Representing Pasts – Visioning Futures

Abstract

In the public consciousness Snowdonia is perceived as sublime; an untouched landscape which shelters significant ecology and cultural heritage. Testimony to this is the layering of designations, including a National Park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. However, Eryri is threatened by climate change and biodiversity loss. The Welsh Government calls this ‘the decisive decade’ to act and the Climate Change Committee advises that transforming land use is one of four key areas Wales can take action to reach net zero. It was 18th century tourists seeking the Picturesque who promoted perceptions of sui generis Eryri through their writings and paintings, framing it as one inspiring horror and pleasure. Landscape remains a concept tied to the visual. Jala Makhzoumi writes, ‘people are interested in landscapes predominantly for the pleasure of viewing and experiencing them’. Can we still afford for Snowdonia to be perceived this way? Juliet Pietsch and Ian McAlister write that in ‘advanced democracies, public opinion is a key element in developing an appropriate policy response’ to mitigate climate change. How can new creative practices help reframe Eryri in the public mind to better facilitate landscape adaption to tackle climate change? Influenced by Kenneth Owlig, my paper proposes an active reframing of Snowdonia to rebalance the aesthetics and substantive contents of the landscape and achieve a wider recognition of what Barbara Bender described as ‘the untidiness and contradictoriness of human encounters with time and landscape’. I will present archival material from Bangor University Archives and discuss local case studies.