National Museums Liverpool Blog - Friday, August 08, 2008

Monks lining up to give khata and receive blessings from the Rinpoche

This week has been a particular special one for the Tibetans living here in Boudhanath.The weekend saw two very good days for gaining extra merit. It had been calculated that on Friday and Sunday just one good deed on these days would be worth 10 thousand, or on Sunday, 10 million good deeds! To take just one round of the stupa, give money to the needy or to just be nice to the people you know would be a very auspicious or fortunate thing to do.

Then on Monday, Chökyi Nyima, the head Rinpoche or teacher of the Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery, known locally as the White Gompa, (this is the monastery I go to school in) came home. The monks lined the path to the monastery and offered Rinpoche 'khata', the white silk scarf that is such an important part of Tibetan culture. Rinpoche blessed each scarf then placed them over the monks' shoulders. It took him some time to bless each khata offered, but finally he made it to his room - we knew this because his pet dogs barked happily a few moments after he climbed the stairs.

The following day the Rinpoche's first puja since his return took place. This puja also coincided with the date that the Buddha of this era descended from Tushita Heaven to live as the human Siddhartha Gautama. Pujas were held all across Boudhanath, and trumpets, conch shells and chanting could be heard throughout the night.

Of course, the Tibetan community here in Boudhanath is being kept busy with other non Buddhist matters this week. Today the Olympic Games opens in China and this week has seen an increase in the protests and vigils happening across the city.

Sam Sportun putting the finishing touches to one of the clay master panels

As you are probably aware, our conservators - and talented sculptors - Chris Dean and Sam Sportun have been involved in a major project to recreate three missing bronze relief plaques from Sefton Park's monuments. We have been following their progress on the blog as they have recreated clay masters for the missing bronzes using traditional techniques.

Today I was fortunate to get to see them at work while they finish off the fine details - such as adding fingernails - on the clay masters before they are taken to the foundry to be cast in bronze. Photos of them at work and some of the details of the clay masters are on our Sefton Park monuments Flickr slideshow, which has pictures from the very beginning of the project right up to date.

As I mentioned yesterday, the fantastic Metropolis exhibition closes this week. The exhibition is packed full of incredibly detailed photographs of recognisable Liverpool landmarks and some unfamiliar places.

The project team for the exhibition had the difficult task of selecting just 60 photographs for display from almost 200,000 negatives in the Stewart Bale collection. Here Nicky Lewis from Paper Conservation explains a bit about this process and chooses her favourite Metropolis shot:

"Picking a favourite Stewart Bale photograph is not an easy task.

During the image selection process for Metropolis: capturing modern Liverpool I spent time, as part of the project team, weighing up the merits of many of Bale’s photographs. We searched the archive for striking images that best portrayed Liverpool as a developing, modern metropolis- a reflection of the city today. The most difficult part was choosing only 60.

To me Abbey Cinema exterior is a stunning photograph - much more Hollywood than Wavertree. By taking the image at night the photographer could exploit the building’s illuminated architecture. You can see why we chose this as an image to enlarge for the exhibition.

I‘m also captivated by Crowds at the launch of Mauretania II. The launch of a ship was obviously a very popular event in those days, something we no longer experience. The amount of detail in the photograph is exceptional. Take a look at the extent people will go to for a good view. Some are perched on top of shed roofs and cars, whilst other dare-devils cling to steel work. 

That brings me to my favourite Metropolis image. It is not a highly iconic shot and does not depict a famous event or landmark architecture. It is Anglia Vans on the Assembly Line. Obviously Ford played an important role in Liverpool’s history and the image shows cutting edge technology of the time but my reason for picking it is much more personal. We always wanted to include ‘never-seen-before’ images from the Bale archive in the exhibition, not an easy task considering that our film negatives are frozen to stop them deteriorating (see How have the photographs survived? for more detail).

Using the order books from the Bale company combined with documentation from the storage process we were able to pinpoint a box (out of just over 1300), that contained images commissioned by Ford - we had no idea what they would look like however. The box was removed from its freezer and transferred to an insulated bag, where it would defrost at a slow rate. Twenty-four hours later, after removing the protective packaging layers I had a bundle of film negatives. It’s so thrilling to be the first person to look at these images since they were originally commissioned- you just never know what you may find.

As you look through them on the light box, the anticipation builds and you fear the image you are hoping for isn’t there... Then in a eureka moment it appears. The image stood out instantly as fitting the Metropolis theme and had all of the expected high qualities of a Stewart Bale work. Its composition is striking, with the assembly belt giving a great line of perspective. Not only is it satisfying to have brought this image into public view but I also see it as a symbol of how much hidden potential the Stewart Bale archive has.

NML’s long term aim is to digitise the Stewart Bale collection, to allow the public to view them more easily."

Detail of Anglia vans on assembly line at Halewood factory, 1965

This morning I saw an article on the BBC site on the megalodon - a giant prehistoric shark - and the strength of its bite. It seems its jaws exerted something between 10.8 and 18.2 tonnes of pressure as it bit down which is pretty impressive for an animal that had a cartilege jaw.

It reminded me of a quiz we did a good few years ago now where a fossilised megalodon tooth was one of our exhibits (the quiz is here if you want a go, or just skip to the megalodon bit and see the tooth). It was pretty awesome handling that tooth.

Something that did strike a chord in the article was the bit about your average house cat. Apparently pound for pound the cat has the stronger bite, which if you've ever tried to push a pill down your cat's throat you'll know full well.

You might remember a while ago I mentioned a rather large painting that was about to undergo conservation, 'Flower Sellers of London'. A few people commented on it, thought it was an interesting piece. Conservation work has now begun and painting conservator, Rebecca Kench, has the latest.

This image shows a detail from the flowers section of the painting. Before consolidation is on the left and after on the right. You can see that the section on the right is noticeably cleaner and smoother.

The painting came into the Conservation Centre for treatment at the end of last year. It's been in need of treatment for a while and we have finally been able to fit it into our schedule.  The painting was bought from the artist shortly after it was painted in 1875 by Henry Thompson. He gave it to the Walker in 1880.  "The Flower Sellers" is painted on canvas attached to a stretcher and the figures are a little larger than life size.  Treating this painting presents me with several problems. Firstly I need to deal with anything which could lead to paint loss. When the painting arrived in the studio, the paint was flaking and needed to be consolidated, or reattached, to the canvas.  This mainly affected the area of the flowers where there is damaged and broken impasto (thick brush strokes of paint), and old paint losses down to the canvas.   Although this area has been consolidated (stuck back down to the canvas) in the past, there are still some areas which are loose and fragile.  In order to fix this, I laid the painting flat on a table, with a support behind the canvas, and any flaking areas of the painting were laid flat and consolidated using a water based fish glue.

The selection process for 'The Best of Merseyside' involved a lot of intense discussions and difficult decisions

We've reached the last few days of the rather fabulous Metropolis exhibition at the National Conservation Centre, so if you haven't seen it yet then do try to get over there this week.

Preparations for the next exhibition, 'Best of Merseyside', which opens at the National Conservation Centre on 22 August, have been taking place all year and seem to have involved a mammoth operation. Sarah Craven from Knowsley Arts Service was on the selection panel, and has kindly explained the process below. You can also see some behind-the-scenes photos in our Best of Merseyside selection process Flickr slideshow.

"Best of Merseyside is a selection of the best from the open exhibitions run by the Merseyside boroughs: Halton, Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton and Wirral. In putting together this exhibition we have drawn on entries to existing exhibitions and selected from them. 10 artists have been chosen from each of the 5 exhibitions and together they give 50 artists; 50 works that reflect the variety, the breadth of work that is being produced in the area. The majority of these are not professional artists, who often do not enter the local open exhibitions, but semi-professional or talented amateur artists who are glad of the platform these open shows offer.

The selection process is now over. The selectors for this exhibition were Jo Dry and myself from Knowsley Arts Service, Louise Hesketh from The Brindley, Runcorn, Jess Bowstead from St Helens Arts Service, Colin Simpson from the Williamson Art Gallery and Phillip Wroe from Sefton Arts Development. We all have very different Open exhibitions in our Boroughs so the selection process has been fantastic. We have had laughs, arguments, stamping tantrums and lengthy debate over the artworks. We were looking for technical ability, use of medium, creativity, subject matter, composition and sheer genius which we have found in excess as we travelled around greater Merseyside.

One of the highlights of the selection was 'Man in a Blue Sweater' by Michael Kirby, from Kirkby, Knowsley. This small but powerful image has been used to promote the exhibition in the publicity so the portrait will be printed on thousands of flyers and banners. 

We will be running workshops to support this exhibition which will be announced shortly so watch this space for details.

Thanks are due to Arts Council England and to National Museums Liverpool, we couldn't have done it without you."

Blue Funnel Line poster. Image courtesy of Liverpool Daily Post and Echo

Liverpool’s docklands used to be wafted by the aromas of the world before containerisation sealed them off hermetically, so to speak. I remember particularly the smells of spices, fruit and wood mixing together to create a feast for the nose.

Liverpool had the world’s first commercial wet dock and helped pioneer dockside warehouses, fire-proof dock buildings, hydraulic cargo handling and internally-linked dock systems which all eventually assisted in transforming the way cargoes were handled worldwide. The vast and innovative port was critical to Britain’s development in the 19th century and played a vital part in the growth of the British Empire.

Almost 300 acres of enclosed docks were built along seven miles of the Liverpool waterfront. Under engineers like Jesse Hartley and George Lyster the port played a key role in the development of dock technology.

In 1857, by creating the non-profit making Mersey Dock and Harbour Board  to oversee the docks’ growth, Liverpool also led the way in port management. By the late 19th century Liverpool’s port provided direct employment for 60,000 people – around one-in-five of the male working population. Its mariners, port officials, dockers and carters handled almost one third of Britain’s trade.

Work on the docks was dangerous and men were recruited on a mainly casual basis. It offered workers the chance to earn high wages but also brought insecurity and poverty. This period is examined in the Magical History Tour exhibition at Merseyside Maritime Museum.

By 1900 one-seventh of the world’s shipping was registered in Liverpool. Ships owned by Liverpool companies travelled to all parts of the globe. They were the essential link between Britain, its trading partners and Empire.

Maritime exhibits include a sextant made by J W Ray & Co of Liverpool about 1910. The Liverpool area held a prominent position in the supply of clock components until the 20th century. As Liverpool grew, the skills needed for clock-making were also used to make navigational instruments for ships.

A Liverpool-made Dinky Toy from 1934 -1940 depicts the legendary liner Queen Mary, including the New York skyline, in its original box.

A James Watt medal for engineering was awarded to shipowner Alfred Holt by the Institute of Civil Engineers in 1878. Holt, founder of the Blue Funnel Line in 1865, earned recognition for his development of a compound steam engine.

A new Maritime Tale by Stephen Guy appears every Saturday in the Liverpool Echo. A paperback – Mersey Maritime Tales (£3.99) – is available from the museum, newsagents, bookshops or from www.merseyshop.com (£1.50 p&p UK).

The three clay masters for the bronze relief panels are now almost complete

This summer our talented sculptors in the sculpture conservation department have been recreating three missing bronze panels from Sefton Park's monuments. Here's the latest news on the project from Kathy Wedge in Conservation Technologies, and pictures following the progress of the project from the beginning are on our Sefton Park monuments Flickr set.

"The clay models for the three missing relief panels from the Sefton Park monuments to William Rathbone and the Right honourable Samuel Smith have really taken shape now as the photograph shows. They are almost ready to be sent to the fine art bronze casting foundry.

The warm weather, although lovely for us, has caused a few problems for the sculptors to overcome. The clay has been drying out faster than normal and even started to crack in places that were more exposed to the air than others.

The way around this was to make sure that the clay was kept as hydrated as possible. Each clay panel has been sprayed with water on a regular basis and covered with damp flannelette blanket and then a polythene sheet to keep the moisture in when not being worked on immediately. Even so a few cracks were noted after a weekend break when there was nobody here to spray and it took some gentle but steady applications of water to bring them back to the right condition to be worked on. Fortunately they had not dried out too much.

On Friday 1 August the officials responsible for Sefton Park will give their approval (hopefully) for the clay models to then be sent to the fine art bronze casting foundry where they will then be made into the magnificent reliefs that will complete the monuments. More pictures will follow in a couple of weeks when they get to the next stage."

I’m afraid it’s that time of the month when we prepare to say goodbye to another The Beat Goes On top ten. So if you haven’t already voted for your favourite track now would be a good time. It’s been another fantastic competition and I’ll be really sad to see the tracks come down.

We’ve been weeping into our pillows with Ellewood and Letters In Red … rocking out with Major Major, The Crew and The Extroverts … chilling with Minion TV, Sensorites and FoE … and singing our hearts out to The Lapis and The Affection. Ah, such sweet memories.

We’ve had almost 4900 votes so far this month with Ellewood and The Crew seriously going for it - but the race is by no means over, so vote now! The poll will close at 11.59pm on 31st July.

Don’t forget you can already listen to June’s winner, Jessica’s Ghost, on the digital jukebox in The Beat Goes On exhibition at World Museum Liverpool.

Detail from portrait of William Roscoe by Sir Martin Archer Shee

My Guy ancestors settled in Liverpool around 1700 as the port was expanding and I am proud that we have been involved in various ways throughout its changing fortunes.

British colonies in North America opened up new overseas markets with the result that Liverpool saw big changes from the 1660s. The town had been relatively unchanged for centuries. It was the growth in sea trade which turned Liverpool into a major world port.

New types of business people arrived in the fledgling metropolis. Some came from London after the devastation caused by the Great Plague of 1665 and the Great Fire the following year while others were local. All were keen to exploit these new opportunities. The Guys, who were not in business, probably made the modest seven-mile journey from Melling.

Soon Liverpool was the fastest-growing port after London. The boom in importing luxuries such as tobacco, cotton and spices transformed the small fishing port into a thriving centre with worldwide links.

Stages of this exhilarating growth are examined in the Magical History Tour exhibition at Merseyside Maritime Museum.

Sarah Clayton was among the women who were active in 18th century Liverpool business. She had interests in coal exports and property speculation and developed Clayton Square (now the Clayton Centre) in the 1760s and 70s.

In Britain the campaign to end the slave trade began in 1787 and Liverpool – Europe’s leading slave trade port - was bitterly divided. Slave trader Banastre Tarleton, the town’s bullish MP, attacked the anti-slavery petitions of the 1790s as “the work of deluded fanatics”. He thundered: “Should the Africa trade be abolished … weeds will grow in the streets of Liverpool.” Tarleton’s views were shared by the Liverpool merchants whose profits were under threat.

In contrast, many of Liverpool’s citizens actively supported abolition. The most notable was William Roscoe, who defeated Tarleton to become the town’s representative in Parliament. He spoke in favour of abolition during the debate which ended British involvement in the slave trade in 1807. Liverpool’s prosperity did not collapse as many had feared. On display are several Roscoe items including a token with the inscription “Roscoe for Ever 1804” supporting his election campaign.

Abolition encouraged merchants to explore new opportunities offered by the industrial revolution. From the 1830s Liverpool became probably the biggest emigration port in world history.

More about Liverpool’s growth next week.

A new Maritime Tale by Stephen Guy appears every Saturday in the Liverpool Echo. A paperback – Mersey Maritime Tales (£3.99) – is available from the museum, newsagents, bookshops or from www.merseyshop.com (£1.50 p&p UK).

The view from the bungee bridge

Last weekend marked the half way point of my time here in Kathmandu, Nepal. Not only was it my birthday, but it was also the school's mid-term break.

A group of us took a trip to a resort 12km from the Tibetan border, to blow away a few cobwebs and try to forget about Tibetan verbs for a few days. The drive was arduous, taking over 5 hours along roads that only just clung to the mountainsides. As we got closer to the border there were more and more landslides, many of which would have been completely blocking the road only a few hours before we arrived. We gave our driver several rounds of applause as he got us over yet another slide.

But once there we realised it was well worth it. The resort was made up of several tents covered with thatched roofs to protect us from the monsoon rains, and a fantastic view of a swollen river, perfect for white water rafting. While I'd just come to while away a few days reading and sighing at the incredible green mountains that surrounded us, others in the group walked the 12kms to catch a glimpse of the Tibet border. Alas security was pretty tight and the 'Friendship Bridge' between Nepal and Tibet was off limits.

Monday was our last day at the resort and a number of brave souls from my class decided to throw themselves off a bridge 160m above a monsoon-flooded river to try out Asia's highest bungee jump. Not for me I was content just to take the pictures!

So, after a few very relaxing days, I'm now back to school. I seem to have forgotten everything I learnt before the holiday, so working hard to memorize what seems to be an endless list of verbs and nouns.

Bonjour!

Last week I was fortunate enough to be in Paris for the launch of the Transatlantic Slavery Gallery exhibition at the UNESCO HQ. Along with Katérina Stenou, Director of the Division of Cultural Policies and Intercultural Dialogue and HE Mr Peter Landymore, Ambassador, permanent delegate of the United Kingdom to UNESCO, I said a few words. It was well attended by a number of delegates; interestingly one was a relative of the Senegalese poet and statesman Léopold Senghor who is on our Black Achievers Wall. 

Richard Benjamin with Edmond Moukala

It was a very satisfying occasion as this was the culmination of at least 12 months work by several members of National Museums Liverpool and UNESCO staff. The conception of this exhibition began when I met Edmond whilst attending a conference in London. Edmond was fully aware that the Transatlantic Slavery Gallery was closing down as a result of the International Slavery Museum opening up on 23 August 2007. A date familiar with UNESCO as it is Slavery Remembrance Day.

Up until June last year the Transatlantic Slavery Gallery in the Merseyside Maritime Museum was one of the most challenging, thought provoking and informative galleries in the world on the subject and was visited by politicians and dignitaries form most countries around the world. As such it had quality, well researched displays and information panels, of which 30 now make up this touring exhibition.

ISM is one of the newest and most highly technological museums in the world and as such there was the possibility that these panels might not be used again. But both Edmond and I agreed that this would be a great loss, especially as it is quite obvious that many museums, some which have exhibitions and displays about transatlantic slavery, do not have the resources available to them that ISM does.

Not one panel was simply packaged and sent to Paris. We went over all the panels to see whether we felt the information was still relevant and indeed accurate. Due to the professionalism and expertise of people like Tony Tibbles, in 1994 the curator but now director of the Merseyside Maritime Museum, we felt that most of the panels would still be a valuable educational tool on the subject. Along with some new panels detailing the work of ISM our learning team designed some educational materials to accompany the exhibition.

As well as being an informative exhibition on the subject of transatlantic slavery it will hopefully visit many countries and continents in the coming years. I was pleased to hear that representatives from Ghana, Serra Leone, Angola and Barbados had enquired about the exhibition.

Well I could not justify three days in Paris just for the launch so I had a very busy schedule of visiting museums and art galleries which might inspire me in some way whist planning the research and resource centre for Phase 2 of ISM.  I was particularly impressed with the Centre Pompidou and its array of stylish and very functional sections. I found the media centre to be very interesting with its simple layout and vast archive of music and art videos. I am not an art aficionado, or indeed a prude, but I was slightly embarrassed by finding myself looking at a film of the Viennese actionist artist Hermann Nitsch. Lets just say it would be shown after the watershed in the UK so I quickly fumbled with the mouse to change the film!

I also managed to visit the architectural wonder which is the Institut du Monde Arabe. It covers Arabic art and the sciences and has a large exhibition area (which had a temporary café inside serving great coffee) a museum and library. It was one of the 'Grands Projets' in the 1980s, initiated by Francois Mitterand, the French president. Other projects included new wings at the Louvre and the Musee D’Orsay.

One final observation is that all the places I visited had an entrance fee, some only a few Euros but it does add up. It made me realize that here in Liverpool we have free entrance to world class museums and art galleries unlike anywhere else in the world.

But before I left France my admiration for French innovation and architecture was severely challenged by having to spend several hours in Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport. I understand that certain low cost airlines might not be given a prime slot but to say that the terminal where you go to fly to Liverpool was dreary is an understatement. You will get a flavour of the place when I say it had a café there which made Little Chef look like The Ritz. No offence to Little Chef, I used to work at one for over two years many years ago!

Au revoir.

When Liverpool’s music heritage is mentioned, you immediately think of The Beatles, or maybe Gerry Marsden; but there is so much to discover about the history of Merseyside’s melody makers at The Beat Goes On.

I popped in for an hour and found visitors spanning three (and sometimes four) generations remembering their past and enjoying the present, with some even aspiring to be part of Liverpool’s musical future, trying their hand and their voices in the singing booth.

There is something for all tastes, from tableaux on Fifties chart-topper Lita Roza and high-kicking Frankie Vaughan, to The Real Thing and The Zutons, while the kids seem to get a real kick out of dressing up in rock star costumes with toy guitars.

Posters, press cuttings and archive photos add authenticity, as do the good old 45 ‘singles’. I marvelled at the Parlophone and Apple labels which I recall from playing my mother’s records when I was a child. But the show also takes you bang up-to-date with interactive digital track mixers.

There are sections devoted to Billy Fury, skiffle, jazz and folk, before reaching Merseybeat. It’s wonderful to see master of mirth, Ken Dodd, in the early years. His ballad, Tears, topped the charts for five weeks in 1965, after all.

For me, listening to visitors’ reactions enhanced the experience. "Ay, look at her!" exclaimed one woman, nudging her husband towards a photo of a very young Cilla Black. They went on to gaze wistfully at Cilla’s frock, one she wore for a 1960s Top of the Pops appearance, on display in a glass case.

A little girl was so excited by the music she was listening to, through headphones, she yelled to her mother: "Come and hear this, Mum, it’s boss!"

Despite being a Beatles fan, I like the fact that theirs is not the first and most obvious display when entering the exhibition and instead they take their place in the exhibition’s timeline. The stage from St Peter’s Church hall in Woolton, the meeting point for Lennon and McCartney, and the blanket from John and Yoko’s Bed-in For Peace protest are iconic, but funnily enough I found John Lennon’s jacket very moving. I could picture him wearing it.

The timeline includes key historical moments, including England’s World Cup victory in 1966, Lennon’s assassination in 1980 and the city’s industrial decline in the same decade. ‘Back In The DHSS’ by Half Man Half Biscuit is a perfect example of how the political scene influenced music and how Liverpool humour always shines though in the face of adversity.

I learnt about Eric’s club and why it closed (licensing problems). Of course, Frankie Goes To Hollywood is celebrated, and there is also an atmospheric Cream club scene installation. And so much more.

Like a favourite piece of music, The Beat Goes On is something I’ll happily revisit. And I am certain to find even more gems the next time … and the next. Meanwhile, I’ll be voting for Merseyside’s best new band on our The Beat Goes On myspace page – don’t forget to do the same!

You might have seen that we're currently preparing for the opening of the new Egypt gallery in December, however the antiquities team are also working with some of the Near Eastern collections. Ashley Cooke has more.

Dr Cripps examines and copies the cuneiform on a tablet

For the past few years the museum has been receiving visits from Semitic scholar Dr Eric Cripps. Eric is producing a new edition of some forty-five cuneiform tablets from the Old Akkadian period (2210 BC), held in the Near Eastern  antiquities collection at World Museum. These tablets are over 4000 years old and were excavated in Iraq and purchased by the Honourable Arnold Keppel, 8th Earl of Albemarle, who was a Member of Parliament for Birkenhead. The museum purchased the collection in 1956.

The cuneiform script was invented in the fourth millennium BC. Cuneiform is a wedge-shaped script that was developed by Mesopotamian cultures. Mesopotamia is the area  located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, that now incorporates Iraq and parts of Iran, Syria and Turkey.

The museum has about 335 cuneiform tablets which is a sizeable amount for a museum outside of London. One tablet dates to the Early Dynastic Period (about 2900 - 2350 BC), 47 to the Akkadian Dynasty (about 2350 - 2150 BC) and over 200 to the Third Dynasty of Ur (2100 - 2000 BC). The Near East collection also includes other objects such as bricks and cones with cuneiform inscriptions. Eric's new edition of the Akkadian Dynasty tablets will provide hand drawn copies of each accompanied by transliterations, appropriate translations and full cataloguing. Eric's new edition should be published next year and will make a valuable contribution to Mesopotamian archaeology.

Ashley Cooke