New gallery installation - Origins: in Search of Early Wales

Before the contractors arrive on site our temporary exhibitions gallery looks almost empty. We used to use this gallery to hold large exhibitions at National Museum Cardiff and are now redisplaying and reinterpreting our Archaeology collections here in a new exhibition called 'Origins; in Search of Early Wales'.

We've installed some Early Christian monuments (ECMs) already and some are lying on pallets waiting for more action to take place. Dysons are the contractors responsible for creating the new exhibition space prior to us installing all the objects to bring it to life. They are due on site shortly to begin the construction in earnest.

The cases are from a previous Archaeology exhibition we did in partnership with the British Museum and others called 'Buried Treasure' about archaeological treasures from our collections and how they were found. We've had them refurbished and recycled for this exhibition to complement new ones we've bought especially for the new Origins gallery. The heavy steel bases and supports for the ECMs look good enough to be in the display themselves, but there are other plans for the finished look. The floor is protected in areas so the installation of the steel bases and ECMs does not scratch it. The ECMs weigh up to 2 tonnes each so moving them is a serious business involving heavy lifting gear, engineers, curators and conservators.