Our Cardiff

The Welsh capital's global exports included coal, iron, and culture in many hues. Its famous Tiger Bay, where shipworkers from all over the world settled to create a thriving, diverse community, produced Shirley Bassey; Roald Dahl lived in nearby Llandaff, and between the two locations is Ivor Novello's birthplace. The city has long been home to BBC Wales, ITV Wales and S4C, but the 1980s also saw it grow to be a buzzing hub for independent production, animators (the likes of Joanna Quinn, Phil Mulloy and Gerald Conn) and workshop creativity, earning it the label 'media City'. Cardiff was the backdrop to Justin Kerrigan's exploration of 1990s nightclub culture in Human Traffic, while today the city's Roath Lock BBC studios are home to Casualty, Dr Who and long-running soap Pobl y Cwm. This collection takes us under the skin of Cardiff, with items that hold the the place both in close affection and at arm's length - some highlighting the best of the city while others hold its failings up to scrutiny. All in all they show Cardiff to be, in the words of one of Gritty Films' titles, just a cool place.