National Museums Liverpool Blog - Thursday, September 17, 2009

We're currently working with Liverpool ECHO in the Community on a fantastic project for a class of under five-year-olds to have the chance to help develop the artwork for the dedicated children’s gallery in the new Museum of Liverpool.

Little Liverpool is a tailor-made gallery for children under six; a fantasy dreamscape where the youngest visitors will be able to relax, play and explore.

The Little Liverpool Designers competition is searching for a class from a Merseyside-based school to be appointed as designers, working with an artist to direct the final development of the artwork for the Little Liverpool gallery.

So, if you think your child has artistic flair and is within a class that you feel could win, encourage their teacher to enter the competition, and they could make their own historic and creative mark in the new museum!

Visit http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/community-projects for more info. The closing date is Thursday 24 September at 5pm, and the winning class will be appointed on Friday 25 September. Good luck!

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.

In the build up to Liverpool People by Stephen Shakeshaft, which opens in a few days, I have been posting some of the photographs that didn't quite make it into the exhibition on the blog along with Stephen's funny and insightful stories behind each one. But I'm sure you're all dying to know about the pictures that are actually in the exhibition. One person who has seen them already is Nicky Lewis, who has mounted and framed them all ready for display. This included a few original prints, which required extra careful handling as she explains:

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"After days spent mounting brand new prints of Stephen Shakeshaft's work it was a real thrill to get my hands (gloved, of course!) on some of his original prints. All of his images have great stories to tell but there's something quite special about seeing the real thing. The creases, tears and fingerprints, the scribbled notes and pencil lines to show where the image was to be cropped, all transport you to the desk of the newspaper photographer and that - I imagine - frantic time before that day's newspaper went to print.

Although the images will be framed in a similar way to the copy prints I instantly have to think differently with original objects. We have a responsibility to not allow their condition to deteriorate any further. So I have chosen mounting materials that are acid free and controlled the amount of light that the photographs are exposed to, and will monitor them closely while they are on display. You can also take a closer look at them in the exhibition at the National Conservation Centre from Friday."

You may think that retro fashion right now is all about shoulder pads, pink lippy and the influence of the 1980s. But some designers have shown that for the end of 2009, they are finding their inspiration in an era that is much more retro – try going back another 200 years to the 1780s!

Elle magazine has picked up on this trend, which they say is inspired by the paintings of the ‘Old Masters’ and did a whole spread on it in their September issue. Dolce & Gabbana have practically based their whole new collection around it, with sumptuous devoré velvet skirts, silk corsets in deep jewel colours and long flowing gowns with prints from paintings. We have several pieces of costume from the 18th century in our collections, one of which you can see here, which definitely has similarities to this D&G outfit and also this one!

Elle reckons the ‘muse’ for this trend is the ‘porcelain-skinned creature in a heavily gilded painting in the National Portrait Gallery’.  But you don’t need to go all the way to London to find paintings to inspire you! You can come and look at a painting from this period by Joshua Reynolds of ‘Miss Elizabeth Ingram' at the Walker Art Gallery (pictured).  Wonder at her pale skin, opulent blue silky dress, corset and that dash of hand-on-the-hip insouciance that wouldn’t be out of place on the catwalk.

Reynolds created paintings that imitated the style of the Old Masters. He believed that by imitating the Old Masters he would help to ‘educate’ the British public, as he thought their taste was quite limited. You can also see works by these ‘Old Masters’ in our collections, such as Nicholas Poussin, Rembrandt van Rijn and Peter Paul Rubens.

But if all this expensive fashion seems out of step with the current economic climate, then have no fear. I read in one magazine that a ‘recessionista’ way of getting the look would be to borrow the tassled tie-backs from your parents’ curtains! Not too sure about that.

Yesterday at the Liverpool Food and Drink Festival we ran a prize draw to win a three course lunch for four people and afternoon tea for two to celebrate the recent launch of the Maritime Dining Rooms. The winners were Mr C Ragan (first prize) and Ms B Lemp (second prize). Well done - we'll be contacting you in writing.

Some years ago I took my father to the Old Head of Kinsale in Ireland where we stayed in a remote hotel with superb views over the Irish Sea. Underneath the choppy, sunlit waters lay the twisted wreck of the Lusitania. Dad felt particularly sad because one of his earliest memories was seeing a mob attack a German baker’s shop in Liverpool after the sinking.

The destruction of the Cunard luxury liner by a German U-boat submarine sent shock waves around the world.

The disaster was one of the most horrific incidents at sea during the First World War (1914 – 18) and came as the ship was heading for Liverpool, a port where she was much-loved.

She was sent to the bottom on a bright sunny day. Early that year the German government declared that all Allied ships would be in danger of attack in British waters. Lusitania sailed from New York on 1 May 1915 with 1,962 people of board.

At 2.10 pm on 7 May the liner was struck by a torpedo fired by U-20. It blew a massive hole in Lusitania’s side and she sank in less than 20 minutes with the loss of 1,201 lives.

The sinking of this unarmed passenger ship caused international outrage and there were riots in Liverpool, London and other cities around the world.

The German government claimed that Lusitania was carrying military supplies and there is some evidence to support this. However, British and American inquiries later declared the sinking to be unlawful.

This event devastated the tightly-knit dockland communities in north Liverpool where most of Lusitania’s crew lived. A total of 404 crew members died, including many Liverpool Irish seamen.

A photo on display (pictured) shows Staff Captain James Clarke Anderson, the most senior Lusitania officer to die in the sinking. His body was returned to Liverpool and buried in Longmoor Lane Cemetery, Fazakerley.

The fascinating exhibition Titanic, Lusitania and the Forgotten Empress at Merseyside Maritime Museum looks at the tragedy. There are a number of items from the ship with stories behind them

There is a lifebuoy from the Lusitania – a rare survivor of the sinking.

Captain William Turner, from Crosby, survived after struggling for three hours in the sea. The British government tried to blame him for loss of his ship but he was cleared of any wrong-doing by the official inquiry. A picture on display shows him on deck.

The Maritime Archives and Library also hold a lot of relevant material about the Lusitania. You can read more online with information sheet number 42: RMS Lusitania.

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).

A rare skeleton of the Dodo went on display in the Atrium at World Museum Liverpool today. The specimen is made up of bones found on Mauritius and has been in the collection since 1866, however it's not been on display for at least 40 years. The skeleton is on display for about a month as part of the museum’s popular Hidden Treasures series of displays featuring items rarely seen by the public.

Dr Clem Fisher, curator of vertebrate zoology, says: “The skeleton is quite complete although we have recently discovered that the foot bones have been skilfully carved from wood.” The Dodo is also missing the top of its head (cranium).

The Dodo was a member of the pigeon family that lived on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. Unfortunately it was also a rather tasty and flightless member so fell foul of the human and animal population. It's been extinct for more than 300 years with the last reliable sighting in about 1693. When alive they were rather large birds standing about three feet (one metre) tall and weighing around 50 pounds (about 23kg). They had grey plumage, a nine-inch beak with a hooked point, tiny wings and a tuft of curly rear feathers.

Many people will remember Stephen Shakeshaft's fantastic football photographs from the Soccer Shots exhibition a few years ago. The good news is that there are some more on show in Liverpool People by Stephen Shakeshaft, which opens a week today. Here's a picture of the crowds that didn't quite make it into the exhibition.

Being paid to go to football matches may sound like a dream job, but as Stephen recalls below, life on the touchline was far from easy:

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"Football crowds fascinate me, every emotion is on view - jubilation, frustration, anger, despair and a lot worse. Why don't photographers show excitement on a goal being scored? Because they are watching the aftermath from players and fans, the goal passes them by. Even now I watch football totally emotionless, after 40 years of sitting on the touchline it has taken its toll.

From the aching knees after lying prostrate in front of the Kop to the scars of European cup ties I have suffered for my sport. A bottle bounced off my temple in Rome, a police dog took part of my ankle in Rotterdam and a Bruges defender landed so heavily on my back I couldn't exhale for two days. I lost so many jackets after smouldering cigarettes landed on my back - 'Hey mister, you are on fire!' My shoes were taken off my feet at Wolverhampton Wanderers by a cheeky fan who was obviously annoyed that my body was blocking his view - I had to bribe him to give them back.

The problem was we had to lay flat on the grass on a groundsheet between the fans and the touchline, parallel with the goal post. This was not a position conducive with fast reactions - in other words we had to dodge the missiles from the crowd and the studs of the advancing winger heading for the penalty area. If a foul was committed on a home player in front of us the missiles showered down aimed at the offending player - coins (half crowns the favourite as they travelled the furthest, being the heaviest) hit me on the ear leaving me seeing stars for a few minutes, pop bottles, darts, meat pies. One night I counted five pellets that had been fired from an air pistol which I gave to the police. It wasn't all bad though, often after a stormy, eventful match there would be enough money scattered around the groundsheet to buy a round of drinks.

We would always follow the home team attack and at Anfield walking around the ground to the Kop for the second half on a wet cold day it was like walking into a giant hairdryer - the heat hitting us from the crowd. It was a great view and a dramatic angle to take photographs from, camera at pitch level. A wet day was miserable, the ground sheet resembling a pond. The secret was to dress accordingly - starting off with long johns underwear, two pairs of socks, thick jeans, two sweaters, scarf and cap and then a waterproof leather divers suit which had no ventilation. I just prayed I didn't need the loo at half time and at the end of a game, after a good soaking from the rain, I literally squeaked when walking.

Leaving the ground in the middle of the crowd my feet didn't touch the ground until I reached the main road, my elbows stood out like handles and I was lifted by the pressure of the throng as I hung on to my cameras.

Songs developed on the Kop from nowhere, it was if 20,000 people had been in a rehearsal room before the game, as one they developed the funniest anthems and hilarious chants against the opposition - but when they sang 'You'll Never Walk Alone' the hairs on the neck always stood up.

I couldn’t do it now but I'm glad I did it then."

Money can't buy love but who cares when you can go out any buy the latest line of Beatle merchandise. Beatlemania is back and this time it means business - big business!  Remastered versions of each of the albums have been released and are expected to dominate the charts for the next few weeks. And there’s two enviable box sets – one limited edition remastered in mono, the other in stereo.They were released on 09.09.09 - most auspicious because of John’s obsession with the number 9. 

Not that merchandising is a new thing of course. If you venture over to The Beat Goes On exhibition at World Museum you can see some of the weird and wonderful Beatle articles from our collection that were produced during the original wave of Beatlemania including Russian Dolls, talc and this rather nifty pair of sneakers.  

The latest must-have Beatles purchase is of course the Beatles Rock Band game. Now I’m no gamer – but I admit this amazing animation has got my purse strings twitching. Who could fail to enjoy this – it's compelling viewing, it even has penguins! The animation is part of the re-launched Beatles.com which has been absolutely crammed full of video, tunes, photos and memorabilia just incase you’re not Beatled up enough.

Anyhow, in the words of the Blue Peter, ‘here’s one we made earlier’. Beatles-themed games they most certainly are, Beatles Rock Band they are not. But they are still a lot of fun, they don’t cost anything and you don’t need any additional kit to play. Call me old-fashioned, but I'm in favour of playing a real guitar. After all, that’s how the boys started out and a very profitable investment it turned out to be for them.

One of the things I love most about Liverpool is that despite it being a relatively small place or the fact I have lived here all my life I can still find amazing buildings or streets I didn’t know existed. A wise person once told me to always look above ground level to spot the original architectural features of old buildings. Not only are they often real works of craftsmanship but they can reveal so many clues to its history. 

This Saturday and Sunday is Heritage Open Day weekend, when lots of the city’s architectural jems will be open to the public.

I was lucky enough to be at the Oratory yesterday for a media call about the free events this weekend. It’s such an atmospheric place, perched above St James cemetery and in the shadow of Liverpool Cathedral. Hopefully the weather over the weekend will be as good as it was for me and visitors will enjoy the same view across to the city from the Oratory steps.

More details about National Museums Liverpool’s events over Heritage Open Day on our main website.

The current Lady Lever Art Gallery exhibition, Whistler: The Gentle Art of Making Etchings, ends on 20 September, so you only have a couple more weekends to pay a visit.

To tie in with the exhibition's closure we're giving away a lovely hardback catalogue from another of the Hunterian's Whistler exhibitions. 'James NcNeill Whistler - Selected Works from the Hunterian Art Gallery' features 74 Whistler works (including three other versions of 'The Doorway' shown here), plus Japanese prints, manuscripts, silver and porcelain from the great man's collection.

To be in with a chance of winning the catalogue you need to tell us the name of the exhibition which follows Whistler at the Lady Lever Art Gallery (you'll find the answer on our main website). Send us your name, email address and answer using this contact form. Closing date is noon on Monday 21 September.   

With just over a week to go until the exhibition 'Liverpool People by Stephen Shakeshaft' opens at the National Conservation Centre, here's another photo from his archive that didn't quite make it into the exhibition. Stephen took many photos of the dockers during his career as picture editor and chief photographer of the Liverpool Daily Post and Echo, and remembers that they were real characters:

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"They provided the backbone to the city and its commerce. They also provided the material for the jokes of Liverpool comedians. They were very suspicious of a man with a camera. 'Don't take my picture, lad - take his - he has his makeup on!' Whoever sold caps went out of business when the dockers went. Walking around Canada Dock you had to keep your eyes skinned and spend as much time looking up as concentrating on your subject; 'Watch your 'ead, lad'.

I covered dockers' strikes and pickets, I was there when they received their redundancy notices and when they realised their jobs were gone - replaced by the container monsters of Seaforth.

All dockers had nicknames which fitted their personality or character such as 'Stanley Matthews' who, on the unloading of a crate, would always say 'I'll take the corner'."

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.

A random group of people who happened to be in our office at the time chose Linda Reeds' entry as the best caption. Well done to Linda. You can see all the entries here. Another image and another prize in a short while.

While I'm here and talking about artwork I'll tell you about the Flickr group we've just started that celebrates the weird and wonderful world of credit crunch art. There's no prize for this one - just the knowledge that you've far too much time on your hands. Pick an artwork from our collection and recreate it using whatever comes to hand - cats, toys, food, your children, your co-workers - the possibilities are as limited as your camera's battery life. Upload them to your Flickr page and add them to our group. Again, please bear in mind that this is a family site!

I admit to being wary of catching infections and take the precaution of washing my hands whenever possible. Other useful safeguards are adding disinfectant to the bath water and gargling with mouthwash. It was impressed on me at a very early age the awful things you can catch – especially when travelling. I caught TB as a child but threw it off – a natural immunity, I was told later.

Passengers and crews of ships have always feared outbreaks of contagious diseases that could sweep through vessels like wildfire, affecting everybody’s safety and wellbeing. The words typhus, cholera, yellow fever, smallpox and plague were enough to chill the bones of the most seasoned traveller.

It was the same on shore when epidemics swept through crowded poorly-housed communities, killing old and young alike. But on land you could at least get away to somewhere healthy – not an option on a crowded ship where there was no escape.

There is still the ever-present threat of contagions being brought into Britain. Cargoes which might carry disease are handed over to Government officials. They may be placed in isolation or quarantine for further investigation.

Historically, Customs officers played a vital role in preventing the spread of contagious diseases. This is illustrated in a display in the exciting new exhibition, Seized: Revenue and Customs Uncovered at Merseyside Maritime Museum. A photo shows a ship’s crew members being inspected by Liverpool’s medical officer around 1925 (pictured).

A painting called A Revenue Cutter on the Clyde by Robert Salmon (1826) depicts the cutter approaching a newly-arrived vessel to check for diseases. The cutter flies a signal flag from the mast which asks: “Are you healthy?”

In the 19th century the arrival of migrants in the UK brought the danger of contagious diseases. A ship’s master was required by Customs officers to swear on the Bible as to the condition of his ship. If it was healthy, he would be issued with a certificate and cleared to enter port.

A photo shows a young smallpox sufferer covered with pustules, particularly on her face, hands and arms. Smallpox was a scourge which killed and disfigured countless people over the ages - in the 20th century alone up to 500 million died from it.

There have been more than 100 disease outbreaks associated with ships since 1970, according to the World Health Organisation. Today the main infections associated with ships are gastrointestinal and Legionnaires’ diseases.

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).

 

If the answer is 'yes' and you enjoyed your visit then you might want to vote for the restaurant in the Liverpool Food and Drink Awards. The awards are part of the official Food and Drink Festival 2009 which runs 13 – 21 September at venues across Liverpool. The festival launches on Sunday 13 September at Sefton Park with a free event where you can sample food and produce from dozens of bars, restaurants and stall holders, listen to live music and watch live cooking demos.