National Museums Liverpool Blog - Tuesday, August 04, 2009

With holiday season well and truly upon us, some of our curators are putting their minds to memories of past holidays, and need your help researching those with a local angle.

We are inviting seasoned Liverpool holiday-makers to help us by sharing memories, photographs and souvenirs associated with Speke Airport in order to research a community display bound for the new Museum of Liverpool opening in 2010 / 11.

Come Fly With Me – A People’s History of Liverpool Airport will uncover people’s experiences and memories from the 1930s to today, using their souvenirs, photographs and personal accounts to tell the story of the airport.

Come along to one of our drop-in sessions to speak to curators about how you can get involved in contributing to the display from 10am - 5pm on Thursday 6 August at BBC Radio Merseyside, or Friday 7 August at Liverpool John Lennon Airport on the upper floor of the terminal building before security control.

We want to chat to people who have used the airport any time from the 1930s onwards in order to build up a display of objects and memories taken from the local community. So if you have a 'straw donkey' souvenir knocking about in the loft that you'd like to appear on display, we'd love to hear from you!

You needn't bring objects along with you to the drop-in sessions, as we can arrange to loan the items at a later date, but if you want to bring holiday snaps with you, our curators can scan these during the sessions.

Both drop-in sessions will include craft workshops where people can make their own aerodynamic creations, and the aeroplane that covers the greatest distance over the course of each session will win a prize!

If you are unable to attend one of the drop-in sessions, but would like to discuss opportunities to provide objects for display in the exhibition, please contact Victoria Newberry on 0151 478 4067 or email victoria.newberry@liverpoolmuseums.org.uk

Further to my previous post about International Slavery Museum getting to the final of the National Lottery awards, the Lottery have commissioned this promotional video about the museum and why it should win. You can also see it on our main site.

Remember that you can vote online on the National Lottery Good Causes website, or by calling 0844 686 6957.

Update 04/08/09: This video now has a transcript which can be viewed on our main site.

Model of the SS Gallia. Image courtesy Liverpool Daily Post and Echo

One of my older relatives used to joke that you should not bathe too often because hot water removes the skin’s natural oils. I’m all for keeping clean but some people overdo it and this can be very wasteful in a world that needs water.

However, I would not like to go on a long journey without having the opportunity to bathe but this was hardly the situation on most passenger ships in Victorian times, for example.

Competition to capture business during the emigration boom through Liverpool spurred shipping companies to create better facilities for travellers.

The arrival of large steam liners meant that services could keep to publicised timetables and schedules. This was a huge improvement on sailing ships which were at the mercy of wind and weather.

Cunard’s transatlantic passenger liner Gallia of 1879 was a beautiful ship built during the transitory period when steam was still supplemented by sail.

There is a superb builder’s-style model of the Gallia in the new emigrants’ gallery in Merseyside Maritime Museum (pictured).

The 430-foot long Gallia was one of the steamships that brought new standards of safety and comfort to the North Atlantic emigrant trade. She spent most of her career on the Liverpool to New York and Boston run.

Gallia could carry 300 first class passengers in luxurious (for the time) two-berth cabins plus 1,200 steerage (third class) passengers along with 2,000 tons of cargo.

She had both engines and sails and her captain used sail whenever possible. Two new features were an improved main saloon which took up the full 42 feet of the ship’s width along with steam-powered steering.

Despite all these luxuries and improvements, Gallia was fitted with only two baths for the entire ship. You can read more on SS Gallia on our main site.

About nine million people emigrated through Liverpool in the period 1830 to 1930 making it probably the biggest emigration port in world history.

Few of these emigrants, who came from many parts of northern Europe including Russia, recorded their experiences in Liverpool.

Dirk van den Bergh and his large family emigrated from Holland, via Liverpool, to Canada in 1906. He wrote a diary about his journey - audio extracts are available for museum visitors to listen to, or you can listen to some here.

• Windows Media Format [48kps, 733Kb]
• MP3 Format [40kps, 592Kb]
• Transcript

Dirk writes: “We went into the centre of Liverpool – what a busy place and what traffic! If you could imagine Liverpool without fog and smoke it would be really impressive city. It streams with many emigrants.”

There is more on the emigrant experience in our Leaving From Liverpool online feature.

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 the Mersey Shop website (£1.50 p&p UK).

Excellent news. Thanks to your votes the International Slavery Museum has made it through to the finals of the National Lottery awards. We're up against two other venues in the Best Heritage Project category.

Votes aren't carried over into the final so we need you to vote again. You can vote online on the National Lottery Good Causes website. Alternatively you can call 0844 686 6957 to register your phone vote.

As we've said before this isn't just about winning an award (although obviously that's a nice thing) or a thumbs up for a good museum. As Richard said in his 'It could be us' post a few weeks ago, this is a major opportunity to raise awareness about the issues that the museum champions - it's about tackling human rights abuses. So, please vote, and ask people you know to vote as well.

Then tune into the National Lottery programme (we'll let you know when) to see Richard in his fabled Homer Simpson tie!

Photograph from 'Shoot Nations'.

Quick reminder that Sunday 2 August is your last chance to see the Shoot Nations exhibition at the International Slavery Museum. The display features photographs by young people, highlighting the global impact of our changing environment, particularly the effects of global warming and intensive farming on the earth's natural resources.

While there you could also catch our latest display which opens today. Trafficked looks at a form of modern slavery - human trafficking - and follows the stories of those affected by the trade. 

Celebrations after Liverpool won the European Cup Final in Rome, 1977. Copyright Liverpool Daily Post and Echo

A little while ago I mentioned that preparations were already under way for the next exhibition at the National Conservation Centre. Opening from 18 September 2009 to 24 January 2010; 'Liverpool people by Stephen Shakeshaft', will include photographs spanning the career of the picture editor at the Liverpool Daily Post and Echo.

It has been a tough process whittling down the huge selection of images available to a suitable number for the exhibition. Unfortunately there just isn't space to fit everything in. So over the next few weeks I'm going to be featuring some of the photos that didn't make it into the exhibition itself here on the blog. This one in particular made me smile. Here's the story behind it in Stephen's own words:

"The Eternal City was ready for the arrival ofthe Liverpool fans. I had arrived a week before to send build up features to the Echo. It was Liverpool's biggest match - ever!

The first train to arrive in Rome's main station could be heard a mile away, the L-I-V-E-R-P-O-O-L chant was getting louder by the minute.

Hundreds of fans stepped into the sacred city in red t-shirts and scarves - no suitcases, no toothbrush, no change of clothes - and marched towards the city. I watched a group swaying down a road tunnel still singing - when in Rome do as scousers do. The city was a festival of red, who were the other team? There seemed to be few German supporters around.

Liverpool won, even Tommy Smith scored, and at the end I made towards him to take a celebration picture. The other photographers waited for him to turn around as he jumped into the trainer's arms. I went the other wat and my picture was just what I wanted. I later asked Tommy why he had run straight to the trainer at the end of the match. 'He had my teeth in his pocket and I wanted them back before having my picture taken', he replied."

Liverpool Customs House. Image courtesy Liverpool Daily Post and Echo.

Great vanished buildings always hold a certain mystique and the Liverpool Custom House was one I would have loved to explore.

There are many pictures of the exterior of this huge H-shaped structure crowned with a dome but I have yet to see any of the interior. In its prime this was one of the busiest places in the port with people beavering away and rushing hither and thither.

The Custom House was damaged in the May 1941 Blitz and later demolished – although many believe it could have been saved.

On display in the new Seized: Revenue & Customs Uncovered gallery at Merseyside Maritime Museum there is a large contemporary wooden model of the Custom House, built in 1837 from a design by John Foster Junior (circa 1787 - 1846).

Trade brings profits and those who do business through ports have to pay the appropriate duties and taxes on many items that are imported.

From the 1700s Britain’s trade with the rest of the world grew hugely. It fell to Customs officers to control it and protect the revenue so that the Government got its share.

On the quaysides and in the warehouses of Liverpool and every other port, amid the hustle and bustle of unloading ships and moving cargoes, the Customs officers went about their daily business.

Each man had a special job. For example, front line officers known as tide waiters met each incoming vessel and stayed with it until the cargo was unloaded. Some weighed and measured cargoes while others toiled at paper work in the Custom House.

Custom Houses were once the hub of every port. They were run by the comptroller who had immense power. He could prevent ships from unloading their cargoes or leaving port.

The Long Room was the heart of his domain where captains arrived from months at sea to present their paperwork to bench officers who made out a warrant and copied out six extracts. These were then sent to six different colleagues elsewhere in the building.

On display is a fascinating aerial view of the Custom House taken around 1935 (pictured). It shows the Overhead Railway station outside the entrance so that Customs officers on foot had fast and easy access to all the Liverpool docks.

An enamelled notice from about 1909 declares: “The Commissioners of His Majesty’s Customs and Excise hereby give notice that spitting is strictly prohibited in all parts of this building. By order.”

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 the Mersey Shop website (£1.50 p&p UK).

Angelica Vanasse is currently pursuing postgraduate studies in MRes Art & Design (Curatorial Practice) at Liverpool John Moores University.  Angelica recently lead a drawing workshop at the Walker Art Gallery and is here to tell us how it went. You can see more photos of the group and their work on Flickr.

Image courtesy of Angelica Vanasse and Robert Flynn

My research involves looking at the role of participants in art galleries, using the gallery as an immersive space for experiencing and interpreting artwork. Using the Walker Art Gallery’s sculpture collection as inspiration, I lead sculpture drawing workshops to explore this concept.

At one session, I gave the group a variety of tools and techniques that they could use during the workshop.  With pencil, graphite, charcoal, conte crayon and a variety of papers, the group spread out in the gallery to begin their creative investigation.  It was fascinating to see the varied ways in which all of the participants were negotiating their drawings. 

I worked with them on a one-on-one basis to help with their drawings, which included mapping out the drawings, investigating proportions and creating shading.  To help with breaking away from rigid focus, we also spent some time on gesture drawings with quick poses. 

I’ve discovered that using drawing as a way to interpret artwork encourages participants to look more carefully at the work around them and think about how it is made, as a way to create their own work. The session went really well - here are some of the comments from the group:

“I’d always thought sculpture was quite static and peaceful, but using different techniques - especially fast ones - creates an energy.  It must be similar to what a sculptor can visualize in a block of stone.”

“It made me look at items in more detail and appreciate form, light, lines, etc.  I enjoyed trying something semi-abstract.  I would love to come to another one!”

A huge thanks to the education team and gallery staff at the Walker Art Gallery for assisting in making this possible, as well as the wonderful participants who attended!

Night At The Museum 2 poster

This week sees our final monthly draw to win pairs of tickets to your local ODEON cinema. All you have to do to enter is sign up for our e-newsletter. Everyone who signs up during the entry period is also entered into a draw to win Night at the Museum goodies including a telescope.

July is the last month to enter so be sure to sign up by this Friday. You can sign up on the registration page or learn more about the draw on our main site.

Thanks to ODEON Cinemas who have provided the tickets and goodies for this draw.

It was a depressingly long time ago that I was an A-level student. The only highlight of these two years of study was when the local Bargain Booze was raided causing delightful disruption to the school day, and a feature on Crimewatch!

However its safe to say that students from Sutton Sports College St. Helens, All Saints Catholic High School Kirkby and North Liverpool Academy Liverpool trumped my highlight with their A-level art work being put on display in a special exhibition called Showcase at the Walker Art Gallery.

Students at launch of Showcase A-level art work exhibition

These lucky students from each of these three schools were invited to display their art work by Find Your Talent. This exhibition is part of Find Your Talent, a national programme that aims to give each child and young person access to five hours of culture.

The exhibition had its official launch last week. Here nervous students showed their work much to the enjoyment of proud parents, family, friends and teachers. It was a lovely evening and it was clear that everyone was genuinely impressed and excited by the skill and originality demonstrated by all these talented students. 

On until 31 July, 2009 Showcase is well worth a visit and is a true testament to the talent regional schools can offer. 

To find out more about Find Your Talent please follow the link