Cylchlythyr ar gyfer Ffederasiwn Amgueddfeydd ac Oriel Celf Cymru

The newsletter of the Federation of Museums & Art Galleries of

Hydref / October 2015

Hello from the Fed.. Welcome to another bumper edition of Ymag packed with projects, news and events that showcase the great work going on in Museums across Wales. It is a significant time for Welsh Museums. Whilst facing financial challenges, we also have a real opportunity to help transform the sector and build resilience for the long-term benefit of the people of Wales. The Fed urges all of our members to raise awareness of Welsh Museums by lobbying your local AM to respond to the Museums Review, which presents a model of delivery to improve the structure and influence of our sector. If you have heard of any feedback or media reports about the review in your area please share it with us and send a copy to Rachel Silverson. Rachel Silverson (President)

Projects

Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum continues search for WW1 photos

The Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum, Caernarfon has undertaken the mammoth task of collecting photos of individual RWF soldiers killed in the Great War. Each man’s name is displayed on screen on the centenary of his death. Over 10,500 Royal Welch Fusiliers lost their lives during WW1. After 12 months of searching we have more than 2000 photographs, but would dearly love to add a photo to every name.

We are appealing to other museums and centenary projects for help so please circulate our plea! We’ve already been greatly assisted by the Flintshire and West Wales Memorial projects, , Port Sunlight Museum and Conwy Archives to name “The Faces of Wales project is but a few. We wish to thank our volunteers too, in particular particularly evocative and John Krijnen, RWF historian based in Holland, and Adrian reminds us how young these Hughes from the Home Front Museum who have contributed young men were.” countless hours.

(Ken Skates, Deputy Minister for This project is helping us to fully recognise the sacrifice made by Culture, Sports and Tourism) our men. It is also proving helpful to individuals undertaking family research. We hope to make the final project available online after 2018. A Federation grant has funded a huge panel featuring 320 of the discovered photographs, which is on display at the museum. We hope the panel will spur others on to contribute photographs.

Shirley Williams

Contact Shirley Williams, Museum Development Manager on [email protected] for more details or to send a photo. Follow progress on our website at www.rwfmuseum.org.uk or on Twitter, Pinterest, Flickr, Blogger, Tumblr and Facebook.

#wickedwelshwomen Exhibition at Narberth Museum

Earlier this year, staff and some visitors to Narberth Museum felt that women were underrepresented in the exhibits. The museum decided to devise a project to work with Year 9 pupils from Greenhill School to address this imbalance and challenge preconceptions along the way.

Twelve pupils visited the archive and selected seven women as the focus for an exhibition. Subjects were chosen for their diversity and the way they opposed traditional female stereotypes and domestic ideology. One woman built her own house from bricks she had made herself; another was a renowned actress and bard, and one donated the land used for rugby and cricket pitches to Narberth.

The pupils then developed a unique concept for displaying their research using the theme of Facebook profile pages. The idea was to bring the exhibition to life for young people as well as making it accessible to visitors of all ages. The pupils created the hashtag #wickedwelshwomen to open discussion and spread the message across social media. They created puzzles and questionnaires to encourage visitors to engage with the exhibition and to become involved in the representation of women’s history at the museum and beyond.

The museum is inviting visitors to share photographs and stories of #wickedwelshwomen from their own families on our ‘Wall of Fame’. The aim is to enrich and expand our archive of local women’s social history and all information will eventually be available not only to researchers at Narberth Museum but nationwide as part of the Women’s Archive of Wales.

Pauline Griffiths

#wickedwelshwomen is currently at Narberth Museum and will form part of our permanent collection. Thanks to Mrs. Carolyn Penn from Greenhill School, as well as the pupils for their innovation and hard work: Molly Ashton, Elizabeth Stewart-Walvin, Georgia Allen, Sam Swannell, Billy Greenwood, Alex Orchard, Alex Fleming, Drew Croxford, Lizzy Roper, Emilia Dore, Holly Bartlett and Kelis Davies.

Glynn Vivian Art Gallery OFFSITE / ODDI AR SAFLE

Glynn Vivian Art Gallery’s Artist in Residence (AiR) programme began in 2012 and is an opportunity for the community to interact with contemporary artists living and working in Wales in a relaxed and supportive environment. The programme aims to challenge and engage our community by offering them access to emerging artists, their work and ways of seeing. Our Gallery Exhibitions and Learning teams work closely with artists to open their practice to our community in a meaningful way, while offering them a space for research, reflection, presentation and production.

In November 2014, the Gallery welcomed performance artist Joan Jones to the studio. Joan's work is about turning embodied queer experience - often painful – into narratives or "folk stories." Throughout the residency, Joan led writing and performance workshops with young people’s LGBT group, Good Vibes and members of the Terence Higgins Trust. The work which

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included film, poetry, performance and live music was presented at the YMCA theatre as an alternative Valentine’s Day celebration. In May, polymath Aled Simons was the Gallery’s AiR. Aled’s practice is DATES an attempt to come to terms with the disparate and varying nature of creativity and artistic practice. Aled used the Open Studio format as a Joan Jones Valentine’s Day Performance vehicle for his personas, inviting the audience to join him in a band Friday 13 February, 2015 practice, in a raffle led by Johnny Toppins and in a performance lecture to learn about 1960s band The Monks . Aled Simons Open Studio meet Johnny Toppins Friday 8 May, 2015 From July, the Gallery will introduce its first ever family residency. The Open Studio meet Barrie Hole Bartussek/Dicker family, are five-strong, Anglo-German, 3:2 Friday 29 May, 2015 female/male ratio and occupied in various social education institutions from nursery to university. Their interests include photography, film, The Bartussek/Dicker Family drawing, sewing, music, sports, food and puppetry. The theme of the Puppet Making and Party Games Saturday 11 & Sunday 12 July, 2015 residency is family language and communication which will be explored Open Studio through the creation of a travelling puppet show. Saturday 18 July , 2015

Charlotte Thomas

INTO THE LIGHT: CASW Gifts to Cyfarthfa Castle Museum & Art Gallery

This July Cyfarthfa Castle Museum and Art Gallery, , held an exhibition to celebrate the gifts, since 1947, of thirty-eight artworks from the Contemporary Art Society for Wales (CASW). This collaboration between Museums Officer Kelly Powell and her staff and David Moore and Sue Hiley Harris of Crooked Window, enabled all CASW-gifted works to be displayed together for the first time, revealing their impact upon the twentieth-century art collection.

Since CASW was formed in 1937 it has acquired 850 contemporary artworks and exhibited and gifted them to public institutions - museums, colleges, local authorities and hospitals - in Wales. These have made a vital contribution to many museum collections. Well- known works by Welsh artists include Alfred Janes's 1938 Salome and 's 1930s Caeharris Post Office . Rarely-seen works, which were conserved especially for the exhibition, include 's 1950s Sad News , Will Roberts's 1954 Bideford Bridge , Ray Howard-Jones's 1959 South Haven and Arthur Giardelli's 1964 abstract relief Pembrokeshire Panel.

Surprising is the inclusion of a c.1913 Cubist drawing by Czech sculptor Otto Gutfreund and 1948 prints by Bloomsbury Group member Vanessa Bell. Research has shed light on largely-forgotten Welsh artist James Wynne Parry, who painted Sunlight and Shadow in 1932. He emigrated to the United States and, together with Evan Walters, showed work in a 1917 exhibition in New York. Important works by founder members Heinz Koppel and Eric Malthouse were also included.

Additional funding was provided by CASW, Brecknock Art Trust, the Gibbs Trust and the Morel Trust. The collection is explored in a new colour publication by David Moore and designed by Sue Hiley Harris, available from the museum or by post from www.crookedwindow.co.uk.

For further information, contact Kelly Powell ([email protected], 01685 727371) or David Moore ([email protected], 01874 610892).

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Collecting and Engaging with Portable Heritage in Wales

Saving Treasures; Telling Stories is a 5-year partnership project between Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales, The FED and the Portable Antiquities Scheme in Wales (PAS Cymru) promoting the portable archaeological heritage of Wales through acquiring finds made by the public. The project secured £349,000 of Heritage Lottery Grant funding in October 2014 through the Collecting Cultures programme.

The project will contribute to the work of museums and their collections by strengthening community and cultural identities and empowering people through learning, participation and inspiration.

The Project will :- • Acquire artefacts for national and local collections. • Bring together metal detector clubs, museums and communities. • Enable diverse communities to engage with evidence for their past.

Funded Outcomes • A fund will be available to cover all costs of acquiring treasure and recorded non-treasure finds (over 300 years old) from Wales. • Six Community Archaeology Projects with museums, metal- detecting clubs and local communities between 2016 and 2018 • Strategic collecting networks, training, skill-sharing, bursaries and volunteering opportunities generated. • The PAS Cymru website will be developed as a focus in Wales for celebrating treasure and non-treasure finds.

How can you become involved and benefit? You will be able to contribute ideas on what you are keen to collect and attend collecting and training days. Grant funding will be available to acquire treasure and non-treasure finds from Wales. There will be opportunities to apply for Community Project grant funding over coming years. The redeveloped PAS Cymru website will be a place to collate and share online comment and new website articles. Help us to advocate for archaeology and portable heritage, while also generating additional funding opportunities!

Adam Gwilt

Keep your eyes open for further briefings and guidance. Please contact the project team, for further information. Adam Gwilt and Mark Lodwick (Project Managers) - [email protected]; Tel: 029 20573374 and [email protected]; Tel: 029 20573226 Chris Delaney (FED representative); [email protected]

National Waterfront Museum Putting objects on open display in a multifunctional space.

We recently held an exhibition of sculptural art on open display, something that we have never attempted before. The thirteen works by artist Adriano Candelori proved a challenge when it came to display. The exhibition focused on the two series of ‘Craftsmen at work’ which he produced in terracotta.

The challenge was to show these works safely in the main hall also used for large events. This means that any exhibitions that take place here have to be mobile. We

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didn’t have enough temporary display cases to house the sculptures so we had to put them on open display. Working closely with a trusted carpenter, we designed plinths on wheels that were wider at the bottom than the top for stability and security. We then grouped the sculptures together so there were less parts to move around. The wheels chosen were the smoothest for the type of floor ensuring the plinths were less likely to jerk and potentially damage the sculptures when moved.

We also had to consider the front of house staff as they have to move the temporary exhibitions and displays regularly to set up for events. We have to ensure their safety as well as the displays they are moving. They loved this particular exhibition specifically because the plinths were easy to move and after the usual training and risk assessments, had confidence to move the display without fear of damaging the sculptures. Once the plinths had been put into their formation, we also put gallery stanchions around them to make sure that visitors could not touch the sculptures. When we did have big events, the sculptures were moved completely out of the hall and locked in a secure room.

The exhibition was a success and has now closed. From it we have a much better understanding of the planning and the logistics of an exhibition that has objects on open display in a space that is multifunctional. ‘

Jacqueline Roach

The Narrow Gauge Railway Museum

The Narrow Gauge Railway Museum in Tywyn is a small independent charity and accredited museum which tells the story of Britain’s narrow gauge railways in the British Isles. Although independent of Talyllyn Railway, we are based at its main station, which means that visitors can see the context of a working narrow gauge railway. However, a preserved passenger railway only tells part of the story.

We exhibit material from other railways, especially from industrial and military applications, and while these are interesting in their own right, they need to be put into context. Until recently, we had only one dated interactive display showing pictures from other narrow gauge railways. Thanks to two Federation grants, we have been able to update our facilities.

The museum has a temporary exhibition area and a new display is presented every year on a topical subject. For 2014, we explored narrow gauge railways in military service, especially on the western front during WWI. The first Fed grant funded a multimedia screen to show photographs and video of railways on the front line; a more immersive experience for our visitors than the small number of photographs we showed previously. Space does not allow us to have our full collection on display to the public, especially our paper-based items. The second grant funded a computer workstation with access to the full museum catalogue and our photographic collection which we hope to expand as further digitalisation permits. Although only recently installed, the multimedia screen and workstation are being very well received by our visitors with many favourable comments.

Keith Theobald

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Events

Egyptian Experience Day @ Carmarthenshire Museum

Saturday 18 th July saw an Egyptian Experience Day at Carmarthenshire Museum delivered with the Egypt Centre Museum of Egyptian Antiquities at University, the Swansea Branch of the Historical Association and Friends of Carmarthenshire Museum and linked to the 2015 Festival of British Archaeology. Our aim was to raise public awareness of the links between Wales (specifically Carmarthen) and the world of Egyptology. Focus was placed upon the late Egyptologist and artist, Ernest Harold Jones who hailed from Carmarthen. The event featured lectures, including one by local expert Nan Evans on the life of Harold Jones; Egyptian themed activities from volunteers from the Egypt Centre such as writing your name in Hieroglyphs and even a fascinating practical demonstration of mummification in the museum cellar which was decorated as a tomb!

We held a fancy dress competition, and various ancient Egyptian themed crafts and demonstrations, including Egyptian style make-up and ancient crafts by Sally Pointer and Gareth Risborough (https://sallypointer.com/), and demonstrations by blacksmith, Toby Petersen (https://sites.google.com/site/tobypetersengbbo00/).

The day was incredibly successful, with over 400 visitors, many visiting Carmarthenshire Museum for the first time. It also provided an opportunity for us to bring artefacts out of store for a new display on the Egyptological connection. We hope the event will lead to further collaboration between both museums, the Friends of Carmarthenshire Museum and the Historical Association.

Syd Howells

Tribute to the ‘Quarry Boys’ of Pen

2015 marks the centenary of the Gallipoli campaign, where more than 44,000 soldiers lost their lives, including men from the ‘Quarry Boys’ of Penmaenmawr. The First Minister for Wales, Carwyn Jones AM, visited Penmaenmawr on the 10 th August to formally open a new ‘Welsh at Gallipoli’ exhibition curated by Anne Pedley, Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum Trustee. Penmaenmawr Museum is proud to be the first museum to host this national touring exhibition.

In the lead up to the exhibition launch, Pen Museum held commemorative events including re-enactment days where entertainment was provided by a fully functioning 1917 Gramophone! Ysgol Capelulo, one of Penmaenmawr’s two primary schools, worked with Artist Eleri Jones to create poppies from recycled materials, and these formed a garden of remembrance at Eglwys Dewi Sant where a commemorative service was held to honour the men who died. The commemorative weekend was funded by Conwy County Borough Council.

Helen Bradley

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Conservation

Conserving a painted silk fan

Earlier this year, a painted silk fan with bone slats from was brought in to the conservation lab at University. The fan was very fragile and the silk panel was falling apart. It is one of four fans that had been donated to the museum by the family who owned 17 th century Penpont House just outside of Brecon. Although there are no records, it is likely that this is where the fan was originally used. The fan had been stored closed. When it was rediscovered and opened, it clearly needed urgent treatment. The brittle silk had lifted away from the backing material and broken. Fragments had been lost, and pieces of silk threatened to flutter away if moved or breathed on.

The goal was to stabilise the panel and clean it if possible. The fan was potentially to be displayed at Brecknock Museum. Most people who saw the fan said it was beautiful, but they would not want to touch it. I knew it would be a challenge, but I thought I was up for it. I created film strips of Evacon-R, a PVAc emulsion, by drying the adhesive on Melinex sheets. These strips were cut to shape and carefully placed between the silk panel and the backing using tweezers, a silicon shaper, and dental tools. I then humidified the silk slightly so it would be more flexible and would not break when touched. The film was reactivated using a heat spatula and pressure was applied using a bone folder to attach the silk panel to the backing. After securing the silk panel, the bone slats were cleaned with very slightly damp cotton swabs. The fan is now stable enough to be put on display.

Jessica Byler

Brecknock Museum, Suffragettes and Trolling

Brecknock Museum has worked with Cardiff University to study and conserve a rare object with a contemporary link to the darker side of modern society. With the General Election campaign over, we couldn’t resist showing you this incredible “jack-in-the-box” suffragette. We take our right to vote for granted, but 100 years ago women did not have that choice. Suffrage means the right to vote, which is what suffragettes campaigned for. Not everyone supported suffrage. People felt women would not understand the political process and should concentrate on their domestic duties. Cartoons, posters, and other propaganda were produced in opposition to the suffragettes. “And that’s where our object comes in!” enthused Nigel Blackamore, Senior Museum Curator. “It’s a small wooden box containing a spring-loaded caricature of a suffragette, holding a banner proclaiming Votes for Women . When the box was opened, the figure would jump out. The box would have been left on the doorstep of a suffragette, intended to intimidate.”

Jane Henderson at Cardiff University’s Department of Archaeology and Conservation has been helping Brecknock Museum research the object. She added: “This pop up suffragette is an early form of 'trolling' by post. Opponents of female suffrage used it as a way of mocking suffragettes. But this could actually be seen as a badge of honour for the suffragette, which changes entirely the original meaning. All objects tell stories, but this jack-in-the-box tells more than most.”

The object was conserved at Cardiff University by Lea Parvio, a graduate student on the MSc Conservation Practice programme. “When I first got the object it was in a pretty poor condition,” Lea

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said. But she had all the right skills to tackle this complex conservation project, including re-attaching flakes of paint and removing rust. “Once the object was clean and stable, I made a perspex mount to ensure it would be properly viewed and supported on display.’ Nigel is delighted with the work, and concluded: “This is just the type of object we’d like to highlight in our new displays once the Brecknock Museum and Art Gallery is refurbished.”

Conserving photographic Printing Blocks

When Jenna Taylor was provided with five photographic printing blocks to work on as part of her MSc course in Conservation Practice at Cardiff University, they really grabbed her interest. The blocks originate from Blaenycwm Chapel, Rhondda, and feature images of historical Ministers and Deacons of the chapel, along with members of its congregation. Two date to the 1960’s and the remaining three belong to the early stages of the 20 th Century. The earlier plates are zinc and the later are made of copper. The gentleman in the centre of the zinc plate pictured is likely to be Rev. Cynon Evans, minister of the chapel between 1898 – 1941 . It is intriguing to see that one member of the group presumably was unable to attend on the day and has been superimposed onto the image, comparable to the modern day photoshop.

The plates are created using the ‘half-tone’ method. Images are taken on a camera fitted with a half-tone screen, which splits the image into many dots. The plate is then covered in bichromated gelatin containing potassium dichromate, a photosensitising medium. When exposed to light the gelatin becomes insoluble, however the gelatin covering the dots is denser and therefore remains soluble. When placed in an acidic agent, the soluble areas are etched away to produce the image and surface suitable for printing. Focusing so far on the zinc plates, I have been removing powdery corrosion products that lie within the tiny dots. For this I have used a mounted needle and sharpened porcupine quill to remove the corrosion. Researching the technology behind the production of these plates, now largely redundant, as well as the history of the people in the images has been fascinating.

Jenna Taylor

News

Rhyl Miniature Railway regains Accreditation

Rhyl Miniature Railway first opened in 1911 and is now Britain’s oldest miniature line. Rhyl Steam Preservation Trust took over operation of the railway in 2001, and our building ‘Central Station’ opened in 2007. Our railway opens to the public on approximately 100 days per year and in 2014 we entertained 18,500 visitors. We are self-funding through charging for train rides and this year we have two seasonal employees. However we remain a volunteer-led organisation, with volunteers proving the key to our success and sustainability’.

Our main funder, the Heritage Lottery Fund, was keen that we worked towards Museum Accreditation, which we first achieved in 2010. We sought help from Peter Alexander Heritage, whose work for us was funded by Welsh Government through CyMAL, and the Federation of Museums and Art Galleries of Wales, to work towards an accreditation return in October 2014. As well as helping us with accreditation documentation, the project formally accessioned our photographic archive which was placed into the

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care of Denbighshire Archives so as to be preserved for the long term. We were delighted when in March 2015 full Museum Accreditation was awarded to us again.

With our collection small in size, and our focus on operation as well as conservation, we will never be in the centre of the museum sector. However the Accreditation criteria for organisational health, and users and their experiences, are very relevant to us, especially considering that we are occupy a publicly funded building located on a local authority site. We have always been impressed with how friendly we have found Museum people to be, and hope that Rhyl Miniature Railway will continue to add to the diversity of the museum sector in Wales.

Simon Townsend

The AIM Hallmarks of Prospering Museums

The Association of Independent Museums has recently launched the ‘AIM Hallmarks of Prospering Museums , a framework to help identify the key characteristics of best practice and describes the set of behaviours that make heritage organisations prosper and thrive.

AIM’s experience shows that museums’ success is not down to particular size, funding or whether museums are led by staff or by volunteers. Instead there are common characteristics to these museums – characteristics rooted in how the organisations think and behave, rather than in their size or structures – their culture of resourcefulness, passion and willingness to try new things – the things that give them their independent spirit.

The publication of the Hallmarks is the beginning of AIM’s long–term strategy to share this thinking and culture. AIM will be examining each Hallmark in turn over the next years, sharing case studies, new and existing resources and insights, and support more museums in developing the Hallmarks for themselves.

The eight Hallmarks have been designed to show each key characteristic at a glance and there is a PDF available for download from AIM’s website: http://www.aim-museums.co.uk/content/aim_hallmarks/ The Hallmarks and associated programmes are funded by Arts Council England and are available to all UK Museums. The other programme elements will initially be for English museums, but AIM is working to

ensure as much as possible is accessible to all UK museums over the course of th e next three years.

Sassy Hicks

AIM would be pleased to hear your thoughts on the Hallmarks and are looking for case studies relating to them. If you have any comments, suggestions or questions about the AIM Hallmarks of Prospering Museums, please contact us by email: [email protected] or by calling 01495 774127

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Catalyst Cymru - Heritage Fundraising

Are you new to fundraising or do you just need some new ideas to freshen up your organisation's approach? If so, WCVA's Catalyst Cymru-Heritage Fundraising project can offer you free help and support to develop your fundraising skills and success. Catalyst Cymru - Heritage Fundraising is open to all staff, volunteers and trustees within the heritage sector in Wales including those working in:

• Historic environment

• Landscape and natural heritage (historic gardens, wildlife, woodland)

• Industrial, maritime and transport

• Museums, libraries and archives

• Intangible heritage (such as the preservation of memories, or oral history projects) We offer free fundraising help, advice, training and support to enable you to diversify your funding base, giving advice on how you can tap into, for example, private donors, corporate sources and trusts and foundations. To find out what help is available to your organisation during the project’s second year visit our website at http://www.wcva.org.uk/funding/catalyst-cymru

Richard Roberts

Launch of the North East Wales Heritage Forum

The North East Wales Heritage Forum (NEWHF) has been established as a voluntary initiative to celebrate, conserve and promote the rich heritage of the region. It aims to pull together existing local and regional history and heritage societies, groups and organisations – including archive and museum services – to foster collaborative working for regional heritage projects and the sharing of experiences, best practice and resources.

In addition to supporting the plethora of history societies and acting as a strong lobbying group to ensure that local heritage remains high on the political agenda (evidencing the positive impact heritage delivers for the region’s society and economy), the Forum hopes to inspire a broader interest in the diverse heritage of the area and provide innovative opportunities for community – and in particular, youth – engagement.

The Forum was formally launched and endorsed by a packed audience at the Civic Hall, Connah’s Quay, Flintshire, on 19 th June 2015. In the morning session, presentations by David Hanson MP, Sally Roberts (HLF), pupils of Ysgol Maes Garmon, Tom Pert (RCAHMW), Sophie Fish (Flintshire Museums Officer), Dr. Kathryn Ellis (Glynd ŵr University), local historian Bill Pritchard and Mark Isherwood AM highlighted a range of incredible opportunities which could be unlocked by the Forum.

The afternoon ‘Local History Fayre’ session, which provided an opportunity for over thirty societies and organisations to showcase the richness of the region’s heritage offer, was attended by 200+ members of the public. Over the forthcoming months the Steering Committee will oversee the development of the Forum and its associated infrastructure. Membership will be made available to both societies and individuals.

For more details please contact Dr Shaun Evans: [email protected] .

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Are you ready to ‘Amaze’?

The second Welsh Museums Festival is just around the corner, from 24 October-1 November at museums across Wales .

There will be a variety of events, activities and exhibitions to include talks, walks, re-enactments, family workshops and Halloween themed nights. Thanks to the Federation, 17 museums have received grant funding to organise events specifically for the Festival.

Museums at Night is taking place from 30-31 October so any museums organising evening events on these 2 days will be able to take advantage of the extra publicity - this format works well for Festival of Museums in Scotland www.festivalofmuseums.co.uk The launch of the Festival will take place on Tuesday 20 th October at Powysland Museum, to coincide with the ‘Stuffed, Pickled and Pinned’ exhibition (Linking Natural Science Collections Project). TV Presenter and wildlife expert Dr Rhys Jones will be launching the Festival and exhibition.

Two staff workshops will take place in September 2015 for museum staff to learn more about the Festival, advocacy and Museums at Night/Connect! It will also be a good opportunity to share best practice, ask questions and build marketing skills and confidence in the sector. All the resources including promotional materials, logos, website instructions, aims/objectives, social media staff pack, and PR can be found on the Federation website: http://welshmuseumsfederation.org/en/resources-landing/marketing/welsh-museums-festival.html.

Don’t forget!

• Include the Festival hashtag in social media activity – #welshmuseumsfest / #gwylamgueddfeydd • Follow/like – Twitter @WelshMuseums and Facebook /amgueddfeyddcymruwelshmuseums • Visit www.museums.wales /www.amgueddfeydd.cymru for What’s On and to register your event

Contact Nicola Williams on: [email protected] (01978 722988)

Emergency Planning Network Wales EPNW

The Emergency Planning Network Wales has been set up with the aim of supporting organisations in Wales with all aspects of emergency planning and to ensure that our organisations are able to deal effectively with emergency situations.

The EPNW runs a jisc list group which enables us to share information and to advertise training on emergency planning and provides the perfect forum to put questions to the sector and access useful resources. Sector professionals have created and posted a number of resources, including a checklist for your emergency plan and an incident record sheet used to gather information on the types of incidents organisations experience, minor or major, and help inform the emergency planning training MALD can offer the sector.

Through MALD, the EPNW has offered training on the following topics:

• Test your emergency plan • Scenario testing • Salvage • Risk assessments • Business continuity

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Let MALD know if there are any topics within emergency planning that you specifically want to be addressed. Contact [email protected] with your suggestions.

A network response group has been created, which provides a list of individuals from the museum, archive and library sector who are willing to be contacted in the event of an emergency incident and considers what advice and support they can offer. However, it is not feasible to expect members of the group based in Flintshire to attend an incident in Swansea. Therefore, MALD want to explore the feasibility of establishing local networks to enable better planning and local support. MALD are considering inviting organisations to attend a half day meeting. The initial meeting will agree the scope of each group and how MALD can support workable and sustainable regional networks. Let MALD know your thoughts on this proposal and if you think it is a workable idea.

Sarah Paul

‘Towards the West’ A new book from Museum

Following one of our most successful temporary exhibitions about why people moved to in the 1970’s it was decided that the resulting research and documentation was of sufficient interest to produce a fully illustrated book. Jez Danks curated the exhibition and did the research for the display. He was very pleased to help co-ordinate the design, content and layout of the book with colleague Andrea DeRome, who said; ‘Not only did we manage to record the memories of incomers and settlers but we asked those who already lived and worked in Ceredigion about the effect of the sudden influx.’

Many of those who contributed still live in Ceredigion. The innovative and visionary individuals who came to Wales carved a new life for themselves but ultimately some of their ideas had far reaching effects, especially building environmental awareness and ecological concerns. The title of the exhibition and book, ‘ Towards the West, a Varied Crowd/ Tua’r Gorllewin, yn Gymysgryn Haid, ’ was taken from the National Eisteddfod winning poem ‘Llygaid’ by John Roderick Rees, a local teacher and poet who vividly describes the period as he witnessed it in his native Penuwch.

The book is available at the museum shop/ Supported by the Friends of . Price £16.00 Contact [email protected] / 01970 633088

Stuart Evans

The Federation’s key messages:

Museums empower people through education & inspiration Collections in museums help communities to regenerate and forge their identity Museums contribute to the economy

Charity no.: 11022 www.welshmuseumsfederation.org.uk

Follow us on Twitter @WelshMuseumsFed

To contribute to Ymag, email [email protected] / 01492 575 535

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