Local communities across Wales will benefit from improved and more accessible cultural facilities and library services thanks to around £1.8 million of funding.
The Cultural Transformational Capital Programme will provide vital funding to 6 public libraries, 3 museums, and 2 archive services to help them modernise facilities, create a more sustainable future, and improve their offer to local communities.
This investment supports the Welsh Government's commitment to promote Wales' cultural institutions whilst continuing to advance the Welsh language, sustainable development, tourism, the arts, reflecting the needs of local communities and contributing to their well-being, as part of the government’s recently published Priorities for Culture.
Jack Sargeant, Minister for Culture, said:
Cultural services across Wales provide vital spaces for communities to learn, connect, and engage with our rich heritage. This £1.8 million investment will help transform these services to be greener, accessible, and responsive to local needs.
Programmes like these have, and continue to be, a vital way for our cultural assets to ensure their services are fit for purpose, modern and that their delivery can become more sustainable.
One of those awarded funding is the National Trust’s Powis Castle in Welshpool. Around £60,000 will go towards the transformational re-display of the tiger head finial from the throne of Tipū Sultān, a significant item in the internationally important South Asian Collection at Powis Castle.
The funding will support a redesigned exhibition space that places the object in its broader context, helping visitors to explore the complex colonial histories behind its presence in the South Asian Collection and engage more meaningfully with the stories it represents.
Shane Logan, General Manager at Powis Castle and Garden, said:
This vital support provided by the Welsh Government will allow us to share and discuss with all our communities, a key moment in British and South Asian history through the lens of Tipū Sultān’s tiger head finial. This is an exciting step forward not only allowing us to tell more open and inclusive histories but also inviting people to interrogate the past by understanding what it means to the people of Wales today and what it means to a more cohesive and equal Wales in the future.
Other awardees include Shire Hall in Monmouth for a new museum, Wrexham Archives for stores fit for the 21st century and Penarth Library, Cardiff for a refurbished space for local history and a modernised community space.