RESPOND! Bands muse over Museum collections.
New music to help Museum visitors fully enjoy their experience.
From Charlie Franics to The Victorian English Gentlemen’s Club, Dan Amor and Lily Green, Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales is inspiring some of the country’s best indie bands through an innovative new project, RESPOND.
As part of the Museum’s Music 09 programme, RESPOND will involve artists and curators working together, across Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales’ seven sites, to produce a musical response to the nation’s collections.
The tracks – 21in all – will be available to download free from the Museum’s website – www.museumwales.ac.uk – at various points throughout the year. Two were launched in time for St David’s Day: Trysor Glas by Dan Amor and Charlie Francis’ Audere est Facere.
Charlie Francis who’s a well-recognised music producer, especially amongst indie bands, took this opportunity to translate the history of the Romans in Britain into musical form. Charlie has worked with artists such as REM, Robyn Hitchcock and many more. RESPOND has given him the chance to create his own work:
“I used to play in bands myself but have for some years worked mostly on other people’s music,” said Charlie Francis. “I was looking for a fun project to work on myself and coming from York – a Roman town – I was naturally interested in the National Roman Legion Museum and its collections.
“The purpose of my track – which is loosely based on one Miles Davies chord – is to accompany the National Roman Legion Museum experience.”
“This is not a one-off,” said Michael Tooby, Director of Learning and Programmes at Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales. “The Museum’s increasing involvement in the creation of contemporary culture proves that we’re not just interested in the past but also the present and the future. We hope other aspiring musicians will follow suit and continue to use our museums as a source of inspiration.
“We hope the project will encourage people to visit our museums and explore the collections that have inspired the artists. We’re also hoping it will inspire people to respond to the music by posting reviews online.”
A recent survey has highlighted that Museums are generally not considered as places to go for a casual and relaxing visit. Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales hopes the launch of this project will be the first of many engaging projects that will broaden the appeal of the collections and the museums as social spaces.
Admission to Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales sites is free thanks to the support of the Welsh Assembly Government.
Amgueddfa Cymru operates seven national museums across Wales. These are National Museum Cardiff, St Fagans: National History Museum, the National Roman Legion Museum, Caerleon, Big Pit: National Coal Museum, Blaenafon, the National Wool Museum, Dre-fach Felindre, the National Slate Museum, Llanberis and the National Waterfront Museum, Swansea.
For further information, please contact Catrin Mears, Communications Officer, on (029) 2057 3185 / 07920 027067
