Trawsnewid

Digital Cabaret

In July 2021, during lockdown, the participants of Trawsnewid, the museum's LGBTQ+ group for young people aged 16-25, created a digital cabaret. The cabaret consisted of film, spoken word, drag and art performances inspired by LGBTQ+ Welsh history and objects from the museum’s collection. The participants also responded to the theme of transformation, considering their own experiences of being LGBTQ+ in Wales and their connection to Welsh heritage. Each artist was given a paid commission to create their work and was mentored throughout the process by youth engagement staff at the museum and peer mentoring. The cabaret was created at a time when we were all extremely isolated and offered a safe space for the group to come together regularly, share ideas and socialise.

Trawsnewid Exhibition

Throughout 2021 and 2022, 12 young queer artists were commissioned to create works in response to Amgueddfa Cymru’s LGBTQ+ collection at St Fagans and encapsulate their experiences living as queer people in Wales. The exhibition was a vibrant, contemporary expression of queerness, combining existing pieces from our collection and their own artworks. Transformative both in its content and presentation, the exhibition at the national waterfront museum pushed boundaries by covering the walls in colour and presenting a mix of both physical and digital content.

“The museum provides an essential platform for young people to express themselves freely without judgement and make their stances known. Having a recognised and significant organisation listen to you is incredibly validating and means that what you are saying is heard by so many more people than it normally would be.” Aled Williams, ACP

Being Human Festival

As part of being human festival, Trawsnewid members, Jake, Reg and Oska, presented a day of workshops, activities and a panel discussion exploring queer connections to history, heritage and the importance of representation and belonging in Wales today. The events explored some of Wales’ LGBTQ+ history through objects in Amgueddfa Cymru’s collection. It was important to ask, what do these objects represent? What do they mean today? And how can they be used to connect queer people to each other and their localities?

Trawsnewid Youth Group

Trawsnewid, meaning transformation, is a project which brings young queer people together to celebrate Welsh queer history with the museum. Starting in the lockdown period, Trawsnewid hosted digital workshops which gave queer youth a positive space to form connections and express themselves creatively from home. Going forward, Trawsnewid now hosts online and in-person workshops, projects, and opportunities to work directly with the museum. Most of all, Trawsnewid gives young queer people the space to learn about and develop their own queer Welsh history.

“I was better able to communicate my ideas and help build on those ideas of my peers, support the creative work of others, and make snap decisions for necessary changes. My work on Trawsnewid specifically helped me develop more confidence in myself to make requests for things to be done and deadlines to be met.” - Oska, ACP

Postcard Exhibition

During the covid-19 lockdown in 2021, connecting with the public went digital. It became vital for the Amgueddfa Cymru to engage with their audience in new ways, allowing them to maintain a sense of community whilst isolated from one another. For LGBTQ+ history month, the museum hosted a competition open to the public, to design a postcard based on an item in the museum's LGBTQ+ collection. The competition was a success, and a wave of entries were submitted. It allowed individuals to engage with the museum’s collection, creating a diverse range of personal imagery whilst creating visibility for the LGBTQ+ community. A digital exhibition is available, showcasing all the wonderful entries received alongside a short account from each artist, explaining a little bit about their work.