During the first meeting back in November 2017, participants explored and tested ways of thinking about the British Isles  vis-à-vis the global Hispanic world, offered relevant case studies for research and analysis and sought input (we still do!) from the general public for the formulation of short and longer-term research agendas.  Talks and debates were organized in partnership with the National Trust Tyntesfield, the stately home founded in 1843 by the Madrid-born merchant William Gibbs whose family built much of its fortune on the importation of Spanish wine and fruits, Peruvian guano and the export of Irish linen, Newfounland fish and British manufactures, among other commodities. To celebrate the occasion, Dr Ana Carpintero Fernández, historian and Lecturer in Guitar Studies (Conservatorio Profesional de Música, Zaragoza, Spain) played in an original Fabricatore guitar dating back to 1819 a number of extracts from little-known guitar compositions published in the British Isles by two Spanish composers, including one dedicated to the Scottish Fourth Earl of Fife, a British volunteer in the Spanish Army during the Peninsular War and friend of the South American liberator José de San Martin. You can listen an extract currently available in our online exhibition “Exploring the Hispanic-Anglosphere”.

In the months leading to a second workshop (22-24 June 2018), the network initiated the systematic identification of Individuals, Networks and Communities  (click these words to get a glimpse into our current research). We are very aware that this task highlights the open-ended character of the project since it will be impossible to fully achieve it within just 18 months. But the data gathered will be used for thematically mapping and studying the activities of relevant individuals and communities to throw light over little known instances and processes of entanglement.