Museums, Galleries and Libraries

The National Museum Network

Wales can be proud of the network of National Museum Wales venues across the nation. We also recognise the success of the free entry policy for those museums and will maintain it. At the same time, we will ensure the integrity of all of our national museums as well as their viability.

We would also support continued improvement schemes across that network, following the success of the redevelopment of the St Fagan’s National Museum of History.

New Initiatives

National Gallery of Contemporary Art

We would realise long-held ambitions to create a dedicated National Gallery of Contemporary Art, representing the visual culture of Wales, both in terms of creativity and collection, and showcasing the best of national and international visual culture. We would, in the first year of government, identify a venue for a Gallery at a location other than Cardiff.

We would continue to invest in the ten centres across Wales that already exhibit contemporary visual culture and add an additional one for the valleys located in the Rhondda.

Cyfarthfa Castle and Park

We would support the proposals to develop Cyfarthfa Castle and Park at Merthyr Tydfil into a national centre for industrial heritage. This would complement our proposals for a new Valleys Development Authority.

National Digital Library

We would continue our support for the creation and development of the National Digital Library. This gives any citizen of Wales the right to download an electronic copy of any book in national or local public collection, including those in copyright, in exchange for a fee paid to the publisher and author, based on the number of times the digital version is read. A similar system will apply to music and film.

Care will be taken in devising this scheme that it does not undermine the conventional book and record trade.

National Archive

Wales is the only devolved administration that does not have a dedicated national archive. We will consider the options set out in the Feasibility Report into establishing a National Archive, published in December 2020, and implement a development plan.