National Museums Liverpool Blog - volunteers

Here's Treasure House Theatre Co-Ordinator Jo Connor, to tell us about last week's DaDaFest events at the World Museum!

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Last Saturday, the World Museum held a number of inclusive events as part of DaDaFest 2009. Led by Treasure House Theatre demonstrator Paul Netterfield, visitors enjoyed an afternoon of events based on the World Cultures gallery.

The aim was to provide accessible events for visitors from the local deaf and disabled communities and their families. It included a new show from our adult drama group volunteers. The show followed Dr Huw (Dr Who, get it?) as he visited the World Museum to discover more about Earth's various cultures both past and present. He explored the Egyptian and Ethnographical collections and their collectors. Actors from the group also played the parts of the various collectors who had contributed their objects to the museum in its 150 year history.

Our curators also got involved, with Oceania collections curator Lynne Heidi Stumpe, helping out with research and leading one of the tours. Curator of Ancient Egyptian collections Ashley Cooke, also led a fascinating tour around the Ancient Egypt gallery. We were also lucky to have a number of volunteers who helped out on the day, handing out programmes and creating the background for the show amongst many other things.

All of the tours, shows and events on the day included British Sign Launguage (BSL) interpretation to make them more accessible to all. The day was a great success with over 300 hundred people visiting and participating in our DaDaFest events. We hope to see you all again for next year's festival!

Liam Physick, a student at Liverpool University and one of our fantastic youth volunteers, has recently achieved his v50 Award for volunteering for 50 hours for the Museum of Liverpool's urban history department. Liam did a fantastic job of logging 5,605 comment cards from The Beat Goes On exhibition, which asked for visitors' Liverpool music memories. The responses will be used in research at the University of Liverpool. Liam says,

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"The project developed my IT skills and taught me how to log records. It was very interesting to read people's experiences. One woman claimed that her husband had been the man who discovered The Beatles. It has clearly shown that people inside and outside Liverpool are fascinated by the city's musical heritage. Visitors came from all over the world including Malaysia, America, the Bahamas and Romania."

Fay and Charlotte, two of our dedicated youth volunteers in The Beat Goes On exhibition at World Museum Liverpool, have both achieved their v50 Award certificate, having completed 50 hours volunteering each. Congratulations to both and a big thank you for all their hard work talking to the many visitors who have visited the exhibition this year.

If you are aged 16-25 and would like to find out more about youth volunteering at our museums please contact Claire Olson, Youth Volunteer Officer. You can also find out more on the v-inspired website. 

A few words from Fay and Charlotte:
 
"Volunteering at The Beat Goes On has provided me with valuable experience of working in a museum and has also helped me develop other skills such as communication and customer care. Working towards my v50 award gave me something to aim for and I am very pleased that I have achieved this goal." Fay
 
"Working on The Beat Goes On exhibition has given me the chance to combine my interest in museums with my love of music. Volunteering at the museum has given me the chance to gain experience and insight into different aspects of museum work, which will be useful for a future career in this area of work." Charlotte

This weekend our wonderful group of Discovery Volunteers each received their v50 Award Certificate, having completed 50 hours volunteer work at World Museum Liverpool during the summer.
 
Our fantastic Discovery Volunteers have been based on the World Cultures gallery throughout August. During this time they used objects from our handling collections to chat to many visitors - if you visited during the summer, you may even have chatted to some of them yourself!
 
The Discovery Volunteers project was aimed specifically at young people aged 16-25; to encourage younger people to become more actively involved in their museums as part of our youth volunteering scheme. As one of our young volunteers explained, the project "has shown that young people are still willing to listen, learn and teach; despite all the negative press".
 
Each of the volunteers received training from our curatorial and learning teams before finally being let loose on gallery to meet their public!
 
The volunteers team would like to say a big thank you each of the 20 young volunteers who offered their time, commitment and endless enthusiasm throughout the project.
 
More information about v, the v50 Award and youth volunteering can be found on the v-inspired website.

Here's a special report from Isobel, who spent last week helping out behind the scenes at World Museum Liverpool for her work experience placement.

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"When asked to choose a work experience placement, the traditional primary school or office jobs didn't really appeal to me. So instead I decided to work in the World Museum. My mum works there, but I didn’t really have a clue what she actually does. Maybe the readers of this are more knowledgeable than I am, but 'curator of numismatics' doesn't mean much to me! I wanted to find out what museum work entails, as I, like a lot of people, didn't really know what goes on behind that 'no entry' door.

My first day was with Emma, head of Ethnology, in the museum stores. Along with Chrissy, I helped measure, handle and photograph Buddha figurines. I learnt so much about different types of Buddhas and symbolism in Buddhist figurines and felt so lucky to pick up and hold things that are usually behind a glass case! It was so amazing to think about the culture and history surrounding each Buddha.

On Tuesday I was lucky enough to be shown the zoology stores by Tony, including vast cabinets of insects, spirit stores full of interesting samples, and stuffed animals from old displays.  I was at the National Conservation Centre on Tuesday as well, watching an interactive activity for the Weston Discovery Centre being made. In the afternoon I was with my mum looking at a new acquisition, a set of bravery medals being awarded to a seaman who gave himself up to the Japanese during World War II to save his ship. The human story behind those medals was really interesting, and more valuable to me than the solid gold coin I had been handling minutes before!

Wednesday was back at the museum stores, putting together Egyptian pots. This is a challenge, but very rewarding when you find two pieces that fit together. I can describe it as the most difficult and oldest jigsaw I have ever attempted! I also held a pot that was seven thousand years old and still had the potter's fingerprints on it. Among the Egyptian stores I also saw a mummified cat's head, which looked disturbingly like my pet, Boots.

My favourite day had to be Thursday, spent at the Clore Natural History Centre. I'm interested in Biology and it was great to spark the kids' interests in something and see how excited they got. Additionally I had spent all my other days behind the scenes, so it was a nice change to be front of house. Although I didn't have the knowledge to answer all of the children's questions, I learnt through listening to the demonstrator's answers, and, like what I've been told by many staff at World Museum Liverpool, working here means you are constantly learning!

Finally, my last day, Friday, was spent in the museum stores working with Roman coins. I've learnt so much this week, and the variety of the work I've done has been wonderful. I enjoyed my time there so much I am considering doing some volunteer work at the museum!"

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If, like Isobel, you are interested in a career in the museums and would like to volunteer to get more experience you can find out more on the Volunteering pages on our website.

Here's a photo of a double celebration in the volunteers team. On the left is Sarah, who you may remember received her first v50 certificate for completing 50 hours as a volunteer in March. Sarah has just achieved her second v50 - bringing her total to more than 100 hours now.

With Sarah is another Big Art volunteer, Louise, who has just received her first v50 certificate. After all those hours of hard work with the younger (and therefore more energetic) visitors to the Walker Art Gallery, I'm sure you'll agree that they deserve a sit down!

The v50 certificates are awarded as part of National Museums Liverpool's dedicated youth volunteering programme aimed specifically at 16-25 year olds, funded by v, the youth volunteering charity.

If you would like to find out more about youth volunteering at National Museums Liverpool please email our youth volunteer officer Claire Olson.

Louise told us:
 
"I have enjoyed helping the children in Big Art to appreciate and be inspired by art through fun art activities. I have gained many skills and it has been a great opportunity."

Congratulations to Qianer Sha, our latest volunteer to receive her v50 award for completing 50 hours. Qianer has volunteered regularly since November 2008, starting in Big Art for Little Artists at the Walker before helping out in The Beat Goes On exhibition. Qianer told us:
 
"It is a great experience for me to be able to volunteer in The Beats Goes On exhibition. It is a good opportunity for me to learn a lot of things about the city and its music and discover a lot which I took for granted before. Also, it is not only a chance to learn communication skills but also have so much fun."

Have a look at our website for further information about youth volunteering with v-involved at National Museums Liverpool.
 

Here at the press office it can get pretty busy at times, so we are very grateful for the generous help of our volunteers. Matthew Linden has been with us for several months so we felt it was time he had a break from the office and took a trip around the venues. Here is what he discovered:

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I’ve been carrying out voluntary work in the Press Office since February 2009.  I have a degree in the History of Art, and was asked to write a piece on a favourite artwork at the Walker Art Gallery.  On visiting I was immediately affected by The Falling Warrior (bronze), originally a public sculpture created by Henry Moore between 1956 and 1957.

The sculpture is seen standing on the first floor, placed centrally, an ornament dominating the interior landscape, and an object designated as the intended focal point of the audiences’ attention.

The sculpture seemingly ‘rests’ on a platform, it possesses a dark, decaying exterior, with a contrasting smooth and rugged organic surface.  As one approaches the enigmatic form, one is drawn in; but on closer inspection, the figure is not ‘resting’ – Moore’s human form is abstract, dynamic, expansive, protecting itself with a shield, struggling for life, close to death, a body with no identity, full of ambiguity.  Who is this stranger, this ‘falling warrior’?

The sculpture suggests the simultaneous act of birth and death, an infant and a corpse, the beginning and the end, echoing Moore’s experience of the pain and trauma of the two World Wars.  ‘I wanted a figure that was still alive…in the act of falling…emphasising the dramatic moment that precedes death’, says Moore.

As the viewer walks away from ‘the falling warrior’, the figure remains on the horizon, evoking history and the past, the memory and experience not forgotten

It's National Volunteers Week, so our youth volunteer co-ordinator Claire Olson has asked me to thank all our wonderful volunteers for their continuing hard work and enthusiasm, not just this week but throughout the year.

If you would like more information about volunteering then have a look at our volunteering web pages or pop into one of our special Volunteers Week events. Drop in any time from 11am-3pm at World Museum on Tuesday and the Lady Lever Art Gallery on Thursday.

We asked Dashti, one of our youth volunteers, about his experiences as a volunteer and here's what he said:

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"Hi my name is Dashti and I’m 17. I have volunteered at National Museums Liverpool for 11 months. I started working in The Beat Goes On exhibition from July to September 2008. I worked in this exhibition talking to visitors, tidying up the play area and replacing comments cards.

After this, I began working with the Community Partnerships team. Every Wednesday I work with students from EMTAS (Ethnic Minority & Traveller Achievement Service). We have done many projects together including a project about the the Museum of Liverpool, learning about the history of Liverpool and making a film called 'Make Your Own Liverpool'. I also helped the students learn about ancient Egypt, space and national history.

I got my v50 award certificate in December, but I have now done 100 hours! I have learnt how to communicate well with lots of different people. I have learnt many things about the history of Liverpool and I also learnt about the exhibitions in the museum.

I have enjoyed talking to interesting people. The staff have been very helpful and because I feel more comfortable in the museum I will continue volunteering!"

Earlier this month the Volunteers team attended the Working with Youth Boards seminar day at the Manchester Museum.

Harriet, one of our young volunteers, kindly agreed to help present a paper at this event. Here's what she thought of the day:

"National Museums Liverpool volunteers section spent a day at the Working with Youth Boards event at Manchester Museum discussing and sharing best practice for youth volunteering. I was able to join them and contribute to a presentation about young volunteers at National Museums Liverpool by sharing a bit about my experience as a volunteer and member of Mersey v’s volunteer steering group.

The highlight of the day for me was hearing other young volunteers talk passionately about their work and vision for youth boards, youth volunteering, youth parliaments and opportunities within museums and galleries across the region. It was encouraging to see how much people got out of what they do and good to know that there's a platform for people to share the wealth of that. While we were there we also made sure we caught a glimpse of the slighty creepy but interesting Lindow man!"

 If you are aged 16-25 and would like to know more about youth volunteering please email the youth volunteer officer.