National Museums Liverpool Blog - learning

Here's one of our Education Demonstrators, Angelica Vanasse, to tell us about some of the fun family events that have been happening at Sudley House...

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Sudley House came alive with children and families and toys galore on last month with our 'Toy Stories' event.  Members of the education, communities and visitors teams from the Walker Art Gallery and Sudley House were on hand to deliver a fantastic range of toy-tastic activities inspired by the Victorian toys in the Sudley House collection.  

We made a Noah’s Ark wall mural (the only toy that Victorian children could play with on a Sunday) with creatures great and small, along with peg dolls and colourful spinning tops.  We also had some larger-than-life games to play with (Connect Four, anyone?) and plenty of toy-rific tales being told by our storyteller in residence, Ros. Later, everyone went on the lookout for runaway toys during a delightfully interactive toy hunt.  

The huge dining room table downstairs was laid out for colouring and was quite a grand setting for getting creative! We saw lots of families come in on the day and get involved and everyone left with a crafty little collection of handmade toys.  Thanks to all who attended and helped to make this day such a great success! 

For info on other upcoming events be sure to check our what's on listings.

Now that we're well into January I bet you've heard the phrase "2012 is the year I'm going to get fit" many times over from different people - perhaps you've even said it yourself. Putting those good intentions and new year's resolutuions into practice can be easier said than done though, as it's hard to motivate youself during the dark days of winter.

If this sounds familiar then the International Slavery Museum's Capoeira Club could be just the thing you need. All ages, levels of fitness and abilities are welcome to the friendly classes led by Daniel Baird - whether you have an interest in martial arts, dance or acrobatics or just want to try something new.

Education manager Vikky Evans-Hubbard is hoping to start the club on Saturday mornings, 10am-12noon, when enough people have signed up. So please ring 0151 478 4456 to register your interest, or email Vikky using this contact form.

Vikky explains the history and appeal of Capoeira:

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"Capoeira was originated amongst enslaved Africans in Brazil in the sixteenth century, as a form of self defence. Disguised as a dance to escape the attention of the plantation owners, Capoeira has developed through centuries to a complex art. To ensure its survival, the traditional forms were infused with a new musical accompaniment. Capoeira's deadly potential was hidden by its dance like elegance, baffling acrobatics and the engaging rhythms of its music. For the enslaved, Capoeira was a literal and symbolic means of survival. It became a tool of escape and defence, making freedom attainable and affirming strength, self reliance and self esteem.
 
Capoeira has expanded beyond the borders of Brazil and is growing rapidly in other countries becoming popular in America and Europe. Capoeira appeals to many for many different reasons. First the pure beauty of the art is hypnotic. Capoeira is a dance and a fight. It's not only a combination of gymnastics, dance and martial arts but also music, culture, history, knowledge and playfulness."

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Update 31/01/12: The date of the first Capoeira Club will be Saturday 3 March 2012. Places are still available so get in touch using the contact details above if you would like to give this a try.

Local artist Angelica Vanasse reports on recent ‘Alphabet Collages’ workshops for schools, inspired by Sir Peter Blake's 'An Alphabet' display:

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" Sir Peter Blake's fantastic collection of prints, An Alphabet, provided the perfect inspiration for a series of school workshops at the Walker Art Gallery last month. The activity involved drawing, collage and layering, focusing on the letters of the alphabet as subject matter and taking inspiration from the ‘found-object / collage’ aesthetic of prints.

Both primary and secondary school groups took part, starting with a closer look at the artworks. There's so much imagery in each one - lots to look at, discover, and discuss. We talked about how the prints were made and warmed up with some drawing, before getting creative with collage. We also looked at the differences between writing and drawing, and whether it is possible to do both at the same time in a work of art. Most agreed that it was. The students added collage images representing a letter of the alphabet to their drawings, and also worked with pencils, felt tips, tracing paper, stamps, and stencils.  Each class took away a unique, handmade alphabet made of individually-designed collage letters - with no two alike! 

We were especially lucky to have Sir Peter Blake drop in on one of our sessions.  The students recognised him straight away from the photograph in the gallery and took turns to show him the alphabet-inspired drawings. He seemed quite impressed with all of the brilliant ideas the children had come up with, all inspired by his own artwork."

You can see Sir Peter Blake’s ‘An Alphabet’ at the Walker Art Gallery.

To find out more about sessions for schools, view our new Education Live publication and online database.

The Telegraph family friendly award 2012 has just been launched by Kids in Museums and the Telegraph newspaper. It's the biggest museum award in Britain and the only one judged by families, so to win would be a huge achievement.

We think that World Museum deserves a family friendly award, because there are so many activities inside for all ages. We hope that you agree - if you do then please send in a nomination! You just need to email award@kidsinmuseums.org.uk before 2 December and say why World Museum is family friendly and deserves to win. Further details about the award are on the Kids in Museums website.

In case you need convincing, visitor host Fred Billingham has described what's on offer for family visitors at World Museum:

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Volunteer supervised craft activities can be found on the 4th floor, linking to our current temporary exhibition, Age of The Dinosaur. These provide an opportunity for youngsters to get creative, making dino masks or colouring in prehistoric scenes, with a little help from our team of volunteers.

In our interactive centres, the Weston Discovery Centre and Clore Natural History Centre, you have to expect the unexpected! You could meet a real life Viking, make a Chinese lantern, come face to face with a hippopotamus skull and learn more fascinating facts about objects in our collections from the friendly demonstrators.

In our community base you can see displays of painting and sculpture produced by local community groups, often influenced by objects or experiences linked to the museum.

We also provide a variety of trails to create a self guided tour around the museum. Kids and grown ups need to work together to answer a series of questions set by our baby iguanadon Iggy, which will help unearth some of the hidden treasures we have on display.

All this is on top of two of our most popular attractions that are open every day. The ever popular planetarium shows a range of presentations aimed at all ages, from the Sunshine show, a fun introduction to astronomy for children, to Magnificent Desolation, focusing on the moon and its exploration. Live rock pool encounters shows are held in the aquarium, where you can learn all about starfish, crabs and other creatures you might find beachcombing.

These are just some examples of the activities available at World Museum recently, with plenty more to come over the future months. Either check the What's on page on our website, or just pop down to the museum. Our friendly staff in the atrium will be happy to greet you and let you know what we have to offer on any given day. And the best part of all is that all these activities, except the current exhibition, are completely free!

Here's a report from Eilish Clarke from the Unity Youth Theatre, on a project she has been involved in connected to the current Toxteth 1981 exhibition, which is building towards a new perfomance on 28 October, as part of the Black History Month events.

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"For the past few months the International Slavery Museum has been working with the Unity Youth Theatre and Clapperboard film project, to help give us a better understanding of the 1981 Toxteth Uprising. As a member of the Unity Youth Theatre, I think it is fair to say we all had very little knowledge of the topic when we first started. However, as the project has progressed we have all become very interested in learning about how the Uprising came about and how it affected the people of Toxteth and Liverpool.

During this project we have been given the opportunity to meet a wide range of fascinating people who have told us their real life stories from the events that took place in July 1981. The first person we met with was Leroy Cooper who used music, dance and photography to show us his interpretation from the Toxteth Uprising. It was brilliant to hear what Leroy Cooper had to say as he was present when the Uprisings started. The next person we met with was John, who was a fire fighter from Toxteth in 1981. He told us what it felt like to be there at the time, especially as he could understand why people were so angry, yet it was important that he was doing his job correctly. This was a really interesting account to listen to.

As well as meeting people who were involved in the Toxteth Uprising, the group also visited the area of Liverpool 8 affected and the Toxteth 1981 exhibition in the museum. Historian Laurence Westgaph took us around Toxteth and told us about the buildings that used to be there before the Uprisings. Laurence also told us accounts he had heard from people he has spoken with through his research. Everyone in the Unity Youth Theatre agreed this was a brilliant session as we were able to put images in our head from the place we have been studying. It was also interesting to learn the history of an area we have all travelled through so many times. Visiting the International Slavery Museum to see the exhibition was also a good session as we were able to read more accounts from people who were involved in the Uprising as well as seeing pictures and newspaper clippings.

Over the next few months we will use the information we have collected to create a performance, which we will show at the International Slavery Museum on 28 October, 7pm. This will hopefully be used to give more people an insight into what happened in Toxteth in July 1981, and also why it happened."

This year we've got our busiest ever programme for Black History Month, with lots of free events taking place across several venues. Here's some information about the subject of one of the first talks, activist Olive Morris, from education manager Vikky Evans-Hubbard:

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"Do you remember Olive Morris? was a community art project seeking to bring to wider public attention the history of Brixton-based activist Olive Morris (1952-1979).

In her short life, Olive Morris co-founded the Brixton Black Women’s Group and the Organisation of Women of Asian and African Descent (OWAAD) and was part of the British Black Panther Movement. She campaigned for access to education, decent living conditions for Black communities and fought against state and police repression. Despite dying at a young age, she empowered the people who lived and worked around her.
 
At the project’s inception, there were no public records about Olive Morris, and no information about her was available on the internet.
 
This long term project was started in 2006 by Brixton-based artist Ana Laura Lopez de la Torre, when she encountered a photograph of Olive Morris taken by British Black Panthers’ photographer Neil Kenlock. The photo shows Olive Morris standing at a Black Panther Movement demonstration in Coldharbour Lane in 1969, and holding a placard reading: “BLACK SUFFERER FIGHT PIG POLICE BRUTALITY”. Research into this particular moment in local history led to a meeting with community activist Liz Obi, a friend and colleague of Olive Morris, who then become a key collaborator in the project.  
 
On Monday 3 October the International Slavery Museum is pleased to welcome Nadja Middleton, from the Remembering Olive Collective, who will tell us more about this inspirational young woman's life and the project that has preserved her memory.
 
During October, Olive Morris will be added to the Black achievers wall in the Legacy gallery.
 
To reserve a place for this free event, please call 0151 478 4432."

At this time of year, I am always envious of my colleagues working in schools because of the long summer holidays they enjoy. However, in reality I realise that throughout the year teachers invest a lot of additional time planning lessons and working out creative ways to help children enjoy learning.

At the Walker Art Gallery this month we have an exhibition of work by 16 schools. It is well worth a look if you are a teacher looking for new ideas to use in the classroom, or if you are curious to see artworks from the next generation of ‘Picassos’ and ‘Monets’.  

Each class has taken inspiration from a pre-determined picture in the Walker’s collection. The 'Take One Picture' scheme is part of an annual collaboration with Edge Hill University and the National Gallery, London. Through a placement at the gallery, teachers develop the skills to use a painting as a basis for a cross- curricular project. Later in the year, they return to the gallery with their class and do follow-up activities at school. We run an evening event where the teachers can share their learning and the work their classes have produced. Finally, a showcase of the work produced by the children goes on display in the gallery, for everyone to enjoy. This is a great opportunity for both the children and the trainee teachers – not many people get a chance to have work on display in a national gallery!

The amazing thing about the work that the children produce is just how different each classes approach can be. From a shared starting point, like this year’s choice of 'Springtime in Eskdale' by James McIntosh Patrick and Waterhouse's Echo & Narcissus, you get incredible variety of subject areas covered. Some use the art work to inspire creative writing, poetry or music while others focus on science and geography. A child being taught by a trainee teacher on this years’ scheme actually visited Eskdalemuir in Scotland to bring back photos for her class to use in the display, such was her enthusiasm!

If you are a teacher and would like to find out more about our galleries and museums, or how you can use our collections as a springboard for creative learning, please call us on 0151 478 4788. You can also visit the Education pages of the website, where you can browse a database of free learning sessions and resources.

'Take One Picture' is on display at the Walker Art Gallery from 3 August until 22 September.

The Museum of Liverpool education team is currently trying to track down a number of objects they can use as handling resources for learning sessions when the new museum opens.

Being able to touch and feel an object is a great way of bringing history to life for visitors, and if you think you can help provide us with any of the objects listed below, then please get in touch.

The list of objects required is as follows:
• Liverpool-made toys
• Victorian metal bucket and spade set
• Vintage Union Jack flag
• Opera glasses
• Top hat
• Items linked to imports and exports from Liverpool history - clay pipes, locally made clocks and watches, Herculaneum pottery, tea chests with Liverpool links.
• First World War or home front items linked to Liverpool such as postcards, mementos or photographs
• Carpet bag
• 19th Century Italian lire
• Victorian Knife sharpening equipment or tailoring equipment
• Items related to the Liverpool Overhead Railway
• Docker’s Hook
• Original Beatles records
• 1950s or 1960s transistor radio and TV
• 1960s primary or secondary school text books
• Old-style school desk  - wooden with inkwell
• 1960s Afghan coat

All you have to do is email our assistant curator of urban history Katie Brown on katie.brown@liverpoolmuseums.org.uk with the words handling items in the subject line. Donors must be based in the Liverpool area for ease of collection.

Did you know that today is International Mother Language Day? UNESCO set up the date to help safeguard and promote languages and linguistic diversity.

The date is significant as it is the anniversary of a student demonstration in 1952 for the recognition of their language Bangla as one of the two national languages of the then Pakistan. Some of the students were shot and killed by police in the demonstration in Dhaka, the capital of what is now Bangladesh.

Find out more in a free talk 'Why mother tongues matter' at the International Slavery Museum at 2pm on Wednesday 23 February. Further details are on the International Slavery museum website.