Press Releases

Contributions should use an artwork or object in the Museum’s collection as a jumping off point or referent, and can be in any written medium — including feature articles, personal essays, poetic or art-critical or scholarly texts — and we’d also like to receive ideas for creative activities that can be presented online. We invite those interested in contributing to browse the Museum’s Online Collection for inspiration; works in the Collection of particular relevance to LGBTQ+ communities and history are collated at this link.

The deadline for 200-word proposals is Monday 8 February — you’ll find more information about what to include at the bottom of this page. The final contributions should be no longer than 2,000 words, and could also incorporate images and embedded media, as long as they can be hosted on a web platform. The Guest Editor for this issue is Dylan Huw, a bilingual writer and arts worker living in Cardiff.

Here are some questions we’re interested in using this edition of Cynfas to explore, although we welcome proposals for pieces which explore any aspect of the concept of a queer or trans “gaze,” and its relationship to both contemporary Wales and notions of historical progress.

• What are the limitations of a queer gaze? And alternatively, how could “queer looking” liberate?
• What does queer look like?
• What feelings arise in you as a queer/trans person looking at historical queer art or objects from Wales in the present? Do historical “queer icons” of Welsh culture, such as the Ladies of Llangollen, hold value for you today?
• Is representation liberation? If not, what is “queer representation” for?
• How might we use, or think of, queer-themed art and objects from the past to narrate the story of “Wales” differently?
• How would you go about collecting the queer Welsh present, as a museum might?

As with previous editions of Cynfas, we are looking for brave and engaging content which hasn’t been published elsewhere, and which reflects and illuminates the richness and diversity of arts practice in Wales, both historically and contemporarily, with reference to work in the Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales Collection.

You do not have to have a professional writing practice or art education to apply. We are very interested in voices of lived experience and those approaching the arts from a different angle, and we’re keen to hear voices responding with respect to BLM and We Shall Not Be Removed. Previous issues of Cynfas explored Black Lives Matter (edited by Umulkhayr Mohamed), Arts in Health (edited by Angela Maddock) and Food and Sustainability (forthcoming; edited by Selena Caemawr).

Application process:

• Email a 200-word summary of your proposed article or project synopsis to maeve.heath@museumwales.ac.uk;
• Please include your name, home address, contact details and a brief paragraph about yourself;
• A mixed panel will review the proposals within 10 days and decide which ones to take forward;
• Successful applicants will be paid £250 for their contribution.

If you are thinking of submitting a proposal and have further questions please contact: dylanaberystwyth@gmail.com.