Indexical drawings exist all around us!  

Indexical drawings record the interaction between objects, documenting the activity involved.   

Look at this drawing by artist Olafur Eliasson. He created it out at sea in his boat by dipping a ball in black ink. He let it roll across the paper so it could record the waves and movements of the boat across the ocean!   

Why not have a go at your own experimental/indexical drawing? 

Example: 

What you’ll need: a pen, a piece of string, sketchpad.  

1. Tie the piece of string or whatever is available to you to the pencil or pen  

 2. Tie the pen with the same piece of string to a tree branch (top tip: choose a thinner branch that moves around a lot more easily!)  

3. Hold a piece of paper under the pen and set a timer for however long you would like. We used a 10 minute timer.  

4. Watch as the wind blows the tree branch, leaving marks of the branch’s movement and the pattern of the wind on your paper!   

  5. The result, an artwork created by nature!  

The pictures above are from when I had a go at my own experimental/indexical drawing, drawing the movement of a tree in the wind of Storm Corrie!  

You can track the movement of the branches - in moments of stillness where the pen marks are thick, and in high wind where you can see thin lines!  

Have a go and share your drawings with us. You can tag us on Instagram or Facebook, and remember to use #winterofwellbeing

The custom of sending Valentines is hundreds of years old, but the tradition truly thrived during the end of the eighteenth century and nineteenth century. The improvement in postal services and printing methods during this period, made it easier than ever to celebrate Valentine’s Day.

The Evening Express in 1885 stated that when the trade was its best, between 1860 and 1880, the public spent a quarter of a million pounds annually upon valentines. It reports that at least 5,000 people, mostly girls and women, were employed in valentine factories, at wages ranging 10s to 18s per week.

Here at St Fagans we have a rather large collection of Valentine Cards dating from this period. Many are elaborate, adorned with cupids, satin ribbon, delicate lace or miniature flowers.

But surprisingly some are of complete contrast to these romantic and sentimental Valentine cards. Several from the collection, feature an ugly comic caricature, with humorous yet rather abusive verses beneath, clearly intended to cause offence.  These cards were referred to as 'Comic Valentines', and their history has largely been forgotten.

The card in the middle right, from our collection at St Fagans National History Museum, is a perfect example of a typical comic valentine card. It shows a rather ugly, dramatic caricature of a woman crying with the following verse beneath:

Tired of your lonely state,
Longing for another male,
But this fact pray understand,
Men don’t like Women second hand.

These particular kind of cards become incredibly popular during the mid-nineteenth century.

The Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian  reported on the 14th February, 1846:

St. Valentine’s Day is now almost everywhere a degenerated festival, the only observance of any note consisting in the sending of anonymous letters, by way of practical joke, and this confined very much to the humbler classes….Each generally consisting of a single sheet of paper, on the first page of which is seen some ridiculous coloured caricature of the male or female figure, with a few burlesque verses below.

The anonymity aspect of sending a Valentine’s card would have made these racy cards appealing. They were also affordable to buy and to send, as they were printed on a single sheet of paper, unlike the more elaborate romantic cards.

Despite their huge popularity, the demand was short lived, and by the late 1800s, Wales and Britain's love of comic Valentines was over.  The late Victorians viewed the cards as malicious and vulgar and demand for a return of moral values, politeness and decency.

Valentines, whether sentimental or comic, have come to be voted common place – not to say 'vulgar'. The Aberystwyth Observer, 21 February, 1885.

My name is Lowri and I am one of the Freelance Project makers working on the Winter of Wellbeing project. My main role is as part of a small team putting together activity packs for families and young people with the goal of improving wellbeing. But before this project, I had been a stay at home parent for over a decade. 

The last time I was formally employed, it was 2011. A year where it was still acceptable to say ‘talk to the hand’, 3D movies still seemed like a good idea and Flossing was just a dental practice, not a dance. So when I heard about a position that involved working with young people in the heritage sector, which are both my areas of interest, where I could work from home around my family, I couldn't believe my luck! However, after so long away from work, even with a few relevant qualifications and experiences I have, I struggled to know if I had anything of value to offer.  

Thankfully, I did not need to worry too much. My experiences as a parent have been surprisingly essential to the work I have been doing. Even my daughter has become involved in testing and photographing some of the activities which will now be shared with thousands of children around the country. That got me thinking about how valuable our skills as parents can be in the workplace. For example: 

• If you can construct a play kitchen with no instructions and 2 missing screws at 11.30pm on Christmas eve… you can problem solve. 

• If you can negotiate a screaming toddler out of a soft play area… you can hold your own in any meeting. 

• If you have managed to get everyone out of the door on time, with a packed lunch, reading book read, spellings learnt and cupcakes for the charity bake sale (that you will pretend you baked yourself but actually bought on the way to school and bunged in a Tupperware box) and still arrive at school on time…You can project manage. 

I know now, through working on this project, that I do have value outside of the home. The Winter of Wellbeing project has not only given me the opportunity to make a difference in young people's lives, it has given me invaluable work experience, built m

y confidence up and allowed me to contribute financially to my family. And because of the short term nature of the contract, I have managed to dip my toe into the employment pool without the massive worries about childcare in the summer holidays, which is often a barrier for parents returning to work.  

All in all, I have had a ball so far on the project, I have met so many interesting and inspiring people. I have learnt so much in such a short space of time and will come away from it more confident to apply for future jobs I might previously have discarded because I thought I wasn't good enough. Feeling valued outside of the home has added so much to my wellbeing and I am so thankful for that. 

February each year is LGBT+ History Month, with events throughout the month that help to increase the visibility of LGBTQ+ people, their history and lived experiences. Each year there is usually a theme, and this year it is ‘Politics in Art’. 

Amgueddfa Cymru has a number of events planned for LGBT+ History Month 2022: 

On display at St Fagans National Museum of History throughout February 2022 will be the original design drawn by Jonathan Blake for the Lesbians and Gay Men Support the Miners badge from 1985. This will be displayed in the Wales is… gallery at St Fagans alongside an original LGSM badge. Lesbians and Gay Men Support the Miners were a group that raised money for striking south Wales miners during the 1984-85 strike. By the end of 1984 there were eleven branches of LGSM across the UK. Each of these branches ‘twinned’ with a particular community – with the London branch twinning with communities in the Neath, Dulais and Upper Swansea valleys. This story, and LGSM’s visit to Onllwyn, became immortalised in the 2014 film Pride. Last year Mark Ashton, who was one of the founders in 1984 of LGSM, was one of the faces of LGBT+ History Month 2021, so it is great that again this year we are able to celebrate the amazing achievements of Lesbians and Gay Men Support the Miners.

 As part of Amgueddfa Cymru’s ‘Museum Talks’ series, curator Mark Etheridge will give a talk on the LGBTQ+ Collection at St Fagans and the importance of representation in museum collections. You can book here -  Museum Talks: LGBTQ+ Collections at St. Fagans | English | National Museum Wales

We have an exciting project being developed for LGBT+ History Month. Funded by Arts Wales, composer Gareth Churchill’s piece LGBTQ+ History Wales Songbook will be performed at Oakdale Institute at St Fagans during LGBT+ History Month. This will be a musical performance piece for voice and piano/keyboard that will celebrate and give musical voice to the St Fagans LGBTQ+ history collection. Initially it will be a closed performance that will be filmed and broadcast online. This will be broadcast as a finale to LGBT+ History Month, and will be advertised on the museum’s social media channels.

Of course, LGBTQ+ history should not just be celebrated during one month each year. So throughout 2022 look out for further displays and events across Amgueddfa Cymru’s museum sites. These are just a few things we have planned:

At St Fagans some LGBTQ+ related objects are now on display in the Wales is… and Life is… galleries. As well as the LGSM items mentioned, these include a teapot and toy paddle relating to the Ladies of Llangollen (probably the most famous lesbian couple in history) and a songsheet for the song We’ll Gather Lilacs that was written by Ivor Novello.

From mid-March some LGBTQ+ objects from the LGBTQ+ collection will be on display at the National Waterfront Museum as part of the exhibition Trawsnewid. This is part of a project for LGBTQ+ young people aged 16-25 that explores queer and gender non-conforming figures in Welsh history and supports participants to create work inspired by their own experiences.

We’re thrilled to announce that we’ve won the Investing in Volunteers Award for the third time.

Investing in Volunteers is a UK quality standard award in Volunteer Management.

We couldn’t have done this without the hard work and dedication of our amazing staff and volunteers. Thank you!

Having poured over our final assessment reports our highlight was to read…

“Volunteers commented that they felt that their contribution was meaningful, and that they enjoyed their roles. The majority of volunteers remarked on how welcoming the organisation is.  One volunteer said it made them feel part of a family.”  

Volunteers donate their time, skills, expertise, and enthusiasm to Amgueddfa Cymru year after year. We're a charity, and your support helps to enrich and bring a fresh perspective to our national museums.

If you would like to get involved, please visit Get Involved with Amgueddfa Cymru | National Museum Wales

@WCVACymru

#InvestinginVolunteers