Museums launch new bilingual app to support LGBTQ+ communities living with dementia

Launching during LGBTQ+ History Month, LGBTQ+ in Wales will evoke memories of queer Welsh history, as Swansea Museum and West Glamorgan Archive Service join with other organisations across Wales to support LGBTQ+ people living with dementia in their communities.

The app package uses the real memories of community members in Swansea and Neath Port Talbot and from across Wales, as well as spotlighting key items from queer culture found in Welsh museum collections.

Created alongside National Museums Liverpool’s House of Memories dementia programme, Swansea Museum and West Glamorgan Archive Service have contributed their own items and memories to create a digital archive or LGTBQ+ content.

The main aim of this project is to spark conversations between people living with dementia and their loved ones. Using items found in the app as cues and talking points, people living with dementia can have meaningful conversations, as well as personalising the app to focus on items that hold particular significance to them.

LGBTQ+ in Wales is a digital archive of memories from Wales’ LGBTQ+ communities, with experiences of nightclubs, Pride marches, queer activism, drag acts and more. This new package is an addition to the House of Memories Cymru programme, which was launched at the Senedd in 2023.

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Highlights from Swansea Museum and West Glamorgan Archive Service collections that feature in the app package includes programmes for the first gay marriage in Swansea, “Pits and Perverts” event poster, theatre programmes for drag acts and a Swansea University LGB society newsletter.

Programme cover of a show by Swansea performer Ceri Dupree part of the West Glamorgan Archive collection.A Swansea Vikings rugby jersey, part of the Swansea Museum collection.A poster publicising an event held to benefit the South Wales mining community during the UK’s 1984-85 miners’ strike, part of the Swansea Museum collection.

Other museums across Wales have supported and contributed to the project to create a selection of memory prompts from queer culture in Wales. The museums involved are: Conwy Culture Centre, Swansea Museum, National Museum Wales, Glamorgan Archives, West Glamorgan Archives, Cyfarthfa Castle Museum and Art Gallery and Museum of Cardiff.

Other highlights for people to explore include court registers, inclusive rugby team shirts and flags and memorabilia from Pride events using a mixture of audio, video and images.

House of Memories Cymru is available through National Museums Liverpool’s My House of Memories app. Alongside the dementia community, the app is co-created through the award-winning House of Memories programme and features memories from a range of community groups in the UK and further afield.

The LGBTQ+ in Wales package will contain items that relate to specific areas of Wales. Already existing items from museum collections will be brought together to showcase the country’s rich and diverse queer history.

Jack Sargeant, minister for culture, said: “This LGBTQ+ in Wales app package will be such an insightful resource, celebrating the rich history and lived experiences of LGBTQ+ communities throughout our country.

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“This Welsh Government-supported initiative not only helps preserve our shared heritage but also provides an invaluable support for people living with dementia and their loved ones to connect through meaningful memories. Projects like this demonstrate the power of heritage and inclusive storytelling in strengthening communities across Wales.”

“Wales is striving to be the most LGBTQ+ friendly nation in Europe. Our LGBTQ+ Action Plan sets out steps to strengthen equality, challenge discrimination, and create a safer, more inclusive society.”

(Lead image: Swansea Council)