Welsh Gov’t To Begin Banning Historical Art That Offends Minorities

The Welsh government has ordered the removal of all public statues, plaques and paintings that might offend minorities.

If the public art is deemed not to project the “right historical narrative,” it should be banned from public display, according to the official guidelines issued to public bodies, including the country’s National Museum in Cardiff.

Modernity.news reports: The guidance further states that all the art should “celebrate the achievements of our diverse society.”

The Telegraph reports that museums and galleries have been asked to make sure exhibits do not “insult or hurt” and instead fall into line with “present values”.

The government decree further outlines that any remaining “highly contentious” art will need to be “concealed” from public view.

So what are these ‘present values’?

Basically the doctrine being pushed by Black Lives Matter, because the guidelines were specifically drawn up as a response to protests by that activist group. 

The guidance has been issued as part of a government policy to make Wales “an anti-racist nation” by 2030, and mandates that “the voices of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people and those with other protected characteristics… are amplified and celebrated.”

Local authorities in the country will be expected to provide in their museums a “decolonised account of the past, one that recognises both historical injustices and the positive impact of ethnic minority communities,” according to the documentation.

It further outlines that the strategy will steer away from “narratives that devalue human life” and challenge the “perpetuation of racist colonial myths about white superiority.”

It also states that any new works of art and statues should “dispel the perception that the achievements that society considers noteworthy are those of powerful, older, able-bodied white men”.

The report further notes that a 2020 audit of artworks in the country resulted in a list of statues of historical figures effectively on the chopping list.

They include battle of Waterloo hero Thomas Picton and explorer Henry Morton Stanley, who are deemed to have “committed crimes against black people.”

Also included on the list are The Duke of Wellington and Admiral Lord Nelson after it was agreed that they both “opposed abolition.” Statues of Winston Churchill and even Ghandi were also identified as a “cause for concern.”

The new rules are are also intended to be extended to street names and even the names of pubs, according to the report.

Despite all of this, the new guidance claims that it is not intended for “censoring or erasure of the historical record.”

Andrew RT Davies, the leader of the Welsh Conservatives labelled the move by the left wing Labour government as “an affront to our history,” adding that it “puts extreme ideology before the facts.”