Pierhead Tales: Butetown Boyhood, the Boyhood of Ali

On Tuesday 11 July 1989 ex merchant seaman Robert Johnson sits on a bollard at the Pierhead talking to three young boys from Mountstuart Primary School. The boys are entranced by his maritime tales.  A seaman on shore leave listens in behind them.  Two passers by are in earshot.  In this way Jack Sullivan is showing how recollections of the lived past can be kept alive by story telling.

This painting brings together some themes of our exhibition.  Robert Johnson, who went to sea at 14 years old, is pointing out to the sea beyond Penarth Head, indicating the global connection that exists between Butetown and the wider world as well as a nod to the community’s maritime roots.

Perhaps Jack Sullivan was thinking of John Everett Millais’ work ‘The Boyhood of Raleigh’ while he was painting this.