: Amgueddfeydd, Arddangosfeydd a Digwyddiadau

Ar 28 Hydref byddwn yn dathlu can mlynedd ers i Amgueddfa Cymru agor ei drysau i’r cyhoedd am y tro cyntaf. Er mai yn 2007 oedd canmlwyddiant swyddogol yr Amgueddfa, yn nodi sefydlu’r Amgueddfa o dan Siarter Frenhinol yn 1907, roedd y daith i’w hagor yn broses lawer arafach, gyda chryn oedi, yr amharwyd arni gan anferthedd y Rhyfel Mawr. 

Ar ôl caniatáu’r Siarter, cyflogwyd penseiri i ddylunio’r adeilad newydd a gosodwyd y Garreg Sylfaen gan Siôr V ar 26 Mehefin 1912. Y bwriad gwreiddiol oedd cwblhau’r adeilad fesul cam, felly codwyd digon o arian i ddechrau ar y rhan ddeheuol (yn cynnwys y Brif Neuadd) o’r adeilad. 

Gosod y Garreg Sylfaen, 26 Mehefin 1912

Pan ddechreuodd y rhyfel yn 1914, parhaodd y gwaith i ddechrau, fel y dengys ffotograffau o 1915, ond cyn hir roedd diffyg deunyddiau adeiladu (yn enwedig dur a phlwm) a llafurwyr yn golygu y bu’n rhaid atal y gwaith. Pan ailddechreuodd ar ôl diwedd y rhyfel, roedd yr hinsawdd yn wahanol iawn. Profodd Prydain ddiweithdra a thlodi difrifol, a phlymiodd y wlad i ddirwasgiad o ganlyniad.

Adeiladu adeilad yr Amgueddfa ym Mharc Cathays, 1915

Yn erbyn y cefndir hwn, hyd yn oed gyda gwaith adeiladu yn parhau i fynd rhagddo, agorwyd rhan orllewinol y Brif Neuadd i’r cyhoedd ar 28 Hydref 1922. Bedwar diwrnod ynghynt roedd y byrddau hysbysu o amgylch yr adeilad wedi cael eu tynnu i ffwrdd, ac er na chynhaliwyd seremoni ffurfiol ar yr adeg honno, daeth Llys Llywodraethwyr yr Amgueddfa ar ymweliad arolygu, cyn mynychu cinio yn Neuadd y Ddinas gyda’r Arglwydd Faer ar y diwrnod cynt.

Golygfa o’r tu allan i’r Amgueddfa o’r de-orllewin

Yn ystod y pymtheng mlynedd ers ei sefydlu roedd yr Amgueddfa wedi bod yn cyflogi staff ac adeiladu casgliadau yn raddol. Ni chynhyrchwyd arweinlyfrau ar gyfer yr agoriad anffurfiol; ni chyhoeddwyd yr arweinlyfr cyntaf i’r casgliadau tan y flwyddyn ganlynol, ond mae erthyglau a ffotograffau a gyhoeddwyd yn y papurau lleol yn rhoi syniad inni o’r hyn y byddai’r ymwelwyr cyntaf hynny â’r Amgueddfa wedi ei weld.

Golygfa o’r Brif Neuadd yn edrych tuag at y grisiau gorllewinol

Yn y Brif Neuadd roedd cerfluniau mawr megis Y Gusan gan Auguste Rodin ac Ioan Fedyddiwr gan William Goscombe John. O’r Brif Neuadd gallai ymwelwyr fynd i Oriel Glanely (a elwir bellach yn Ganolfan Ddarganfod Clore) i weld casgliadau Daeareg, yn enwedig creigiau a mwynau a geir yng Nghymru. Yn yr oriel sgwâr ar hyd ochr arall y Neuadd roedd y casgliadau Sŵoleg, yn yr un man ag y maent o hyd, er bod yr arddangosiadau wedi cael eu diweddaru ers y dyddiau cynnar hynny!

Arddangosfa carlwm o’r Oriel Sŵoleg

I fyny’r grisiau yn Oriel Pyke Thompson (a elwir bellach yn Oriel 18), y prif bethau i’w gweld oedd darluniau dyfrlliw a fu’n eiddo i James Pyke Thompson ar un adeg a chasgliad o gerameg Cymreig a roddwyd gan Wilfred de Winton yn 1918. Ar draws y bont yn yr oriel sgwâr, roedd arddangosfa o baentiadau olew o’r Rhodd Menelaus. 

Oriel Pyke Thompson yn 1925

Nid oedd gan yr Adran Archaeoleg ei horiel ei hun ar adeg agor yr Amgueddfa yn 1922, gan y byddai’n rhan o’r adeilad a oedd yn dal i gael ei adeiladu. Ond, flwyddyn yn ddiweddarach cafodd gwrthrychau o’r casgliadau Archaeoleg eu harddangos yn y Brif Neuadd ac ar y balconïau, cyn symud i ofod mwy parhaol yn oriel flaen y llawr cyntaf (sydd bellach yn gartref i gasgliad o gerameg Cymreig). Erbyn 1925, mewn oriel yng nghefn y Brif Neuadd, roeddent hefyd wedi gosod yr Oriel Hynafion, gydag adluniadau o gegin Gymreig ac ystafell wely Cymreig, ac yn oriel flaen y de-ddwyrain ar y llawr gwaelod roedd y casgliadau Botaneg (sef ardal yr Herbariwm Cymreig bellach).

Yr Oriel Archaeoleg yn 1925

 

Parhaodd cynllun yr Amgueddfa fel hyn nes i’r orielau gael eu had-drefnu’n helaeth fel rhan o waith adeiladu’r adain ddwyreiniol yn y 1930au. Gwnaethpwyd newidiadau pellach ar hyd yr 20fed ganrif wrth i’r adain orllewinol gael ei hadeiladu yn y 1960au, ac yna ychwanegwyd orielau’r Bloc Canol yn ystod y 1990au cynnar. Os oes gennych chi ddiddordeb mewn dysgu rhagor am hanes Amgueddfa Cymru, bydd rhagor o flogiau ac erthyglau yn ymddangos ar ein gwefan dros y misoedd nesaf. 

Spirited is an immersive installation in honour of fractured African traditions that feed and underpin our island culture in Trinidad and Tobago.

The Vision

In dreaming this work we thought about women. We knew about Luisa Calderón whose torture became well known during the infamous 1806 trial of Picton. We found reference to Present (a young enslaved woman executed by Picton for attempting to run away), in a Bridget Brereton history book. V.S. Naipaul’s Loss of El Dorado informed us of Thisbe, who was accused of sorcery and condemned to death - hanged, decapitated and burnt at the stake - her head placed on a pole. These women are essentially our ancestors. We considered questions such as: what would they say if they were able to speak through us? How can we honour them and transform their suffering - scream into song, torture into dance?

On seeing the drawings of Luisa’s torture we imagined her suspended figure as an elegant dancer. Captivated by the beauty of the human form, that motif would become a feature throughout the final piece.

Mary-Anne has a beautiful phrase: “6 aunties and a grandma” -  embodying in many ways the kitchen space as a creative yard, a place for wisdom, disagreement, challenge, questioning and throwing lots of ideas into a pot - The kitchen, that yard aesthetic, was how we dreamed together. 

In dreaming, we imagined that anything was possible. We wanted to play with traditional and contemporary digital media and create an immersive journey, a dance.

The Work

While the kitchen yard aesthetic informed our dreaming, it was the Carnival yard aesthetic that informed how we made the work. At the heart of this was an invitation to be involved. 

Having worked in community arts, the intuition here was that, in order for people (such as museum staff) to have ownership over the work, they must feel part of it, so that they can deliver the message and share with others.

The making involved:

Collecting, Twisting, Weaving - “A tapestry of memory and understanding” The woven newspaper was the most communal aspect of our work - chosen as a way of utilising a handmade, something-from-nothing Carnival making aesthetic.

Metal work - Led by Cindy, we worked with Cardiff Engineering Company on the large centrepiece gallows structure. The intricate music box with a chocolate-covered wire Luisa, is a micro reflection of the macro centre installation.

Video & Photography - We produced 3 videos, each speaking to a different aspect of the journey we were symbolising through the 3 women. The photographs  aimed to re-imagine a childhood for Present, our women and all whom they represent.

Soundscape - We approached the audio as a continuation of the weaving. We invited and commissioned 4 musicians and composers to contribute pieces based on their interpretation of the environment we wanted to invoke. Interwoven are the spoken words of Luisa from a translation of Governor Picton’s trial.

Everyday hurricane Passing - This acapella by Mary-Anne is an invocation for Grandmothers we never knew and Nennen, women who cared for us in their absence, to dance.

‘Everyday Hurricane Passing’ but despite destruction, invasion, derision, separation, obstruction, bombardment, intrusion and denial, ever resourceful, we dream, we create riches, we dance and fight, we raise.

Painting - In this we wanted to engage an idea of transformation, with a particular focus on Thisbe representing warrior and healer. The limited and bright colour palette is in deliberate high contrast to Picton’s portrait.

The women - The presence, the actions and the duties of women are all pervading in the Caribbean. Our men were not allowed to be there to protect us. Through the narratives we know and the narratives we imagine, we centre these women within our paintings, wire work, photographs, videos and chocolate. We dance with beauty and the macabre - we tell a story of the named and step into the unnamed collective - the procession of those killed, tortured, wounded and maimed.

Creating the environment - The spiral is an echo of the centrepiece moving outward and inward - symbolising the processional. The colours on the wall represent the vibration and intensity of Caribbean colour and flavour.

The Resonance

This work is a celebration - we are still here.

See Spirited for yourself as part of the Reframing Picton exhbition at National Museum Cardiff until 3 September 2023.

Black Lives Matter.

For generations, even up to recent years, that’s been a controversial statement. Thomas Picton is only one of many instruments of the British Empire who exported, demonstrably, an opposing belief.

I’m unsure where I heard this but it’s stuck with me since:

“The instant a subject becomes aware they have been exposed to propaganda, that propaganda ceases to be effective”

In the case of Thomas Picton and his legacy, drenched in the blood of Africans and Native Caribbeans, was sanitized, valorised iteratively while he lived and especially following his death. The murder of George Floyd spurred people and institutions into gear, Amgueddfa Cymru were thankfully one of those institutions.

At the heart of the idea of empire is a differential sense of importance. Some places are more important than others, setting up the Metropole and the Colony. A center and a periphery. The prevailing narrative has always been fundamentally white supremacist, at the expense of Africans and Natives. The British Empire used the metropole-colony model to evade accountability for events driven by people like Picton.

Reframing Picton represents a divergence from this narrative. 

In the time we worked on this project we made a point to expose, not erase history. It was essential that we directly involved people connected to Trinidad, where Picton entrenched his reputation for barbarism during his tenure as Governor. 

Amongst the goals for this exhibit is the creation of a site of conscience rather than indoctrination. To create a dialogue between museums, the governments that fund them and the communities they serve. To create healthy ways of addressing.

Finally, I’ll leave you with a quote that I think encapsulates the purpose of the project most pertinently:

“If we want our future to be better than our past we need to challenge which aspects of our culture we preserve, build upon and deconstruct”

The act of drying flowers dates back to ancient times. In the past flowers and herbs were dried and utilised for decorative, medicinal and culinary purposes. In Medieval times they were used to repel insects and even conceal unpleasant odours. Drying flowers became a popular hobby and preservation method in the Victorian period in England. For thousands of years flowers have had a symbolic meaning in rituals, passages, religious activities and artistic expression. Dried flowers are now more fashionable than ever due to their everlasting beauty and convenience.

This year thousands of flowers were grown in the gardens of St. Fagans for the purpose of drying. They have been naturally air-dried and beautiful flower arrangements were created by our garden trainees. These are now available to purchase in the Museum store. 

Besides their outstanding and long-lasting beauty dried flower arrangements offer many advantages. They can be used in weddings as bouquets, buttonholes, corsages and centrepieces. Because they are dried, they do not require water. They can be bought months in advance and stored with ease, releasing the pressure of having to care for fresh flowers on the big day. They can also be kept and preserved as memories of such a special day. 

They are perfect for home decoration or gifting.  You can create permanent floral arrangements that will enhance your home without the need to buy fresh flowers every week. Did you know that imported fresh flowers can have 10 times the carbon footprint of flowers grown in the UK? Imported cut flowers are flown thousands of miles in refrigerated airplane holds. When grown in colder climates they need heated greenhouses which generate higher carbon dioxide emissions. Not to mention the use of pesticides and fertilizers used in the production of perfect blooms. Fresh roses in February? Not so rosy for our planet.

The cut flowers grown in St. Fagans gardens have been grown from seeds sown in April in our unheated greenhouses. They were planted outside in May when the weather was warming up and have been growing happily and healthily producing beautiful blooms throughout Summer. No pesticides, fertilizers or harmful chemicals were used in this process. Besides being grown sustainably the flowers also provide a source of nectar for pollinators including bees and butterflies. It is always a great joy to admire the hive of activity in our cut flower bed. 

The flowers are harvested in dry weather when they are partially or fully open. Excess foliage is removed, small bunches of flowers are tied together and hung upside down on bamboo canes or strings in a dark and dry area with good air circulation. The flowers are left to dry for two to three weeks until completely dry. Floral arrangements including bouquets, posies, buttonholes, corsages, floral crowns and wreaths can be created with dried flowers. 

There is a vast number of plants that can be dried and used in floral arrangements. Drying flowers such as lavender and hydrangeas or grasses such as Stipa gigantea and Pampas grass is a great way to get started. The stars of our cut flower garden this year are: Limonium sinuatum, Craspedia globosa, Helipterum roseum, Achillea millefolium ‘Cassis’, Limonium suworowii ‘Rat Tail’ and the soft grass Panicum elegans ‘Sprinkles’. 

If you are coming to St. Fagans National Museum of History, please visit our magnificent gardens and take a look at the beautiful floral arrangements available in the Museum shop. 

Beth sy’n gwneud i chi dreulio amser yn edrych ar baentiad penodol? Beth sy’n eich tynnu chi i mewn? Gall fod yn anodd crisialu’r meddyliau hyn mewn geiriau, a dyna lle gall barddoniaeth helpu.

Rhwng 6 Medi ac 6 Tachwedd, bydd arddangosfa farddoniaeth ryngweithiol yn ein horiel ‘Celf ym Mhrydain y Ddeunawfed Ganrif’. Bydd modd i chi ddarllen (neu wrando ar) nifer o gerddi a luniwyd mewn ymateb i rai o’r paentiadau. Bydd hefyd gwahoddiad i chi roi cynnig ar lunio eich cerdd eich hunan...

Felly, efallai y byddwch chi’n gofyn, pam barddoniaeth? Gall barddoniaeth fynd â ni ar drywydd annisgwyl. Gall ein helpu ni i gyfleu syniadau ac argraffiadau nad oedden ni hyd yn oed yn ymwybodol ohonyn nhw, i ddeall ymateb ein hisymwybod i ddarn o waith celf. Gall ein helpu ni i ymgysylltu â chelf mewn ffordd wahanol, a’i gweld o safbwynt o’r newydd.

Does dim rhaid i’r cerddi fod yn ‘dda’. Does dim rhaid iddi edrych fel cerdd hyd yn oed. Mae’n ymwneud ag arafu a gadael i ran wahanol o’ch ymennydd gymryd y llyw – y rhan o’ch ymennydd sy’n myfyrio mewn ffyrdd nad ydych chi’n ymwybodol ohonyn nhw, wrth i chi edrych ar waith celf, gan drosi eich meddyliau’n eiriau.

Does dim atebion ‘cywir’ nac ‘anghywir’. Bydd pob ymateb creadigol yn rhoi dehongliad newydd i ni, lens newydd y gallwn weld drwyddi.

Bydd yr arddangosfa ryngweithiol yn cynnwys cerddi a luniwyd gan grŵp amrywiol o unigolion a gymerodd ran mewn cyfres o weithdai ysgrifennu yr haf hwn, ochr yn ochr â cherddi a luniwyd gan ymwelwyr i’r amgueddfa. Mae’r arddangosfa’n ffurfio rhan o broject ymchwil PhD a drefnwyd gan y bardd sy’n byw yng Nghaerdydd, Rachel Carney, a ariennir gan Bartneriaeth Hyfforddiant Doethurol Cymru a De Orllewin Lloegr.

Gwrandewch ar y cerddi ar ein tudalen Digwyddiadau.

Dysgwch fwy am yr ymchwil hon, a sut gallwch chi helpu.

Gallwch ddarllen a chymryd rhan mewn project tebyg hefyd: Celf a Geiriau, a gynhaliwyd ar Instagram yn 2021.