Cardiff Council claim they may close Museum of Cardiff due to lack of funds and protesters oppose plan to cut budget for culture.
People in Cardiff took to the streets to march “for Dignity and Culture ” against the possible relocation or closure of Museum of Cardiff.
Cardiff Council has proposed to move the Museum of Cardiff out of the old library and make it a temporary attraction, a move that could lead to the closure of Museum of Cardiff for more than a year or permanently. The explanation given by Cardiff Council for this was that they had to make the decision to save money due to a shortage of funds and a cost of living crisis, but the move drew opposition.
“We understand that these are difficult decisions, but they have to think how do we fight for more money, not simply make decisions like implementing budget cuts or privatisation,” said Adam Johannes, one of the organisers of the protest,” We think they’re really taking the easy and lazy road.”
The Museum of Cardiff is located in the old library of the Hayes. It is considered the ideal starting point for a visit to Cardiff, as it tells the history of the city through the eyes of its creators, the people of Cardiff.
It is one of Cardiff’s cultural icons – one of the reasons why this move by Cardiff Council has attracted so much opposition. “I see that as an attack on our cultural democracy，“ said by a member of the public who took part in the march.
In fact, this is not the first time that Cardiff Council has proposed changes to Cardiff’s cultural venues. Back in November last year, Cardiff Council proposed to hand over the management of St David’s Hall to the private ector AMG; in February this year, they took the decision to reduce the opening hours of the library, sack the library staff and employ unpaid volunteers.
“The local authority’s proposal would reduce the opening hours of libraries, which are often a place of sanctuary for a lot of people in the city,” said by a National Museum Wales staff member, “We’re fighting to save the heritage of culture, but also we’re fighting to save the jobs in our libraries.”
The protest was also against the privatisation of St David’s Hall and against budget cuts to the library. Noam Chomsky, an American public intellectual also sent a letter of solidarity for the protest. In his letter, he said: “I had the great privilege of speaking at St David’s Hall a decade ago, the kind of public space that is of great value for a live an functioning democratic community. It would be a great shame to see it lost to private hands.”
Whether it is St David’s Hall, which hosts many of Cardiff’s major music events, the Cardiff Library, where citizens can enjoy their reading time, or the Museum of Cardiff, which holds the collections of Cardiff’s people from the past, they are all important cultural venues of Cardiff. Adam says that until the matter is finally decided, the people of Cardiff will keep fighting.
“I think the museum is a really magical place. It’s a place where time is transformed into space, especially this museum documents the lives of everyday people,” Adam said, “I actually think the council should have gone the complete opposite way and it should not only have been preserved but should have continued to develop over a long period of time rather than being closed or turned into a temporary attraction.”
If you are starting to get interested in the Museum of Cardiff, we’ve put together six exhibits that you can’t miss.
