National Museums Liverpool Blog - handling and transport team

The goddess Athena wore an unusual bubblewrap outfit to the dinner

The evening was also attended by a goddess, several penguins, a few vehicles, some works of art and a whole flock of superlambananas. These items, which are mainly from National Museums Liverpool's collections, although the superlambananas were on loan, were put on temporary display for the evening to give a taster of the wide variety of objects that will go on display in the new museum when it opens in 2011.

If you were not lucky enough to attend the dinner itself you can see some great photos from the evening on the Art in Liverpool blog.

You can also see behind-the-scenes photos of our handling and transport team installing the objects for display before the dinner and then returning them afterwards in the Moving Stories set on Flickr. Is it just me or does this photo of handling and transport technician Danny look like a scene from Casualty, with the patient being wheeled into a lift on a trolley?

Handling and transport technician Paula at the Walker

Even while it has been snowing outside this week, our staff have been working away behind the scenes inside the Walker Art Gallery to prepare the next exhibition Aubrey Williams: Atlantic Fire. The exhibition of 14 paintings by Guyanese-born artist Aubrey Williams opens on 15 January 2010.

Handling and transport technicians Paula and Paul took some great photos on their way to the Walker in the snow on Tuesday. You can see more in the Moving stories set on Flickr. I hope they had a nice Liverpool fire, or even some central heating, at home to warm them up when they got home from work.

Nottingham Contemporary art gallery - home to the Walker's Hockney painting for the next few months

Here's a behind-the-scenes look at one of the aspects of the work that our staff are involved in, courtesy of handling and transport technician Paula Frew. This week Paula travelled to Nottingham as a courier to supervise the installation of one of the Walker's most popular paintings, which has gone out on loan. Here's what she got up to, in her own words:

"Monday morning at 7.30am I was on the train travelling to Nottingham to act as a courier for the installation of the Walker's David Hockney painting  'Peter getting out of Nick’s pool' by David Hockney, which is on loan to the Nottingham Contemporary art gallery for their Hockney exhibition. The painting had travelled ahead of me, having been collected from the Walker on the Friday by Momart, who handle and transport art works nationally and internationally.

Twenty minutes walk from the train station, Nottingham Contemporary art gallery stands on a corner like the raised prow of a ship looming in front of a sandstone gothic church, the opposing architectural styles complimenting the space.

Entering the gallery, construction work was underway installing interior features. I signed in and was introduced to the staff who escorted me into the exhibition space. Here was a quiet eclectic mix of organised disciplines consisting of painting conservators, curators a registrar and exhibition technicians.

I instructed the technicians on the safe removal procedure of the crated work. The work was carefully removed and placed on foam blocks and leant temporarily against the wall.

Painting conservators checked the painting against the relevant paperwork and images that I had with me from National Museums Liverpool's painting conservator David Crombie, who had supplied a full report. Content with the report and the painting's condition, the conservators allowed the technicians to continue with its installation.

I observed the technicians measure a space on the wall and install the original lifting brackets. Lifting brackets are used to support this painting, as a pretty chunky frame encompasses the canvas, giving it a weight of 105kgs.

A small lifting machine (SWL 227kgs) was used to elevate the painting onto the brackets. Once installed onto the brackets, the fittings attached to the back of the painting called ‘Oz- clips’ (nothing to do with a wizard’s hair!) were used to finally secure the painting to the wall, installation professionally completed.

Visitors to the Walker Art Gallery hoping to see a David Hockney painting over the next few months won't be disappointed as the Tate have kindly loaned 'Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy', which is going on display in gallery 15 for the duration of the Hockney exhibition in Nottingham."

"Look honey, I shrunk the guitarist!"

As you will probably be aware from reading this blog over the years, there are many unsung heroes in our staff who put in a lot of effort behind the scenes to ensure that our exhibitions and events go off without a hitch. There are lots of examples of the handling and transport team hard at work in the Moving stories set of photos on Flickr.

With all that hard work, it's good to know that they have some light hearted fun occasionally, as the latest photos show. Their latest major project has been to dismantle the displays from The Beat Goes On exhibition, which closed recently. Handling and transport technician Paul Kelly took the opportunity to become a rock star with a giant guitar prop, while the joiners Jerry and Steve took a ride on a rather realistic 2-dimensional scooter.

Several statues from the Lady Lever Art Gallery have recently been out on loan to the V&A for the 'Thomas Hope:Regency Designer' exhibition. On their return they made a quick pitstop in the sculpture conservation studio, where they were checked and re-waxed before being ready to return to public display.

You can see the sculptures making their way back to the Lady Lever Art Gallery in our Moving stories Flickr set. As you can imagine, moving several large, heavy sculptures without damaging them is quite an operation, which required the combined efforts and specialist skills of the technical services team, sculpture conservators, conservation technologies and the handling and transport technicians, as well as some serious heavy lifting equipment. The good news is that the move was a success and the sculptures are now back on display.

As regular visitors will realise, there are always small changes taking place within our galleries, even in the 'permanent' displays, as objects do occasionally get removed for loans or conservation treatment. An example is the painting 'Elaine' painted by Sophie Anderson, which is going to be included in the exhibition 'The Rise of Women Artists' at the Walker from 23 October 2009. Framing conservator Roy Irlam is using this opportunity to address particular areas of the painting's framework, as access to this painting has been difficult due to its high position on the gallery wall. You can see photos of the de-installation in our Moving stories Flickr set. Handling and transport technician Paula Frew explains just how this large painting was safely removed from display below.

Installing 'Daniel in the Lion's Den' in the Walker

"The handling and transport team use specialised equipment for paintings at this height which include a block and tackle system used to elevate and lower paintings. Each block and tackle section is equipped to take a safe working load of 250kg which are suspended from a lifting strap (SWL 1000kgs) which is attached to a load bearing picture rail.

Another piece of equipment which is an old favourite of the team's goes by the fanciful name of 'Airwolf'. It's a gas operated hydraulic lift that enables technicians to access the heights needed to reach the galleries picture rails.

The most recent addition to the team's repertoire of equipment is an electrical hydraulic lift embellished with the title of 'Leonardo'. This machine takes the weight of one person and can be operated at its base or by the operator in the caged platform area at various heights to move around the gallery area. Unfortunately it doesn't go as high as the 'Airwolf' and is therefore restricted.

The Mobile Elevated Towers named 'Pulpit Towers' are mobile platforms that have replaced ladders due to the new ladder regulations and adhere to the new safety rulings.

The large maroon coloured machine is called the 'Sumner lift'. This machine has been specifically adapted to take a 500kg weight, having counterbalanced weights in the enclosed basket. The machine can access heavy paintings at particular heights on its forks. It works on a ratchet and geared system operated manually, preferably by someone who has eaten a lot of spinach!

The equipment has to be condition checked before use which takes time, so the team started at 7.30am to make headway before the Walker opened to the public at 10am. Once it opened we barricaded off half of the gallery space rather than closing it completely to the public. We found that the visitors were more interested in our operation than they were in the collections!

Before taking down 'Elaine' we removed the painting beneath it 'The Expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden' using the Sumner lift machine. The team then set up the block and tackle for 'Elaine' and removed it safely.

The painting 'Daniel in the Lion's Den' by Riviere has recently returned to the Walker after going out on loan to the British Museum for their 'Babylon' exhibition. We installed this painting in place of 'Elaine' using the block and tackle system, then re-installed 'The Expulsion of Adam and Eve...' beneath it and re-opened the remaining gallery space."

The handling team carefully wrap Jude the Giant's head in plastic sheeting

As I've mentioned many times before, life for National Museums Liverpool's handling and transport technicians is certainly never dull. This Flickr set of photographs of their activities this week look like scenes from a Victorian murder mystery - with dark, mysterious tunnels and body parts being wrapped.

The team were actually moving the mobile statue Jude the Giant. Many people will remember Jude, who was made in workshops at World Museum for the city's 800th birthday pageant in 2007, and has recently been on display in St Georges Hall.

She has now been dismantled, wrapped in protective packaging and taken to the National Conservation Centre for treatment before going back out on display in a new location later this year.

The handling team were assisted by textile conservators, especially when moving Jude's dress, which is a painted item that needs special care and attention. Handling technician and senior driver Paul Kelly thinks that the whole team deserves a big hand for doing such a great job.

It has been another busy and varied week for the handling and transport team, who have been taking a lot of different objects from storage to the National Conservation Centre for routine condition checking to prevent deterioration. One item in particular caught their eye, as handling technician driver Paul Kelly explains below. You can see more of Paul's photos of this and other objects in our Moving Stories set on Flickr.

Handling technician Danny John... or is it King Kong?

"Way back in the mists of time in the 1960s lots of chaps built model buildings for their model railway layouts using Bayko building blocks. Some chaps obviously got into it in a very big way and produced a very large building - none other than the Empire State Building - which is now in the Museum of Liverpool's collections. It must have taken them weeks to do this and the cost would have been enormous - Grandma must have had a deep pocket money wallet.

This week the handling and transport team delivered the model from storage to the National Conservation Centre for conservation treatment. Naturally the urge to imitate King Kong could not be resisted, although due care and attention was of course paid to ensure the safe handling of the model. Happily the model made it safely to National Conservation Centre in the correct number of components. Afterwards though we had a big problem trying to get handling technician Danny John out of King Kong mode..."

Mr Heggarty, headmaster of St Michael's School in Kensington, takes delivery of Superfiveadaybanana from Richard Roberts

Here's the latest picture from Superfiveadaybanana's travels to local schools. Today the handling and transport team shepherded the sculpture from Brae Street School to St Michael's School in Kensington.

This is the latest move in a busy month for the team, which has involved taking plant models from World Museum Liverpool to Wrexham Museum for an exhibition and returning the huge Peter Doig painting 'Blotter' to the Walker after it had been out on loan. Closer to home, the team have also transported some delicate pieces of sculpture from our stores to the National Conservation Centre for assessment and treatment, as well as helping to install the next big exhibition at the Walker, Fashion V Sport. You can see some of what they've been up to in the Moving Stories photographs on Flickr.

David Whitty places an Egyptian artefact in its specially made display stand

Many people will be going to the new Ancient Egypt gallery when it opens on Friday to see the incredible Egyptian artefacts from our collections, many of which haven't been on display for decades. But have you ever looked underneath and behind these priceless objects at the display stands and mounts that are supporting them? It may surprise you to know that these have all been specially custom made by the highly skilled technicians in our technical services studio at the National Conservation Centre.

I popped into the studio earlier this week to see Bill Sillitoe and David Whitty busy preparing the last few display stands for the Ancient Egypt gallery. They produce everything pretty much from scratch, cutting and bending sheets of Perspex to create stands and soldering together the wires to make supports for some of the objects. You can see more photos of them at work in our Making display mounts for the Ancient Egypt gallery Flickr page and I hope that you go to the gallery to admire their handiwork from Friday.

The one that didn't get away...

It's Friday so the handling and transport team decided to go fishing. Not in the Mersey though, they fished through the museum stores to find this giant turtle which needed to be taken to the taxidermy department at the National Conservation Centre for restoration.

They finished the week, which has included transporting everything from a Superlambanana to some ancient Egyptian artefacts, by helping taxidermmist James Jackson to install some scenic material on the Chirotherium display at World Museum Liverpool. You can see some of the highlights of their week on our Moving stories Flickr photo page.

Anyone who has ever carefully wrapped their best china in newspaper before moving house will appreciate what a tricky challenge the handling and transport team faced this week. They had to collect this incredibly delicate 5000 year old Egyptian pot from North Devon and transport it to World Museum Liverpool - a distance of 267 miles.

The good news is that drivers Paul Kelly and Andrew Mountfield delivered it safely, so visitors will be able to see it on display when the new Ancient Egypt gallery opens on 5 December.  You can see their photos of the trip - including a shot of the stunning scenery they saw along the way - in our Egyptian gallery Flickr photo page.

Over the last few weeks the handling and transport team have been helping to prepare the Ancient Egypt gallery, which will open at World Museum Liverpool on 5 December. However in complete contrast to the ancient Egyptian artefacts, today they transported one of the newest works of art in our collections, the popular Superfiveadaybanana.

After spending the summer at the Walker Art Gallery, Superfiveadaybanana has been on display in local schools. Today Paul Kelly, Richard Roberts and Andrew Mountfield took the sculpture from Kensington New Park School to Kensington Junior School. Paul says that the children were really excited to have this unusual guest displayed in the main entrance to the school. You can see more of his photos of Superfiveadaybanana on the move on our Flickr page.

All hands on deck - the handling and transport team carefully manoeuvre the enormous painting of Jerusalem down the stairs

As you are probably aware, the popular Ben Johnson exhibition at the Walker closed earlier this month. Most of the paintings in the exhibition were on loan from other collections, so they have been packed up ready to be returned. One of them, the 'Jerusalem' painting, was too big for the lift, so it was carefully carried down the stairs this morning. This was quite an operation - for every person supporting the painting on one side in the photo above, there's another person hidden on the other side.

The good news is that one of the paintings hasn't left the Walker. The Liverpool Cityscape belongs to National Museums Liverpool, so it will go back on display on 21 November once the gallery it is in has been rehung.

Have you ever wondered what exactly goes on behind closed doors after an exhibition has closed though? Here's your chance to find out, as there are some photos of the handling and transport team taking down the Ben Johnson exhibition on our Flickr pages. I'll let handling technician, senior driver and ace photographer Paul Kelly explain what's going on in them:

"When works of art are to be moved from one location to another one of the principles we utilise is the creation of micro climatic conditions for the protection of the artwork. We achieve this by essentially wrapping the painting in large sheets of polythene which is then sealed. It sounds easier said than done simply because some of our works are extremely large and the Ben Johnson works fall into this category. The process is quite involved requiring assessment of the job in hand and almost telepathic communication between each member of the team if the goal is to be achieved safely. This work is seldom if ever seen by the general public because after the works are wrapped in Polythene they are put into large wooden crates then onto the vehicle that will transport them to their new location. Other work involved in dismantling an exhibition is the wrapping of the safety barriers and miscellaneous information boards - all part of just another day's activity for the handling team.

The crates used to transport large paintings need to be handled with extreme caution as they tend to be rather unstable when on the move and can be very heavy. We do have a wide range of skills and equipment to draw on and this enables members of the team to move these big objects effectively and safely."

A conservator checks an Egyptian sarcophagus as it is packed into a crate ready for transport

We are only weeks away from the opening of the newly refurbished Egypt gallery at World Museum Liverpool, on 5 December 2008. Conservators at the National Conservation Centre have been working hard for months to prepare the objects for display, such as this funerary shroud and - of course - some Egyptian mummies. Now that the artefacts are ready for installation the handling team have been carefully transporting them over to the museum.

Handling technician and senior driver Paul Kelly has sent this update and photo - and you can see more of his photos of the move, as well as others of the objects being prepared for display, on our Egyptian gallery Flickr page.

"This week the handling team drivers Andrew Mountfield and myself have been involved in moving some seriously ancient and delicate Egyptian artefacts from the National Conservation Centre to World Museum Liverpool.

Naturally before such artefacts are moved consultation with the curators is absolutely essential. The advice and recommendations of our curators is a must to enable the safe transportation of these rare and nationally important objects. Some artefacts are quite large, heavy and delicate so need the utmost care when handling.

Our thanks for their knowledge and assistance ultimately go to our curators, conservators and project team members Tracey Seddon, Graham Usher, Richard Roberts, Barbara Rowan, Ashley Cook, Helen Thomson, Pete Spinks. Without their help and their team's assistance we as drivers could not possibly do our job to the standards required to move these artefacts safely.

I am happy to report that the artefacts shown are now safely transported and awaiting installation in show cases at World Museum Liverpool."

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.

For many years the Richard Ansdell painting The Hunted Slaves was a familiar sight above the grand staircase of the Walker Art Gallery. However, sharp eyed visitors will have noticed that the painting is no longer there.

Although it hasn't been on public display, the painting has still been the centre of attention behind the scenes at the National Conservation Centre, where our conservators have examined it and prepared it to go to a new venue.

This morning the painting was taken to the Albert Dock, where it will soon be going on display again in the new International Slavery Museum. As you can see, moving such a huge painting is a big operation as it takes several people just to lift it. It was in safe hands with the museum's specialist handling team though, who soon got it inside.