National Museums Liverpool Blog - Friday, February 19, 2010

For this week's look back into the past 150 years of the World Museum, we're going back to 1959 with Gina Muskett, our Curator of Classical and European collections...

1959 was a very important year for Liverpool Museum, as it was then known. It received a very generous gift – almost 400 classical sculptures from Ince Blundell Hall, north of Liverpool. They were collected in the late 18th century and early part of the 19th century by Henry Blundell, a wealthy farmer and landowner. Even a large house like Ince Blundell hall didn’t have room for his collection, so two new buildings were erected to display the sculptures - the ‘Garden Temple’ and later the ‘Pantheon’. It’s amazing that the group of sculptures survived more or less complete, without being sold or split up.

You can see sculptures from the Ince Blundell collection in two main areas of World Museum - the new case in the atrium, and the Ancient World gallery on the third floor.

Zeus, king of the gods

Regular readers of the blog will already know that I’m very excited about seeing the ‘Ince Athena’ on display in the atrium. She has been joined by another Ince statue, the head and shoulders of Zeus, the king of the gods, shown with the ram horns of the Egyptian god Amun (‘Ammon’ in Greek). Doesn’t he look impressive? The other statue in the case, Narkissos, also arrived in the museum in the 1950s, but is from a different collection.

I hope that you find time during your visit to go to the Ancient World gallery on the third floor. There are four sculptures from the Ince Blundell collection in the new Ancient Greece section. You can’t miss three of them – very large statues of Zeus, Apollo (the god of music and the arts), and the hero Theseus – but see if you can spot the fourth! Here’s a clue – it’s Zeus again, this time on a sculpted panel.

The Ancient Rome section of the gallery has even more sculptures of various types, mostly from the Ince collection. My favourites are the head and shoulders sculptures of women – I love looking at their hairstyles, trying to imagine how much time it would have taken to do such complicated styles. Come to the gallery and see what you think!

Our volunteer Gabriella Day visited the Walker Art Gallery and wrote a blog the John Moores art prize:

 Previous John Moores winner Peter Doig and his piece Blotter

I would like to start with a disclaimer, I am new to this blogging malarkey, shocking I know given the social media crazed times in which we now live. 

However, this is an exciting opportunity given my current topic, the John Moores Prize!  I am relatively new to the glorious city of Liverpool and I must confess not particularly well versed on the John Moores Prize either. Despite these downfalls, I hope that my fresh, and relatively un-jaded outlook will bring a new perspective….well, we’ll soon find out.

I do love a good gallery and the Walker definitely falls into that category for me, especially the John Moores past prize winners exhibition.  I am a lover of more modern art, although a nice bit of Pre-Raphaelite eye candy doesn’t go a miss.

With regards to the triumphant winners of the John Moores prize I certainly have my favourites, most notably ‘Blotter’ by Peter Doig the 1993 winner and Slump/fear (orange/black) by Alexis Harding, the winner in 2004.  I am eager for September to arrive (without idly wishing my life away of course) to find out whether the newest arrival will become my latest favourite.

There is now less than a week left  for budding young talent and trusty old faithfuls to get their submissions in, and lets face it guys you’ve got to be in it to win it! The judging is completely anonymous (a fact I shamefully only found out the other day), so what have you got to lose.

For further information on how to submit work for the John Moores Contemporary Painting Prize 2010 please visit:

http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/walker/johnmoores/ 

The goddess Athena wore an unusual bubblewrap outfit to the dinner

The evening was also attended by a goddess, several penguins, a few vehicles, some works of art and a whole flock of superlambananas. These items, which are mainly from National Museums Liverpool's collections, although the superlambananas were on loan, were put on temporary display for the evening to give a taster of the wide variety of objects that will go on display in the new museum when it opens in 2011.

If you were not lucky enough to attend the dinner itself you can see some great photos from the evening on the Art in Liverpool blog.

You can also see behind-the-scenes photos of our handling and transport team installing the objects for display before the dinner and then returning them afterwards in the Moving Stories set on Flickr. Is it just me or does this photo of handling and transport technician Danny look like a scene from Casualty, with the patient being wheeled into a lift on a trolley?

Henrietta Ward role player leads tour of exhibition

Germaine Greer is giving a talk in Liverpool this week as part of the Writing on the Wall's Rebel Rants series. Germaine recently discussed the lack of women's artwork in British galleries in a Guardian review of an exhibition at the Pompidou Centre, Paris. I was surprised by her comment that the National Gallery only has 10 works by female artists and only four on open display. I think it is safe to say the Walker Art Gallery was well ahead of its time in comparison. It has been collecting work by women since its foundation in 1870 and has amassed a large, varied and fascinating array of paintings, sculptures and decorative art objects.

The exhibition The Rise of Women Artists, which has been extended until 1 August 2010, reveals the highlights of this collection and is accompanied by a host of free events. International Women's Day on 8 March will be highlight of course, with a jam-packed day of free talks and tours.

Tickets are still available for Germaine's talk here.

The Tayleur. Image courtesy of the Liverpool Daily Post and Echo.

However, when things go horribly wrong there is always a clamour for the rules to be tightened up. If ever a tragedy highlighted the inadequacies of Victorian seafaring, it was the wreck of the Tayleur.

This elegant sailing ship was the largest merchant vessel of her day but she was wrecked on her maiden voyage with the loss of 372 lives.

Built at Warrington for owners Charles Moore & Co, she seemed destined for years of profitable service in the booming emigrant trade.

She set sail from Liverpool in January 1854 heading for Melbourne carrying 652 passengers and crew. Most of those on board the brand spanking-new vessel were families heading for new lives in Australia.

Two days later the 1,750-ton Tayleur (pictured) struck a reef off Lambay Island, five miles east of the Irish mainland. She sank within 30 minutes and many of the emigrants were among the victims although most of the 71 crew survived.

An inquiry revealed a chronicle of faults – the compasses didn’t work because of the iron hull, the rudder was too small, rigging was faulty and there were only 37 trained seamen among the crew. They thought they were travelling south across the Irish Sea when in fact the Tayleur was heading west to disaster.

There are four small items on display at Merseyside Maritime Museum that were recovered from the wreck many years later.  They are a wine bottle encrusted in barnacles, a Chinese-style bowl, a tea cup made from flow blue china and – poignantly – a small metal dog collar.

The wreck of the Tayleur was just one of several emigrant ship losses during this period. On display is a cross-section plan of the Liverpool assisted emigrant ship Bourneuf of 1852, unusual for its day because the sexes were separated.

It was usual for emigrants to hire berths consisting of large wooden pallets below decks which could be curtained off for privacy. Until the 1870s most people emigrated to Australia and New Zealand by sailing ship – a journey taking between 10 and 16 weeks. There is a fascinating life-sized recreation of such an emigrant ship steerage area in the museum, complete with tables and benches and storage space for trunks containing belongings.

Conditions gradually improved through a series of Passenger Acts between 1842 and 1855.

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 p&p UK).

As part of our celebration of World Museum's 150th anniversary, this week we are looking at a story that is bang up to date! Seeing as we've had quite a few stories from the archives, we thought it would be good to tell you about what you can see at the museum right now.

Here is our Head of Museum Exhibitions, Annie Lord to tell us about the finishing touches for the amazing Plantastic! exhibition opening tomorrow...

Annie watching a winter scene from the Plantastic! film

This week we've been putting the finishing touches in place and we're now ready for the opening of Plantastic! It's a brand new exhibition for all the family that looks at the amazing world of plants. The exhibition has gradually been put together and the software for games and interactives were installed earlier this week. The exhibition is the culmination of two year’s work with museums and science centres in Holland, Belgium and France and it is great to finally see it all coming together.

The exhibition is designed by the National Museums Liverpool design team, building on the success of the award winning Eye for Colour exhibition that has toured in the UK and Europe. We have been working with our co-producers Bruns, from Holland, who built everything you will see there. We have had a team of Dutch colleagues over to install the exhibition in the gallery.

Plantastic! examines the secret worlds of plants and how they move, feed, reproduce and survive and why they are essential for our survival. It is  bright and colourful and I think it's just what you need on a cold February day. You can join in with a topical debate, design your own fantasy plant, set photosynthesis in motion or indulge in a game of pinball to see how much food you can forage in the woods! 

Since the exhibition is a European venture all the text is in English, French and Spanish – so you can even practice your foreign language skills while you learn about plants. One curious visitor looking through the door this week said that it looks ‘awesome’ so that’s good enough for us!

Our joiners have put together a garden shed where our gallery staff will keep props for a great programme of events that will run alongside the exhibition’s six month showing. Over half term you will be able to drop in and hear fascinating stories by our resident storyteller - Colly Flower!

Today we have been checking out the new exhibits, asking some local school children to test the games and generally cleaning up ready for opening. We hope that the exhibition will get all plant lovers and enthusiasts inspired and bring the outdoors indoors!

A Manchu bride, Beijing 1871-2. © The Wellcome Library, London

The pioneering photojournalist John Thomson travelled for years through China with a lot of heavy, cumbersome equipment to take the incredible photos that are now featured in the China through the lens of John Thomson 1868-1872 exhibition at Merseyside Maritime Museum.

We don't expect you to go to such lengths for our latest competition. Instead we'd like you to take your nice light modern cameras or camera phones on a journey to explore Liverpool's Chinatown and Chinese culture.

Enter your photos into our Liverpool's Chinatown through the lens group on Flickr to take part in the competition. On 24 May 2010 we'll choose our favorite photo and the person who took it will win a banquet meal for two with wine at Liverpool’s longest-established Chinese restaurant, Yuet Ben. Two runners-up will each receive a copy of the China through the lens of John Thomson 1868-1872 exhibition catalogue.

During the course of the competition we will feature some of our favourite photos from the group here on the blog and the winning photo will be featured on the blog and exhibition website.

For example you can submit photos of Liverpool's Chinese arch, the Chinese New Year celebrations, buildings, people, or even a local restaurant which has a special place in your life!

If you need inspiration you might like to check out some of our free Chinese New Year events which are taking place at Merseyside Maritime Museum, the Lady Lever Art Gallery and World Museum over the next couple of weeks.

There’s a bit of a stink down at World Museum!!

Devil’s Tongue

A new arrival to the Liverpool City Councils Parks and Green Spaces plant display at World Museum came in yesterday. The Amorphophallus konjac  - Devil’s Tongue - comes from South-East Asia. The flower emits a scent of rotten meat to attract insects such as flies to pollinate it. The outer part of the flower also bears a close resemblance to rotten meat to help attract insects to it!

If you want to dare take a smell you’ll have to hurry as the flower will only last a few days.

It may still be freezing outside, but here at the museum one of our curators has been occupied with thoughts of sunnier climes - Greece to be exact! Here's our Curator of Classical and European Antiquities, Gina Muskett, to tell us more...

Careful with that pot!

Visitors to the third floor of World Museum will see a change – a brand-new display of Greek objects. Lots of people – not just me – have been working on this display, and it’s taken us less than a year to get ready, from start to finish. Above you can see a photo showing two of us arranging the objects in one of the cases. It takes a lot of time to get things just right and, of course, we have to handle the objects with great care – the pot we’re putting into position is about 2,500 years old.

My favourite case is the display of some of the oldest objects in the display, made about 3,500 years ago by the people we call Minoans and Mycenaeans. Have a look at the tiny pieces of semi-precious stones, cut with very detailed designs, and imagine the skill it took to make them. The people who made the pottery were real experts, too - some of the pots have really thin walls, not much thicker than an egg-shell.

It was fantastic for me to have the chance to work on the display because Greek art and archaeology is a subject very close to my heart. I hope you find time to visit the new display; as well as some lovely objects, the colours in the cases are bright and sunny, reminding me of the wonderful blue sea and skies of Greece. Just the thing to brighten up a cold and chilly winter day in Liverpool!

International Slavery Museum collections development officer Stephen Carl-Lokko with ankle bracelet from Niger

I am sure most people like myself and the staff at International Slavery Museum have been keeping up-to-date with the unfolding humanitarian tragedy in Haiti, a result of the catastrophic earthquake on 12 January. Out of this disaster we received some welcome good news recently that one of the Haitian artists involved with the Freedom! sculpture on display in the museum, Guyodo (Frantz Jacques), along with his family, are fine, as well as several colleagues from the Grand Rue artists collective, but sadly his home was destroyed. We are currently looking to develop a long-term sustainable partnership with Haiti, possibly with an artists collective. Due to the imagination and creativity of Haitian artists this is a real possibility. Interestingly the Ghetto Biennale was held in Grand Rue in December which is a fascinating project and a good starting point for any future collaboration.

Remember that there are also a number of organisations and agencies who are still accepting donations such as Christian Aid (our partners in commissioning the Freedom! sculpture), UNICEF, the British Red Cross  and the Disasters Emergency Committee.

The International Slavery Museum has had another very good month in terms of visitor figures. We have now had upwards of 900,000 visitors since we opened in 2007 and our statisticians (scientists in white coats scratching their chins) think our millionth visitor will walk through the doors in March. It could be you! If it is, then you will be given an invitation to the private view of our forthcoming exhibition Beyond the Boundary.  I think our varied exhibition programme is a large part of International Slavery Museum's success. Black Britannia has received some fantastic reviews and Trafficked, difficult subject that it is, continues to be a very poignant aspect of the museum which highlights the fact we are a campaigning museum.  

Leading on from this, part of the job remit of our collections development officer - Stephen Carl-Lokko, was to develop a new collecting strand around the subject of contemporary slavery. A very difficult task but one we felt essential. As part of this policy the International Slavery Museum curatorial team has recently acquired two very powerful and indeed unsettling pieces for the museum's collections.
Missing (2007) is a series of photographs of urban and suburban Britain by the artist Rachel Wilberforce which depict sex-trafficking and prostitution through the interiors and exteriors of brothels and so-called massage parlours. They are devoid of people, yet at the same time reveal human activity. The photographs show scenes of a slave trade which still thrives, and illustrates how much slavery is still very much a contemporary issue. Rachel Wilberforce works with photography, film, video, installation and live art intervention.

The museum also acquired an ankle bracelet which had been collected by Anti-Slavery International. It was 'worn' by a modern-day domestic slave girl in Niger. It represents the importance of the International Slavery Museum's work in developing its collections in this area and campaigning on the issue of contemporary forms of slavery.

Finally I wanted to flag up the inaugural conference of the Federation of International Human Rights Museums (FIHRM) which will take place in Liverpool on 15-16 September 2010.  The Federation was established by National Museums Liverpool and will enable museums who deal with sensitive and thought-provoking subjects such as transatlantic slavery, the holocaust and human rights to work together and share new thinking and initiatives in a supportive environment. It will initially be led by the International Slavery Museum. The FIHRM website will be available soon, or for details on the conference you can email Françoise McClafferty using this contact form.

If you are indeed the millionth visitor then see you soon!

Bye for now