'People Like Us'

A piece of public art on Cardiff Bay waterfront, by John Clinch, 1993.

Three figures stand at the railing overlooking the redeveloped bay: a skimpily dressed modern young woman, whose ethnic origin is clearly non-white, points seaward towards the barrage where once there was open water; a young man, apparently dressed in 195os working garb, leans beside her but looks inward towards the old dockland; and a rather comical dog stares goofily up at both of them. It's an appealing image that aims to represent the local people who formerly lived and worked and mingled their genes in the warren of dockland streets that was known as Tiger Bay. It became home to sailors from all over the world who married Welsh wives and produced generations of mixed-race Cardiff-born children. The tight-knit community in which they lived and found employment came to an end when the industrial and commercial importance ground of South Wales to halt in the second half of the 20th century.

I find the group striking, especially for the funky young woman who I take to symbolise the future, new horizons and the revival of the Bay's fortunes with its recent transformation into a national cultural and adminstrative centre for Wales. The man, who could be her father or grandfather even, with his sombre backward gaze seems to remind us of what was lost. The two of them are not really engaging as a couple. The dog? Perhaps just to draw us in and set us thinking.

This shot complements Guinea Pig Zero's blip of Cardiff Bay, taken from near the Norwegian Church (see left in mine) which was built by Scandinavian sailors in order that they could worship in a familiar setting far from home.

Listen here to Tiger Bay's most famous daughter, Shirley Bassey, singing the Manic Street Preachers' song about her native place. Thanks to Atoll for the reminder.