3. Urgent Question: National Museum Wales and Cadw

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:27 pm on 4 October 2016.

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Photo of David Melding David Melding Conservative 2:27, 4 October 2016

Minister, I think we all want more collaboration in the heritage sector. I think that is something that would serve us all well, particularly around marketing initiatives. But, you know, we do face some very hard facts here. The national museum has been an independent body since the 1920s, established by royal charter. The reason we established these great institutions as independent bodies is that so they can stand up to the state and have control over what’s out there in the artistic imagination, which is quite challenging. My simple question to you is that, if the national museum and galleries loses control over its commercial activities, how is it going to run, independent of Government’s choices, lively exhibitions and a choice of special exhibits that they develop? We’ve already heard from Dai Lloyd about the role that was played in developing the national imagination. All these questions come down to fundamental matters of how we imagine ourselves and how we test the coherence of what is coming out from, often, the establishment. How will the independence of the artistic spirit be preserved if, in effect, the museum, via Cadw, becomes a part of Government?