National Museum Wales stands by BLM placard exhibition after Nigel Farage brands it 'inappropriate'
The National Museum Wales says it "stands by" its decision to display Black Lives Matter placards after former UKIP leader, Nigel Farage, called the exhibition "inappropriate".
Farage was speaking as part of his show on the GB News channel.
The signs went on show as part of St Fagans ‘Wales Is’ gallery earlier this month. They were donated to the museum following Black Lives Matter demonstrations in the summer of 2020.
The display also features photographs and individual accounts from activists who took part in the protests.
Following Farage's comments, the National Museum Wales - or Amgueddfa Cymru - tweeted to say it is "working towards representing the diverse experiences of people living in Wales today".
Speaking on GB News, Nigel Farage said we now know what the Black Lives Matter "organisation" represents.
He claimed that Black Lives Matter: "Wants to defund the police, it is Marxist, it has - in America - been extremely violent."
He added: "I would have thought, given all of those things, that is a very inappropriate thing for the National Museum of Wales to have done".
However the museum posted online to say that it sticks by its decision. It added that it aims to represent "the diverse experiences of people living in Wales today" and "communities across Wales continue to play an active part in the Black Lives Matter movement".
Director General of National Museum Wales, David Anderson also tweeted to say: "BLM activists, not museums, are the history makers.
"We are honoured that they entrusted their placards to us for display at St Fagans. Now if ever is the time to defend democracy & cultural rights; we must collect far more of the histories of Black communities in Wales, not less."
Nasir Adam, black history curator at Amgueddfa Cymru, told ITV Wales previously that the BLM display was "developed with some of the activists that took part in the protests" and is "an important part of contemporary Welsh history".
Anti-racist protests were sparked across Wales following the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis in the USA in May 2020.
Demonstrations and marches were held throughout Wales including in Cardiff, Swansea and Aberystwyth.