Deputy Minister for Culture Sport and Tourism, Lord Elis Thomas, has today announced Roger Lewis as President of Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales.
This was published under the 2016 to 2021 administration of the Welsh Government
The Deputy Minister met the new President and the National Museum’s Director General, David Anderson at National Museum Cardiff for a sneak preview of the David Nash exhibition as the final touches were ahead of its public opening on Saturday, 4 May 2019.
Mr Lewis’ appointment is the latest in a career dominated by music, media, sport, arts and business. Over the past 40 years, he has held senior executive positions at the BBC, ITV, Classic FM, EMI, Decca and the WRU.
Speaking of his appointment, Mr Lewis, said:
“This is a great honour and I am acutely aware of the significant responsibility of this important office.
“I am passionate about the special place our great cultural organisations occupy within the lives of the people of Wales. They play a unique role to inspire us and encourage us and to challenge our perceptions of the surrounding world for the greater good. They can provide the glue to bond our communities together.
“National Museum Wales sites are magical places, which embody all these values. Together they can help encourage us all to build a better Wales, celebrating our past and most importantly help us shape our future.
“I will do all I can to ensure this vitally important institution thrives and prospers for all of the people of Wales. We have such a wide ranging audience – but access to excellence is something that Amgueddfa Cymru can deliver to all of our audiences on a significant scale.
Lord Elis-Thomas, said:
“I’m delighted with Roger’s appointment as the new President for Amgueddfa Cymru. His wealth of experience will be invaluable in continuing with the excellent work of this national institution and I wish him every success in his new role.
David Anderson, Director General of Amgueddfa Cymru, said:
"It is clear that Roger shares our vision as an organisation. We believe that everybody in Wales has the right to access the cultural and heritage offer provided by so many museums across the country, including Amgueddfa Cymru. Our responsibility is to remove barriers so that visitors from all communities and backgrounds can access culture and heritage in Wales, physically and online. After all, the national collections belong to the people of Wales.
"I look forward to working with Roger and the new trustees to enable the organisation to realise its ambition. Croeso!
The President is the chair of Amgueddfa Cymru, with overall responsibility for the Board of Trustees. The President is personally responsible to Welsh Ministers for the conduct of Amgueddfa Cymru’s affairs and its trustees.
4 new trustees - Maria Battle, Gwyneth Hayward, Robert Humphreys, Madeleine Havard and treasurer Hywel John have also been appointed.
Under the Museum’s 2006 Royal Charter, Amgueddfa Cymru has 16 trustees – nine, including the President and Vice President, are appointed by Welsh Ministers and the remainder, including the treasurer, are appointed by the National Museum
The new appointees join as Amgueddfa Cymru celebrates the highest number of visits ever, to its 7 national museums. In 2018/19, it welcomed 1.89 million visits, an increase of 6.5% compared with last year. The number of people visiting St Fagans National Museum of History following the major redevelopment of the site contributed significantly to the overall total.