Let our museum remain the treasure it is

Apr 10 2008 Western Mail

Western Mail Comment

THE National Museum in Cardiff is a hugely popular family attraction and politicians should think long and hard before they start tinkering with what is a very successful formula.

The site brings together a diverse art collection with educational exhibitions and archeological and scientific displays.

In short, it has something for everyone and that explains the fondness with which it is regarded by the public. Generations of children have had their first introduction to subjects from Welsh art to the dinosaurs at the top of those stone steps, and the policy of allowing everyone in for free has only boosted the visitor numbers.

So it’s curious that consideration is being given to a plan which would, essentially, turn the museum into an art gallery. Anything that isn’t art would be shipped to another site, possibly nearby, or moved to St Fagans.

That’s the recommendation that London firm ABL Consulting are expected to put to ministers; we hope the Cabinet decides to reject the idea. It would turn a family attraction into the preserve of the elite, and destroy a great strength of cultural policy in Wales – the idea that people with disparate interests can come together in the same building and come away feeling rewarded. It’s a model that works for the Wales Millennium Centre – remember the difficulties with Plan A, to build just an opera house? – and not one that should be ditched in a hurry.

The problem is that the Labour-Plaid coalition has a commitment to look into the possibility of creating a national art gallery for Wales.

That’s an idea we would all support – but turning an existing museum into an art gallery would be to implement the policy on the cheap, with little obvious gain for the public.

A better solution would be a new modern art gallery elsewhere; politicians are understandably wary after the debacle of the Centre for Visual Arts, which closed in 2000, but should be willing to be bold. Why not look at sites outside Cardiff? Why not a national art gallery in Swansea, or Newport?

One should always be a little wary of consultants wielding reports. For obvious reasons, they rarely conclude the current model is working well and no change is needed.

A more sensible approach for the Assembly Government would be to commission a study into where a new art gallery would be best sited – a public competition could even be drawn up, with towns and cities given the chance to explain why it should be built there.

Few other countries would consider such a radical reshaping of their most successful cultural attraction. We think the majority of Welsh families would prefer to see the National Museum stay as it is, a Welsh treasure that future generations can enjoy as much as they always have.