Wild scenes at Cardiff

‘Wild Scenes at Cardiff’ reads the South Wales Echo headline; ‘Blacks Hunted By a Furious Mob’ in the South Wales News.

In June 1919, Cardiff was the scene of four days and nights of violent unrest that left three dead, many in hospital, and buildings ransacked and burned by mobs that included soldiers and sailors in uniform, ex-servicemen and women, united in the pursuit of black seamen.

Who were these rioters and why they were ‘furious’? Who were their victims? Who did what, when and where?

This presentation describes artistic attempts to summon and evoke people, places and episodes, in a cityscape long reworked.

Mike Pearson is Emeritus Professor of Performance Studies, Aberystwyth University.