National Museums Liverpool Blog - competition

Liverpool landing stage, 1937 from the Stewart Bale collection

If you can think of an amusing (and clean, don't forget) caption for this photo from the fantastic Stewart Bale collection then post it as a comment by the end of the day on Wednesday 31 March 2010. The funniest and most original caption will win a copy of the fantastic hardback book 'The Liner: retrospective and renaissance' (2005) by Philip Dawson.

Why not take a closer look at the photo using zoomify.

After a couple of entries bustling with activity, for this week's highlight from the Liverpool's Chinatown: Through the lens Flickr competition I've chosen an image almost completely devoid of people: this 2009 photo of Liverpool's iconic Chinese arch, added to the pool by Mark McGowan.

Foggy Chinese arch © Mark McGowan

Taken just before the Chinese New Year celebrations, there is a sense of expectation and mystery to the image, the sunlight just glinting off the brilliant gold of the arch and the viewer imagining the crowds that will be filling the ghostly streets.

The different architectural styles contrast but compliment each other; there are no absolutely horizontal or vertical lines, but various angular perspectives which draw the eye in different directions. At once the viewer is invited in through the arch by the receding buildings and flags of Nelson Street, but at the same time to the top of the image: neither the square pillars of the arch nor the round pillars of the Black-E Centre to the left are straightforwardly vertical, both tapering up towards the shrouded sun and pulling the viewer's gaze with them. The result is a constant shifting of perspectives, never settling, like an MC Escher print. See the photo in a large size.

To celebrate our photography exhibition China: Through the Lens of John Thomson 1868-72 at the Merseyside Maritime Museum we want you to submit your photos of Liverpool's Chinatown to our Flickr pool - our favourite photo submitted by 24 May will win a banquet for two at Yuet Ben, with two runners-up winning exhibition catalogues. Find out more on the competition page.

The winner of February's caption competition is Dorothy Bowkett for her caption:

"Alfred Nobel's first tiff with his wife was when he blew up the dining-room walls."

'Our first tiff' by Robert Walker Macbeth

Very clever - it is obvious that Dorothy had been thinking carefully about the painting!

Congratulations and thanks to everyone else for their entries. You can read all the captions submitted in the original post.

A Manchu bride, Beijing 1871-2. © The Wellcome Library, London

The pioneering photojournalist John Thomson travelled for years through China with a lot of heavy, cumbersome equipment to take the incredible photos that are now featured in the China through the lens of John Thomson 1868-1872 exhibition at Merseyside Maritime Museum.

We don't expect you to go to such lengths for our latest competition. Instead we'd like you to take your nice light modern cameras or camera phones on a journey to explore Liverpool's Chinatown and Chinese culture.

Enter your photos into our Liverpool's Chinatown through the lens group on Flickr to take part in the competition. On 24 May 2010 we'll choose our favorite photo and the person who took it will win a banquet meal for two with wine at Liverpool’s longest-established Chinese restaurant, Yuet Ben. Two runners-up will each receive a copy of the China through the lens of John Thomson 1868-1872 exhibition catalogue.

During the course of the competition we will feature some of our favourite photos from the group here on the blog and the winning photo will be featured on the blog and exhibition website.

For example you can submit photos of Liverpool's Chinese arch, the Chinese New Year celebrations, buildings, people, or even a local restaurant which has a special place in your life!

If you need inspiration you might like to check out some of our free Chinese New Year events which are taking place at Merseyside Maritime Museum, the Lady Lever Art Gallery and World Museum over the next couple of weeks.

What caption do you think fits?

Unless you are from Mars, you are probably aware that Valentines Day is coming up and to mark it I've chosen perhaps a slightly anti-romantic image for this month's competition! Well things do get a bit too sickly-sweet this time of year don't they?

So let's go against all of that with this painting by Robert Walker Macbeth, called 'Our first tiff', which hangs in the Walker Art Gallery. 

To enter the competition, post a comment below to tell us what you think the caption should be for this image. The caption we think is funniest/quirkiest/most inventive will win this month's prize!

The prize is a great book, 'Ben Johnson's Liverpool Cityscape' edited by Ann Bukantas. The book offers a unique insight into Ben Johnson's mammoth painting of the city of Liverpool that took three years to create.

You've only got a couple of weeks to enter - we will close the competition at the end of the day on Sunday 21 February. The winner will be announced the following week.

So put down your heart-shaped choccies and get thinking!

Please note: This is competition isn't open to NML staff or their families. The judge's decision is final. There's no alternative prize. Please keep your suggestions tasteful!

Copyright Stephen Shakeshaft

The winner this month, who gets a signed copy of Stephen's book 'No Illusions', is Valerie for her topical caption 'Doctor Who seems to get younger each time he regenerates'.

You can see all of the entries by clicking on the Comments on the original blog post.

Don't forget there's just a couple of days left to see the fantastic exhibition that this picture is taken from, Liverpool People by Stephen Shakeshaft, which closes on Sunday.

And look out for a new caption competition on the blog in February.

Copyright Stephen Shakeshaft

If you can think of an amusing (and clean, don't forget) caption for this photo then post it as a comment by the end of the day on Sunday 17 January. The winner will be announced the following week.

Stephen Shakeshaft himself will be judging this month's competition. The lucky winner will get a signed copy of his book 'No Illusions' which includes many of the pictures from the exhibition and more from Stephen's first 30 years as a newspaper photographer.

"Going out with an albatross? Get your hearing tested! I said I was going down to Albert Dock"

The winner of this month's caption competition, and the new owner of a signed copy of Alan Scarth's 'Titanic and Liverpool' book, is Rob Pendragon with his entry, "Going out with an albatross? Get your hearing tested! I said I was going down to Albert Dock". Well done to Rob. 

You can see all of the other entries on the original post.

This month's image is of two gulls sitting atop the Museum of Liverpool. All you have to do is come up with a suitably amusing caption and post your suggestion as a comment on this blog post. You can see a larger version of the photo in our Museum of Liverpool Flickr set.

The photo was taken by builds operations manager, Martin Hemmings, and was originally labelled 'What's a nice gull like you doing in a place like this?', so avoid anything similar if you want a chance of winning the prize which is a signed copy of Alan Scarth's rather excellent new book, 'Titanic and Liverpool'. More on the book on the Daily Post blog.

The deadline for entries is noon on Wednesday 23 December, and please keep them clean!

Copyright Stephen Shakeshaft

A big thank you to everyone who entered our latest caption competition. Our judge, Stephen Shakeshaft, was so impressed that he couldn't pick one winner and has very generously awarded a prize of a signed copy of his book 'No Illusions' each to three joint winners:

• Robbie for his entry: 'Hey kids I'm Liverpools new central defender they call me the sweeper';
• Jonathan for 'I swept your grandmother off her feet and now i see your smiles' and
• Stu for 'Mind your brush for a shilling Mister..?'

You can see all of the entries on the original post for November's caption competition.

And don't forget that you can see this photo and more in the exhibition Liverpool People by Stephen Shakeshaft, which is at the National Conservation Centre until 24 January 2010. Stephen will be giving a talk in the exhibition on Wednesday 9 December at 2pm.

Copyright Stephen Shakeshaft

It's competition time again and this month's picture comes courtesy of the rather wonderful exhibition Liverpool People by Stephen Shakeshaft, which is at the National Conservation Centre until 24 January 2010.

Have a look at this photograph from the exhibition - you can see a larger version on the exhibition website - and see if you can think of an amusing caption for it. Post your entry as a comment (please keep them clean) by the end of the day on Sunday 22 November and the winner will be notified the following week.

Stephen Shakeshaft himself has very kindly offered to judge this month's competition. The lucky winner will get a signed copy of his book 'No Illusions' which includes many of the pictures from the exhibition and more from Stephen's first 30 years as a newspaper photographer.

The conversation waned somewhat while they waited for the butler to appear with the superglue remover.

Remind me not to pick such a risque image next time. Some of the suggestions weren't exactly suitable for a family audience, even if rather amusing.

Anyway, a randomly gathered group of NML staff has decided that Clair Sharp has won the October caption competition with her caption: 'The conversation waned somewhat while they waited for the butler to appear with the superglue remover'. Well done to Clair. You can see all of the other suggestions on the original post.

Another image and another prize next month.

What sort of paintings inspire you? Those with flame-haired Pre-Raphaelite muses or striking 20th century works?

National Poetry Day is on Thursday 8 October and we want you to be involved! Get inspired by a painting at the Walker Art Gallery, write a poem about it and send it to us. 

We'll publish a selection of them on the website and pick one winning poem. The winner can choose one poetry book from the ones listed below:

• 'Rapture' by Carol Ann Duffy (hardback)
• 'The Mersey Sound' by Roger McGough, Brian Patten and Adrian Henri (paperback)
• 'Andraste's Hair' by Eleanor Rees (hardback)

The theme for this year's National Poetry Day is 'heroes and heroines', so we have put together a selection of paintings that we think fit in with this idea. These range from ‘Dante's Dream’ by Dante Gabriel Rossetti to 'Pin Up 1963 - For Francis Bacon’ by Sam Walsh. So now it's your turn to look through our selected paintings and get inspired!

Send in your entry by Monday 2 November using the online form on the Get inspired...at the Walker page. Good luck!

Millais' 'The Black Brunswicker' from the Lady Lever Art Gallery collection.

Post a comment to tell us what you think the caption should be for this image. It's 'The Black Brunswicker' by Millais (more on it and a larger image on our main site). The caption we think is funniest/quirkiest/most inventive wins this month's prize which is a rather nice hardback book, 'Women Artists In The 20th and 21st Century'. The book features Tracey Emin, Rachel Whiteread, Georgia O'Keeffe, Barbara Hepworth, Frieda Kahlo, Bridget Riley, Kara Walker and many, many more, and ties in nicely with the forthcoming exhibition, 'The Rise of Women Artists' which starts at the Walker on 23 October.

You've a couple of weeks to enter. If you're looking for inspiration September's entries are here.

The not-very-small-print: This is competition isn't open to NML staff or their families. The judge's decision is final. There's no alternative prize. Please keep your suggestions tasteful.

Update 27/10/09: October's caption competition has now closed although you can obviously still add your suggestions. The winner was 'The conversation waned somewhat while they waited for the butler to appear with the superglue remover'.

Does your child have artistic flair? © Simon Webb

We're currently working with Liverpool ECHO in the Community on a fantastic project for a class of under five-year-olds to have the chance to help develop the artwork for the dedicated children’s gallery in the new Museum of Liverpool.

Little Liverpool is a tailor-made gallery for children under six; a fantasy dreamscape where the youngest visitors will be able to relax, play and explore.

The Little Liverpool Designers competition is searching for a class from a Merseyside-based school to be appointed as designers, working with an artist to direct the final development of the artwork for the Little Liverpool gallery.

So, if you think your child has artistic flair and is within a class that you feel could win, encourage their teacher to enter the competition, and they could make their own historic and creative mark in the new museum!

Visit http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/community-projects for more info. The closing date is Thursday 24 September at 5pm, and the winning class will be appointed on Friday 25 September. Good luck!

Yesterday at the Liverpool Food and Drink Festival we ran a prize draw to win a three course lunch for four people and afternoon tea for two to celebrate the recent launch of the Maritime Dining Rooms. The winners were Mr C Ragan (first prize) and Ms B Lemp (second prize). Well done - we'll be contacting you in writing.

'The Doorway' by Whistler. © The Hunterian Museum & Art Gallery, University of Glasgow

The current Lady Lever Art Gallery exhibition, Whistler: The Gentle Art of Making Etchings, ends on 20 September, so you only have a couple more weekends to pay a visit.

To tie in with the exhibition's closure we're giving away a lovely hardback catalogue from another of the Hunterian's Whistler exhibitions. 'James NcNeill Whistler - Selected Works from the Hunterian Art Gallery' features 74 Whistler works (including three other versions of 'The Doorway' shown here), plus Japanese prints, manuscripts, silver and porcelain from the great man's collection.

To be in with a chance of winning the catalogue you need to tell us the name of the exhibition which follows Whistler at the Lady Lever Art Gallery (you'll find the answer on our main website). Send us your name, email address and answer using this contact form. Closing date is noon on Monday 21 September.   

A random group of people who happened to be in our office at the time chose Linda Reeds' entry as the best caption. Well done to Linda. You can see all the entries here. Another image and another prize in a short while.

All I said was 'Back a bit!'

While I'm here and talking about artwork I'll tell you about the Flickr group we've just started that celebrates the weird and wonderful world of credit crunch art. There's no prize for this one - just the knowledge that you've far too much time on your hands. Pick an artwork from our collection and recreate it using whatever comes to hand - cats, toys, food, your children, your co-workers - the possibilities are as limited as your camera's battery life. Upload them to your Flickr page and add them to our group. Again, please bear in mind that this is a family site!

We're competition crazy round here at the moment, and here's our latest offering - the caption competition! You probably already know the sketch. We show you an image (in this case a painting from our collections) and you come up with an amusing caption. This is the first pic (it's actually called 'What is it?' by Henry Stacy Marks).

Post your entry as a comment (please keep them clean!) We'll pick a winner next week who will receive a book of Cecil Beaton snaps (you can see it on Amazon - it's nicer than the price suggests!) which ties in nicely with the Beaton exhibition currently at the Walker Art Gallery.

You could win tickets to see either the Soweto Gospel Choir on Saturday 5 September or Odemba OK Jazz All Stars on Tuesday 29 September.

To enter just visit the International Slavery Museum and answer this simple question:

What section of the International Slavery Museum is the Black Achievers Wall in?

Please send us your answer using this contact form to arrive before midnight on Tuesday 25 August 2009, stating which concert you would prefer to see. There will be two winners, one for each concert. There's more on the competition and the featured artists on our main site.

Apologies if you've tried to enter already and failed - a slight technical problem. It should be working fine now.

You have until Monday to enter our competition and win a luxury weekend away in London.

This fabulous prize is being offered to tie in with the Royal Academy's exhibition, J.W. Waterhouse: The Modern Pre-Raphaelite, which includes one of the Walker's paintings, Echo and Narcissus.

The prize includes two nights accommodation at a five-star hotel, tickets to the exhibition and first class return tickets from Liverpool.

Competition details and how to enter can be found on our main site.

Voting in the National Lottery awards closes at midday today so we REALLY need you to vote if you've not done so already. You can vote online on the National Lottery Good Causes website, or by calling 0844 686 6957.

And 'thank you' if you have already!

The International Slavery Museum

The momentum is really building now for the International Slavery Museum and our bid to win Best Heritage Project in the National Lottery Awards - which we still need your votes for! This week the head of the museum, Richard Benjamin, was interviewed on BBC Radio Merseyside about why the museum should win the award and also talking about the latest exhibition; 'Black Brittania'.

You can hear Richard's interview on the Claire Hamilton show here - listen from the 6pm mark onwards!

Further to my previous post about International Slavery Museum getting to the final of the National Lottery awards, the Lottery have commissioned this promotional video about the museum and why it should win. You can also see it on our main site.

Remember that you can vote online on the National Lottery Good Causes website, or by calling 0844 686 6957.

Update 04/08/09: This video now has a transcript which can be viewed on our main site.

Excellent news. Thanks to your votes the International Slavery Museum has made it through to the finals of the National Lottery awards. We're up against two other venues in the Best Heritage Project category.

Votes aren't carried over into the final so we need you to vote again. You can vote online on the National Lottery Good Causes website. Alternatively you can call 0844 686 6957 to register your phone vote.

As we've said before this isn't just about winning an award (although obviously that's a nice thing) or a thumbs up for a good museum. As Richard said in his 'It could be us' post a few weeks ago, this is a major opportunity to raise awareness about the issues that the museum champions - it's about tackling human rights abuses. So, please vote, and ask people you know to vote as well.

Then tune into the National Lottery programme (we'll let you know when) to see Richard in his fabled Homer Simpson tie!

Night At The Museum 2 poster

This week sees our final monthly draw to win pairs of tickets to your local ODEON cinema. All you have to do to enter is sign up for our e-newsletter. Everyone who signs up during the entry period is also entered into a draw to win Night at the Museum goodies including a telescope.

July is the last month to enter so be sure to sign up by this Friday. You can sign up on the registration page or learn more about the draw on our main site.

Thanks to ODEON Cinemas who have provided the tickets and goodies for this draw.