National Museums Liverpool Blog - Sam

As you are probably aware, our conservators - and talented sculptors - Chris Dean and Sam Sportun have been involved in a major project to recreate three missing bronze relief plaques from Sefton Park's monuments. We have been following their progress on the blog as they have recreated clay masters for the missing bronzes using traditional techniques.

Today I was fortunate to get to see them at work while they finish off the fine details - such as adding fingernails - on the clay masters before they are taken to the foundry to be cast in bronze. Photos of them at work and some of the details of the clay masters are on our Sefton Park monuments Flickr slideshow, which has pictures from the very beginning of the project right up to date.

As I mentioned yesterday, the fantastic Metropolis exhibition closes this week. The exhibition is packed full of incredibly detailed photographs of recognisable Liverpool landmarks and some unfamiliar places.

The project team for the exhibition had the difficult task of selecting just 60 photographs for display from almost 200,000 negatives in the Stewart Bale collection. Here Nicky Lewis from Paper Conservation explains a bit about this process and chooses her favourite Metropolis shot:

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"Picking a favourite Stewart Bale photograph is not an easy task.

During the image selection process for Metropolis: capturing modern Liverpool I spent time, as part of the project team, weighing up the merits of many of Bale’s photographs. We searched the archive for striking images that best portrayed Liverpool as a developing, modern metropolis- a reflection of the city today. The most difficult part was choosing only 60.

To me Abbey Cinema exterior is a stunning photograph - much more Hollywood than Wavertree. By taking the image at night the photographer could exploit the building’s illuminated architecture. You can see why we chose this as an image to enlarge for the exhibition.

I‘m also captivated by Crowds at the launch of Mauretania II. The launch of a ship was obviously a very popular event in those days, something we no longer experience. The amount of detail in the photograph is exceptional. Take a look at the extent people will go to for a good view. Some are perched on top of shed roofs and cars, whilst other dare-devils cling to steel work. 

That brings me to my favourite Metropolis image. It is not a highly iconic shot and does not depict a famous event or landmark architecture. It is Anglia Vans on the Assembly Line. Obviously Ford played an important role in Liverpool’s history and the image shows cutting edge technology of the time but my reason for picking it is much more personal. We always wanted to include ‘never-seen-before’ images from the Bale archive in the exhibition, not an easy task considering that our film negatives are frozen to stop them deteriorating (see How have the photographs survived? for more detail).

Using the order books from the Bale company combined with documentation from the storage process we were able to pinpoint a box (out of just over 1300), that contained images commissioned by Ford - we had no idea what they would look like however. The box was removed from its freezer and transferred to an insulated bag, where it would defrost at a slow rate. Twenty-four hours later, after removing the protective packaging layers I had a bundle of film negatives. It’s so thrilling to be the first person to look at these images since they were originally commissioned- you just never know what you may find.

As you look through them on the light box, the anticipation builds and you fear the image you are hoping for isn’t there... Then in a eureka moment it appears. The image stood out instantly as fitting the Metropolis theme and had all of the expected high qualities of a Stewart Bale work. Its composition is striking, with the assembly belt giving a great line of perspective. Not only is it satisfying to have brought this image into public view but I also see it as a symbol of how much hidden potential the Stewart Bale archive has.

NML’s long term aim is to digitise the Stewart Bale collection, to allow the public to view them more easily."

We've reached the last few days of the rather fabulous Metropolis exhibition at the National Conservation Centre, so if you haven't seen it yet then do try to get over there this week.

Preparations for the next exhibition, 'Best of Merseyside', which opens at the National Conservation Centre on 22 August, have been taking place all year and seem to have involved a mammoth operation. Sarah Craven from Knowsley Arts Service was on the selection panel, and has kindly explained the process below. You can also see some behind-the-scenes photos in our Best of Merseyside selection process Flickr slideshow.

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"Best of Merseyside is a selection of the best from the open exhibitions run by the Merseyside boroughs: Halton, Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton and Wirral. In putting together this exhibition we have drawn on entries to existing exhibitions and selected from them. 10 artists have been chosen from each of the 5 exhibitions and together they give 50 artists; 50 works that reflect the variety, the breadth of work that is being produced in the area. The majority of these are not professional artists, who often do not enter the local open exhibitions, but semi-professional or talented amateur artists who are glad of the platform these open shows offer.

The selection process is now over. The selectors for this exhibition were Jo Dry and myself from Knowsley Arts Service, Louise Hesketh from The Brindley, Runcorn, Jess Bowstead from St Helens Arts Service, Colin Simpson from the Williamson Art Gallery and Phillip Wroe from Sefton Arts Development. We all have very different Open exhibitions in our Boroughs so the selection process has been fantastic. We have had laughs, arguments, stamping tantrums and lengthy debate over the artworks. We were looking for technical ability, use of medium, creativity, subject matter, composition and sheer genius which we have found in excess as we travelled around greater Merseyside.

One of the highlights of the selection was 'Man in a Blue Sweater' by Michael Kirby, from Kirkby, Knowsley. This small but powerful image has been used to promote the exhibition in the publicity so the portrait will be printed on thousands of flyers and banners. 

We will be running workshops to support this exhibition which will be announced shortly so watch this space for details.

Thanks are due to Arts Council England and to National Museums Liverpool, we couldn't have done it without you."

This summer our talented sculptors in the sculpture conservation department have been recreating three missing bronze panels from Sefton Park's monuments. Here's the latest news on the project from Kathy Wedge in Conservation Technologies, and pictures following the progress of the project from the beginning are on our Sefton Park monuments Flickr set.

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"The clay models for the three missing relief panels from the Sefton Park monuments to William Rathbone and the Right honourable Samuel Smith have really taken shape now as the photograph shows. They are almost ready to be sent to the fine art bronze casting foundry.

The warm weather, although lovely for us, has caused a few problems for the sculptors to overcome. The clay has been drying out faster than normal and even started to crack in places that were more exposed to the air than others.

The way around this was to make sure that the clay was kept as hydrated as possible. Each clay panel has been sprayed with water on a regular basis and covered with damp flannelette blanket and then a polythene sheet to keep the moisture in when not being worked on immediately. Even so a few cracks were noted after a weekend break when there was nobody here to spray and it took some gentle but steady applications of water to bring them back to the right condition to be worked on. Fortunately they had not dried out too much.

On Friday 1 August the officials responsible for Sefton Park will give their approval (hopefully) for the clay models to then be sent to the fine art bronze casting foundry where they will then be made into the magnificent reliefs that will complete the monuments. More pictures will follow in a couple of weeks when they get to the next stage."

Well, Toxteth TV in fact. Here's the lowdown from Jo Connor, the Treasure House Theatre co-ordinator at World Museum Liverpool, who was there to see all the action (and you can see some of her pictures in our Ancient Egyptians at Toxteth TV Flickr slideshow):

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"Curator Carolyn Routledge, Paul Browne, Mark Saunders and Paul McMullan from the AV team and myself have been involved in filming excerpts to be shown in the new Ancient Egypt gallery when it opens in December 2008. We had four fantastic actors - Colin, Eddie, Nalini and Maria - as Pharaoh Rameses, his architect  Bakenkhonsu, a Chantress and a House Maid. These characters from the world of ancient Egypt were all brought vividly to life.

It was fascinating watching the costume and and make up ladies weave their magic spells. And I was incredibly jealous that I didn't get chance to wear the wig Nalini had on for filming which Bill Watson from Design nicknamed 'the sofa' because of its size and shape.

Unfortunately we didn't get to film on location,(didn't want to spend a week in Egypt anyway... honest) but with 3 days in Toxteth (apart from the rain and the wind) I could almost believe I was there!"

Today two halves of a medieval ivory diptych will be reunited thanks to a special collaboration between the Walker Art Gallery and National Museums Wales.

The diptych, which was made in the 14th century, portrays the birth of Christ, with the Virgin and Child flanked by Saints Peter and Paul, on the left-hand panel, while the right-hand side shows Christ on the cross flanked by Mary and John. Originally the leaves would have been joined together - you can see the holes for the hinges in the image above. However, over time they were separated and now the left hand panel is in the collections of the Walker Art Gallery, while the right hand one belongs to National Museums Wales.

The Walker's panel has been lent to National Museum Cardiff for a year-long display with the other half of the diptych, which starts today as part of National Archaeology Week.

When the original is returned to Liverpool visitors to Cardiff will still be able to see what the complete diptych would have looked thanks to a highly accurate copy of the left panel made by the Conservation Technologies team at the National Conservation Centre. Laser technology research scientist Annemarie La Pensee told me all about it:

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"Last year Conservation Technologies was commissioned by Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales - to make a replica of the left-hand leaf of the diptych that we have here at National Museums Liverpool. Using 3D laser scanning and CNC machining we made an accurate replica from polyurethane resin that was patinated to make it look like the original.

Here in the laser technology team, we found the project really great to work on. The leaves are quite small, only 10cm in height. However, because of the highly carved surface we used our most accurate scanner to record the sub-millimetre details and the resulting dataset was as big as those we create for much larger objects. It is also interesting to see how different the two original leaves are in colour and texture because they have been apart and have been exposed to different environments."

Here's a quick update on the project to recreate missing bronzes for two of the Sefton Park monuments.

The clay models that Conservation Technologies are making for the reconstruction of the three missing relief panels from the Sefton Park memorials are now really taking shape. They will be used to produce the foundry cast bronze panels that form part of the memorials to William Rathbone and the Right Honourable Samuel Smith. Two of the panels have reached the stage where the fine detail is being sculpted and the third panel has been blocked out. Blocking out is the term the sculptors use to say that the main body of the clay shape is in place, before being fashioned into a more accurate form.

The sculptors are off at the moment so the clay panels have been wrapped in damp flannelette sheeting and are being sprayed everyday to keep them moist until work starts again. It's best not to disturb them while they are wrapped up like this so we don't have any updated photos to show at the moment.

Here's a reminder of what one of the clay plaques looked like a couple of weeks ago. You can see the rough shape of one of the figures sketched into the clay on the right, while other figures are starting to be 'fleshed out' in three dimensions. Further pictures of the early stages of the process are on our Sefton Park monuments Flickr slideshow and we will be adding more when they are available, so do check back in a couple of weeks to see the progress.

Michelle O’Callaghan, our youth arts officer, has this great news:

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"Young people from National Museums Liverpool Youth Theatre, Lady Lever Art Gallery Junior Guides and Culture Vultures course participants achieved a rip-roaring success when they joined forces last Saturday to have their Young People's Arts Awards moderated.

The Young People's Arts Award, run by Arts Council England and Trinity Guildhall, enables young people to achieve a nationally recognised qualification at three levels (Bronze, Silver and Gold) through their participation and enjoyment of the arts.

It encourages the young people taking part to think about their own development as artists and encourages development of leadership, communication skills and confidence, as well of development of their own artistic skills.

At Bronze level the award involves taking part in arts activity, enjoying the arts as an audience member, researching an arts hero or heroine and leading an arts activity for peers.

This is the first assessment and moderation since NML became an Arts Award Centre in 2007 and there are currently two trained Arts Award advisors within NML; myself and Lauren Gould, learning officer at the Lady Lever Art Gallery.

16 young people's work was moderated last Saturday and we are very pleased and proud to confirm that all 16 were successful in achieving their Bronze Arts Award.

Certificates will be winging their way to the young people very soon and they will be treated to a presentation evening to mark and celebrate their success.

A big thanks goes to all of the young people involved for all their hard work on the award and a massive well done on their success! It is well deserved!

Congratulations to the following young people who successfully passed their Bronze Arts Awards:
 
Sarah Kenny, James Garland, Deniece Courtney, Natasha Sweeney, Marcella May Rick, Kezia-Jaye Atherton-Davis, Charlotte Clynch, Dominic Hughes, Laura Baker, Craig Parry, Kaz Worrall, James Woodfinden, Beckie Clarke, Keily Hogarth, Abigail Hill and Marc Taylor."

In the latest of our 'hidden treasures' displays, two exceedingly rare gold medals crafted by Tiffany and Co of New York have gone on display at World Museum Liverpool for the very first time. The medals commemorate the role of forgotten hero Captain Joseph Dayman RN  in one of the most important naval expeditions of the Victorian age.

In the summer of 1858 Dayman commanded HMS Gorgon, a support vessel involved in the joint British-American attempt to lay the first transatlantic telegraph cable. The Navy assigned the Gorgon to assist the Niagara, the American ship laying half of the cable. Early in the attempt the officers recognised that the Niagara was off course.  Commander Dayman successfully guided the Niagara to its destination in Newfoundland. A reporter on the Niagara noted that Dayman did not sleep for five days during this time. Without his attention the project would have failed. 

In recognition of Joseph Dayman's contribution the Common Council of New York and the City of New York commissioned medals for him from Tiffany's. The medal awarded by the City of New York (shown here) is one of only nine large gold medals they commissioned. The other medal on display is one of only three medals ever awarded by the Common Council. It is decorated with a gilded piece of the telegraph cable around the edge.

You can see the medals in the atrium at World Museum Liverpool for the next 2 weeks. There isn't a confirmed closing date for the display yet so please check with the information desk - 0151 478 4393 - nearer the time if you don't want to miss them.

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that the sculpture conservation team are recreating missing bronze relief plaques from two of Sefton Park's monuments completely from scratch using traditional techniques. As you can see from this photo, they are making good progress with some of the sculpted figures starting to take shape in the clay. Further photos are on our Sefton Park monuments Flickr slideshow and more will be aded as the project progresses, so do keep an eye on it. Kathy Wedge from Conservation Technologies has this update:

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"The project to produce the clay master models that will be used to cast the bronze relief panels that will reconstruct the memorials to William Rathbone and the right honourable Samuel Smith is now well under way. As seen in the first pictures in the Flickr slideshow the wood supports were fixed into place to support the clay and create a rough shape. The clay has been applied and then the design was sketched out in the clay before building out the 3D contours. More wood and metal armatures have been added to support parts of the relief which are almost free standing, such as some of the arms, legs and the occasional head.

Whilst Christopher Dean and Samantha Sportun are sculpting some of the sculptures, elements which have more air around them are drying out faster than the other sections of the panels which can be quite critical to the working of the clay. For this reason both sculptors need to keep a careful watch over the condition of the clay in all areas whilst also concentrating on the area that they are working on. If it appears to be drying out too fast it is sprayed with water and when the work has to stop at night they are covered with a polythene sheet and a wet flannelette blanket.

Once Christopher and Sam are satisfied with the general shape of an area of the sculpture it can then be allowed to dry to leather-like consistency which will allow them to then develop and work on the fine detail of the relief.

So far so good, and for once we are grateful that the weather has not been too warm, but watch this space as the panels develop."

Antiquities curator Carolyn Routledge has been busy as her excavation project at Abydos, Egypt draws to a close. Here's her latest report:

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"Today we are packing up at Abydos. It is something of a bitter-sweet time here. Up until now we have been working frantically to finish all our work on time. Now the pace has slowed while we wait for the Egyptian inspectors to seal the magazines in which we store the archaeological finds. This means we can relax a bit after all the hard work, which is really enjoyable. What is a bit sad is that for most of us we don't know when, or maybe even if, we will return to Abydos.

Over the past week I have been working with the pottery from the tomb of Senwosret III. By studying the pottery we can separate any ceramics that date to the burial of the pharaoh from the material that dates to when the tomb was robbed. This task is quite difficult. The best way I can explain it is to say that it is similar to having put all your jigsaw puzzle pieces into one box because each of your many puzzles was missing some pieces. Many years later you decide to sort them out and put them together again to see what is missing. For the pottery we sort the pieces just as you would sort the puzzle pieces - by size, colour, type - and then try to fit the similar pieces together. I am happy to say we had some success. It is a good day when you get two pieces to join together!

After today our work will be done because everything is locked away. This will give us some free time to explore the area and then to pack our personal belongings for the 8-10 hour train trip to Cairo. I think I might go visit the Seti Temple again. It is only a 15 minute walk away from our house. This temple has its roof and the coloured scenes painted on the walls are still bright. This is extremely rare for an ancient Egyptian temple that is about 3,300 years old. It is well worth a final visit!"

Director of art galleries Reyahn King has this update from the end of the judging process for this year's John Moores competition:

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"Friday was the last day of judging and the jurors came in to review the 41 paintings selected for the exhibition. Interesting that the competition with the most entries ever is going to become the exhibition with the fewest exhibits to date. The exhibition is going to be clearly about painting today and reflects an approach from the jurors that amongst them was coherent and much considered. As Sacha Craddock put it "We've argued a lot in the first stage but we found now we had a coherent sense of what we had got". All the jurors, Sacha Craddock, both Chapmans, Graham Crowley and Paul Morrison, agreed that the works selected all reflect a self conscious and sophisticated approach to painting that has absorbed and moved on from earlier debates. Jake Chapman put it well "All paintings have to emerge from conceptual rules. You can talk about pictorial art but not figurative".

The day finished up at lunchtime with a barbecue with guests from Tate Liverpool and Liverpool Biennial in A Foundation next to the paintings' warehouse – and despite their pleas, our lovely colleagues were not allowed in for a sneak preview! The art handlers had a well earned break over lunch – without their behind-the-scenes moving around of paintings and their flexibility – bringing out some paintings, taking them back, bringing them out again – the process could not have been so smooth or so well considered.

The next big dates are 8 and 9 September for the exhibition layout and hang. Between then and now we need to plan the exhibition, catalogue and so on and we'll keep you posted."

Here's the latest update from director of art galleries Reyahn King, who has had a busy couple of days at the critical final stages of selection process for this year's John Moores competition:

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"After sifting to make a first selection yesterday the judges looked again at their choices which our art handlers had set out around the warehouse so all were visible. Wandering around they then all pointed out works they wanted to discuss again and confirm whether they should stay in the exhibition or not and I had my work cut out as they moved about sometimes together sometimes separately marking the works to be reconsidered.  They decided to discuss about 15 in more detail.

As each work selected was brought before the panel back in the viewing area the discussions were almost always excited and occasionally sparks flew if only for a moment. Early on it had been agreed that critical distance was important and discussions were frequently about what could be understood about the intention of the artist when viewing the painting. Be prepared for an exhibition likely to challenge older concerns about painting. In relation to definitions, one juror commented "the competition's not about whether or not it's a painting, it's about whether or not it's good." And on those criteria, the judges selected the final show and with a surprising degree of agreement the prizewinners!"

Here's an update on prgress with the excavation at Abydos from antiquities curator Carolyn Routledge.

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"We are now half-way through our excavation project at the tomb of the Pharaoh Senwosret III here at Abydos in Middle Egypt. Jen Wegner and I have been working very hard on our drawing and recording of the small objects. The work at the tomb is winding down as Josef Wegner turns to drawing and planning the portions of the tomb that have been cleared. It has been quite a task with around 60 Egyptian workmen breaking up and moving large quantities of stone in extreme temperatures.  During this time we have been experiencing a heatwave with daytime highs consistently in the mid 40 degrees Celsius. At night it has not been getting below 30 degrees Celsius.  

Under these conditions we need to take some breaks. Our first day off we were invited to have a meal with one of the workmen and his family. Josef, Jen, their son Alexander (who turns 5 this month!) and I went to eat lunch made by Umm-Ibrahim. Because of the heat, we sat in the courtyard of their home cooled by fans. Alexander ran around chasing the chickens and searching for lizards. Umm-Ibrahim served us a typical Egyptian meal of chicken, molokhia, and a mix of rice and pasta. Molokhia is a particular favourite here. It is a gelatinous soup made of the leaves of the molokhia plant flavoured with garlic and spices.

The next weekend we took an extra day off and travelled to Luxor. It is about 2½ hour train ride from here. While there are many ancient Egyptian monuments to see in and near Luxor, the main attraction to us was staying in a nice hotel in order to get a rest from the heat through air-conditioning and swimming in the pool. We arrived back at Abydos refreshed and ready to take on the next few weeks of work."

Here's a sight you don't see every day when you're waiting to cross the road! The Edward VII monument returned to Pier Head today after being conserved at the National Conservation Centre's sculpture studio.

The tall sculpture had to be carefully manoeuvred out of the building then lifted onto the back of a lorry with specialist cranes and equipment, watched by staff, the press and a growing crowd of passers-by. The operation went smoothly, despite a bit of rain. You can see photos of the move on our Edward VII monument Flickr slideshow.

Work has started on the installation of the summer's big exhibition at World Museum, The Beat Goes On, which opens on 12 July 2008. The exhibition will explore Liverpool's musical identity over the last 60 years. As you'd expect, there will be a number of items on display relating to a certain fab four.

Head of furniture conservation Graham Usher is currently putting together one of those items - the very stage that Paul McCartney and John Lennon met on when John's band The Quarrymen played at a garden festival in Woolton in 1957. The Museum of Liverpool acquired the stage a couple of years ago and it was featured on the blog last year but this will be the first time that it has been on display in our venues. I'm sure it'll be a must-see for Beatles fans when the exhibition opens.

The sculpture conservation studio has recently had to squeeze in one of the largest sculptures that has ever been cleaned in-house. The equestrian monument to King Edward VII was removed from its plinth at Pier Head for conservation last year and brought to the studio, where it only just cleared the ceiling.

Now fully conserved, the monument will be returned to Pier Head this week. Here's a sneaky peek of how it now looks. You can see more photos, including some of the statue from last year before it was conserved, in our Flickr slideshow of the conservation of King Edward VII. From these pictures you can see that our sculpture conservators have been very busy - compared to its blackened, dirty state last year the monument now looks as good as new.

Every day thousands of cars travel through the Queensway tunnel under the Mersey. However, it is being reclaimed by pedestrians on Sunday when the traffic will be stopped to allow a special walk through the tunnel. 

This picture from the Metropolis exhibition of Stewart Bale photographs captures a rare moment of calm and solitude in the Queensway tunnel when it was still under construction back in 1931. I expect it'll be considerably busier on Sunday with 5,000 people expected to do the walk and the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Orchestra playing in the middle.

Conservation Technologies are probably best known for the cutting edge work they do using laser technology to clean and replicate sculpture and other precious objects. However for their latest major commission they will mainly be using traditional techniques to hand sculpt missing elements of Sefton Park's monuments.

The memorials to William Rathbone and the Right Honourable Samuel Smith in Sefton Park both originally had four bronze relief sculptures on their bases. Over time the some of the bronze reliefs have been damaged and three of them have gone missing. The only record of the missing bronzes is a small black and white photo of each, so Conservation Technologies will be recreating them from scratch using these pictures as a guide.

The first stage of this process involves sculpting master models of the replicas in clay. As they are quite large pieces the process involved is quite a feat of engineering. The amount of clay used to provide the master models weighs a ton (literally) in weight, so special frames have been built to support that amount of wet clay and then enclose the finished pieces in order to transport them safely to the foundry for casting. The frames are shown below; the first is empty, the second has wooden supports in place to support the clay and the third has a layer of clay in place already.

As this is such a large and ambitious project two members of the team will be working to recreate the missing reliefs. Christopher Dean will be sculpting the two larger pieces, while Sam Sportun works on the third smaller bronze.

You can see further photographs in our Sefton Park monuments Flickr slideshow, which we'll be adding to over the next few weeks. At the moment there are also photographs of the damaged bronze relief of 'Charity' from the base of the memorial to William Rathbone, showing where the arm of a woman kneeling at the front has been broken off. This will be replaced as part of the conservation process.

We'll be bringing you updates as this ambitious project progresses, so watch this space.

Here's some news from antiquities curator Carolyn Routledge, who has temporarily left her desk at World Museum Liverpool to work at an excavation in Egypt.

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"My time so far in Egypt has been fantastic! We flew into Cairo on 26 May very early in the morning and then set out by car on 28 May for the excavation. It was a 10 hour trip through the desert. It felt like a very long journey as taking the desert road meant the scenery didn't change much. Luckily we had air conditioning in the car. We don't have such luxuries where we are living at Abydos. We are staying in the American dig house set back in the desert along the ancient road that led to the tombs of the First Dynasty kings. The weather is very hot, reaching the low 40s Celsius.  Thank goodness we have fans!

We finally arrived at the dig house very late at night and very tired. The next day it was right to work setting up our desks and getting the objects organised to draw. I am working on the South Abydos project directed by Josef Wegner of the University of Pennsylvania. He is excavating the earliest known hidden subterranean royal tomb, which belonged to the pharaoh Senwosret III of the Middle Kingdom (approx 1850 BC).  Jen Wegner and I are drawing the objects that come from the tomb and the surrounding area.

It is early days yet, so not much has come from the tomb itself. This week we are drawing the mud sealings that were found near the entrance.  These are very small and can be very hard to read. The ancient Egyptians liked to 'lock' their things by tying them up and putting mud on cords marked with a seal, often a scarab seal. This is a lot like sealing a letter with sealing wax. On Thursday we went out to the tomb. I overcame slight feelings of claustrophobia to go down in the tomb and was able to go all the way to the burial chamber.  It was exhilarating to be sitting beside the sarcophagus of the king. 

The other reason it is great being here is that a number of the objects we are preparing for the new Egypt gallery opening in September come from Abydos. I can look out my window and see the area where John Garstang had his house and played golf among the dunes that hide the many ancient Egyptian tombs where he found some of our objects."

Alex Shears has had another busy day at the Aigburth Family Centre, who started making their own Liverpool cityscape yesterday. Here's her update on their very own work of art:

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"The second day at Aigburth Family Centre began with tons of excitement as we met Chris; a brilliant cartoon artist who helped the children to draw pictures of each other (not to mention power rangers!) We stuck on lots of cartoons and photos of the children’s faces but made sure to leave room fo children who come to the centre in the future. In the afternoon we came up with a name for the picture and made a big sign so everyone could see what it is called... 'My Liverpool'.

The picture is going to go on display in the entrance to Aigburth family centre to welcome everyone in."

The week beginning 1 June sees the Volunteers Team out and about as part of National Volunteers Week, promoting the diverse range of opportunities and projects  volunteers can take part in across each of our venues and departments.

You can meet them and find out more about volunteering on Wednesday 4 June, 12.30-4pm at World Museum Liverpool or on Thursday 5 June, 12.30-4pm at Merseyside Maritime Museum. There will also be an opportunity to learn more about our new v-involved Youth Volunteering programme, aimed specifically at 16-25 year olds.

Here's some more information and a few fascinating facts from our youth volunteer officer Claire Olson.

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"Did you know that:

- In the past year we have had 361 brilliant volunteers working on a multitude of different projects and placements.

- People regularly travel from as far away as Anglesey, Isle of Man and Yorkshire to volunteer at National Museums Liverpool.

- Volunteers have been an integral part of many successful and unique projects; for example we recently had 30 volunteers who facilitated on gallery during the recent Ben Johnson residency at the Walker Art Gallery. Not only did they work closely with a world renowned artist but they helped directly in the completion of the Liverpool Cityscape. (Photo of Ben Johnson vols)

- In October 2007, one of our Big Art volunteers David Whitby was a finalist in the Unsung Hero category for the Art 07 (Arts Council Northwest) Awards. David didn't win the on the night, but it was a huge achievement for him to be one of the four finalists and his presence is very much appreciated on the gallery.

Look out for more volunteer news and stories all next week on the blog, starting on Monday with a report from the launch of the Young Persons Steering Group on Sunday 1 June. The group consists of young volunteers (aged 16-25) who will meet monthly to discuss all things relating to Youth Volunteering and its role at NML. We'll give you all the breaking news on their new name!

If you have any queries or what to find out more please visit the volunteer section on the website, ring the Volunteers Team on 0151 478 4775 or send the volunteer team an email.

Finally, a big thank you to all our volunteers and staff working with volunteers for their hard work. I hope they know how great we think they are!"

Anne Gleave, our curator of photographic archives, has had an interesting phonecall from a sharp-eyed lady, who discovered a mysterious presence in the Stewart Bale photograph of the Anglican Cathedral under construction from the current Metropolis exhibition.

In the middle of the photograph there is a figure walking along the street, but only their legs are visible. Anne says this is probably the result of somebody walking past during a long exposure photograph.

Update 23/06/2008: After further examination of the image Anne has this update: "It could be that the figure was standing approximately in one place with the top half moving more than the lower half and a slightly long exposure only captured the lower half as the legs were more still. It is also possible that a dye may have been used on the negative to obscure a figure that was not wanted in the photograph; however, examination of the negative does not show any obvious signs of dye use. The detail of the image on the website does indicate a certain change of tone, as if a dye may have been used to remove the top half of the figure but then the question is if a dye was used, why wasn't it used to remove the feet; it does seem to be a bit of a mystery."

However there could be a more eerie explanation - after all, the mysterious figure is walking past the graveyard...

See what you think in this picture.

Ben Johnson isn't the only person who has made a large painting of the Liverpool cityscape recently. His enormous artwork has inspired some creative half term activities, as community development officer Alex Shears reports:

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"Staff from the community partnerships team have been out and about at Aigburth Family Centre this half term meeting Raymond, Warda and Issa.

We were all inspired by the Ben Johnson panorama and decided to get creative and make our own fantastic picture of Liverpool's skyline. We started by thinking of important places in Liverpool and then we drew a plan to mark out where everything would go in our picture. The children worked really hard drawing, cutting out, colouring in and taking photos.  After a short break for lunch we played some games in the Family Centre's garden and then came back inside to stick our picture together.

We are back at the centre for another exciting day tomorrow, when the children are going to meet a cartoon artist who will help them put the finishing touches to their work!"

Strange things are afoot in the basement of Merseyside Maritime Museum, where a brand new permanent gallery 'Seized! Revenue and Customs uncovered' opens this weekend.

The gallery reveals the mysterious world of smuggling and surveilance that's all in a day's work for Customs Officers, with help from unusual exhibits including exotic birds, dangerous weapons and a highly suspicious garden gnome.

To celebrate the opening a busy weekend of events is planned, including displays by sniffer dogs and hopefully a visit by a Customs cutter - as long as it isn't called away for an official operation.

Also in the basement, the newly refurbished Emigration gallery reopens this weekend.

Everyone dreads airport delays but this week our touring exhibition officer Mary Hesling had to deal with an unusual delayed departure caused by a fire several miles away. Here's her report of how her latest project was cleared for take off:

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"I was very pleased to be involved in the installation of seven stunning black and white photographs from the Stewart Bale collections at the Wetherspoons Lloyds Imperial, Liverpool John Lennon Airport. The display follows a broad theme, with images of the old Liverpool Airport, Liverpool city centre and docks.

After more than a year in development, all involved were delighted to see the final display going up. The installation, originally planned for 13 May 2008, was not without its problems! The awful Bluecoat fire in the early hours of Tuesday morning called all our handling and conservation teams in to help. This caused the airport installation to be postponed at short notice - and our thanks to Wetherspoon for their understanding about this!

We finally got out to the airport on Wednesday 14 May and, after only a few more hic-cups (not least of which being two inexplicably flat batteries for the power drill, despite them being charged over night!!!) our wonderful handlers put the display up beautifully, using only hand-powered tools and sheer determination!

The final display will be in place for one year, and I think it looks great. Next time you’re flying out of Liverpool why not get a drink at Wetherspoons and admire the show.

Thanks to Wetherspoons Pubs PLC for their contribution to this project."

Have you ever had one of those afternoons when you want to see some artwork, network with some artists, listen to some performances of poetry and music, maybe join in for a bit of a sing-along yourself, or maybe even listen to a talk about some Liverpool artists but you just can't decide which one to do? I bet it happens to you all the time.

Well the good news is that this weekend you don't need to choose if you go to the Face of the City showcase event at Merseyside Maritime Museum, which features all these things and more.

The free afternoon of fun takes place this Saturday, 17 May, from 1-4pm at the museum's dockside gallery. Have a look at the Maritime Museum What's On page for further details and times of performances.

On this day in 1915 the Lusitania left New York on what would be her last voyage across the Atlantic. As the liner approached southern Ireland on 7 May 1915 she was torpedoed by the German submarine U-20. She sank in under twenty minutes with the loss of 1,201 of the 1,962 people on board.

To commemorate the tragedy the Merseyside Maritime Museum have added a lifebuoy (or ring lifebelt) from the liner to the displays in the Titanic, Lusitania  and the Forgotten Empress gallery.

The lifebuoy was found by the skipper of a fishing boat from Kinsale who helped to rescue Lusitania survivors. He gave it to a visiting fish merchant, Arthur Miller, who displayed it in his office. It is now on long term loan to Merseyside Maritime Museum courtesy of Arthur Miller's grandson Dr Arthur Neiland.

There will be an act of remembrance for those lost in the sinking of the Lusitania led by the Rev Steven Brookes, Rector of Liverpool, on the 93rd anniversary of the tragedy. Everyone is welcome to the event, which will take place at 1.30pm Wednesday 7 May on the quayside outside the Piermaster's House - see this handy city centre map for the location.

Update: please note that the remembrance event will now be led by Father Robert Mackley.

Some objects in our collection are so large that conserving them is a two-person job. A good example is the 'All you need is love' bedspread, which is currently being prepared for display is the upcoming exhibition The beat goes on - opening on 12 July 2008 at World Museum Liverpool.

To prepare it for display the bedspread has been stitched to a backing sheet on wooden stretchers, which support it and keep it in place. Today textiles and organics conservators Vivien Chapman and Anne-Marie Hughes have been strengthening the bedspread with supporting stitches to key areas - a delicate process which involves passing the needle through the fabric from one person to the other, without being ever able to see each other. These stitches are so small that you wouldn't know they were there when you look at the bedspread but they play an important role in supporting it when it's on display.

The bedspread was originally used in John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Montreal 'Bed-In For Peace' in room 1742 of the Queen Elizabeth Hotel, Montreal in 1969. It is just one of the fascinating pieces of memorabilia that will be on display in the exhibition.

There are more pictures in a Flickr slideshow of the bedspread being conserved.

Rachel Porter from the Aquarium at World Museum Liverpool has exciting news about nine youngsters who have made their first public appearance this week. As she's the expert I'll let her tell you all about them:

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"These adorable little babies were born in July 2007 and are now big enough to go on display on our Aquarium gallery.  They are only about 4cm long but will grow to be 20cm long and are being fed little shrimp called Brineshrimp or Sea Monkeys. 

The Seahorses were bred here at the museum from the parents who we keep in our quarantine area.  The male actually gives birth to the babies after brooding them in a pouch for only 2 weeks."

Here's some great news to start the week with, the International Slavery Museum has been shortlisted in the 'Large Visitor Attraction of the Year' category in The Mersey Partnership Annual Tourism Awards 2008. The winner will be announced at the end of May.

If you haven't made it over to the museum yet to see what all the fuss is about this is a great week to go, as the Living Memorial to Nigerian activist and writer Ken Saro-Wiwa will be visiting from 23 to 25 April as part of Celebrate Earth Week 2008. There's also a talk at the museum with the artist who created the memorial, Sokari Douglas Camp, on Thursday 24 April at 2pm.

Here's the final blog post from Tom McConnell, our work placement student and Beatles fan, who has been lucky enough to see some rather special objects from the band's history.

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Hi

On Tuesday and Wednesday I have been working on the Beatles stage that John Lennon played on when Paul McCartney first met him. I had to sand parts of it and help take it apart before it is fully constructed.

Today I have been in paper conservation where I found all the Beatles autographs!! and I also saw many other Beatles items such as a Beatles writing pad.. Beatles stockings.. Beatles tickets.. Beatles newspapers.. and much more.

You know what it's like, you wait ages for a cultural bus then two turn up at the same time.

One bus, 'The Living Memorial', is actually a unique mobile memorial to the Nigerian activist and writer Ken Saro-Wiwa by the Nigerian-born artist Sokari Douglas Camp. It will be visiting the International Slavery Museum from 23-25 April as part of Celebrate Earth Week 2008. The programme of events for the week involves three days of African-inspired live music, art and poetry across Liverpool, including an artist's talk in the International Slavery Museum.

The week before that Liverpool City Council, the Culture Company and English Heritage are offering free coach tours of Liverpool's World Heritage Site - an area of the city including several of our venues. Appropriately enough the tours will take place on International World Heritage Day, 18 April at 11am and 2pm. Each 2 hour tour starts outside St George's Hall and takes in sights including the Albert Dock, Pier Head, Stanley Dock, Ropewalks and the historic commercial district. For further details or to book a free place see the Liverpool World Heritage website or ring 0151 233 2880.

 

In the normal scheme of things, art galleries are where you go to see paintings. However, in the fantastic work of the Singh Twins (deserved winners of the recent Liverpool Art Prize People's Award), you can look at art galleries in paintings instead.

You may remember that last year I spotted some of our venues in their painting 'Liverpool 800' when it went on display at St George's Hall. The talented sisters have just unveiled a new painting, 'Art Matters: The Pool of Life' to celebrate Liverpool's Capital of Culture year. As always, the picture is bursting with life, featuring a plethora of Liverpool people and landmarks infused with the vibrant colours of the traditional Indian miniature style of painting.

There's way too much detail to cram into a tiny space like this, but you can just about make out in this image that the Walker Art Gallery has made an appearance once again, half way down on the right hand side. It's being visited by the blue time-travelling taxi from the Magical History Tour exhibition, which appears to be driven by an escapee from World Museums Liverpool's Bug House. There's even a poster advertising the upcoming exhibition The Beat Goes On (thanks for the publicity ladies!)

Here's the latest update from Tom McConnell, our work placement student, who in case you hadn't noticed is a big fan of a certain Liverpool band!

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Hello,

Today I have been checking up on the music desk at the International Slavery Museum. This basically involved listening to many tunes on the desks and writing if it was working and to see if any improvements could be made to improve it for the benefit of the visitor… I particularly enjoyed "Sail Away" by Ray Charles but was disappointed that The Beatles had been taken off!!

Here's the latest update from Tom McConnell, who seems to be keeping busy on his work placement at National Museums Liverpool:

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Hello,

I’m now on my third day here at NML. I had a good day yesterday at World Museum Liverpool. Highlights for me were seeing the new Egypt galleries taking shape and a visit to the zoology department. I also fitted in a visit to the National Museums Liverpool stores where I spied a fab looking Paul McCartney poster.

Today I was back at the stores helping with the Museum of Liverpool project. There I had to locate and find objects for the up and coming The Beat Goes On exhibition. These objects included Stuart Sutcliffe’s Guitar, a Beatles 7 inch vinyl singles folder, a piece of fabric from the original Magical Mystery Tour bus in the film and Beatles bobbing-head dolls.

Here's the first post from a new contributor to the blog. As you can see from this picture, Tom is already hard at work on his first day at National Museums Liverpool.

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Hello,

I'm Tom McConnell and I'm in Liverpool on my work placement for two weeks. I will be working in various NML venues throughout the city. I live in Newcastle Upon Tyne and have done since I was 2 years old, but was born in Liverpool.

I've spent an interesting day today with Community Partnerships learning about the new Museum of Liverpool.  I am particularly excited about the Beatles section of the museum as I have worshipped them since I was 5 (and I'm 15 in two weeks).

There are many many reasons why the exhibition Metropolis: capturing modern Liverpool, which has just opened at the National Conservation Centre, is really rather brilliant.

Firstly the photographs, which all come from the Stewart Bale collection held at the Maritime Archives and Library, are all stunning. If you don't believe me, The British Journal of Photography (who know a bit about these things) described the name of Stewart Bale as being "associated with a quality of performance never equalled in the field of photography".

Secondly, they document a period of tremendous change and significant events in Liverpool's history, including the construction of the Anglican cathedral and launch of the Mauretania II at Cammell Laird to name just a couple.

Thirdly, there are lots of instantly recognisable local streets and landmarks in the photographs. Some of them have changed significantly, others are only subtley different now, but all of them make really absorbing images. I really like the view across the city's rooftops from 1934, which includes St Luke's church and the partially built Anglican cathedral. Since then the cathedral's tower has been finished but the church (known locally as 'the bombed out church') is now an empty roofless shell, so you still wouldn't get a completed view of both buildings today.

Need I say more? Do pop in if you have a chance, you've got until 10 August when the exhibition closes.

Here's the latest report from our School Champion Charlotte Osborne from St Margaret Marys Junior School, who has been on a visit to check on progress with the new Museum of Liverpool and explore some of the city's famous waterfront.

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"I really enjoyed our second champions visit to the museum to learn more about the Museum of Liverpool visit and the three Graces.

We were very lucky to have a tour of the Liver buildings and also visit the Port of Liverpool and Cunard buildings. We all felt really excited inside the Three Graces because not many members of the public visit there!

I concentrated on all the different objects in them and wondered whether any of them would be good to put in the Museum of Liverpool. In the 'Port of Liverpool Museum' there was a marble effect compass and when you looked up the view was really cool! In the 'Cunard Building' there were posters that read 'Cunard to Canada' and many more different posters! In the 'Liver Building' I enjoyed concentrating on the stained glass window. On the top of the Liver Building there was a Liver Bird on each side, one of them looked at the sailors wives and the other looked at the sailors!

We then went over to look at the new Museum of Liverpool with Karen, Dave and Curtis this was the first time we had looked at the building very close up and we are hoping to get inside the building for a tour next time.

I enjoyed watching the slide show of how the new Museum of Liverpool was going to look like, and all the different galleries. Liz asked us questions and I was really excited of how it is going to look when it is finally finished.

In the afternoon we all made a poem about Liverpool and the New Museum with Curtis and mine was about the history of Liverpool and the new galleries in the Museum. I enjoyed doing the creative writing and would really like do it again.

Dave set out loads of objects all about ships and the river and I was really interested in what he was talking to us about and I was focused on everything he was saying! I thought it was amazing that you can measure the angle of the sun from the horizon.
 
Thank you for my wonderful day out again, we are really looking forward to the next time we visit!"

Today many people across Liverpool will be celebrating St Patrick's Day, or maybe even continuing the festivities which seem to have kicked off on Friday evening.

If you are stuck for ideas of a fitting way to spend the day, here's a blast from the past in the form of a handbill from the Museum of Liverpool's collections. It's advertsing a 'St Patrick's Gala Night' held in Liverpool's Rialto Ballroom back in 1939. 

With cocktails, cabaret, dancing until 2am, 'Irish novelties' (whatever that means), a running buffet (for moderate charges) and Ben Reynold's Irish music it sounds like it was a top night. And all for the meagre price of 2/6 - which sounds cheap but somebody will probably tell me that was most your week's wages back then...

Here's a report from Ann-marie Cassidy, our project worker for engaging refugees and asylum seekers, about some of this weekend's activities.

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"Saturday was International Women's Day. This special day is celebrated every year on 8th March. Throughout the world thousands of events are held to inspire women and honour their achievements.

Here at World Museum Liverpool we celebrated International Women's Day with a number of special activities.

We began in the atrium, with an activity called 'Home Sweet Home?' We erected a temporary shelter, which we hoped would represent the shelters often used by displaced people fleeing their homes in times of crisis. We wanted visitors to think about the things that were really important to them, by asking the question:

'If you had three minutes to leave your home, what would you take with you?'

We asked visitors to write or draw their answers on the shelter. Answers ranged from the emotional: mum, dad, dog, rabbit; to the practical: tent, Swiss army knife, torch, matches; to the sentimental: photographs, jewellery. A number of people also said that they would bring their computer games - until their friends pointed out that there would be nowhere to plug in their computer! All in all, it was a very thought-provoking activity.

This was followed by a textile workshop with Maryam Patala, based on the textile piece Freedom - who’s set the borders? (currently on display on the World Cultures gallery). Visitors had the opportunity to improve their sewing skills and learn about the appliqué technique used by Maryam to create the piece." 

You can see more photos of the 'Home Sweet Home?' shelter on our Flickr page.

Admit it - in your rush to get to see the portraits of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I at the far end of the Walker you've probably dashed past most of the other Medieval and Renaissance paintings without giving them a second glance. Which is a shame because there are some real gems on display.

Take 'St Bernardino Preaching' by Francesco di Giorgio for example, which is the Walker's picture of the month in March. It's being highlighted following recent conservation treatment, which has brought all of the vibrant colours and incredible detail in this busy scene back to vivid life. Have a look at our online feature about the conservation of 'St Bernardino Preaching' to see images of the painting before, during and after treatment, plus some fascinating insights into the techniques used by the artist.

There are also some gallery talks about the painting this month. Curator of continental European art Xanthe Brooke will be giving the first talk today at 1pm. Then Nicola Christie, the head of paintings conservation, will be talking about the conservation