Head / Heart: Framing Future Wales

Exhibition held at the Bandstand, Aberystwyth (13 –15 April 2023)

This exhibition was the first related to our ongoing project that uses photography to understand how people think about independence in Wales, Scotland and Catalonia. 

For these nations, becoming independent would mean leaving the state which they are currently a part of (the UK and Spain) and becoming a state in their own right. 

Previous work has focused on how people’s characteristics (such as age, gender and class) affected their views about independence. 

This project takes a different approach by exploring people’s thoughts and feelings about independence. And how their experiences shape their views. 

We work with photography clubs and students to explore this question. Participants were asked to take images about independence. They discussed the images and take part in interviews.  

Aberystwyth Camera Club took the photographs for this exhibition that attracted over 600 people over the three days of the exhibition. We’re grateful for their contribution.

Club Chair, Neil McGuff, whose photography were shown in this first collection, urged others to get involved: “Myself and other members of the photography club really enjoyed taking part in this research. Using our creativity to explore the idea of independence has led to some fascinating conversations among the group and opened my eyes to the way each of us can approach a divisive topic.

“I would highly recommend any photography club or class to get involved as it offers a wonderful opportunity to pursue your creativity and to potentially have your final photography exhibited in a location such as Barcelona.” 

The project is non-partisan and does not promote a particular position on independence. It is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, as part of the ESRC/WISERD Civil Society Research Centre. For more information about this exhibition, please click the buttons below to navigate to the project’s information pages: