Butetown History & Arts Centre, Cardiff

The BHAC archive has grown from community interest and activity over more than a decade. Informal family snaps, proud photos of home and jobs, formal studio portraits and images of celebrated personalities, before fame claimed them, have all been donated to the Centre. On this foundation the collection has expanded with material from local industries, shipping firms and companies that made their fortunes in Butetown and the Docks. All these images provide a kaleidascope of a time when Cardiff Bay was known to the world over as Tiger Bay. BHAC is creating a Bay People's Archive by collecting and cataloguing: Old photographs; audio taped oral recollections from Butetown's older residents and former residents, including 150 life histories; video taped life history recollections; a collection of old documents and artefacts, e.g. seamen's discharge papers, passports, immigration cards, ration books; boarding house ledgers; a small library of pertinent books, reports and theses. The Archive and Collection will be an invaluable resource for educational and research purposes for generations to come.

Collection details

Social History

Key artists and exhibits

• The Butetown Community Quilt