chartistnewport

project

The following notes record the project background and development of chartistnewport.org

• [4] Closing remarks { March 2009 ]
  
• [3] Background - chartistnewport.org  [ April 2008 ] 
  
• [2] Project outline [ Sept 2007 ]  
  
• [1] Announcing the Newport Chartist Mural Documentation Project [ Sept 2007]
  

[4] Closing remarks [ March 2009 ]

New:  Ongoing Chartist commemoration activity in South Wales is promoted through  chartistcymru, a new independent website set up in March 2009. 

The chartistnewport.org project was active from September 2007 to March 2009, and was voluntarily administered by John Wilson. With the closure of the project in March 2009, this website was re-arranged into the current archive format.

chartistnewport.org has evolved through three distinct stages:

• initially set up to document the Newport Chartist Mural, which was then surrounded in public controversy as it was scheduled for demolition to make way for a city-centre redevelopment scheme. | The Newport Chartist Mural Documentation Project  
  

• the project then evolved into chartistnewport.org, conceived as an online resource for current Chartist commemoration activities in South Wales. | See the news archive of Chartist commemoration activities 2007-8 
  
• and this work then led to a pilot project to build a South Wales Chartist network and encourage local Chartist groups to develop their own web resources. | See the Chartist Network Cymru (hosted on ning).

[3] Background - chartistnewport.org  [April 2008]

chartistnewport.org has evolved  in the context of a new energy in Chartist commemoration activities over the period 2007-08: Read more here 

[2] Project outline [Sept 2007]

Following The exhibition Documenting the City: Art and Society in Newport (May-June 2007) included a section on public art and the commemoration of Chartism. Following this exhibition Newport Museum and Art Gallery was approached by Public Art Wales to discuss the  recording of the Newport Chartist Mural. 

As a result the Newport Chartist Mural Documentation Project was established with the funding support of Modus. 

Aims 

Commencing with documentation of the the Newport Chartist Mural, we plan to explore:

• public art - the immediate civic context of public art in Newport 
• the historical landscape of Chartism - the wider landscape of Chartism and its commemorative landmarks in Monmouthshire and South Wales as a whole.  
• online resources - the new information environment of the Internet provides an opportunity to extend the museological archive of Chartism, and the potential to engage wider conversation upon the heritage of Chartism and its vital role in the formation of the democratic  public sphere.    

[1] Announcing the Newport Chartist Mural Documentation Project [ Sept 2007 ]

20 September 2007 | Newport Museum and Art Gallery is producing the Newport Chartist Mural Documentation Project, in partnership with Modus and Public Art Wales.