The man changing the face of Wales' museums

Wales Online

6 days ago

The man changing the face of Wales' museums
From once being reluctant to even tell his colleagues he was gay, Mark set about transforming the museum's collection in 2019 when he realised a huge part of Wales' population wasn't being represented
In doing so he's uncovered thousands of previously untold stories and changed the face of the museum's collection, making it more representative of Wales' modern society.
(Image: John Myers )
Curator Mark Etheridge's favourite artefact in his LGBTQ+ Amgueddfa Cymru collection is a sign from the pub where he came out as gay as a young man. It is from the old King's Cross in Cardiff city centre which was a gay venue from the early seventies until its closure in 2011 - at the time making it Wales' oldest gay bar.
'It's my favourite item in the collection because I have that personal connection there and I think our collections are important from that perspective,' Mark says from the national living museum at St Fagans.
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It is there that the curator specialises in underrepresented communities and in particular LGBTQ+ history has spent the last six years on something of a personal pilgrimage around Wales collecting 2,300 artefacts depicting the lives of queer Welsh people, and he's not stopping there. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here
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In doing so he's uncovered thousands of previously untold stories and changed the face of the museum's collection, making it more representative of Wales' modern society. For his work on the collection which can be found online and across the museum sites including at St Fagans, Mark has been named in the top three in this year's annual WalesOnline Pinc List recognising some of Wales' most influential LGBTQ+ people.
The King's Cross sign is important to him as a sign of community which helped him at a tricky stage of his life. 'I remember going to the first Cardiff Pride in 1999 still not out to people at work,' he recalls. 'I remember being apprehensive. I remember going into my favourite gay bars in Cardiff - the King's Cross and the Golden - quite nervous about who would see me in there and whether they'd recognise me from my normal life.'
From once being reluctant to even tell his colleagues he was gay, Mark set about transforming the museum's collection in 2019 when he realised a huge part of Wales' population wasn't being represented.
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In the collection are pictures of the protests against section 28 in Wales, Wales' first mardi gras, and Western Mail archive photographs of the first pride march through Cardiff 40 years ago
(Image: John Myers )
'I suppose I sort of pushed myself into it by starting to collect what I could. I had done a bit of work around Black history and I realised broadly the museums weren't as representative of Welsh society as we should be. I started to think: 'What gaps do we have in the collection? Whose stories aren't we telling?' The museum was really supportive of focusing more on telling stories of the lives of LGBT+ people.'
Items in the collection at St Fagans and held at the museums' storage centre in Nantgarw include changes in 2021 to the ban on gay and bisexual men being allowed to donate blood, the Church in Wales bill which allowed same-sex marriage and civil partnerships to be blessed in September 2021, an order of service for two gay men who had their marriage blessed on the same day, and artefacts from recent inaugural pride events from Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly and Flint.
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Also in the collection are pictures of the protests against section 28 in Wales, Wales' first mardi gras, and Western Mail archive photographs of the first pride march through Cardiff 40 years ago which has this week been recognised with an ITV Wales documentary called Proud.
'We're up to now about 2,300 objects within LGBT+ collection whereas when I started we only had a handful,' Mark says. 'We can't display everything we've got so by digitising and putting it onto the website it means that there's a permanent visibility for the whole collection online.'
Western Mail archive image of the first every pride march through Cardiff in June 1985
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The first Cardiff gay pride march is celebrated in the collection. This week the 40th anniversary of the march has been recognised
(Image: Mirrorpix )
'It is challenging because some of the items in the collection are very ephemeral,' Mark explains, showing badges from the first march from Cardiff Gay Liberation Front and the Campaign for Homosexual Equality. 'Very few people would have been members of these groups at the time so to get things like badges which have survived to this day is pretty unique.'
He tells of how being a curator focusing on LGBTQ+ history can be difficult because so much of queer history has been erased. He's almost starting from scratch and trying to document moments from the present day which he believes will prove to be important stories to tell in the future.
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'It's kind of about getting the message out there and taking people on this journey with us, to tell them that their stories and their lives now are so important and should be documented for future generations,' he says.
'That could be if they were members of a protest, for example. As people pass away or clear out the house people might just chuck these pieces like placards or banners in the bin.
"Take the recent trans rights protests we've seen in Wales. It's important that it is remembered and the struggle for trans people is recognised. So I have found it's crucial someone is very deliberately visible and saying: 'Please don't chuck your placards or badges away. They could be really powerful symbols of inspiration in the future.'
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'It doesn't have to be just protests though. That's something I'm quite keen for the displays to show - that it isn't just about activism in terms of protesting and pride but that there are lots of stories about LGBT+ people just living their everyday lives in Wales openly. That's powerful activism in itself.'
The collection also celebrates the lives of gay couple Reg Mickisch and George Walton which was told by Mike Parker in his book titled On the Red Hill
(Image: Mike Parker )
Reg (right) and George (left) at the beach in the 50s
(Image: Mike Parker )
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The collection also celebrates the lives of Reg Mickisch and George Walton, a gay couple who lived through the Second World War and both died having lived their later years at an idyllic house named Rhiw Goch just outside of Machynlleth. The story is told by their friend Mike Parker, who they left Rhiw Goch to, in a book called On the Red Hill which you can read about here.
'I think Reg and George are a perfect example of that,' Mark says. 'As them living their everyday lives together during a time when it was illegal is a form of activism in itself. Being visible is everything.
'What was also special about the Reg and George story was that they lived very rural lives which is something often not depicted in queer history. So much of Wales is rural and it's crucial that in our collection we show the lives of queer rural living. Historically LGBT+ people have often moved to the big cities but many have also built their lives in rural areas and their stories shouldn't be forgotten.
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'The difficulty can sometimes be making those connections, especially rurally. I went to the first Powys Pride in Llanrindod Wells and it was fantastic. Sometimes when I ask for things to recognise the events people worry their items aren't expensive or historic enough, but that's really not what's important.
"It also doesn't matter if only a few people attend these pride events in smaller rural villages. What's important is recognising the fact they're happening and to celebrate being unapologetically yourself within the community in which you live.'
Memorabilia belonging to Howard Llewellyn who set up the Cardiff Gay Liberation Front in 1971
(Image: Adrian White )
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A badge from the Cardiff Gay Liberation Front which was worn during the first march in 1985 in Cardiff
(Image: Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales )
He is proud of how much the museum has achieved in creating the collection so far, but feels there is still further to go. 'Sometimes I wonder why it has taken so long to achieve such a collection in Wales but I wonder if that's a little bit about what the community is about itself," he says.
"Why has it taken until 2019 for LGBT+ events to be part of the national Eisteddfod or to be part of the Urdd? Why is it only in very recent years we've had our first pride event in a big Welsh city like Newport? We're making significant progress in lots of ways and I think the collection is a bit of a reflection of that really. Curators can't create history. They're vehicles for the people we tell stories of.'
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