NLW on Google Arts & Culture
Collections - Posted 22-03-2021
In early March the National Library of Wales’ presence on the Google Arts & Culture cultural platform was launched. Many of the Library’s unique digital collections have been released on the Google Arts & Culture website and app bringing Welsh culture to the attention of the world.
The National Library is the first national cultural institution from Wales to share content on the Google Arts & Culture platform and joins over 2000 other partners from around the world who are committed to making art and culture available to everyone wherever they are. For the first time, our collections will sit alongside other cultural content from around the world.
Currently there are 190 items from the National Library’s collections available to explore in an online gallery on the Google Arts & Culture website and app. These include photographs by iconic early photographers such as Mary Dillwyn, works of art by one of Wales’ favourite artists, Kyffin Williams, and treasures such as a map of Wales by John Speed.
Sharing high resolution images on Google Arts & Culture enables audiences to explore items for themselves, to look in detail at objects and to learn about them through a variety of visual and audio-visual media. It is possible to view the ‘Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau’ music manuscript and at the same time listen to the first recording of the anthem for example, as well as looking at paintings of some of our iconic castles alongside Google ‘street view’ images of them.
This is also the first time Google Arts & Culture has included the Welsh language on its digital platform. In order to view the content in Welsh you will need to change your language settings on Google and there are instructions on the Library’s website on how to do this.
The Library plans to add more items and curate more digital stories over the coming months.
Digital Access
This post is also available in: Welsh