5. Debate: 'A National Contemporary Art Gallery Wales Feasibility Study' and 'A Sport Museum for Wales Feasibility Study'

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:10 pm on 27 November 2018.

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Photo of Gareth Bennett Gareth Bennett UKIP 4:10, 27 November 2018

Thanks to the Minister for bringing the debate today. It's an interesting subject, or a combination of subjects—a sporting one and an artistic one. I agree with much of what Llyr Gruffydd just said on the subject of the football museum. Llyr referred to Wrexham as the spiritual home of Welsh football. Of course, I'm a Cardiff City FC fan, but I totally acknowledge that the north-east corner of Wales was where organised football really began in Wales. Of course, for many years, the Racecourse staged many or most of the Welsh internationals. There was some disquiet in the 1990s among north Walians—I was aware of it at the time—when we started to have more of the internationals coming down to Cardiff, at that time at the national stadium. And I think this would be a good move to re-emphasise the importance of the north-east to include it in a strategy for the celebration of culture in Wales, going along with what Llyr just said. He quoted a couple of important facts about Wrexham, so I won't rehash them, but a couple of other things. 

There were other important clubs early on in that north-east corner. In the Wrexham area, there was Druids from Ruabon, and there was Chirk FC as well. They were also early winners of the Welsh Football Association Cup, apart from Wrexham. Chirk produced Billy Meredith, who was probably the most famous player of the Edwardian era in the entire British isles, so I think Chirk played a big part as well. So, that would also fit in with the strategy of having this museum in Wrexham. And tying it in with the redevelopment of the stadium, that would be a good idea if we could look at that seriously. I think that does warrant a lot of consideration.

And the importance of having a good museum—I mean, we have museums. They're not always of a great status. I remember when we had the national sports museum, it was in St Fagans. There were some items there that were of interest, but it wasn't a particularly well-curated exhibition, and I think that the status of the museum, as Llyr mentioned, is also important; it needs to be a good collection.

I agree with David Melding that we need to have a discussion about the contemporary art gallery, because the proposals are a little vaguer on that subject. David intriguingly mentioned Port Talbot, which has cropped up as a possibly innovative site for such an art gallery. Of course, Port Talbot has traditionally been known for its industry rather than for its culture. Of course, now we know that a cultural life is beginning to flourish in Port Talbot, so it would be—[Interruption.] Okay, well, I'm not being condescending. Port Talbot has a lot of artistic life. This would add to it, so I think that's a radical idea and I think we should consider it. And thanks very much for the report.