Press Releases

National Museums' new Director General starts work in Wales

David Anderson has this week (11 October 2010) begun his role as Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales’s new Director General. He has immediately set about meeting staff at Amgueddfa Cymru’s seven sites including St Fagans: National History Museum, and will launch Inspiring Wales – a new document which celebrates the work of Amgeuddfa Cymru – at the Senedd on Monday 18 October.

Mr Anderson is joining Amgueddfa Cymru at an exciting period for the institution including developments to create a National History Museum at St Fagans and the conversion of the first floor of National Museum Cardiff to become the National Museum of Art for Wales, which is due to be completed in July 2011. The ground floor of National Museum Cardiff is also scheduled for designation as Wales’s Natural History Museum.

Addressing staff at St Fagans, Mr Anderson – formerly Director of Learning and Interpretation at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London – referred to some of his key tasks over the coming months:

“I am very pleased to have the opportunity to lead such a highly regarded institution, which is at the forefront in terms of its collections, research and public programmes not only in Wales but internationally,” said Mr Anderson.

“St Fagans is a much loved national centre for understanding the culture and history of Wales, with staff who care passionately about sharing this with its visitors.

“Progressing the St Fagans: National History Museum re-development project will be a priority for me as well as affirming Amgueddfa Cymru as a contemporary resource for Wales. The National Museums are here to serve the people of Wales and developing cultural partnerships is a way of delivering this vision successfully. This approach is of even greater importance in light of the country’s current financial situation.”

David Anderson’s visit to St Fagans comes on the eve of one of his first official public engagements, at the launch of Amgueddfa Cymru’s Inspiring Wales document at The Senedd, Cardiff Bay at 5:30pm on Monday, 18 October 2010.

Learning is at the heart of Amgueddfa Cymru and this paper is a celebration of this work and its vision to become a world-class museum of learning. The booklet shows how, as well as having an important role to play as guardians of the nation’s collections, equally important is its work in interpreting and communicating the collections to the people of Wales and its visitors.

Heritage Minister Alun Ffred Jones said:

“The Welsh Assembly Government is committed to making access to our cultural heritage as accessible as possible. Free entry to the seven museum sites operated by Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales is a One Wales commitment and I am delighted to see the positive results of this initiative. In the past year over 1.6 million people have visited our seven national museums, there were almost 1.3 million visits to the Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales website and 33,5000 people have participated in off-site activities organised by the museums.”

Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales administers seven national museums across Wales. They 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.

Entry to each Museum is free, thanks to the support of the Welsh Assembly Government.

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For further information or interview opportunities with David Anderson, please contact Catrin Mears, Corporate Communications Officer on 029 2057 3185 or email catrin.mears@museumwales.ac.uk or Lleucu Cooke, Communications Officer, Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales on 029 2057 3175 or email lleucu.cooke@museumwales.ac.uk.