: National Waterfront Museum

When it came to writing this article, my thought space had been taken to the theme of journeys; the unknown ground between a beginning and an ending. My journey as a young producer for Bloedd’s latest project, an LGBTQIA+ oral histories exhibition, has been a nearly yearlong one. What began as conversation in a shared space containing mutual interests and passions, defined the nucleus of my work here. The beginnings of this time had been an unpacking of what we felt as a collective was important to represent for an upcoming exhibition. We knew from the jump that we wanted to represent voices that may often go unheard; those whose experience may not be recounted upon by the mainstream perception of what it means to live an LGBTQIA+ life. 

Moving away from the typical portrait of queerness being a thrown brick in protest, that while important, we are more than our fight for freedoms; our stories can be found in the everyday, in the places we visit, the jobs we keep, the people we love and share our lives with. The given name of this exhibition, Ours to Tell, came only after we had completed our collection of stories, the self-described journey we undertook over several months of visits and interviews, holding dialogue with well over fifty years of experience. But what is in a name? Ours to Tell is a reclamation. It’s our way of saying “here is a story, told by a firsthand account of the storyteller”. It’s our way of saying “these words are cut from a book hidden away in the attic of my mind. I’ve ventured into the attic, and I’m dusting it off for you.” It’s our way of saying “this is where I come from”. 

While the journey of this project has been underpinned by a great deal of planning and preparation, what you can’t prepare for is what you might uncover in someone else’s story. You commit to the routine of presenting a series of questions, from you to the storyteller, with only a table between you. It comes as a surprise the level of detail, which is excavated by the storyteller, they are like a hoarder being handed a stepladder, invited to dig up their stowed away possessions from the attic. Your questions are prompts: “when did you first see your identity reflected in someone else?”, “what does a safe space look like to you?”, the list goes on. The exciting part is that you don’t know what’s coming next, and you are there, alongside the storyteller, who guides you through a journey which may well bring up a familiarity or nostalgia for the listener. During these times when I’ve had the great pleasure to listen to these stories, I can confidently say that I have felt every kind of emotion in response. I laughed. I have cried. I have been moved. I have been taken on a journey.

Enabling the participants of this project to confidently speak about their experiences has proved an undeniable joy, though I cannot understate how this project has affected those coordinating its launch. Fellow young producer Joss Copeman, like me had been drawn to this exciting opportunity, Copeman’s “personal work is largely centred around queer narratives and themes of identity and the self.” The journey which unfolded from Ours to Tell has been greatly beneficial, as it pertains to young LGBTQIA+ creatives and makers, taking inspiration from unheard voices, now affected and transformed by echoes of their experience. This is a feeling I know will resonate with the audience, and I can only hope it will stir others in future, to share what might be put away, gathering dust in the attic. 

I’d like to conclude with a quote that shook me like a cat in a tree, “Art is not just for oneself, not just a marker of one’s own understanding. It is also a map for those who follow after us.”

Written by Ivy Kelly, Amgueddfa Cymru Producer (Bloedd).

Bloedd is the platform for youth engagement at Amgueddfa Cymru.

Theatr na n'Óg have had a passion for telling stories for 40 years and have collaborated with several of the Amgueddfa Cymru sites. Together they have collaborated on many projects that have brought the history and culture of Wales to life, inspiring young people and adults across many workshops and performances. 

In previous years National Museum Cardiff and the National Waterfront Museum have collaborated with them on a variety of projects. In 2009, Alfred Russel Wallace, who’s discoveries spurred Darwin to produce ‘On the Origin of Species’, was the focus. In 2022, the story of Elgan Jones, a 14-year-old boy who was arrested for poaching in 1898, became a court room drama which placed the audience as jurors. Now, in 2024, the National Waterfront Museum is working with them once more on a project exploring the story of the Merthyr Tydfil born boxer, Cuthbert Taylor, in a production called ‘The Fight.’

To get a deeper understanding of Theatr na n'Óg, ‘The Fight’, and the role Amgueddfa Cymru plays in the partnership, Leisa Williams, Senior Learning Officer at National Waterfront Museum and Geinor Styles, the Artistic Director at Theatr na n'Óg, sat down for a chat about projects past and present.

Use the media player to listen to the conversation in full. 

About ‘The Fight’ |

'The Fight' is a brand-new play telling the true story of a Welsh boxing legend.

In the deprived valleys of the 1930s, boxing was more than just a sport; it was a way out of poverty. Merthyr-born Cuthbert Taylor, now seen as one of the best boxers of his generation, should have had the opportunity to fight for a British title, but was denied this chance because of the colour of his skin.

Written by Geinor Styles, Directed by Kev McCurdy

Click here for information on school performances, workshops, learning resources and more. 

Amgueddfa Cymru Museum Wales have been working with Refugees and Asylum Seekers, supporting people to integrate into their new communities for many years. 

As part of this work, we have developed partnerships with key organisations such as Addysg Oedolion Cymru Adult Learning Cymru. They have been working with us over the past year, alongside their ESOL students, to develop new ESOL learner resources designed to support people learning English to explore our museums and galleries. 

The new resources cover the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea, the National Slate Museum in Llanberis and the National Roman Legion Museum in Caerleon. 

The resources have been created by ESOL tutors and tested by ESOL learners. They follow the ESOL curriculum and cover a range of different levels from Entry to Level 2. 

Now that the new resources have been tested, tweaked, and trialed they are ready to download from our website for any ESOL learner or group visiting one of the museums. (See the links above). 

We also have a suite of ESOL resources for St Fagans National Museum of History which were developed in a similar way as part of the HLF funded Creu Hanes Making History Project in 2014. 

We continue to work with our partners and community members to provide meaningful opportunities for people facing barriers to participation in the arts and cultural heritage. 

We learn so much from the people who visit our sites and engage in the learning opportunities we offer. 

Supporting those people who are newly arrived in Wales to settle and integrate into their new communities is a very important area of our work and we hope that these new learner resources help many people on that journey. 

Diolch yn fawr to Addysg Oedolion Cymru Adult Learning Wales and the ESOL tutors and learners who have contributed to the creation of these new learner resources. 

After remembering how to pull together such a big event after such a long break, National Waterfront Museum hosted PRIDE on the weekend 30^th  April and Mini PRIDE on 1^st May.  It was a huge team effort with staff from Community Engagement and Learning, Events and youth Engagement working in partnership with Swansea PRIDE, Swansea City Council and South Wales Police.  Not to mention our fabulous Front of House, Tech team, Cleaners (there was quite a bit of Glitter!!!), Marketing and Elior (sorry if I’ve forgotten anyone – we were all involved a bit).

PRIDE has been the largest ever event at the Waterfront in the past with well over 4000 people attending. We opted this year to focus on being the Community zone for PRIDE with a modest entertainment package, compared to the main stage out on Museum Green which also hosted food stands, merch stalls and drinks vans. 

Inside we had info stands, crafts and community sellers with partners ranging from YMCA Swansea to OXFAM Book swap, Swansea Vikings gay and inclusive rugby team (a popular stand!) Proud councils and Mid and West Wales Fire Service (also strangely popular!) Outside, the GRAFT garden saw a range of fun activities including Circus Skills with Circus Eruption, African drumming, an identity workshop and chalk drawing.  Inside hosted True colours inclusive choir, Mermaids walkabout, Zumba flashmob amongst other things. In the speakers corner we saw a packed out talk and demo lead by Welsh Ballroom, followed by Christopher Anstee’s book launch of his new memoir ‘Polish the Crown’ followed by a thought-provoking Q+A panel discussion, looking at growing up LGBTQ+ and the impact of section 28.

As always, we started the day showing our support as an organisation by joining the parade through town, fortunately the sun shone for us all and the crowds were supportive and very vocal.

The evening showcased The Welsh Ballroom do their thing with their fantastically choreographed, all inclusive, body positive catwalk, with the opportunity for the audience to join in at the end of the show. 

Sunday was all about the little people with another action-packed sparkly day of fun.  There were My Little Pony and Troll Walk Abouts, Crafts and Glitter galore, a packed out Drag Queen Story Hour, What is PRIDE? Q+A for Kids hosted by Good Vibes teens, and culminating in a very fun and very cute mini PRIDE parade through the main hall.

It was such a fantastic weekend, seeing so many familiar faces in REAL LIFE after SO long.  One community partner, on walking into the museum to set up and seeing all of the LGBTQ+ flags and umbrellas had a little cry and said ‘Thank you, I feel like I’ve come home, it’s so nice to feel like I can be me’.

Here’s to 2023…

The exhibition is free to visit at the National Waterfront Museum, Swansea, from 12 March through to 17 July 2022.

Trawsnewid, meaning 'Transformation', explores and celebrates Wales' history of queerness and social change. Objects on display have been taken from the Amgueddfa Cymru LGBTQ+ collection held at St Fagans National Museum of History to be compiled in a brand-new narrative, alongside new queer Welsh artworks. Visitors can walk through this often forgotten aspect of our past and see how the movement for social change continues into the present. With objects on display taking queer history as far back as the late 1700s, and even as recent as during the current Covid-19 pandemic, there is a wide breadth of communities, identities and movements represented in the exhibition.

The objects that are highlighted in this exhibition were selected by the participants of the Trawsnewid project. The participants are young people who host and attend various workshops that explore history of Wales' LGBTQ+ people and culture and have come together to develop the theme of this exhibition, focusing mainly on queer art and creations. Over several weeks the participants have gone through the collection and selected which pieces stand out the most as important markers of queer Welsh history.

Integrated in the display is a collection of new artworks made by some of the volunteers. Each piece has been inspired by some aspect of Wales' queer history, be it a piece from the LGBTQ+ Collection, or by the communities around them. A variety of artistic mediums come together to bring this often forgotten history right into the contemporary modern day.

Also showing at the exhibition is the Queer Cabaret – a series of short films created by Trawsnewid participants exploring their experiences and connection to Wales and queer identity. The entire cabaret is available to watch on YouTube, but at the exhibition you will be able to enjoy it while immersed in the culture and history curated by everyone on the Trawsnewid Project and the LGBTQ+ collection.