The Welsh government has stepped in to support National Museum Cardiff—Wales’s national cultural institution—after its director warned that the dilapidated building could close.
The government will provide an extra £3.7m in funding this year for national and local cultural institutions in financial need, with £3.2m earmarked for repairs at the National Museum Cardiff and the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth.
National Museum Cardiff is one of seven sites run by Amgueddfa Cymru (Museum Wales). Responding to news of the funding, the organisation’s chairwoman Kate Eden told the BBC: “The money won’t go far enough. But it will allow us to get the technical expertise to put that business case together, to make some immediate emergency improvements, and improve accessibility.”
The BBC reports that an estimated £25m is needed for repairs and refurbishments at the museum—more than seven times the figure made available so far.
Museum Wales chief executive Jane Richardson said earlier this year that the museum could close if funding is not provided to repair the deteriorating building. Museums Journal reports that the building’s leaking roof has meant that paintings have had to be moved while buckets were used to collect rainwater during heavy downpours.
Last December, the Welsh government announced a financial cut of 10.5% in Museum Wales’s 2024-25 budget. A voluntary severance scheme is currently underway at the organisation due to the spending squeeze.
The Welsh cabinet secretary for culture and social justice, Lesley Griffiths, says in a statement: “We have had to make some difficult decisions and choices, but we have listened and the priority at this time must be helping to safeguard our cultural institutions be they large or small, national or local.”
A government statement adds: “The immediate priority of protecting and preserving cultural institutions and their collections means investing in an anchor gallery for the National Contemporary Art Gallery for Wales and [the new initiative of] Museum of North Wales will not be possible at this time.”
The contemporary gallery project comprises a nationwide network of nine venues—including Mostyn in Llandudno and Oriel Davies gallery in Newtown— which will show contemporary art works drawn from the collections of Museum Wales and the National Library of Wales in rotation.
