the UK, such as Scotland,
or Ireland. Dr Crawley believed that this was due to complex historical
reasons. Welsh emigrants had tended to assimilate with local communities,
whereas other populations, such as the Irish, had kept their networks
and maintained a strong identity abroad.[110]
Nevertheless a large number of Welsh organisations still existed
today in the USA following the emigration there in the seventeenth
to the nineteenth century. For example, there is a North American
Welsh newspaper, the Ninnau, the North American Festival
of Wales, and the Madog Centre for Welsh studies at the University
of Rio Grande, Ohio, which supports the preservation of the Welsh
language and culture.
101. The Welsh language is spoken in some other parts
of the world, most famously in Patagonia, Argentina following
Welsh emigration to the region in the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries (see Box 2). There are an estimated 7,000
speakers of the Welsh language in Patagonia today. The Welsh language
is also taught at universities in Poland and Japan.
| Box 2: History of the Welsh communities in Patagonia, Argentina
The first Welsh settlers to Patagonia arrived in 1865. In the early years of the settlement and until the 1930s, Welsh was the language of the political and economic institutions. After 1914 the number of Welsh immigrants reduced and contact with Wales decreased. The numbers speaking Welsh began to decline.
The 100-year anniversary in 1965 of the emigration prompted those in Patagonia to renew interest in their Welsh heritage and the Welsh language, as well as people from Wales. In 1997, the Welsh Language Project was introduced. It focused on schoolchildren and young adults. The 150 year anniversary will be celebrated in 2015.
It is estimated there are currently around 50,000 Patagonians of Welsh descent. Welsh culture and traditions survive in Patagonia, and Welsh is spoken by communities in Esquel and Trevelin in the west, and Gaiman and Trelew in the east of Chubut. The Welsh heritage is also visible throughout Chubut in the names of towns (Trelew, Trevelin, Dolavon, Porth Madryn), place names (Hirdaith Edwyn, Y Clafdy, Afon Eira, Hafn yr Aur), agricultural areas in the valley (Drofa Dulog, Lle Cul and Tir Halen) and street names (Lewis Jones, Michael D Jones). The Welsh settlers built 34 chapels, 16 of which survive. The province of Chubut provided a subsidy equivalent to US $750,000 in 2011 for their conservation.
|
102. Witnesses highlighted the "sheer productivity"
of Welsh culture, from its authors, poets, singers, musicians,
and orchestras to its theatres and festivals.[111]
However, the Welsh National Opera believed that Welsh culture
was currently "undersold" to the international community
and that it could be better used to promote Wales abroad.[112]
Some Welsh cultural organisations were seeking to promote their
work internationally. The Arts Council of Wales, for example,
had included international promotion of Wales as one of its 10
key challenges in its strategy,[113]
while Amgueddfa Cymru had published an international strategy
to prioritise its overseas work.[114]
The work of the British Council
103. The British Council is the UK Government's principal
agency for cultural relations with other countries. Its aim is
to enhance the reputation of the UK in the world. British Council
Wales, based in Cardiff, works in partnership with institutions,
representative bodies, strategic partners and government to "ensure
the British Council's global programmes and locally devised initiatives
are attuned to the needs, strategies and expertise of Wales".[115]
Some British Council projects, including the Welsh Language Project
in Patagonia, receive funding from the Welsh Government.
PROMOTING WELSH CULTURE
104. Cultural organisations had different views about
the effectiveness of the British Council in promoting Wales. Most
believed that the British Council consistently supported Welsh
cultural activities. The Arts Council of Wales, for example, said
that it had worked with the British Council on cultural projects
in India, Australia and China in recent years.[116]
Amgueddfa Cymru told us that support from the British Council
had enabled it to put on its 'Wales, Land of the Red Dragon'
exhibition in Chongqing, China. 96,000 people had attended the
exhibition during its four-month run, which Amgueddfa Cymru regarded
as a "great success" from Wales's point of view, in
terms of tourism, business, and higher education.[117]
105. Some witnesses, however, questioned whether
the British Council had sufficient awareness of Wales and its
cultural assets. The Welsh National Opera expressed the view that
the British Council "ought to be more geographically aware
of the potential of the cultural assets right throughout the country".[118]
In particular it expressed concern that there was no full-time
representative for Wales on the British Council's board. Instead,
there was one position on the Board which rotated every two years
between Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.[119]
106. Giving evidence, the British Council told us
that its role was to promote the UK as a whole, but British Council
Wales was an integral part of its global network:
We work very closely with our regional offices
across the world and with our partners in Wales to project the
best of Welsh education, to develop collaborations and partnerships
on the arts side and to ensure that Wales benefits from the British
Council's global education and arts programme.[120]
The British Council did not believe there was a need
for a permanent Welsh representative on its Board of Trustees.
It had a Wales advisory committee which it said enabled any concerns
to be fed through the regional director to the Council's management
board.[121]
WELSH LANGUAGE PROJECT IN CHUBUT
107. The Welsh Language Project has been operating
since 1997 to promote and develop the Welsh language in the Chubut
region of Patagonia. Since 2012, the British Council has been
responsible for managing the Project, with funding from the Welsh
Government, British Council Wales and the Wales Argentina Society
(Cymdeithas Cymru-Ariannin). The main annual activities of the
project are:
· Three
Language Development Officers recruited from Wales, based in Patagonia
from March to December teaching and developing the language in
the Welsh-speaking communities;
· A Teaching
Co-ordinator from Wales, responsible for the quality of teaching
and the Language Development Officers, permanently based in Patagonia;
· A network
of Patagonian Welsh language tutors in the region;
· Inward
visits to Wales by local tutors to participate in both Welsh language
courses and Welsh medium school observation visits.
108. During our visit to Buenos Aires and Chubut,
we were impressed by the commitment and enthusiasm shown by the
British Council, the Welsh communities in both the east and west
of Patagonia and by the Welsh language teachers. The number of
Welsh learners in Chubut has grown annually since the British
Council took over the management of the project, with 83 classes
held and 935 learners taught in 2013. It was clear that the Project
was highly valued by the local politicians we met in Chubut, who
considered the Welsh link an integral part of their heritage.
No project elsewhere in the world compares to the Welsh Language
Project in Chubut. The British Council has also been tasked by
the Welsh Government with co-ordinating the celebrations for the
150th anniversary of the Welsh emigration to Patagonia in 2015.
We heard from the Governor of Chubut that he had plans to increase
support from Chubut Province for Welsh language schools in the
region as one way to mark the 150-year anniversary, as well as
issuing a coin and printing stamps celebrating the anniversary.
109. Wales has a unique and diverse culture, including
its own language, but is not widely known around the world. Promoting
Welsh culture overseas can help build familiarity with Wales,
with subsequent economic, cultural and political benefits for
Wales and the UK more broadly.
110. The British Council does some good work to
promote Wales, most notably with the excellent Welsh Language
Project in Patagonia, Argentina. However, there are other parts
of the world, including the USA, with a notable Welsh diaspora
or where there is an interest in the Welsh language.
111. We recommend that the British Council investigate
other opportunities where Welsh culture and language can be promoted
to overseas markets.
112. At the organisational level, we believe that
the British Council's knowledge of Wales would benefit from permanent
Welsh representation on its Board of Trustees.
113. We recommend that the British Council's Board
of Trustees includes a permanent Welsh representative, to ensure
that Welsh interests are represented at the highest level of the
British Council.
114. We recommend that the UK Embassy in Argentina
should have a specific strategic goal to help promote the Welsh
language in Patagonia and foster relations between the region
and Wales.
NATO 2014 Summit in Newport
115. The 2014 NATO summit took place in Newport in
September (following the conclusion of our evidence-taking). It
was one of the largest international summits ever hosted in the
UK and provided a unique opportunity to showcase Wales to the
world. During our evidence sessions, we heard about the close
working relationship between the FCO, Wales Office and Welsh Government
to plan and organise the Summit. The Summit ran smoothly and was
widely considered a success. There were several opportunities
taken to publicise Wales during the Summit, including Welsh food,
Welsh products and Welsh businesses. The Secretary of State for
Wales, Rt Hon Stephen Crabb MP, described the NATO summit as a
"massive showcase for so much that's positive, strong and
good about Wales".[122]
President Obama said it
has been a "great honour" to be the first sitting president
to visit Wales and that he would encourage people from the USA
to visit. He praised the country's "extraordinary beauty,
wonderful people and great hospitality".[123]
116. In 2010, the Celtic Manor Resort hosted the
Ryder Cup. Simon Glover, Director of the Resort, told us that
while the Ryder Cup had raised the international profile of Wales,
the country had not benefited in the longer-term "as much
as [it] should have":
[…] let us not underestimate the effect
the Ryder Cup had on the international profile in Wales. Before
that [people] had no conception that Wales was a country and identity
all by itself. The Ryder Cup did achieve that for us internationally
and has raised the profile, but whether we have followed up on
it—and how we follow up on it—on an international
basis is another question.[124]
Both the Welsh Government and Wales Office said it
was important to have a legacy from the NATO summit. An international
investment conference will be held in Wales in November following
the NATO summit.
117. We congratulate all those involved with bringing
the NATO Summit to Wales, notably the then Secretary of State
for Wales and the Wales Office, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office,
the Welsh Government, and the Celtic Manor Resort. The summit
helped to increase awareness about Wales around the world. It
is important that the UK and Welsh Governments capitalise upon
this to bring longer-term benefits to Wales, through investment
and tourism opportunities.
106 Amgueddfa Cymru (IRW0001), Welsh National Opera
(IRW0015) Back
107
Q209 Back
108
Q200 Back
109
Professor John Ball (IRW0004) Back
110
Q3 Back
111
Q192, Q205 Back
112
Q205 Back
113
Arts Council of Wales (IRW0023) Back
114
Amgueddfa Cymru (IRW0001) Back
115
British Council (IRW0003) para 2.3 Back
116
Arts Council of Wales (IRW0023) Back
117
Q216 Back
118
Q206 Back
119
Q206 Back
120
Q228 Back
121
Q260 Back
122
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-29084691 Back
123
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-29073208 Back
124
Q83 Back
| 
