: General

Earlier this year, I took the helm at the National Waterfront Museum, and as we enter the Autumn it already feels like we’re catching the wind in our sails. From my very first day, I’ve been inspired by the passion and expertise of our team, who love and breathe the extraordinary stories held in our collections. Their insights, and the warm welcome I’ve had from Swansea itself, have convinced me of one thing: this museum has the potential to be a destination that surprises, delights and connects people in new ways. 

Anchoring Our Story

One of the first challenges we’re tackling is how we tell our story. Visitors often arrive and are unsure of where their journey should start. With three different entrances and meandering routes, it’s easy to lose your bearings. Add to that an expectation (based on our name and location) that the museum is about the sea, and Wales’s maritime stories, and you can see why some visitors leave a little puzzled. 

Visitors are often curious about the story behind our historical warehouse. What was it built for? Why is it here? And for too long, we realised, we hadn’t been telling the story behind this remarkable building. 

The Warehouse stands proudly in its original setting, where it once overlooked a bustling dock alive with ships, dockworkers, and the rhythm of industry. Here, the Warehouse played its part in the great exchange between Wales’s heavy industries and the wider world across the sea. 

It is that story that inspired us to turn our gaze seaward, to let the sea guide how we tell our stories: the sea really is at the heart of our vision. It’s the thread that ties everything together – industry, art, archaeology, and the lives of communities from across Wales. From coal and copper exports, to the journeys of families who crossed oceans, the story of Wales is a story shaped by the sea. 

And what better place to tell this story than in our historic Warehouse? Built in 1900 beside South Dock – now Swansea Marina – the building itself still whispers of its industrial past. Rail tracks run through its floor, the Harbour Trust office and Pump House still stand nearby. This is history you can see, touch and feel all around you. 

Opening the Doors to the Sea

We’ve already begun small but powerful changes. Shuttered windows in the Warehouse are now open again, letting in light and reconnecting the space with the Marina outside. This simple act has transformed the atmosphere, and it feels like the building is breathing again. We’ve also removed bulky exhibition structures that block the view, making the Warehouse’s historic environment part of the visitor experience once more. 

The Weston Hall, which links the New Gallery to the Warehouse has already seen some changes as well. We’re stripping back the clutter and reimagining it as an inspiring space of welcome and orientation. Here, visitors will encounter stunning focal points – objects that stop you in your tracks and give you that WOW moment!

Picture this: the 1842 South Bishop Lighthouse optic, restored to working order, its top glowing each day when wound by hand. Or a historic railway van positioned on the historic tracks, making the Warehouse’s industrial past visible at a glance. These aren’t just exhibits, they’re the beacons of our identity and conversation starts about safety at sea, Swansea as a City of Sanctuary, and the deep connections between Wales and the wider World. 

Coffee with a View

Our café is also likely going to move. We’re scoping to relocate it upstairs to make the most of our balcony overlooking the marina. Imagine sipping your coffee with a panoramic view of the waterfront. It will also help us transform the Marina Entrance into a true front door to the museum, ready to welcome the growing number of people who pass by.

Fresh Horizons for Exhibitions

Until now, temporary exhibitions have been held in the Weston Hall, a space which was never designed to host exhibitions. This resulted in compromises and limits on what we could show. That’s about to change!

We’re expecting to create a dedicated temporary exhibition space on the mezzanine of the New Gallery. This fresh, flexible area will allow us to host high quality, ambitious exhibitions that surprise and inspire, giving visitors more reasons to return again and again. 

Looking Further Ahead

The journey ahead is an exciting one for us as a museum and for Swansea. We plan to redevelop the New Gallery and Warehouse displays in line with modern exhibition standards, placing communities and inspiration for all at the heart of what we do. Over the coming months, we’ll be shaping the details, working with communities and our visitors, mapping out how to tell Wales’s story through the lens of the sea. 

Until then, expect small but powerful changes – unexpected moments, joyful encounters, and new perspectives that highlight how the sea has shaped life across Wales. 

A Living Museum for Everyone

I’m incredibly grateful to the team here, whose ideas and enthusiasm are steering us forward. Together with the people of Swansea and our visitors, we’re making the Waterfront a place to be explored, enjoyed, and celebrated – a living museum, full of hands-on, joyful experiences for everyone. 

So come board. The tide is turning, and a new chapter for the National Waterfront Museum is just beginning. 

In June 2025, as part of the Wales REACH project, Amgueddfa Cymru invited applications for two Amgueddfa Cymru Producers to design and deliver a workshop about Pride. Here’s what James, one of our ACPs, had to say about the experience:

For pride month, Amgueddfa Cymru invited myself and Kleo to organise a workshop alongside Innovate Trust: a charity dedicated to helping adults with learning disabilities. We provided the materials, inspiration, and a brief history lesson so that people could create signs to carry at the Cardiff pride parade held on the 21st of June.

Part of my role was scouring the museum’s collection for some inspiration and the catalogue did not disappoint. I was surprised by the array of material available; from protest materials of the 1980s, to works by proudly queer artists, works loved by queer people, and private family photographs. Protest materials included t-shirts, banners, and badges, many of which were aimed against Section 28 in particular. This was part of the law put in place by Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government that saw any mention of homosexuality in schools as an attempt to ‘promote’ the lifestyle. This meant that for over twenty years children in schools had no way to access accurate and unbiased information regarding sexuality or safe sex. Amgueddfa Cymru has a t-shirt with the exact wording of Section 28 printed on it. For me, part of pride has to be about looking back to all of the work done in the past so that we have the strength to look to the future. For museums to include objects like these is so important to me, and a huge step forwards for our communities and cultural institutions. 

My first time at pride was moderately unsuccessful. In either 2018 or 2019 myself and a friend travelled to London hoping to find the kind of community that was out of reach for kids in a relatively small secondary school. On the journey there we overheard a group of people warning each other that pride was on. That they had to be careful because we would all be having sex in the streets. I can safely say that hearing this made me feel infinitely more uncomfortable than anything I experienced at pride. But it still felt isolating. The two of us wandered around London and largely kept to ourselves and it didn’t feel like pride was the sort of thing I’d want to go to again.

On the morning of Cardiff pride this year I was exhausted and found myself sorry to miss the parade. But by the afternoon I was alive enough to walk into the city centre and within minutes it became easy to recognise many of the people that were there for pride or the big queer picnic. The number of families with children really warmed my heart. And I didn’t hear a single bad word about queer people. No warnings that we didn’t know how to control ourselves. No fearmongering about trans people in public spaces. I sat in the sunshine with some friends. I saw dogs dressed up in colourful outfits and silly hats. And it finally felt like a pride event that had done what it set out to achieve, it gave me an overwhelming sense of joy and family. I felt relaxed.

It was an absolute pleasure to work with Amgueddfa Cymru for pride month. Someone once described queer history to me as “cruising” through archives; seeing what or who catches your eye. I would encourage everyone to do the same and to seek out queer joy, whatever the month.

Wales REACH is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. It is a partnership between thirteen organisations and is led by The Open University and Amgueddfa Cymru. It is funded with a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The current phase started in autumn 2024 and is scheduled to run until autumn 2026.

As part of the Wales REACH (Residents Engaging in Arts, Culture and Heritage) project, we’ve had the absolute pleasure of working with groups from Innovate Trust and First Choice- two organisations supporting people with learning disabilities in Rhondda Cynon Taf and the Vale of Glamorgan. Over the past few months, we’ve come together for a series of creative workshops to connect with our local history and heritage through art and creativity.

Since starting REACH, we have held six museum-focussed workshops. We started off with a mindfulness walk around St Fagans National Museum of History. It gave us all a chance to slow down, notice our surroundings, and chat in a relaxed setting. It set a gentle and open tone, one that has carried through all the sessions since. 

One of the standout moments was a visit from our Principal Curator of Collection Development: LGBTQ+, Mark Etheridge. Mark shared powerful LGBTQ+ stories from the museum’s collections, which led to some thoughtful conversations. It gave the group space to reflect, ask questions and connect those stories to their own experiences. Rhys, one of the participants, said “The LGBTQ+ activity at St Fagans was important to me, after that I started to talk to people and be more open with the group about being gay”. Zac also added “this is for me, I’m gay so this is for me, look it’s cool”.

Inspired by objects from the museum, the group began creating their own artwork. Some people sketched out images and messages, while others designed T-shirts. What really stood out was the thoughtfulness behind each piece. Every design had meaning and reflected something real to the person who made it. According to Rhys, “Two of my favourite activities were the art lesson with Marion and designing a t-shirt about what being Welsh meant to me. I liked them because I liked sitting down with friends and support workers, just having fun and getting creative”.

Some of our more recent workshops focused Pride. Two of our Amgueddfa Cymru Producers led an engaging session about the history and significance of Pride, which sparked lots of curiosity and discussion. The group were tasked with creating bold, bright banners that could be carried in the parade. These sessions were full of enthusiasm, plenty of colours and a real sense of celebration. 

REACH is all about learning new skills and making new friendships. It is about telling unheard stories and strengthening and highlighting pride. It is about using the talents of local people to challenge the stigmas that their communities face. Hear what Eve, Health and Wellbeing Coordinator for First Choice, has to say: 

"Being part of the Wales REACH Project, I've loved seeing a core group form of people who are passionate about learning, sharing and creating. Wales REACH has provided the group with opportunities to try new things and form new friendships; some of these people may have never otherwise crossed paths despite their common interests. Their energy and enthusiasm has been infectious and it's been wonderful to join in with some of the sessions, hosted by kind and knowledgeable facilitators".

Keep an eye out for others upcoming blogs, showcasing the amazing work that’s been happening across all our participating communities. 

Wales REACH is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. It is a partnership between thirteen organisations and is led by The Open University and Amgueddfa Cymru. It is funded with a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The current phase started in autumn 2024 and is scheduled to run until autumn 2026.

To celebrate Pride Month this year, some of our amazing ACPs will be hosting Pride themed workshops across some of our museums this June. As part of that celebration, we asked them to reflect on the themes and inspiration behind their workshop and what Pride means to them. 

Pride means solidarity and intersectionality - always has and always will! 

“You have worn our badge ‘Coal Not Dole’ and you know what harassment means, as we do. Now we will support you. It won’t change overnight, but now a hundred and forty thousand miners know … about black [communities] and gays and nuclear disarmament and we will never be the same.”

David Donovan speaking on behalf of the Dulais miners to a crowd 1,500 at the Pits and Perverts Ball, Camden Town, 10th December 1984. 

I was inspired to run several queer, intersectional badge-making workshops for Bloedd because of the legacy of LGSM. Lesbians and Gay men Support the Miners were a group who raised money for, and stood with, the 1984-1985 Miners Strike. They built connections with mining communities in South Wales, including Neath, Dulais and Swansea, as well as raising money for women’s support groups. A pin badge from this group is immortalised in the Amgueddfa Cymru collection. The badge was designed by LGSM member and activist Jonathan Blake.

LGSM is an incredible example of intersectional activism and queer solidarity. As the quote from David Donovan demonstrates, this movement was about groups supporting each other and uniting against systems of oppression and alienation. LGSM were passionate about class solidarity, and drew parallels between how the miners and LGBT+ communities were treated by the media (e.g. the vilification of the National Union of Mineworkers and the disinformation spread about the HIV/AIDS pandemic). Both groups also experienced police violence and political scapegoating. 

LGSM was also an important community for people diagnosed with HIV AIDS, like Jonathan Blake who was one of the first people diagnosed with HIV in the UK. HIV was widely misunderstood and stigmatised at the time, so LGSM providing a safe space for members with HIV would have been both radical and life-changing.

LGSM raised thousands of pounds to support the striking miners, putting on theatre performances and their famous ‘Pits and Perverts’ ball to raise funds for miners and their families. In turn, many miners came to march at Pride, and later in the year the NUM pushed for LGBT rights to be included in both TUC (Trades Union Congress) and Labour Party policies. This is such a perfect example of the important role that intersectional activism and class solidarity can play in society.

This is a message that we need now more than ever. This year alone we have witnessed the rolling-back of LGBT+ rights, the demonisation and scapegoating of trans communities, and the rise of right wing parties. We have seen global genocides, political atrocities, and the violation of human rights. We have also seen political tactics and media narratives that are meant to overwhelm and divide us. And we, as communities, have been hurt by these narratives and hurt by the systems that are taking away our rights, our benefits, our welfare. 

And so this Pride Month we need to unite and stand together. We need to embody the spirit of LGSM and come together to support each other. We are living in hard times -- we are living in a cost of living crisis -- and instead of being divided, we should be helping each other out with food drives and potlucks and fundraising events and protests and action. Community and love and solidarity. This is what Pride is about. 

These are the themes I hope to embody in my workshop. As a queer and disabled activist, I am a strong believer in intersectional activism. I think badges are brilliant ways to implement micro-activism and micro-resistance. Badges have been used in DIY and punk movements for years, and have long been used as a creative way to express queer identity and pride. For me, the LGSM badge in the museum’s collection is more than just an accessory. It symbolises a movement of hope and solidarity. By creating our own badges we get the chance to express ourselves and the causes we care for. 

Kaja Brown @kaja_amy_brown on Instagram 

Amgueddfa Cymru Producers [ACPs] are a group of young people aged 16 – 25 living in or from Wales who collaborate with the Museum through participatory and paid opportunities.

This is a space to deepen knowledge and to ensure that cultural and heritage spaces are more representational of the young people and their many cultures that make up Wales today. We are here to make heritage relevant!

We explore art, heritage and identity, environmentalism, natural science, social history and archaeology through our collections and by co-producing events, workshops, exhibitions, digital media, publications, development groups and more! Our ACPs work closely with departments across the Museum to help us deepen representation within our collections and programming, that reflects all communities in Wales. This includes expanding our LGBTQ+ collection, decolonising our collections and gathering working-class history through oral histories. ACPs can also bring their own ideas or topics they wish to explore through our collections!

You can sign up to our mailing list here to keep up to date with news and new opportunities.

If you have any queries you can email us on bloedd.ac@museumwales.ac.uk. Follow us on Instagram to keep updated on all things Bloedd! 

To celebrate Pride Month this year, some of our amazing ACPs will be hosting Pride themed workshops across some of our museums this June. As part of that celebration, we asked them to reflect on the themes and inspiration behind their workshop and what Pride means to them. 

Symbolism plays a large role in queer history; a big part of this symbolism has been through the use of flowers. Whether it be a derogatory or reclaimed term or a way of signaling to other members of the community, flowers are intertwined with our history.

Violets have historically been associated with lesbianism and femininity; green carnations have been used as a way for gay men to flag each other, ‘pansy’ has been used as an insult for effeminate men, and lavender, both the colour and flower, has been used for decades as an icon of queer resistance and liberation.

Throughout the museum’s archives there are examples of this floral symbolism in protest badges and artworks, which embody the link between our history and flowers.

Violets

In the 6th century, Sappho, a poet from the island Lesbos, described her female lover as wearing a ’violet tiara’. Sappho, well-renowned for her poems, sapphic eroticism and love (indeed, she is where the word sapphic originates), influenced the language and iconography associated with lesbianism and female sexuality extraordinarily. Her use of florals in her poetry no doubt shaped queer symbolism and kinship with flowers across the following centuries.

In early 20th-century Paris, violets were a common adornment for those a part of ‘Paris Lesbos’, homosexual women who built a community with one another represented by the violets they carried, gifted each other, and were buried with.

The symbol was reborn in America when a French play being performed on Broadway, The Captive, used violets to symbolise sapphic love. In the play, a woman gifts her romantic interest a bouquet of violets; this led to outrage and scandal across New York, the play being shut down, the sale of violets plummeting and a state law dealing with ‘obscenity’ being introduced. Despite the pushback, Parisian supporters of the play wore violets on their lapels and belts.

The colour violet has also had significant presence in LGBTQ+ history, with it being present on the first pride flag– created in 1978 by artist Gilbert Baker in California, USA- and it still being present on the traditional 6-stripe rainbow pride flag and progress pride flags and many other iterations. Violet typically symbolises the spirit of the LGBTQ+ community, a fitting meaning for a symbol that has lasted and spread for over a millennium.

Pansies

In the early 20th century, there were many floral terms used to describe an effeminate (and therefore ‘gay’) man. ‘Daisy’, ‘buttercup’ but, perhaps most notably, ‘pansy’. The term ‘pansy craze’ was used to describe the underground queer nightlife and drag scene in places like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, with similar scenes being seen across European cities like London, Berlin and Paris before the rise of authoritarian politics and Nazism. The onset of the depression, the beginnings of World War II and the end of American prohibition saw an end to the short period of visibility for the LBGT community, but the icon that is the pansy has prevailed. Still occasionally used as an insult by the some, ‘pansy’ has taken on a life of its own being used as a term of endearment.

Lavender

The colour lavender has been distinctly used to represent the LGBTQ+ community in many different eras and places, especially in the 20th century, but the flower was also used as a lesser-known symbol for homosexual love. Lesbians gifted lavender as a covert way of expressing their romantic interest in one another, and the flower became increasingly entwined with queer identity throughout the mid-1900s.

The ‘lavender scare’ was a time that parallelled the ‘red scare’ in 1940s and 50s America when those perceived to be a part of the community were fired from their jobs, often when working for the American government, due to their supposed ‘communist sympathies’ because of their sexuality.

The colour lavender was used to symbolise queer identity once again a month after the pivotal Stonewall Riots, in July 1969, as lavender sashes and armbands were handed out by the Gay Liberation Front in a ‘gay power’ march across New York City.

The Gay Liberation Front was the first recorded gay organisation to use ‘gay’ in its name, and its existence and work marked a turning point for the LGBTQ+ community across the globe. One of their first badges used a purple flower with the male/female symbols detailing its petals, whilst resting on a raised fist, a historic symbol of protest. The badge, which can currently be seen at St Fagans’ Wales is: Proud gallery.

A radical feminist group, ‘the Lavender Menace’, was an informal group that protested the exclusion of lesbians and sapphic women in feminist movements in the early 1970s. The term was first used by feminist writer and activist Betty Friedan, who described lesbians as a ‘lavender menace’ that would undermine the entire women’s liberation movement. The name was adopted by the group as a way of reclaiming the negative language used about them, and they are widely associated as being integral to the founding of lesbian feminism.

Carnations

Oscar Wilde, the Victorian author, famously popularised the green carnation in the late 19th century. The flower was dyed by watering it with water laced with arsenic. He pinned one to his left lapel, a style that keeps cropping up as we analyse the use of these flowers as a way to subtly signal to others that he was a rebellious individual, a man who loved other men, in a society that condemned and criminalised male homosexuality– Victorian London.

Eventually, after the publication of a book written anonymously, ‘The Green Carnation’, Wilde was arrested and jailed for gross indecency. Wilde outright denied writing the book, but his work popularising the carnation years prior was enough for authorities to pin the work on him.

Despite this, the carnation prevailed, and it is still a recognised symbol today, albeit a less popular one.

Roses

The rose is a well-known symbol of love, and of course this extends to queer love. In 1960s Japan the rose became an iconic symbol for gay men, even influencing the language they use to describe gay men today. Bara, meaning rose, is a commonly used term for the community.

Roses are also special to the transgender community, especially on Trans Day of Visibility (March 31st), when the phrase ‘give us our roses while we are still here’ is echoed. It means that we should celebrate the lives of trans people, of trans WOC, rather than simply mourning them when they are killed. It is about decentring grief in the trans community and celebrating life whilst amplifying transgender voices. The rose is an important symbol of this, showing appreciation and joy for transgender people.

In this painting, a self-portrait by gay artist Cedric Morris while he lived with his partner in Cornwall, Morris is depicted with a rose pinned to his lapel. Whether this is symbolic of his love or homosexuality is unclear, but it is an obvious example of the tie between the LGBTQ+ community and flowers throughout the ages. Morris was relatively open about his relationship with fellow artist Arthur Lett-Haines, despite homosexuality being illegal at the time.

Flowers are still an integral part of our community and a beautiful way to honour our history. A piece from the museum's archives I find particularly valuable is the flowers worn during the marriage of two gay men, Federico Podeschi and Darren Warren, on the day same-sex marriage was legalised in England and Wales. These flowers symbolise so much that the queer community has fought for: the right to be legally recognised. But they remind us that there is so much further to go, especially in these uncertain times and how recently it was that we gained some basic rights.

My workshop, run both this year and last for Pride, encourages you to connect with our history through the medium of printmaking. Last year we created a banner to be marched at Pride Cymru, and now I will invite participants to create a piece of art to take home or gift to another.

Elizabeth Bartlett @liz_did_stuff on Instagram

Amgueddfa Cymru Producers [ACPs] are a group of young people aged 16 – 25 living in or from Wales who collaborate with the Museum through participatory and paid opportunities.

This is a space to deepen knowledge and to ensure that cultural and heritage spaces are more representational of the young people and their many cultures that make up Wales today. We are here to make heritage relevant!

We explore art, heritage and identity, environmentalism, natural science, social history and archaeology through our collections and by co-producing events, workshops, exhibitions, digital media, publications, development groups and more! Our ACPs work closely with departments across the Museum to help us deepen representation within our collections and programming, that reflects all communities in Wales. This includes expanding our LGBTQ+ collection, decolonising our collections and gathering working-class history through oral histories. ACPs can also bring their own ideas or topics they wish to explore through our collections!

You can sign up to our mailing list here to keep up to date with news and new opportunities.

If you have any queries you can email us on bloedd.ac@museumwales.ac.uk. Follow us on Instagram to keep updated on all things Bloedd!