Questions raised after Amgueddfa Cymru ‘blocked’ from investment summit

Emily Price 

Questions have been raised about the Welsh Government’s support for the culture sector following claims that Amgueddfa Cymru was “blocked” from attending Wales’ recent international investment summit.

On December 3, Culture Minister Jack Sargeant told the Senedd that culture and sport were at the heart of the event which brought together delegates from 27 countries to explore investment opportunities in Wales.

The next day, the CEO of Amgueddfa Cymru / Museum Wales, Jane Richardson, appeared in front of the Senedd’s culture committee where she claimed culture at the summit had been “neglected”.

She said: “I don’t think everybody always realises the full power of what culture can unlock. A recent example would be the big investment summit that we had, with a big economic focus.

“Culture wasn’t part of that. Had we been, there were all sorts of ‘wow’ moments we could create for a summit like that that could get to the heart as well as the head.

“And I think if you’re trying to achieve a big ambition, like big economic investment into Wales, it’s got to be heart – people aren’t just going to do it on the figures and the economic projections.

“But if you can create a sense of excitement and wonder and wow about what Wales stands for and what we have and the treasures and the richness of what Wales is as a country, then we land some big economic wins.

“But that’s what culture can bring, and that’s why I think we’ve got to stop seeing it as being in a particular and perhaps more nebulous box, as you say, and get culture around the table to deliver on some of these bigger things for Wales.”

‘Limited’

When asked by Labour MS Lee Waters if Amgueddfa Cymru had wanted to take part in the investment summit, Richardson said: “We made the case, and not least because, as you and the committee know, there is big investment needed in the cultural offer of Wales and the cultural infrastructure in Wales.

“And so we did press quite hard to be able to be included, but the remit was very tight for that event, and so it was felt that, for this particular event, there wasn’t a need for us to be involved.”

Pressed on what Richardson thought the rationale was behind the decision not to include Amgueddfa Cymru, the CEO said: “I think it was just that it was a very limited guest list, very limited remit that was being targeted in very particular ways, and that our offer wasn’t perhaps part of the way the event had been designed and the remit of the event.”

Plaid Cymru’s culture spokesperson, Heledd Fychan, said Richardson’s comments were “at odds” with what the culture minister had told the Senedd the day before.

Showcase

Speaking to Nation.Cymru, she said: “Last week, Jack Sargeant claimed that culture had been at the heart of the Investment Summit, yet the day after we learnt that the Welsh Government had actively blocked the culture sector in Wales from taking part in its flagship economic event.

“What a missed opportunity to showcase the best of Wales to the rest of the world and help secure much needed investment in our vital cultural and arts organisations.

“Yet again, this is Labour demonstrating that not only don’t they understand the value of culture, they don’t understand it’s significance either.

“We already know that funding in the arts and culture is amongst the lowest spent by any government in Europe, and that despite this, that many Wales based arts and cultural organisations are seen as world-leading is so many different fields.

“Plaid Cymru is clear – this isn’t as good as it gets for Wales. We need a government that values and invests in culture and the arts, and it’s clear that whilst Labour remains in power, that won’t be the case.”

‘Wales bashing’

The Welsh Government accused Plaid Cymru of using a “Wales bashing” line.

A spokesperson said: “It is incorrect to say both that ‘Welsh Government had actively blocked the culture sector in Wales from taking part in its flagship economic event’ and ‘funding in the arts and culture is amongst the lowest spent by any government in Europe’.

“The Wales Investment Summit was strategically focused on showcasing specific sectors to attract investment and the creative sector was one of these, with good representation at Summit.

“The theme of culture permeated throughout the event where Wales’ unique cultural identity was a strong featured, including through the Wales Created Showcase which highlighted the Welsh language and icons of Wales.

“The incomplete data and inconsistent comparisons used to come up with the Wales-bashing ‘second worse in Europe’ line do not include our cross-government investment in culture.

“This means it doesn’t count funding we provide for familiar and culturally significant projects like the National Music Service, the Urdd, National and Llangollen Eisteddfodau, the summer reading challenge across all libraries in Wales, the investment in our film, TV and live music sectors and high-profile events like Tafwyl and the year-long 2025 Richard Burton Centenary programme.

“We have, however, increased day-to-day spend on arts and culture by 8.5% this year and tripled investment in venues and sites compared to a decade ago, including redeveloping Caerphilly Castle, Theatr Clwyd and the Football Museum of Wales in Wrexham.”