National Museums Liverpool Blog - Friday, July 13, 2012

Our work placement student Jacob Cook tells us why the transport collection at NML is so important:

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Yesterday I was given the rare opportunity to visit the museum store and I got to see just how many valuable artefacts the museums in Liverpool have in their collections. It’s a shame they don’t have the space to display them all.

We were told that not many people are allowed into the storage facility so I instantly felt privileged. Even though some of the things I saw (century old vehicles) weren’t exactly exciting, they told their own story about my home city and gave an insight into how my family would have lived only a few generations before me.

From fire trucks to taxis, boats to wheelbarrows, it was like seeing the natural progression of travel all in the same place.

There is no denying that this stuff matters. People work hard to preserve these objects so that future generations can learn about their past (not just from a book). I think that this is the ultimate example of pride to be from Liverpool.

Thank you to Izzy Stubbs for helping out in the Exhibitions Department last week. Find out about what Izzy got up to:

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As a 15 year old on work experience, I felt intrigued as to what duties I would have to carry out working within the National Museums Liverpool organisation. Over the week I have visited places like the Decorative Art costume storage where lots of clothes, pottery, hats, shoes, toys and more are stored. I especially enjoyed this area of NML because I am currently taking GCSE textiles and I feel as though seeing clothes from as far back as the 18th century has given me a greater understanding of the history behind the beautifully embroidered materials. I also visited the Lady Lever Art Gallery to see the current exhibition, A Pre-Raphaelite Journey (which I highly recommend) and the Merseyside Maritime Museum to see the Titanic exhibition - Titanic & Liverpool: the Untold Story. Even half an hour before closing time the exhibition was still bustling with people!

My favourite exhibition that I have visited this week would most definitely have to be the Rolf Harris exhibition, Can you tell what it is yet? This can be seen at the Walker Art Gallery.

Before I visited the exhibition I didn’t have much of an idea of as to what Rolf painted but afterwards had a wider knowledge! As soon I walked into the exhibition, I was blown away by the sight of the exotically painted grand piano - I was tempted to start playing it myself! Some of my favourite paintings are Snappy Snaps, St Ives (which brought back funny memories from the times I have visited), Greek Fishing Village, The Lion King – Uneasy Truce and Millennium Dawn.

What I like most about each of Rolf’s paintings is the way he paints the angle of light which makes us feel like were actually there with his pictures. Also, I enjoyed seeing “Rolf’s Studio” with the sculpture that had formed out of his paint pallet!

Overall, my experience working within NML has been brilliant and I have a clearer understanding of the different jobs within the Exhibitions Department and how much effort (which is a lot) is needed to make an exhibition happen. I definitely want to volunteer again in the near future and will certainly be taking my family to see the outstanding Can you tell what it is yet? exhibition!

Opening events at the Museum of Liverpool © Mark McNulty

On Thursday 19 July it will be the ‘new kid on the dock’s first birthday and we’d like to invite all the other birthday boys and girls who were born that day to celebrate with us. It doesn’t matter how old you are, one or 101, if it’s your birthday on 19 July then we’d love to hear from you.

Please get in touch using this contact form if you are available in the afternoon on Thursday 19 July and can take part in our special events. We will need some sort of proof that it’s your birthday on 19 July. Or if you can’t be with us on the day then you can leave a birthday message in the comments on this blog post.

Ben Forshaw tells us more about what he’s been up to during his work placement:

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On my fourth day at NML, along with Jacob from the same school as myself, we learnt about illegal importing at the Seized! gallery. We also helped set up a presentation about the smuggling of endangered animals for school children.

Before the school arrived, Sarah Han from the education team gave us a tour of the gallery. I was very surprised to learn that people managed to import substances such as cannabis, by swallowing bags of the drug and excreting them, and that unlikely objects such as garden gnomes and cricket bats have been used to bring prohibited materials into the country. We learnt about the smuggling of items by fake brands eg, Polystation rather than Playstation. Despite it being evident that a Polystation is fake (some items appeared more genuine than others), people still bought them, not knowing the danger they posed. I was horrified to learn that a young child bought a fake Nintendo DS and, as a consequence of how it was made, died through being electrocuted. And while items like fake football kits cannot cause harm, the clear lack of authenticity in most cases suggest that child labour was used to create the clothing. This is why the Customs Officers are so important, as they, for our benefit, try to ensure that the importing of prohibited goods is prevented.

The school session was with a Year 4 class from Knotty Ash Primary School. Sarah focused on the importing of objects that were made by the skin or features of animals believed to be endangered. Certain people know that these animals are endangered and as a result of this want to have an item made by a part of that animal to appear unique. The most popular animals for this appeared to be the tusks of an elephant and the skin of a crocodile. One woman even made a handbag out of the full body of a crocodile, much to the disgust of the 8-9 year old children watching the presentation. At the end, everyone was given permission to touch a stool made from an elephant’s foot, and this proved very popular with the children as they expressed great excitement at its rough surface. It became evident very early on in the session they were a very enthusiastic class and eager to get what they knew across. 

Jacob and I would like to thank Sarah for a really helpful and worthwhile morning. We think that you should take a look at Seized! for yourself.

Jacob Cook, as part of his work experience at NML, visits World Museum and reports on what he saw:

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Today I revisited the World Museum in Liverpool for the first time in a while. I got there just after opening time expecting an empty museum, however that was not the case, the place was filled with junior school classes who must have been on their end of year trip.

These pupils seemed to enjoy every minute of the experience. They were excited, very curious about the exhibits and left no stone unturned (there are actual prehistoric stones that are available to handle) whilst dragging their teachers from one floor to the other. I thought it was great that their age group (8-11) are still as into the museum as me and my class were at that age.

One exhibit that I enjoyed was the Egyptian gallery, it’s not quite what I remembered but it’s just as (if not more) enjoyable. The well crafted design of the room was filled with everything from descriptions of the mythology of the time to mummified corpses. Once I left this area I was shocked at how long I spent inside. Another highlight was the Bug House. Not only was there giant insect models strategically placed in the design (including a giant spider which had one kid genuinely scared) but an abundance of specimens to get an up close look at (living or dead).
 
When it comes to this particular museum it’s difficult to pick a favourite aspect. It all comes together to create an experience, whether it’s the dinosaurs and the natural world, the ancient world or current world cultures, space and time, no matter how many visits it never bores. I’m sure they will be putting on new exhibits soon but even if you can’t make them or you miss them, I highly recommend the old exhibits; they got them right the first time.
 

Our work experience student Ben Forshaw gives his verdict on the Museum of Liverpool

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Today, as part of my two week work experience at NML, I spent my time at the Museum of Liverpool. I felt the trip to the museum today was one I enjoyed thoroughly, and it educated me on much of Liverpool’s history. I showed particular interest in this specific museum due to the current football displays there. As a great fan of football and a player of the sport myself, I could relate to these displays in many ways - especially the presentation of the rivalry between Liverpool and Everton.

Despite my main reason in going to the museum being to check out the football demonstration, I also took great interest in looking at the city’s history. This was the feature of the museum I found most interesting, simply because I found facts about things such as the exporting from Liverpool back in the 1800s and 1900s so intriguing. I learnt that the city became a city in 1880 and that over 13,000 people from the city died during the World War 1; it appealed to me because I admittedly do not know much about our city’s history.

Another matter that caught my attention was the possible building of the “Cathedral of Dreams” many years ago. It was fascinating to understand that had that cathedral been built, it would have been the world’s second largest cathedral. Just imagine how good a monument like that would have been to have in our city! A building such as that one would have been brilliant to have in addition to other attractions in Liverpool such as the Echo Arena, Anglican Cathedral and now the Museum of Liverpool. I would definitely recommend that you all take a look at the Cathedral of Dreams in the museum, as I certainly found it breathtaking!

All in all, my experience this morning was one I would very much like to revisit some time soon, especially as there were more aspects to the museum I could have checked out had I had more time there. Another particular event I would recommend you all taking a look at was the 15 minute long film about Liverpool Football Club and Everton Football Club’s history since they were formed. I suppose my views may be slightly bitter on the subject, however I found it quite amusing watching Everton fans have to watch Liverpool persistently outdo them throughout their history.

From Curator of Port History Ben Whittaker:

While working in our museum stores I came across this beautiful silver model of the SS Great Eastern which was presented to Sir James W Paton on behalf of his employees at Paton, Calvert & Co Ltd. It was given to celebrate the company's Golden Jubilee in 1937.  Sir James had a personal connection to the Great Eastern - his father Captain Walter Paton captained the ship, and Sir James was born on the ship in the mid-Atlantic on the 15th January, 1863.

This is just one of thousands of objects in the reserve collections of the Merseyside Maritime Museum.  Like most museums we only have the space to display a small fraction of our collections at any one time. A recent redevelopment at the Maritime Museum saw storage space converted to a new community space for the International Slavery Museum.  Maritime Museum curatorial staff had to pack up a large collection of objects so they could be moved to a new offsite storage space. It's my job along with Assistant Curator Michelle Walsh to gradually unpack these objects, check their condition, photograph them and locate them in new racking and shelving.  It's quite a long process as there are over 2,500 objects in 400 boxes! This is the work of curatorial staff that the public don't see, keep an eye out for future blogs about the interesting and unusual objects we are unpacking and re-storing.   

Earlier this year I met with Theatre in the Rough at the Merseyside Maritime Museum. They are a charity which promote new writing for the stage by young people aged 13-25 from across Merseyside.

The group were developing a series of plays about Titanic and Liverpool, and the Maritime History department were approached by their artistic director -acclaimed Liverpool playwright Chris Fittock. We provided support for the group including a Titanic presentation for these budding new writers, drawing upon the themes from our exhibition Titanic & Liverpool: the untold story.

You can see the result of their work at Theatre in the Rough’s 5 day festival which takes place 3 -7 July at Old Christ Church, Waterloo, Liverpool. The locally curated event features drama, live music and an exhibition and is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Arts Council England. For further information please see their website.

We were delighted to have been a supporter for Theatre in the Rough and wish them well for their festival. Don’t forget that you can still see our exhibition Titanic & Liverpool: the untold story which is currently running at the Merseyside Maritime Museum until 2013. You can also follow the museum on facebook and our twitter.