During the 19th century, individual exploration, collection and classification were widely
practised as a means to understanding the world. Many private collections from this period
became the foundation stones of our public museums. Artist Jennie Savage has responded
in an extraordinary way to the fascinating life and collections of T.H. Thomas (1839 – 1915),
whose wide-ranging collections were bequeathed to Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum
Wales in 1915.

T.H.Thomas was a man on the hunt for clues, perhaps in search of a bigger truth.
He tirelessly debated scientific theory, collected and studied fragments: rocks, events,
shards, images, specimens, types; digging through mythologies, folklore and stories,
uncovering traces of cultures left before him, exploring archetypes to try to discover a time
past. His work as an illustrator for the popular press enabled him to travel widely,
spending time in Europe, North America and Canada. As a key participant in the Eisteddfod
and Gorsedd movements and one of the founders of the National Museum in Cardiff, he
was instrumental in efforts to shape and promote a cultural identity for Wales. He was
also an active and vocal member of the British Association and also President of the
Cardiff Naturalist Society.

Jennie Savage has created an installation which invites viewers to travel through the
gallery experiencing first the collection and artwork of T.H Thomas then, through
deconstruction, to explore the undercurrents and issues beneath the surface of Victorian
Britain during a time when we were becoming modern: science as a belief system, the
museum as an institution, the decline of oral culture, the industrial revolution, the
beginnings of rationalisation, the birth of consumerism - all in the shadow of Darwin,
uncertainty and anxiety. Through object, text, audio and moving image we are invited to
question our perception and understanding of the world and the stories we have
inherited.

Fables from a New World has been organised as part of Celf Cymru Gyfan - ArtShare Wales,
Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales' visual arts partnership scheme. Generously
funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, the scheme aims to increase
access to the national art collection through exhibitions and projects across Wales. This is the
third ArtShare Wales Project Oriel Davies has undertaken (previous projects being
Radical Visions, 2006, and Becoming Modern, 2008).

Editors Notes
1. Jennie Savage is an artist who seeks to transform people’s perception of situations through the creation of mediated
experiences. Working site-specifically she explores the grey areas between systems, institutions and the human story:
the lived lives and personal narratives that connect them. Working through a process that uses archiving and
intervention she seeks to map the other life of a place, community or individual in order to reveal a complex situation,
a micro- structure or simply an unheard voice.

2. Private View 2-4pm, Saturday 5 February. Officially opened by Mike Tooby, Director of Learning, Programmes &
Development, Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales, Cardiff.

3. FREE talk but places limited. Saturday 5 February, 3pm.
Thomas Henry Thomas ('Arlunydd Penygarn'): his life and interests by Christabel Hutchings, retired lecturer from
Coleg Gwent who began researching Thomas Henry Thomas's vast archive eight years ago. In 2011 she will be
publishing an edited volume of Thomas's correspondence for the South Wales Record Society.

4. Lunchtime tour of the exhibition Wednesday 9 March 12.30pm – 1.15pm. Join Alex Boyd Jones, Curator, for a free
and informal lunchtime tour of the exhibition.

5. With thanks to Anne Siegle, Camerawork ‘Acts and Monuments’, Chris Forster / Pratap Rughani, Camerawork and
James Tyson, Figure in "Act and Monuments".

6. Oriel Davies is an independent public art gallery based in Mid Wales. The Gallery organises and tours innovative
exhibitions featuring artists from Wales, other parts of the UK and internationally, and provides an extensive art
education programme. Oriel Davies is a Registered Charity no: 1034890 and is revenue funded by the Arts Council of
Wales and Powys County Council.

8. Further information and press images: Alex Boyd Jones, Curator on 01686 625041, or email: alex@orieldavies.org
Image: Gorsedd Members at National Eisteddfod Abergavenny, August 1913, Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales photographic collection. © National Museum of Wales