Amgueddfa Cymru Newsletter - Issue 4

MAJOR ADDITION TO THE ART COLLECTIONS

A DEGAS FROM FREUD COMES TO WALES

On 5 June a stunning Edgar Degas sculpture went on display in the National Museum of Art. The work, which is expected to become a star attraction, has been accepted in lieu of inheritance tax from the estate of artist Lucian Freud, who died in 2011. It has been allocated permanently to Amgueddfa Cymru, where it joins other significant Degas works.

John Griffiths, Minister for Culture & Sport, unveiled the statue, saying: ‘Our world-class art collections are a major asset to Wales and National Museum Cardiff is really going from strength to strength … I’m confident this beautiful work will prove to be a popular draw with visitors and give people yet another reason to come and visit our world-class art galleries.’

Degas was one of the most important 19th-century French Impressionists. The work represents a galloping horse, and is considered to be the largest and perhaps greatest of the fifteen horse figures found in his studio after his death.

Lucian Freud fled to the UK from Germany with his family to escape the Nazis, becoming a British citizen in 1939. During his career he trained alongside Welsh artist Cedric Morris, and worked for a period in Wales. He specified in his will that the Degas sculpture, among other artworks, should be donated to the nation in place of inheritance tax. The sculpture is now secured for present and future generations – and represents a significant addition to Wales’s national art collections.

www.museumwales.ac.uk

AMGUEDDFA CYMRU NEWS

JULY 2013 ISSUE 04

Minister for Culture & Sport, John Griffiths, with the Degas sculpture

MUGHAL INDIA IN CARDIFF 04

KIDS IN MUSEUMS MANIFESTO 08

MAKING HISTORY 06

2 AMGUEDDFA CYMRU NEWS ISSUE 04

We were at the Hay Festival again this year, and for the third year running were partners on the Hanes Cymru – History Wales stand with Cadw, the Royal Commission and the Historic Houses Association.

Visitors to the stand could find out more about Wales’s rich heritage and culture. There was also a daily programme of heritage-themed activities. Children could make their own badge in the style of a miner’s lamp check, and hand-stitch their very own bookmark. John Griffiths, the Minister for Culture & Sport, launched the latest edition of Glo, Big Pit’s people’s history magazine, which was dedicated to Big Pit’s 30th anniversary as a museum. By the end of the Festival over 9,500 festival-goers had visited our stand.

On the official Festival programme, we launched our new children’s storybook Albie the Adventurer: A Dinosaur in the Forest. This is the first ever original children’s book published by Amgueddfa Cymru. The story is by Grace Todd, who works at National Museum Cardiff’s Clore Discovery Gallery, and features the young dinosaur Albie. At the event children heard Albie’s story and helped out by making the noises we might have heard in a prehistoric forest. After the story they got to handle dinosaur bones and other fossils. The event proved extremely popular and was sold out as soon as it was announced.

Minister for Culture & Sport, John Griffiths, enjoys a copy of Glo with our Curator of Coal, Ceri Thompson

A BUSY STAND AND A SPECIAL BOOK LAUNCH

AMGUEDDFA CYMRU AT THE HAY FESTIVAL

3www.museumwales.ac.uk

This year the Urdd Eisteddfod was in Boncath, north Pembrokeshire, and so our focus was on the National Wool Museum, which was just half an hour away from the Maes. The display and activities focused on how the Museum celebrates, promotes and nurtures historic and contemporary textile design in Wales. The stand included a mini 1920s market stall showcasing popular woollen products produced in Wales from the past and present, a 1960s-style boutique where visitors could try on retro woollen clothes from the Museum’s handling collection and an exhibition of textile design work by artists and students who have worked with the Museum.

The week’s activities included flower and lollypop stick weaving, needle felting and giant knitting, all inspired by 1960s patterns. Artist Carys Hedd also helped visitors to make their own funky hats,

mobile phone cases and intricate corsages, all from old clothes, and the Museum’s knitting club showed the public how to knit cupcakes.

At GwyddonLe, the science pavilion, children learned about the archaeology of the Preseli Mountains and the Bluestones in the company of Learning Officer Ken Brassil. There were activities all week with local schools who had participated in a field trip to the area during National Science Week in March. Sound artist Dylan Adams also joined in with practical music sessions imagining and creating music of the prehistoric times.

Visitors enjoy some woolly activites with us at the Urdd Eisteddfod

A WEEK OF WOOLLY ACTIVITIES … AND AT THE URDD EISTEDDFOD


The exhibition Visions of Mughal India, on tour from the Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford, brings together a selection of outstanding Indian paintings and drawings from the collection of artist Howard Hodgkin, and this summer the exhibition comes to National Museum Cardiff.

Artist Howard Hodgkin has been a passionate collector of Indian paintings since his school days, and his collection is considered one of the finest of its kind in the world. The collection includes illustrations of epics and myths, royal portraits and scenes of court life and hunting. There is also a large and spectacular group of elephant portraits. Some of the works evoke vividly the urban or daily life of India, a country that has inspired Hodgkin on frequent visits made over some 50 years.

Artistic quality has always mattered most to Hodgkin, and all the pictures are of an unusual or exceptional quality. Above all, this is a personal collection, formed by an artist’s eye. At times, Hodgkin has devoted almost as much effort to developing his collection as to his own work as a painter. Hodgkin said: “These pictures have been chosen because I thought they were beautiful, because they touched my emotions, and not for any scholarly purposes. It is a collection made by an artist. I hope you enjoy looking at it.”

The exhibition is on display at National Museum Cardiff from 27 July to 3 November.

MUGHAL INDIA IN CARDIFF AN ARTIST’S COLLECTION OF INDIAN ART

Sultan Muhammad Adil Shah © The Collection of Howard Hodgkin


Dr Jana Horák, Head of Mineralogy & Petrology, recently attended the European Geological Union meeting in Vienna, where she won support for the nomination of Welsh slate for Global Heritage Stone Resource (GHSR) status. Such status recognises and protects key building stones of historic significance. GHSR status would place slate from north Wales alongside stones such as Italian Carrara marble, used since antiquity.

North Wales slate has been used for over 2,000 years. It is still exported across the world, although in less volume today than at the peak of industrial working. The wide use of this stone is based on its outstanding quality, which is a result of its geological history.

The microscopic structure means slate can be split very thinly while retaining its strength and durability. This also produces a versatile stone that has provided roofing for iconic buildings all over the world and mass industrial housing alike.

The representation in Vienna was well received and work will now start on the formal application. This will be completed with Terry Hughes of the Stone Roofing Association, an expert on the historical use of stone roofing materials, and Dr Graham Lott of the British Geological Survey. The application supports the submission for UNESCO World Heritage Site status for the slate industry area in north Wales, which includes the National Slate Museum.

APPLICATION FOR GLOBAL STATUS FOR WELSH SLATE

AMGUEDDFA CYMRU CURATOR WINS SUPPORT

A piece of Roman slate from Segontium in Caernearfon


MAkING HISTORY AT ST FAGANS

WORK ON THE REDEVELOPMENT GETS UNDERWAY

In 2012 St Fagans: National History Museum received the largest grant ever awarded by the Heritage Lottery Fund in Wales to redevelop the Museum and completely transform the visitor experience.

Work on the redevelopment is underway. The indoor galleries are now closed, as work begins to build brand new exhibition spaces. Staff are emptying the galleries and carefully preparing the objects that used to be on display, so that they are ready to go into storage at the National Collections Centre in Nantgarw.

The roundhouses of the Museum’s Celtic Village have now been dismantled, however Iron Age life in Wales will still be explored, with the construction of Bryn Eryr, an Iron Age farm, based on archaeological evidence from Anglesey.

Two large roundhouses will be built over the course of the coming year, with the help of volunteers, school children and members of neighbouring communities in Ely and Caerau. They will work with us to raise up the thick clay walls, interpret the history of the houses and rediscover the lives of the original inhabitants.

Funding has also been provided by the Welsh Government, and we will be embarking on a major fundraising campaign to raise the additional money needed.

Objects leaving St Fagans for storage at the National Collections Centre in Nantgarw


The number of people visiting the national museums continues to rise, with figures reaching a record high of 1.75 million visits in 2012/13, 9% above target.

Four of the museums enjoyed their best year ever. National Museum Cardiff, which features the National Museum of Art and refreshed natural history galleries, welcomed a record 477,399 visitors. The National Waterfront Museum, with its strong events programme, reached a total of 271,452 visitors. Playing an important role in the local community, the National Wool Museum attracted an impressive 34,309 visitors. The National Roman Legion Museum also achieved its best-ever figures, with 71,992 people.

David Anderson, Director General, said: ‘I am delighted that we’ve succeeded in breaking yet another record this year, which is testimony to

the quality of the service delivered by the museums and the value of the Welsh Government’s free entry policy. We must remain relevant to all, not only appealing to our existing audiences but also attracting new visitors to interact with the national collections, which, after all, belong to the people of Wales.’

John Griffiths, Minister for Culture & Sport, added: ‘Congratulations to Amgueddfa Cymru on these fantastic visitor figures. Our museums have an important role to play in profiling the culture and history of Wales locally, nationally and internationally. Free entry was introduced to enable everyone to enjoy the nation’s rich heritage of arts, sciences and social and industrial history. I am delighted to see that this policy continues to attract visitors to Amgueddfa Cymru’s museums and in turn our rich cultural history.’

BEST EVER VISITOR FIGURES FOR WALES’S NATIONAL MUSEUMS

A RECORD 1.75 MILLION VISITS IN 2012/13

Some of the 271,452 visitors who enjoyed the National Waterfront Museum in 12/13


In June National Museum Cardiff hosted the launch of the bilingual Kids in Museums Manifesto with John Griffiths, Minister for Culture & Sport, and Children’s Commissioner Keith Towler.

All our seven museums support the Kids in Museums Manifesto, pledging to work towards putting the twenty points – from inviting teenagers to hang out at museums to creating a comfortable safe place for children and families – into practice. David Anderson, Director General, said: ‘We’re committed to providing high-quality experiences for children and young people, and in particular working with children who would otherwise have fewer opportunities to participate in cultural activities. We play a key role in many communities across Wales, and we’re also proud of being the largest provider of learning outside the classroom in Wales.’

The tenth anniversary Kids in Museums Manifesto is compiled entirely from visitors’ comments. It’s a practical and powerful tool to encourage and support museums, galleries and historic houses around the country to make children, young people and family visits more enjoyable.

THE NEW kIDS IN MUSEUMS MANIFESTO

WELCOMING CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE

Children’s Commissioner Keith Towler with David Anderson at the Kids in Museums Maniffesto launch


A NEW STRUCTURE FOR THE FUTURE FOR AMGUEDDFA CYMRU

The current financial climate poses unprecedented challenges for every public sector organization in Wales, and we are no exception. We are facing a reduced budget, and must find £2.5 million in savings over the next three years. Following a 90-day consultation period with staff and trade unions, on 13 May we announced a new structure for Amgueddfa Cymru.

During the consultation period a number of alternative approaches were received, many of which have informed and strengthened the final structure. Under the new structure a total of 23 posts will be lost – 12 less than was originally proposed. Overall 134 jobs will be affected in some way, as opposed to the figure of 160 in the draft proposal announced in January. We hope to avoid compulsory redundancies by offering redeployment, voluntary redundancy and early retirement. New opportunities and posts will also be created within the new structure.

We will continue to have a strong curatorial and conservation team made up of 120 members of staff, retaining high-level international expertise across all departments.

We also remain committed to delivering key projects such as the redevelopment of St Fagans: National History Museum, a national museum of natural science and building on partnership work throughout Wales and beyond.

We aim for the changes to be in place by the beginning of 2014. The new structure will not affect the day-to-day operations of the seven national museums across Wales, which will continue to offer visitors quality experiences.

BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE MUSEUMS

JOHN WILLIAMS-DAVIES, DIRECTOR OF COLLECTIONS & RESEARCH

This is where you get to meet some of the individuals behind Wales’s national collections.

In this edition, we meet John Williams-Davies, who retires as Director of Collections & Research in September, after forty years at Amgueddfa Cymru.

Ed: John, you joined Amgueddfa Cymru in 1973. What was your first role?

JW-D: I started as a Research Assistant in the Department of Oral Traditions & Dialects at St Fagans. I was involved in a variety of projects, in my case historical farming methods. We spent about a week every month on fieldwork. We developed a network of contacts throughout Wales. We knew someone in virtually every village, and this was a great help in acquiring material for the collections and research projects. Ed: What other roles have you had over the last 40 years?

JW-D: I moved from my first role to be Assistant Keeper in the newly formed Department of Farming & Crafts, and then on to be Keeper of Buildings & Domestic Life. This was a particularly satisfying time, with the opening of key buildings such as Oakdale Workmen’s Institute and Nant

Wallter Cottage. In 1996 I took over as Keeper of St Fagans. This was a difficult time, as we had just lost a number of senior staff through voluntary redundancies and my first task was to re-establish the curatorial base. In 1999 I became Director of Operations & Development, primarily looking after operations and the social and industrial museums. In 2009 I moved to National Museum Cardiff as Director of Collections & Research. Ed: What’s your favourite item from the collections? JW-D: All the re-erected buildings at St Fagans are accessioned museum specimens, and it’s a toss-up between Rhyd-y-car houses and Capel Penrhiw. On balance, it has to be Capel Penrhiw – it’s from the Teifi Valley, my home area, but more importantly it takes me straight back to my childhood in rural Wales. In those days the chapel was the centre of social and community life in a way that is difficult for younger generations today to imagine. It’s partly nostalgia I grant you, but what the chapel represents in terms of community solidarity, radicalism and respect for education has left an indelible mark on me. For me, the simplicity and austerity of the interior is every bit as moving and inspiring as the church. It certainly provided me with a refuge and a place for contemplation when things got too hectic at St Fagans. Ed: What’s your most memorable moment with Amgueddfa Cymru? JW-D: Buildings again. The buildings themselves are all masterpieces of craftsmanship and scholarship, but what’s really moving is people’s responses to them. The pride people have in seeing their own heritage displayed in a national museum is quite palpable. In sociological terms the Museum is validating their existence: I prefer to think of it as making people feel good about themselves. That’s what St Fagans has always done, and why it has such a special place in the hearts of the people of Wales. One less joyful, but equally memorable moment, was coming home late one


evening, switching on the television to catch the news and seeing Abernodwydd Farmhouse ablaze – I had been Keeper of Buildings for less than a month! Thanks to staff and the Fire Service most of the building and all the contents were saved. Again thanks to the herculean efforts of staff we were able to reopen the building to the public in a little over six months. Ed: What has changed most over the years? JW-D: There have been huge changes over the years. To start with the obvious, we’re now much bigger. When I started we only had four sites, now we have eight; St Fagans only had thirteen buildings, now it has over forty; we only attracted 750,000 visitors, now we get 1.7m. Another change is in the complexity of the organization. This is partly a function of size, but partly due to the demands of accountability and transparency. One consequence has been the inexorable rise in the number of meetings. Ponder this: in my first seven years at St Fagans I was only required to attend two meetings!

Ed: How do you think the St Fagans project will transform the experience for the visitor? JW-D: It will totally transform the experience both physically and intellectually. Visitors will arrive in a spectacular new space created by enclosing

the current courtyard. Three new galleries will be created, and a ground-breaking new building will be built to celebrate the skills of makers and encourage visitors to learn those skills for themselves. Nearby, Llys Rhosyr, one of the courts of the Princes of Gwynedd, will be reconstructed in one of the most exciting archaeological projects ever undertaken in the UK. Without a shadow of a doubt, this is one of the most innovative and exciting museum projects currently underway anywhere. St Fagans will transform the way the people of Wales view their history. Ed: How will you enjoy your retirement, and do you have any plans? JW-D: Given the demands of the last few months, I think I aspire to boredom! The experience of friends who’ve retired is that the first year is spent painting and decorating and doing all those chores you put off over the years. I do have a number of research projects I wish to progress. Is it not ironic that a Director of Research has to wait until he retires before he can progress his research! Finally, as a lapsed geographer I am an inveterate traveller. There are a host of places far and wide that I have promised myself I will visit one day. That day has come.


John (right) and a colleague inspecting traditional farm implements at St Fagans, 1984


FUNDRAISING SUCCESS STORIES Recent successes include a pledge of £30,000 from Lafarge Tarmac and £10,000 from the Simon Gibson Charitable Trust towards the reconstruction of the Bryn Eryr Iron Age roundhouses as part of the redevelopment of St Fagans, £8,675 from CEMEX towards an Urban Wildflower Meadow at National Museum Cardiff, £7,000 from the Welsh Government towards the

St Fagans Food Festival in September and a pledge of £5,200 from a Patron to fund the education programme for the forthcoming exhibition Wallace: the forgotten evolutionist?

For more information about becoming a Patron or supporting us please contact the Development Department on (029) 20573184 or visit our website.

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NEWS IN BRIEF:

The last wild asparagus in Dorset has been saved from extinction by a breeding project coordinated by Amgueddfa Cymru, the National Trust, Natural England, the Dorset Wildlife Trust and the Dorset Environmental Records Centre. Tim Rich, Head of Vascular Plants, was part of the team who worked on the 16-year project to find it a mate.

Natural history inspires some of our exhibitions this summer. Beans on Toast is a fun exhibition investigating the journey from plant to plate, asking where our food really comes from and whether it matters what we eat. At National Museum Cardiff until 29 September.

Tooth and Claw: Sutherland’s Bestiaries and other animals is Oriel y Parc’s exhibition of Graham Sutherland’s series of prints illustrating creatures, some familiar, some fantastical. Until 6 November. Oriel y Parc is owned and managed by the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, in partnership with Amgueddfa Cymru.

LOOk OUT FOR…

Make sure you come and visit us at the National Eisteddfod, 2-10 August. This year the Eisteddfod is in Denbigh, and we’ll be exploring the many links between the area and the national collections, with a programme of talks and activities on the stand. The details will be on our website soon.

St Fagans: National History Museum’s popular Food Festival is back on 7 & 8 September with stalls showcasing the finest Welsh foods and drinks among the Museum’s reconstructed buildings. A healthy helping of history, mixed with free admission and all served in the unique open-air setting – a perfect recipe for a mouth-watering food festival.

Big Pit celebrates 30 years as a visitor attraction this year, so look out for details of events to mark the celebrations in September.

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Amgueddfa Cymru Newsletter - Issue 4