Our Statement for the Black Lives Matter movement

Placard from the Women's March held in Cardiff on 21 January 2017 in response to the inauguration​ of Donald Trump.

We believe that culture should be accessible and relevant to everybody. Working with all communities across Wales, we have an important role to play in achieving this goal.

Within our seven national museums and our collections centre we care for over 5 million objects but we know this is not currently accessible to every community in Wales. Some people can’t see themselves reflected in our museums and collections and therefore don’t think Amgueddfa Cymru is for them. We acknowledge that our collections, galleries and learning programmes do not adequately represent all the histories of Wales.

Working beyond our walls, we want to reach out to and provide every community in Wales with the opportunity to develop new and different relationships with us - both physically and digitally. To achieve our aim, everybody living in Wales should be central to the creation of current and future collections; we have a responsibility to learn from communities in every corner of Wales, listen to diverse voices and take positive action.

Black Lives Matter

The Black Lives Matter Movement has driven many organisations to seriously consider their role in fighting racism. As a result we have developed a better understanding of the role that Amgueddfa Cymru can play in achieving race equality in Wales.

Museum collections are often rooted in colonialism and racism. Amgueddfa Cymru is no different.

We have a long way to go, but together with our community partners and young people, we have been and will continue to diversify our collections, increase representation, and contribute to conversations that highlight decolonisation, inequality and racism.

We are working to build a museum sector that stands up for equality, human rights and anti-racism. We have a role to play in driving change, partnering with the communities of Wales to be actively anti-racist in all that we do.