National Museums Liverpool Blog - other museums

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:

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"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."

As a fervent Blue Nose (that's an Everton supporter in case you're football illiterate) I'm very excited that Thursday sees the launch of The Everton Collection website; the most complete treasury of football memorabilia in the world.  And if you're a supporter of another club or social history buff you should be excited as well as the collection isn't just about Everton Football Club. This is the history of football told through the story of Everton.

The collection is made up of over 18,000 items of football memorabilia, dating back to the founding of the club in 1878, itself a founder member of The Football League. Programmes, medals, tickets, transcribed ledgers, trophies, boots, shirts, contracts, cash books and photographs all feature and are now available to browse online. It features the earliest programmes of many clubs including Manchester United (then Newton Heath), Celtic, Aston Villa, Derby County, Bolton and Blackburn, and many of football's rarest artefacts.

I've had a sneak preview and think the transcribed ledgers are my favourites. The minutiae of life in the days before TV deals and big money transfers is fascinating. Players late for training because they missed their bus is a far cry from today's industry.

The collection will be launched with the major new exhibition at Liverpool's Central Library, ‘Everlution: The Everton Collection’. There's also a series of talks by Peter Lupson on topics such as joint Everton and Liverpool programmes, the birth of the football league and the man who many claim was responsible for that famous split that created Everton and Liverpool football clubs.

I should point out that my interest isn't totally partisan. The new Museum of Liverpool will be featuring many objects from the collection in the Creative City gallery, using the pieces to tell the story of Liverpool and its people.

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.

This Thursday (3 September), the Lady Lever Art Gallery is hosting a special event to raise funds for the Hillsborough Memorial Appeal. During the early hours of Sunday 7 June 2009, the Hillsborough Memorial Garden in Port Sunlight Village was seriously damaged. Over 35 metres of stonework were destroyed in an act of mindless vandalism. The Port Sunlight Village Trust needs help to restore the garden.

You can support the appeal by visiting the Lady Lever Art Gallery this Thursday. Doors will be open 6-8pm. The cafe and shop will be open, plus there's entertainment from the Wirral based Capriccio Singers Chamber Choir. Bring your friends and family.

There's more on the appeal on the Port Sunlight Museum and Garden Village website.

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.

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.

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"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."

As I've mentioned many times before, there's never a dull moment for the handling and transport team. Since I last reported on their activities they have safely transported a huge variety of objects from our collections, including ship models, paintings, a stained glass window and some Hindu Gods (well, sculptures of them, anyway). Some have been moved from storage to the conservation studios for treatment and back again, other objects have been gone on or off display and a few have ben loaned to other organisations.

Some of the more unusual jobs have involved taking a whole rack of uniforms to the conservation freezer to treat a possible insect infestation and weighing weapons from the collection in order to determine the floor loadings of planned displays in the new Museum of Liverpool.

On a rare break from work a few weeks ago the team had a sneak preview of the new galleries currently under construction at the Museum of Liverpool. They were all impressed by the scale and design of the building. However in the back of their minds I'm sure they were all thinking the same thing - they'll have their work cut out installing all of the many objects in this huge building in time for the opening.

You can see what they've been up to in the Moving stories Flickr set of photos.

It's my first day back in work after a short break today, and I feel that I've returned with a whole new level of understanding of the works of art that I promote on the blog and website. For while I was off I did more than just DIY and sunbathing. I actually experienced what it feels like to be a work of art myself when I spent an hour on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square as part of Antony Gormley's One and Other project. One hour, one plinth, one Sam.

I've spent many hours amongst the crowds in Trafalgar Square but have never had those crowds watching and photographing me before. One man asked if I was going to do anything, which is a bit of a strange thing to ask a sculpture. I've never heard anyone ask any of the figures in the Walker's sculpture gallery if they were going to do anything, our visitors seem quite content to appreciate the sculptures as they are with no expectations of entertainment.

I did do something on the plinth though - I took lots of photos (which you can see in my Fourth Plinth Flickr set), I talked to people, I chased a very persistent pigeon and I waved at a lot of people on open top tour buses. That's something that I miss now that I've returned to ground level - I still wave at the tour buses that go past in Liverpool but nobody on them is remotely interested in waving back to me any more now that I'm just a regular person again.

With so many distractions the hour passed very quickly. I really enjoyed my time on the plinth but don't think I could handle that level of attention and public scrutiny every day. I'll try to be kinder and less critical of any sculptures I see in the future, now that I know the kind of pressures they face being viewed each day, some of them patiently sitting outside in all weathers for the public's enjoyment.

As usual, when I was down in the capital I caught up with a few familiar faces, in this case 'Echo and Narcissus', who appear in the Walker Art Gallery painting that is currently on loan to the Waterhouse exhibition at the Royal Academy. It's a fantastic exhibition which also features 'The Decameron' from the Lady Lever Art Gallery.

The bold and beautiful people of Liverpool called into World Museum Liverpool last Thursday to have their portrait taken by the acclaimed photographer Rankin.

For those who don’t know the name you will certainly know his work as there doesn’t seem to be a member of the glitterati he has not photographed. However it was “ordinary” scousers under the lens last week, as part of the Shoot Me, Rankin! project to photograph 1,000 people and form a portrait of modern Britain.

The whole process was quite fascinating to watch. A team of people looked after hair and make-up, while another team of photographic assistants worked on lighting, props, wind machines and the final touch ups of the portraits on the computer.

Rankin works amidst this whirl of assistants, producers, models and PR people, to produce stunning portraits that are all as different as each sitter but all maintain a Rankin "look".

The Shoot Me, Rankin! portraits will be on display alongside a major retrospective of Rankin's work at the Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, London from 31 July to 18 September 2009.

If you have missed your chance to be photographed by Rankin you can still be photographed by a professional photographer at the Walker Art Gallery. The Iconic Portraits Competition is inspired by the Cecil Beaton: Portraits exhibition (until 31 August 2009).

 

Hello there

Thank you to everybody who voted for the International Slavery Museum in The National Lottery Good Causes Awards. We find out if we have made it through to the final on 3 August so watch this space. If we do make it through to the live TV show then I'll have to get my suit down to Johnson's, dig out my Homer Simpson tie and practice my TV smile!

Talking of smiles (now that is a good link) I saw the most famous in the world recently whilst I was on a weekend break to Paris. We spent nearly a whole day in the Louvre and 'tried' to get a close look at Leonardo Da Vinci's 'Mona Lisa' or 'La Gioconda' (an alternative title as the sitter is probably the wife of an Italian merchant called Francesco del Giocondo). As you can see from the picture the Mona Lisa draws crowds of visitors most museums can only dream of. It really is a sight to behold although there is hardly any room to stand and admire the picture as people are busy barging past. As a museum professional I am almost as interested in the behavior of the visitor as much as the collections themselves though. Don't expect to be able to stand in front of her and act like an art connoisseur but still worth the effort if you ever visit.

The Louvre really is an enormous place and deserves days rather a day to see it. I suggest setting your sights on seeing a couple of galleries or even just several specific objects. It will still take you a while to get there! We also visited the sumptuous apartments of Napoleon III tucked away in their own wing and the Egyptian collections. I think the same goes though when you visit one of our venues here in Liverpool. You will never be able to see everything in one day so think about what interests you the most and start from there. You will undoubtedly pass something else which catches your eye. I loved visiting museums before I worked in them so I still have to fight the urge of spending all afternoon wandering the galleries at the World Museum Liverpool or Maritime Museum after a meeting!

Whilst in Paris we also went to visit the apartment of Le Corbusier, one of the most important figures in modern architecture and design. Something of which I am particularly interested. Another seamless link here is that Le Corbusier, like Da Vinci, used the proportions of the human body to improve both the function and appearance of architecture. Le Corbusier called his system the Modulor whereas Da Vinci's produced a famous version of the Vitruvian Man. You might not know his name or that Da Vinci drew him but think of the multi-limbed man in the square and the circle! 

Le Corbusiers apartment was not particularly large or in any way luxurious as one might expect from someone of his standing but it was truly functional and built around his own needs. It made me think of just how much space we actually need to use in our own homes. The apartment also contained many pieces of furniture and design features we now take for granted – such as its open plan feeling where the living and dining areas are integrated. I could go on but I might become a bit of an anorak.

Closer to home, the Walker Art Gallery has a new exhibition called New Radicals: From Sickert to Freud which features some fine examples of Modernist art for those of you who have a Modernist streak in you.

Au revoir for now.

Regular visitors to the Walker Art Gallery may have missed some familiar faces from the Pre-Raphaelite room in recent months. Such is the enduring popularity of the Pre-Raphaelites that from time to time our works go travelling around the world on loan to other galleries. This time it was to an exhibition at Nationalmuseum Stockholm, but I’m happy to tell you they are now back where they belong.

You may well be seeing even more of one the returning works, Lorenzo and Isabella, as it is featured in the new BBC drama Desperate Romantics.

She might ignite controversy wherever she goes, but Tracey Emin's artwork - particularly her sewn work - has an amazing skill that often seems to be overlooked. I checked out her latest exhibition 'Those who suffer Love' at the White Cube in London , which showed a range of neons, drawings and several sewn pieces.

Even if you don't 'get' what she is trying to say, I think you'd have to try pretty hard to not appreciate the skill involved in sewing what looks like a sketched drawing on a six-foot piece of cloth. You get up close and there are hundreds of small and precise stitches which create something that appears to be quite devil-may-care. One of the tiniest pieces of cloth seemed to hold the most emotion - a sewn 'sketch' of a kneeling figure, with the words 'no, no, no, no' stitched above it. 

I guess a lot of people find her work hard to relate to as it's so personal and she is always wearing her heart on her sleeve. But I think the things she shares seem quite universal; love, lust, loss, pain - they're all things most adults have experienced. I don't think you have to try too hard to find these emotions in her work either - what you see is more or less what you get. It's explicit (sometimes in both senses of the word!), simple, sometimes ugly and sometimes beautiful.

I'm biased of course because as you will see from one of my previous posts, I am really into her anyway. But if you're in London in the next few days (it finishes on Sunday 5 July) I say go, give it a try and make up your own mind, rather than listening to the critics!

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We'll be looking at the rich variety of work produced by well-known and lesser known female artists in our forthcoming exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery; 'The Rise of Women Artists'. You can see it from 23 October 2009 - 14 March 2010.

Konichiwa

Well I am back at work after my break in Japan, as interesting and exciting a destination as I have ever visited. It really is a mix of the old and the new and this cannot be better personified than the city of Kyoto. I spent 5 days in Tokyo, truly a metropolis of bright lights, fashionistas and the latest gadgetry but Kyoto – what some call the cultural heart of Japan - is where the clash of worlds is most obvious. As soon as you step off the Bullet train you enter Kyoto's futuristic looking plate glass and steel frame rail station building designed by Hiroshi Hara. The Bullet train really is as efficient as you are told and quite a shock for someone used to British trains when your reserved carriage actually stops in front of you and on time. I can only hope a contingent of British rail carriers executives have their next annual conference in Japan and invite the CEO of Japan Rail as the keynote! The area around the station has hotels, offices and shops aplenty like most major cities but scratch under the surface and there lies a hidden world of temples and Zen gardens of all shapes and descriptions.

I wanted to visit one in particular – Ryoanji (part of the Peaceful Dragon Temple) in North Kyoto which is a simple gravel and Zen garden. It was also visited by Monty Don in the BBC programme Around the World in 80 Gardens! On the day we visited there were already hoards of tourists there (Monty Don must have been allowed access before the crowds) and as such it was difficult to have a totally peaceful experience. There was also maintenance taking place on the viewing platform but even so, the simplicity and beauty of the garden was palpable. To get to it though you had to first walk through the beautiful temple grounds with its cherry blossoms, lake and shrines. It made me think of something I was once told by a leading expert on Stonehenge on a visit to the World Heritage Site. We stood like the masses of tourists facing inwards looking at the famous stone structure but then he told me to turn around and face outwards, to look at the surrounding landscape. Nobody else was doing this but to get a real understanding of Stonehenge he said it had to be seen in relation to its surroundings.

I could not resist visiting a few museums whilst I was over there and thoroughly enjoyed the Tokyo National Museum. It is situated in the beautiful Ueno Park which was in full cherry blossom bloom during our visit. The park was packed with families, tourists and strangely... Tokyo rockers! Several rockers were dancing their hearts away to some loud Japanese rock 'n' roll directly opposite the museum entrance. The museum grounds are also the location of the Le Corbusier inspired Gallery of Horyuji Treasures which was designed by Yoshio Taniguchi (he was also the architect for MoMA in New York) which consists of over 300 objects, mainly from the 7th - 8th century, which were donated to the Imperial Household by the Horyuji Temple in 1878. It was a bit too dark for my liking inside the actual galleries but I liked the sense of space in the research area and library as well as the overall design. 

We also decided to take a day trip from Kyoto to Hiroshima. It was as expected a very somber and sobering trip but an interesting one nonetheless. I was particularly impressed with the Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb victims and Hall of Remembrance which was a very informative and respectfully designed centre. This was in sharp contrast to the larger Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, which in comparison had some rather dated displays. I am fully aware of the need to be respectful when looking at sensitive subjects but you also sometimes need to be quite graphic and not water down displays or exhibits. This museum might have taken that further than I personally would have though, that said; it was very busy with a large amount of schoolchildren who would have had to face issues which unfortunately are still with us in the world today. So it was a great trip and I thoroughly recommend it as a destination for museum aficionados, general culture vultures, amateur gardeners and even rockers!

Bye for now.

 

King Henry in formidable form

I recently watched the film adaptation of Philippa Gregory’s 'The Other Boleyn Girl’ – I can’t say I enjoyed the mixing of fact with fiction, but it made me think about how much speculation, debate and gossip Henry VIII has drummed up in the 500 years since he became King. I am sure he would absolutely thrilled that his reputation is still thriving in the 21st century due to his larger-than-life character, ill-fated marriages and the major decisions he made that have shaped the history of the country (not to mention a million documentaries and dramatisations). Any publicity is good publicity, right?

 

Henry was declared king in April 1509 and just about everywhere up and down the country with a Henry connection is marking the occasion. I am desperate to get to Hampton Court for the Henry VIII: Heads and Hearts exhibition, as well as the Dressed to Kill at The Tower of London and Man & Monarch at the British Library. Infuriatingly I’m missing out on the Great Recreation of Tudor Life at Kentwell Hall this summer which will be focused on the Henrican year of 1535. (Look out for Kentwell on Channel 5's ‘I own Britain’s Best Home’).

 

In the meantime I am relishing the prospect of David Starkey’s new documentary, Henry VIII - Mind of a Tyrant which starts on Channel 4 this Monday 6^th April. The episodes are billed with the tantalising subtitles of Prince, Warrior, Lover and Tyrant. The Walker’s own spectacular Henry VIII portrait is to be featured on 20^th April with David doing a piece to camera from the gallery. You can brush up (pardon the pun) on our iconic painting on the website – there’s an in-depth write-up and podcast, as well as some fun online stuff for kids to do.

 

If you’re looking for family friendly activities with a hint of Henry then don’t miss the Walker’s ‘Terrible Tudors’ day on 18 April when there’ll be mask making, music and drawing activities. Sounds fun – though I say less of the Terrible - the Tudor dynasty will always be undeniably terrific in my eyes!

We billed The Beat Goes on exhibition ‘from The Beatles to the Zutons’, but has anyone heard of 'from The Hollies to the Happy Mondays'? That’s what you’ll find if you take a trip to the other end of the East Lancs Road, to Salford Museum & Art Gallery. They’re currently showing Quiffs, Riffs and Tiffs – a small but perfectly formed exhibition about the music scene in Salford.

I spent a happy hour there a few weeks ago and thought there were a few gems to be seen. Top of the list for me were notes by Morrissey and Johnny Marr – with Salford Lads Club getting its rightful mention. There’s also handwritten lyrics to Crosby, Stills & Nash’s Teach Your Children, signed by one of my all time idols,  Graham Nash. There are some childhood pictures of Graham at his home in Salford, before his success with The Hollies and later with CS&N stole him from these shores.

Other items featured in the exhibition relate to Joy Division, Happy Mondays, Anthony Wilson including The Hacienda , The Ting Tings, and even The Salford Jets - former band of Rock Radio 106.1 DJ Mike Sweeney (yes, he's still going on radio, and very good he is too). 

On the other hand, if you are reading this from the outskirts of Manchester, hop on the train to World Museum Liverpool where you’ll find The Beat Goes On exhibition covering Liverpool’s finest music. Morrissey fans will be thrilled by the Billy Fury display. Old Hacienda heads will feel at home in the Cream and Quad sections, while first generation punks and indie kids will be bowled over by memories of  Eric's, The Las and other such legends. Oh, and then there’s that other band from Liverpool. You may well need more than one trip to take it all in.

The 1911 census records for England and Wales have been made public, two years earlier than the 100 year embargo. The returns contain more information than previous years including length of marriage, the number of children in the household, any guests on the night in question and more occupational information. For the first time you can see the actual form your ancestor filled in, complete with crossings out, mistakes and any additional notes not transfered to the official enumerator's summary. You can search them on the 1911 census website.

It's thought that several thousand women boycotted the census in protest at women being denied the vote. Some of these refused to fill in the form but submitted a protest statement, so their presence will be registered although without details. The women who stayed away from home for the night and so evaded the count will not feature at all.

It’s World Toilet Day.  There’s no polite way of introducing it – you’ve just got to say it. You have to wonder who thinks these things up, but then there is a serious and worthy message about the state of the world’s sanitation to be gleaned.

Actually, museums and art galleries have formed a healthy relationship with the toilet that goes back beyond Duchamp’s ‘Fountain’ or urinal.  What self-respecting museum would be caught out without the humble (or in some cases the ridiculously ornate) chamber pot? You can see one that was designed for Napoleon, no less, in the Walker’s Craft & Design Gallery.

A quick internet search will reveal more toilet-related museums and collections than you imagine, including the Flushed With Pride gallery at Gladstone Pottery Museum  I love this female chamber pot or ‘Bourdalon’ at the Science Museum. Replica ‘pee’-pots (I’ve sanitised the phrase for blogging purposes) are still very much in demand in the historical re-enactment community. They are incredibly handy for using under inaccessible kirtles and petticoats (as well as in tents).  

In addition to the bog standard collection of chamber pots, National Museums Liverpool has got some top notch toilet exhibits. At the Seized! gallery at Maritime Museum you can see a ‘Special Isolation Unit’ or frost chamber which was used to locate internally smuggled drugs once they passed through the body. According to our web page, ‘Before its invention customs officers used rubber gloves and a colander, so this was seen as a much-needed replacement!’  Yak.

If lavatories are your idea of a laugh then look no further than The Walker’s truly spectacular Loophonium, which was designed and played by Fritz Spiegl, The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra’s former principal flautist. I’ve heard of toilet humour, but that is just ridiculous. 

Believe it or not we actually have a Loophonium e-card. I can’t think of many occasions when it would be appropriate to send it (although I can think of a few people who would fit the bill) so we may as well make the most of World Toilet Day.

But if you really want to celebrate World Toilet Day in style then how about downloading our podcast, and listening to it ...  on the loo?

I'm a bit of a fan of Titian - an artist who I must admit I knew very little about before the fantastic Titian exhibition at the National Gallery in 2003. Since then I've enjoyed any opportunity to see his work, so was very excited when the painting 'Supper at Emmaus' came to the Walker on long term loan the following year (it's still there - have a look next time you're in and see if you can spot the cat under the table!)

So as you can imagine, I'm looking forward to a trip down to London next month when I'm hoping to catch the exhibition Campaign for the Titians at the National Gallery, which reunites two of his paintings for the first time in two centuries - 'Death of Actaeon' from the National Gallery's collection and the prequel painting 'Diana and Actaeon', which is visiting London for one month only. This is a rare opportunity to see both paintings together but hopefully wont be the last chance we get, as the National Gallery and National Galleries of Scotland are hoping to jointly purchase 'Diana and Actaeon'. Fingers crossed...

Here's a special report from our curator of port history Ian Murphy, who has just got back from Norway:

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"I was lucky enough to visit the Norwegian Maritime Museum (Norsk Sjøfartsmuseum) in Oslo last week to attend the opening of their Båtfolk (Boat People) exhibition, which explores the refugee experiences of Norway's Vietnamese communities. I'd been invited as they had loaned a Vietnamese fishing boat from the Maritime History collection at Merseyside Maritime Museum, which was a centrepiece of the display.

The exhibition is part of Norway's Year of Cultural Diversity which is a national initiative, and has been created using the stories and memories of the Vietnamese Norwegians who - as the exhibition puts it - used "the sea as an escape route" in the 1970s and 80s. The exhibition also looks at other uses of boats by refugees, including a display of a boat that was rowed from Norway to Shetland during World War 2, but the main focus is on the experiences of Vietnam's boat people.

I was shown around the museum by senior curator Peder Figenbaum, which gave me a chance to see their excellent displays which cover traditional Norwegian vessels, the country's fishing industry, marine art and a number of interior ship recreations. I never managed to see the museum's 20 minute panoramic film of Norway's coastline unfortunately, which sounds fairly spectacular. After the opening I then travelled across to visit the Bergen Maritime Museum, which is also hosting an associated boat people exhibition.

The exhibition in Oslo runs until August 2009 and is well worth a visit, as is the rest of the museum. I can also recommend taking the train to visit the exhibition in Bergen; it's an eight hour journey, but the scenery is truly stunning."

Update:

We've just received this photograph of our fishing boat receiving two very important visitors. Ian says:

"The exhibition was opened by Norway's Queen Sonja, which indicates the level of importance attached to the exhibition as part of the year long diversity initiative." 

When I, Stephen Guy, discovered a cache of films stored away unseen for more than 40 years, I wondered what to do.

I am a trustee at Lowlands, the Grade II-listed home of the West Derby Community Association, Liverpool – a superb Italianate former merchant’s mansion dating from 1846. It was the home of the basement Pillar Club where many of the major bands of the 1960s played in their early days. The Quarrymen (early Beatles) famously failed an audition there and are thought to have played in the Pillar Club once or twice as the Silver Beetles. Later they became resident band at the Casbah Club, literally over the road, at the home of drummer Pete Best.

When we started planning the restoration of this historic building, an inventory was made of the contents. This vast, rambling place has many secrets including sealed doors and mysterious unused rooms.

We discovered the films along with the original camera, projector and editing equipment. In excellent condition, they were among piles of books, reports, equipment and furniture. We were advised not to attempt to show the film on the projector but to transfer the film professionally on to DVD. We did not want priceless film being shredded or singed in a faulty projector. There the matter rested because of other priorities. Volunteers cleared the building and prepared for the builders to start the £1.1 million Lowlands project largely funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Then we heard that the Antiques Roadshow was coming to Liverpool. In my capacity as National Museums Liverpool press officer I supervised filming programme links with presenter Michael Aspel at the Walker Art Gallery and Merseyside Maritime Museum. I mentioned the films and equipment to the producers and was invited to come along to St George’s Hall. I went with other West Derby Community Association representatives, Stephanie Grogan and James Ashton.

Engineering specialist Jon Baddeley admired the superb 1950s British projector and Russian camera, in the sequence that was broadcast on Sunday. He added that if any of the film had images of the Beatles it could be worth around £100,000. Our eyes popped.

Some days later the BBC rang and offered to transfer one of the reels of 16 mm silent colour film to DVD at no cost to the Association, a registered charity.

We now have the DVD and it contains 15 minutes of stunning images – local people and Danish guests at Lowlands, Speke Hall and Croxteth Hall, fun and frolics at New Brighton open air baths plus tantalising glimpses of other vanished sights such as New Brighton Tower and the Fish and Chip Boat. The final sequence features colourfully costumed dancers and musicians performing stick and belly dancing on a visit to Lowlands.

But no Beatles.

However, there are four reels yet to be transferred on to DVD, so who knows? Watch this space.

Hello there! The various presentations I mentioned in my last blog post about Black History Month, volunteers and lots of talks went really well (I was not jeered anyway). The audiences were all very different and that is one of the things I like about this job. At the Harris Museum in Preston I had to speak for 30 minutes, without using a PowerPoint to hide behind, to a mixed group with several members of the Preston Black community in the audience.  It is not a large community but incredibly varied with a fascinating history. Currently on show at the museum is an exhibition called Bitter Sweet: Legacies of Sugar and Slavery in the Caribbean until March 2008.

My last engagement was at Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford. My sister Lorraine lives there (she told me not to say older sister!) so I stayed over for the weekend. On the Saturday I was fortunate enough to see Oxford United v Woking with my brother-in-law Tom and nephew Samuel (both Arsenal fans unfortunately). It was truly a battle between giants of the lower divisions (minus goals or indeed excitement).

The rest of my time was spent discussing and planning the impending havoc of my niece Cara’s 18th birthday party. Over 200 of her friends (yes, I did say 200) will be strutting their stuff until the early hours in a few weeks. A table for the oldies has been arranged at the back of the room to save her from any embarrassment.

This week has been a really interesting one. Yesterday I had the pleasure to interview Nkosinathi Biko, son of the South African activist Steve Biko, and Chief Executive Officer of the Steve Biko Foundation. He is here along with his brother and mother for an event at the Merseyside Maritime Museum this evening.

Yesterday evening I gave a talk at a Manchester Black Health Agency event to commemorate the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade act. It was very well attended and it was a pleasure to have been invited to speak. The only downside of the evening was that my train back to Liverpool broke down just outside Newton-le-Willows. I set off at 11pm. I got back to Liverpool at 2am!

Well I will sign off for now but before I do an apology to my legion of football blog fans. Last week I said Leeds United were playing Millwall. It was in fact Brighton (we won 1-0). Tomorrow is Millwall so hopefully we can keep the unbeaten run going.

Well I have been silent for over a week as I have been on leave. I went back to see my family in dear old Tadcaster. I am sure you have now all seen the fantastic website which shows you that Tadcaster is an ideal holiday location. Forget about Spain, France or the USA, save on your carbon footprint and travel to Tadcaster on the Yorkshire coastliner bus from Leeds station!

The week prior to my mini break was a really interesting one. On Monday 1 October I gave the keynote speech to open Trafford Black History Month at the Imperial War Museum North. It was a diverse audience, with local schoolchildren, civic dignitaries (I had a coffee with the mayor!) and museum professionals. I talked about the development of the International Slavery Museum as well as the need for Black History Month and indeed the teaching of Black history in schools.

On the Tuesday it was a pleasure to meet and interview Paul Robeson Jr, an advocate of the Paul Robeson Institute, and on Wednesday we held the museum’s first volunteer day. If you are interested in volunteering at the International Slavery Museum you can email Claire Holden our volunteer co-ordinator.

Yesterday I gave a talk to the St Helens Historical Society on the development of the museum. One of the most interesting aspects of my job is meeting all sorts of audiences, and so later this week I am giving several other presentations. Tomorrow at the Harris Museum in Preston on ‘Issues regarding the historical and contemporary representation of transatlantic slavery and enslavement in museums’, then on Thursday I am speaking at a seminar for the Communities and Local Government Department about the need to highlight Black history in museums and on Friday I am at Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford for a lunchtime seminar for students and staff.

So a pretty busy week. But my older sister lives in Oxford so I can stay with her and the family over the weekend which I am looking forward to.

 I’ll sign off for now but just before I go (I know my football blog info is a highlight for some people!) I have to let you know that this weekend Leeds United have the privilege of hosting Millwall at Elland Road. Should be interesting to say the least. Last Saturday we drew with Leyton Orient and missed a penalty to win in the last few minutes. Not good for my blood pressure. The highs and lows of being a football fan!

 

I was in Paris last weekend and went to a cool exhibition at the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, an amazing glass fronted building near Montparnasse cemetery (I had just been to visit the graves of Samuel Beckett, Serge Gainsbourg and Charles Baudelaire). The exhibition was 'Rock'n'Roll 39-59', which looked at the birth and evolution of rock'n'roll in the USA from its blues, jazz and gospel roots, right up to the late '50's.

I really liked the huge screen with comfy bean-bags you could lie on while watching footage of stars like Chuck Berry and of course Elvis, in a film that told the whole story of rock'n'roll. It made you realise just how crazy singers like Jerry Lee Lewis were and how shocking he probably was in his time. Of course Little Richard seems pretty odd now, so imagine his impact on audiences in the 1950's! Though where were the female performers? I like Wanda Jackson and she wasn't in the film, though she was in the music pods that we listened to later on. We also saw some priceless objects, such as the actual guitar that Elvis used during his first recordings at Sun Records! 

It actually got me thinking about the forthcoming exhibition at World Museum Liverpool, 'The Beat Goes On', which will show from 2 July 2008 – 1 Nov 2009. It will look at the history of Merseyside's music scene and celebrate the creativity of the city. Keep an eye out for more details on what you can expect to see in this exhibition...

Sharp eyed visitors may have noticed that a few of our paintings are not on display in their usual places in the Walker and Lady Lever Art Galleries. Don't worry, they haven't gone forever, they are just out on loan to other galleries. Our works of art are always in demand and this autumn is no exception, with National Museums LIverpool making significant loans to three major exhibitions.

The Walker's Simone Martini painting Christ Discovered in the Temple is one of 18 items from our collections, including paintings, frescoes, ceramics and stoneware, that are now on display just down the M62 in the Art Treasures in Manchester exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery. Another eight paintings have been lent to the Millais exhibition at Tate Britain down in London.

We haven't been left with empty walls though as we've received reciprocal loans from their collections. You can see four of the Tate's paintings including 'The Little White Girl: Symphony in White no 2' by Whistler in the Lady Lever Art Gallery and Manchester Art Gallery are lending 'Crucifixion' by the School of Duccio to the Walker.

We have also sent five paintings, including The Scapegoat, Mrs Mounter and Mr and Mrs  Atherton, even further afield to the British Vision: observation and imagination in British art 1750 - 1950 exhibition at the Museum voor Schone Kunsten (or Museum of Fine Arts) at Ghent in Belgium. Paintings conservator David Crombie, who was there earlier in the week to install the paintings, reported back:

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"British Vision is a very large exhibition with over 300 works including paintings, sculpture, sketches, prints and photographs spanning two centureis of British art. The Museum voor Schone Kunsten in Ghent has only recently been reopened after a complete refurbishment, and the exhibition takes up about half of the entire gallery space in the building. The permanent collections are also significant and more of these will be re-displayed when the exhibition finishes. The historic city of Ghent is well worth a visit if you want to see the show and there is a gallery of contemporary art as well, the Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (SMAK)."

We've mentioned before that several of our staff lead exciting creative double lives outside office hours. Take Nathan Pendlebury for example. By day he works in our photography department and by night he takes highly acclaimed photographs of his own, some of which were recently selected for the 2007 Chelsea International Fine Art Competition at the Agora Gallery in New York. He's also an abstract artist whose paintings have been widely exhibited.

Anyone wondering where he gets his artistic streak from needs to look no further than the Liverpool Academy of Arts on Seel Street, where Nathan's work is being shown until 5 October as part of a joint exhibition 'Begin' with his dad Tony. This is the first time that they have exhibited together and is a fascinating body of work. While each artist has his own distinct style, their work complements the other's beautifully, as you would expect from a pair who have worked so closely and inspired each other. There's even a painting that they worked on together.

Sorry - should have put this up last week but it's still current. John Edmondson has been involved in a new exhibition showing at the Picton LIbrary - that's the round, reading room that's part of Liverpool's Central Library. It's between World Musem Liverpool and the Walker so could easily be fitted in with a visit to either.

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An exhibition opening on 8 August at Liverpool Central Library titled "Spice of Life: Raffles and the Malay World" has been organised by the British Library to celebrate their acquisition of the important Raffles family archive containing the papers, artefacts and natural history drawings of Sir Stamford Raffles, founder of Singapore. His relatives lived in Liverpool and after returning to London with specimens of the world's largest flower, Rafflesia (named in his honour) his agent arranged to send a pickled sample to Liverpool. Unfortunately, it seems to have gone missing, possibly in the May Blitz in 1941 which destroyed the natural history galleries at World Museum Liverpool. Research by the exhibition organiser, Annabel Gallop from the British Library, has unearthed correspondence between Robert Brown and William Roscoe concerning the Rafflesia. Some of the natural history drawings, and other objects, will be on display in the Picton Library until October. The exhibition has the enthusiastic support of the local Malaysian community.
 
John Edmondson

Exhibitions officer Lucy Johnson is a handy person to know if you want the news on what's coming up at the art galleries. Here's an update she sent me on the latest exhibition that she's been working on:

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"Emily Stainer, a South African artist, has been installing her artwork 'Menagerie' in room 14 at the Walker this week. This intriguing installation is part of the BOUND exhibition. BOUND is a contemporary art project led by curator Predrag Pajdic, which explores human enslavement from a historical perspective through to the modern day.

'Menagerie' is made up from many unusual items, including Victorian style birdcages with mechanical limbs and mounted owls trapped inside them. The sound of the old fashioned clockwork mechanics, the curious Victorian objects and the dim lighting create an uncanny display.

The Walker is the first gallery outside of South Africa to show 'Menagerie'. Each time it is shown, the set up of the objects differ depending on the space in which they are situated.

The BOUND exhibition is being shown across other venues in Liverpool, including FACT, Tate Liverpool and Open Eye Gallery. It opens this Friday (10 August) and runs until 20 October 2007. The exhibition is then moving to London.

Emily will be giving a talk about her installation this Saturday at 1pm at the Walker and again on 11 October."

It's most people's favourite time of the week, the last few hours and minutes of work on a Friday before the weekend. Yet sometimes it's hard to escape reminders of the working week completely. At the moment there are a few quite artistic reminders out there.

In the latest exhibition to open at the National Gallery, artists explore the themes of Work, rest and play from the 16th century to the present.

Meanwhile, on our own website you can see photos from the Stewart Bale archive in a work-themed online exhibition. I really like this one of the laying of the keel of the Mauretania II at Cammell Laird shipyard. If you've ever wondered how to build a ship, it seems that you need a lot of cranes and a lot of scaffolding. You can zoom in on the Mauretania being built and work out the rest for yourself with the zoomify feature. 

I've just been shown this really cool feature about The Rediscovery of John Hayls' A Portrait of a Lady and a Boy with Pan 1655-9 on the Tate Conservation website. It's written by Helen Brett, one of our former paintings conservators who was based at the Walker Art Gallery at the same time I was. It's great to see that her talents are being put to good use down in the capital!

I have to confess, when I saw the title I was expecting to see a painting of two people with a kitchen utensil, not a Greek god. That's what comes of watching too much Gordon Ramsay I guess.

The painting itself has a fascinating history, which Helen gradually uncovered during the conservation. During the 1930s - long before the Tate acquired the painting in 1995, I should point out - a previous owner overpainted large areas, hiding two Cupids, or putti, holding a wreath in the background, as well as several other details. You can see below how the putti were revealed as the overpaint was removed.

That was just one part of the story though, as another layer of earlier overpainting was revealed underneath. It still amazes me how people treat paintings sometimes - as well as the skilfull ways that conservators combat that mistreatment. Do have a read of the full article, it's quite a tale.

If you missed it when it was at the Museum of Liverpool Life (RIP), you'll be pleased to hear that our hugely successful exhibition,  Living With The Romans, is on at the Museum of Lancashire, on Stanley Street, Preston from this Saturday until December 21.  The museum is open Monday - Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 10.30am until 5pm. Admission prices are adults £3, concessions £2 and children free.

Last Friday the web team attended the Museums on the Web Conference at Leicester Uni. We were all pretty impressed by Sebastian Chan from Powerhouse Museum in Sydney and the work the team there has done on folksonomies. Encouraged us to just do it with our own collections. You can check out their blog, Fresh + New(er), which is also pretty good. Not sure if the conference papers are going to be available on the site but you might want to check back at some point.

Then yesterday I saw that a fab bracelet currently featured in the Peter Chang exhibition comes from Powerhouse and has a zoomification on their site (the same feature we use), so you can see the piece in all its shiny detail.

If you’re sat wishing you had tickets to Glastonbury, wondering what to do with your weekend, never fear there's lots to do on your less boggy and much drier doorstep.  

The Walker Art Gallery is spoiling you with three new exhibitions ripe for discovery. Enter the mystical world of Josh Kirby and Peter Chang or mark the end of Refugee week with a visit to Once upon a tile.

If abstract art is more your thing Laura Galloppo, one of National Museums Liverpool’s hard working volunteers, has curated a show at the International Gallery on Slater Street. For one week only the vivid and minimalist work of Italian artist Pasquale Napolitano will be on show. Catch it while you can.

Who wants to queue for hours for a filthy toilet and swim around in a pool of mud anyway?

Archaeologists among you may remember that back in 2004 an impressive hoard of Viking silver was found near Huxley in Cheshire. That silver, now known as the Huxley Hoard, has since been jointly acquired by Chester Grosvenor Museum, Cheshire Museums Service and National Museums Liverpool with Heritage Lottery Funding.

The hoard has gone on public display for the first time this week at the Grosvenor Museum as part of the Viking celebrations in Chester. You can see it there until Tuesday 17 July 2007, then it will come to Liverpool as one of the highlights of the Magical History Tour exhibition, which opens at Merseyside Maritime Museum on 28 July 2007. Look out for further details on the website nearer the time.

Martin Greenland, the artist who won the John Moores 24 prize last year with 'Before Vermeer's Clouds' is holding his first solo exhibition since his win. It's at Farfield Mill, just outside Sedbergh, Cumbria, and is on until 11th July 2007. It's a mix of new and older work, including drawings and paintings on paper, none of which have been seen before. More info on Martin's website.

Digital, 35mm or good old pinhole, pick up your camera, I’m declaring 2007 the year of the photograph.

 

We've got Bernard Fallon’s atmospheric images of Liverpool going down a storm at the National Conservation Centre and the images of Merchant Palaces at the Lady Lever Art Gallery provide a fascinating insight into the way the other half lived.

 

If you fancy a shot at photography and are lucky enough to be aged between 12 and 16 there’s a Victorian photography workshop at the Lady Lever on Thursday 12 April. Places are limited so call our learning department on 0151 478 4178 to snap up a place. 

 

Never fear oldies, there's also opportunities for those of us old enough to remember when Polaroid’s were cutting edge to develop our skills. Shoot Liverpool is an interactive photographic treasure hunt happening in May and promises a fantastic day of creativity and camaraderie on the streets of Liverpool. Sounds like a reel good time.

 

If your photographic thirst hasn’t been quenched by that fine lot I visited the BALTIC in Gateshead last week to see the Vik Muniz exhibition. Check out a chocolate Elvis  and Che Guevara reborn through the magic of black beans. Definitely the best exhibition I’ve seen all year – apart from our own of course.

I always enjoy a trip to the Harris Museum and Art Gallery in Preston. Anywhere with quirkily named displays like 'Madder Modes' (looking at the hidden meanings of wearing red, with help from some gorgeous frocks and Vivienne Westwood shoes) and 'Stuck up and Downtrodden' (decorative Victorian and Edwardian tiles) really is my kind of place.

Their latest exhibition, Digital Aesthetic 2, which explores contemporary artists' use of digital technologies, is so big it has spread into 3 other venues in the city. I started my visit with a trip to St John's Minster to see Vince Briffa's 'Playing God', an interactive video installation in which you control the decisions of a girl looking for her lost cat Tini. It sounds simple but it had a group of us completely hooked and baffled as we searched in vain.

Over at the gallery itself the main room is dominated by three huge pixelated cityscapes by eBoy. The tiny image above really doesn't do justice to the impact they have when you first walk in. I also played the most intellectual game of Space Invaders I've ever seen, courtesy of Thomson and Craighead.

There's lots more but I'll leave you to explore it for yourselves. And if anybody finds that cat please put me out of my misery and let me know it's OK.

A rare treat for footie fans this weekend, when parts of the Everton Collection go on display at Goodison Park. Before non-Blues (you poor people) stop reading I should point out that this collection isn't just important from an Everton persective but is actually the most comprehensive footie memorabilia collection in the world. Currently the possession of life long Evertonian, David France, the collection not only chronicles the club's and the city's football and social heritage, but also that of football itself.

Parts date from the club's founding in 1878, predating the football league, and cover everything from the split that led to the formation of Liverpool FC, to the '66 World Cup and umpteen trips to Wembley, with unique photos, programmes, contracts, season tickets, medals, cash books and tonnes of other ephemera.

The exhibition is on for one day only - Sunday 25 March - from 10am to 4pm in the Captain's Table Lounge in the Park End at Goodison Park. Admission is free.

There's more on the collection on the official website, including David France's favourite pieces which include the tender to build Anfield and Dixie Dean's first medals.

Patrick Caulfield's 'Still Life: Autumn Fashion' is one of the most popular pieces in the Walker's 20th century collection and is currently on display in Room 13 at the gallery.

The excellent Patrick Caulfield collection display at Tate Liverpool (not one of our venues) finishes early next month (4 February 2007), images of all fifty two works are available on the Tate website.

To mark the end of the display, Marco Livingstone will be giving a talk in the display space next Wednesday (full details). In 1981 Marco Livingstone selected works for the Walker Art Gallery's Patrick Caulfield retrospective.

We take it for granted sometimes that everyone understands which venues we represent at National Museums Liverpool, but personal experience suggests it can be confusing. It's even more confusing when we occasionally highlight events and exhibitions at other Liverpool museums and galleries on this blog.

I'm creating this post so that when I mention a Merseyside gallery or museum, I can include a link to this explanation.

We are - Walker Art Gallery, World Museum Liverpool, Museum of Liverpool, Merseyside Maritime Museum, International Slavery Museum, Sudley House, Lady Lever Art Gallery, HM Customs & Excise National Museum and National Conservation Centre.

We're not (but we like) - Tate Liverpool, FACT, the Beatles Story, Open Eye Gallery, University of Liverpool Art Gallery, Greenland Street, View Two Gallery, Almiro Gallery, 52 Roscoe Street, Williamson Art Gallery and Museum, Birkenhead Priory, Wirral Museum, Renew Rooms, Alima Centre gallery, National Wildflower Centre, 59 Rodney Street, British Lawnmower Museum, Western Approaches, Spaceport, Bluecoat Arts Centre, Atkinson Art Gallery, Blue Planet Aquarium, South Bohemia Art Gallery, Ellesmere Port Boat Museum, World of Glass, EggSpace, Mendips, The Artfinder's Gallery, Arena, Dot-art Gallery, Cornerstone Gallery, Cube Noir, Museum Man, Liverpool Academy of Arts, The Royal Standard, Williamson Tunnels.

Hope I've not left too many off the list (and we'll look at Prescot Museum another day..).

They say that wherever you go in the world you'll meet a scouser. I'm not sure if paintings and other items from scouse collections count, but I certainly encountered a lot when I was down in London at the weekend. It was starting to feel like a home away from home.

I saw a familiar pair of cheeks at the Hockney exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, which features Peter getting out of Nick's pool from the Walker. If you go then have a look at the painting from the gallery opposite, as it's beautifully framed by the arched doorways - a really nice touch I thought. Next door the National Gallery are featuring another Walker painting, The Murder, in their Cézanne in Britain exhibition.

There are no less than 9 (count them!) works from the Walker and Lady Lever Art Gallery in George Stubbs: A celebration at Tate Britain, an exhibition that you may have seen at the Walker earlier this year. Another popular painting, the Walker's Henry VIII, is also there in the Holbein in England exhibition.

In the Imperial War Museum you can read the story of canine hero Jet and see a painting of him from our collections in the exhibition The Animals' War. The beautiful sculpture Danaid that visitors to Sudley House will remember is currently on show in the Royal Academy's Rodin exhibition. 

It's not just works of art that have made it down to London either. The exhibition The Great White Bear at the Horniman Museum includes photographs of every taxidermied polar bear in UK collections, which were taken by artists Bryndís Snaebjörnsdóttir and Mark Wilson as part of the project nanoq: flat out and bluesome. Our polar bear is featured, although its circumstances have changed since the artists photographed it in storage a couple of years ago. Since then it has been conserved at the National Conservation Centre and is now back out on display again at World Museum Liverpool.

The good news is that there's still lots to see in our galleries in Liverpool - well we are the capital of culture for 2008 after all! With such an embarrassment of riches up here it's only fair that we share them with the Londoners when we can.

If you are reading this from an office in the UK then don't forget to go outside and make the most of the daylight after work today, as when you leave work next week it will be a lot darker. That's right, the clocks go back this weekend, something which usually causes mass confusion in my house as there's always a clock or two that we forget to change.

All those in the same position should spare a thought for John Griffiths, the curator of horology (or man in charge of the clocks) at National Museums Liverpool. True, most of the timepieces in our collections are not kept wound up and running, so they wont need to be changed. However, the clocks in John's care that do keep time are located in several different venues spread out across Merseyside, including World Museum Liverpool, the Lady Lever Art Gallery and Prescot Museum. With all that running around to do next week, I bet he'll be glad of an extra hour in bed on Sunday.

Not us unfortunately but we're getting there.

The 'One Day In History' project aims to record a blog diary for today - 17 October -  involving as many people as possible. The posts will be stored by the British Library as a historical record of our national life.They are looking for not just the minutiae of your everyday life but also how history is affecting you, how you are interacting with the past etc. You might want to describe how you went to a museum, listened to a piece of old music, had a chat with someone about your family tree or looked at this blog (you knew there was going to be a plug in there somewhere). Mine would be too dull to contemplate so, despite quite liking the idea, I might have to spare the nation.

This is being run by the National Trust and is part of the the History Matters campaign.

I feel I should apologise for the lack of new blog entries over the last couple of days. This is partly because, after weeks of feverish activity preparing for the Biennial opening weekend, we've now been unchained from our keyboards and allowed out to enjoy the Biennial in all its glory.

And what a weekend it has been. I've walked around so much I'm sure my legs must be at least an inch shorter and I've still only scratched the surface of what's on offer. Over the last few days I've heard Tracey Emin go meow (have a listen on the podcast of the John Moores 24 opening speeches), stroked the paw of a caged lion and seen more art than I could shake a very large stick at. 

I spent Friday afternoon exploring the Greenland Street galleries, including the Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2006 in the Coach Shed. If you go there on a sunny day then head up to the roof of the adjacent Blade Factory building, the light shining through the enclosure there is stunning, these photos really don't do it justice. Then after being dazzled by the light I found a very dark room downstairs with rather beautiful 'silent music'. I could have stayed there all day quite happily.

Gareth Kemp has been a very busy man. By day he works in the National Museums Liverpool handling team, who have had their work cut out preparing the John Moores 24 and Cape Farewell exhibitions for the Biennial. In his spare time not only has he organised a series of exhibitions around the grand hallways of the Albany Building in Old Hall Street for the Independents section of the Biennial, he has also painted a fair few of the artworks on display himself.

Gaerth is pictured, relaxing at last, in the Soup versus Gazpacho exhibition upstairs in the Albany Building. The show features work by Tate Liverpool staff on the Soup side facing work by National Museums Liverpool staff on the Gazpacho side. Contributors include information assistants, technical services staff, gallery attendants, admin staff, photographers and curators who work with some of the nation's great collections every day. Has this inspired them to produce great works of art themselves? Well I was impressed. If you're in the area why not have a look to see what you think. The exhibition is open from 10.30am to 4.30pm every day until 19 November 2006.

As I look out of the window at the torrential rain, I can't help thinking that the organisers of Southport Flower Show may have had a premonition. Apparently this year's theme is water - and if this weather continues throughout the weekend, then water there certainly shall be!

Perhaps they were tipped off by celebrity astrologer Russell Grant, who officially launches the flower show's 'ladies day' tomorrow.  

Luckily there are masses of marquees and undercover areas as well as the show gardens, so there's no chance of it being a washout. 

National Museums Liverpool's smiley marketing officers will be bringing their own particular brand of sunshine to the event, by giving out information on all of our current happenings. 

Budding horticulturists (sorry - bad joke) can find out more about World Museum Liverpool's botanical collections on our website. 

• Southport Flower Show
• National Wildflower Centre

A painting which has previously only been seen at the Walker Art Gallery is to go on sale at Christie's on 9th June. 'Liver Building, Liverpool' by LS Lowry was featured at the gallery in 1973, and has been held in a private collection for the last 40 years. It is considered one of Lowry's masterpieces and could sell for up to £500,000.

Learn more here.

The Walker has its own Lowry painting - The Fever Van - featuring a typical yet distinctive Salford scene. An ambulance is seen outside the house of a fever victim, with local people looking on.