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Young people from three schools across Wales launched their new short films created for Oriel 1 at St Fagans: NationalHistoryMuseum on Friday (20 April 2007), revealing their ideas about what it means to be Welsh and to live in Wales today.

Pupils from Neyland Community School, Pembrokeshire, Ninian Park School, Cardiff and Ysgol Bontnewydd, Caernarfon, were given the opportunity to work with professional filmmakers, Cinetig. Together they created animations based on family, beliefs and nation, three of the themes explored at St Fagans’ new gallery Oriel 1. 

Cinetig, which works with people of all ages and abilities to produce high quality films was awarded a Your Heritage Grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund in January 2006. This was used to work with the Welsh schools to create a series of short which focus on Welsh life through the ages and how it relates to our lives today.

The children aged between 10-11 years visited St Fagans last May to work with curators from the Museum as part of their research. They learnt about different buildings at the Museum as well taking part in activities and workshops such as playing with toys from the nineteenth century, making peg dolls and creating their own rap about Wales. This inspired the children to create the script and storyboard for their film.

Shahria Ahmed from NinianParkSchool enjoyed the experience. She said:

“Our film is about the different things people believe in. If we all had the same belief it would be a very boring place. People believed different things in the past too and we looked at some examples in St Fagans. I liked the shoes and making the arms move on the animations.”

Mrs Ferne Davies is the Head Teacher at the large multi ethnic school, Ninian Park Primary:

“They were completely taken in and you could see their interest levels were there, they were buzzing,” she said. “They don’t ordinarily have an opportunity like this at all, certainly not in their primary school career.”

The three films which are available for visitors to see at Oriel 1 were presented by the schools on Friday. The young people also saw a film highlighting the process of creating the animations.

Nia Williams, Social and Industrial History Co-ordinator, Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales led the project on behalf of the Museum. She said:

“In addition to providing an opportunity for young people to use imagination, historical sources and objects to create animations, we hope the project will also benefit our visitors. The animations make history and heritage more interesting and accessible to a wider audience demonstrating that history and culture is diverse and relevant to everyone.” 

 Admission to Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales is free thanks to the support of the Welsh Assembly Government.

Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales operates seven national museums across Wales.  These are National Museum Cardiff, St Fagans: National History Museum, National Roman Legion Museum, Caerleon, Big Pit: National Coal Museum, Blaenafon, National Wool Museum, Dre-fach Felindre, National Slate Museum, Llanberis and the National Waterfront Museum, Swansea.

Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales celebrates its centenary in 2007.  For more details go to the 07 pages on our website – www.museumwales.ac.uk.

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For further information, photographs or interview opportunities, please contact Catrin Mears, Communications Officer, on 029 2057 3486 / 07920 027067 / email catrin.mears@museumwales.ac.uk.

Notes to Editors:

• Cinetig are professional filmmakers who work together with the community to aim to produce imaginative and thought provoking films on a wide variety of subjects.

When working on educational projects Cinetig encourages young people to experience the process of producing a film. The young people are also involved in presenting the film at a premier screening to invited guests.

On previous educational projects Cinetig has collaborated with schools, youth organisations, museums, artists and galleries.

·         PrincipalityBuilding Society - Wales’ biggest building society - is the main sponsor of Oriel 1, St Fagans: NationalHistoryMuseum’s latest attraction. By investing in this new gallery, which was created in partnership with local groups, schools, authors, artists and poets, Principality Building Society is honouring its longstanding commitment to supporting the communities of Wales.

Formed in 1860, Principality Building Society now has 50 branches across the country and over 420,000 members.

For further information, please visit www.principality.co.uk.

·         WESTCO flooring, suppliers of real wood and laminate floors, are proud to sponsor a series of activity booklets for families to use in Oriel 1 and the wider museum site at St Fagans.