St Fagans National Museum of History in Cardiff is now showcasing an exhibition dedicated to LGBT+ history, both past and present. Curated using flags, badges and other items, the exhibition includes the likes of memorabilia from Cardiff's first Pride to protests that have taken place in Wales to try and better life for the LGBT+ community.
Recently, Wales' ancient LGBT+ history has been featured in the spotlight following independent researcher, Dr Alessandro Ceccarelli, stating that the discovery of a stone head of the God Attis was found in Caerleon. The Greek-Roman god in mythology is remembered as the "consort" of the mother goddess and harvest goddess Cybele. Attis was known as both a "male" and "female" god in certain texts. More on this story can be found here. Whilst LGBT+ history is quite obviously an important part of Welsh history, the likes of these finds and the recent St Fagans installation has brought attention it has perhaps missed out on.
"LGBTQ+ history shouldn’t just be celebrated in LGBTQ+ History Month or Pride Month, and at Amgueddfa Cymru we are taking a 365 day approach to LGBTQ+ history. We have plans to use objects from the collection in displays, exhibitions, and events throughout the year, and across all of Amgueddfa Cymru’s museum sites, such as the Trawsnewid exhibition that has just closed at the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea. We have plans for a number of LGBTQ+ related events over the next few years, so watch this space," curator Mark Etheridge told WalesOnline.
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"Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales has had a number of LGBTQ+ related events and exhibitions over the years and has been collecting LGBTQ+ history. However, we were aware that this collection did not adequately represent the LGBTQ+ community. Since 2019 I have been curator of LGBTQ+ History and have been very actively collecting and building up a permanent collection that will represent the whole of the LGBTQ+ community across all of Wales. This LGBTQ+ collection can be viewed on Amgueddfa Cymru’s Collections Online website here.
Mark is hopeful that the display will bring awareness and give much-needed visibility to the LGBT+ community. He added: "As part of the display text we have included a call out for people to donate objects. We all have a part to play in making sure Wales’ LGBTQ+ History is recorded and preserved for the future and I hope that the LGBTQ+ community will support us in making sure our history and lived experiences are included in the collection at St Fagans.
"2022 is the 50th anniversary of the first Pride event in the UK, held in London in 1972. We wanted to celebrate that milestone, and show how Wales also has a proud history of protest and pride. Additionally, at St Fagans National Museum of History we are actively collecting LGBTQ+ history, so this was an opportunity to showcase some of the LGBTQ+ related objects, photographs and stories that have been collected. I hope that the display will raise awareness and give visibility to the LGBTQ+ community in Wales, and that the LGBTQ+ community will be able to see themselves represented in the collection at St Fagans and see that our history is valued."
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