The purpose of the planned project – supported by the Anti-Racist Wales Culture, Heritage and Sport Fund – is to help “promote a multicultural, vibrant and diverse Wales” in line with Government aims.
Successful applicants for grant funding must ensure that their planned artworks set the “right historic narrative” and deliver a “balanced, authentic and decolonised account of the past – one that recognises both historical injustices and the positive impact of black Asian and minority ethnic communities”.
Funding will also be open to museums and galleries to “create new exhibitions that tell stories through the lens of black, Asian and minority ethnic people’s experiences”.
Money will also be granted to organisations improving their collections, preserving heritage linked to minority communities, creating inclusive community venues, and those providing outreach work to diverse communities.
Racism ‘eradicated by 2030’
The culture fund is intended to help organisations achieve the mandatory goals in the Labour Government’s 2022 Anti-Racist Wales Action Plan, which insists that racism be “eradicated” by 2030.
This followed a Black Lives Matter-inspired 2021 audit of Wales which flagged as problematic statues linked to Adml Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington and Thomas Picton, the hero of Waterloo.
Welsh Government advice on making public artworks accord with “anti-racist” principles suggested that statues of “old white men” could be hidden or destroyed.
