National Museums Liverpool Blog - Friday, March 08, 2013

Happy International Women's Day! This day is the perfect time to stop and think about which women might be inspiring to you. Outside of family and friends, one person who I find inspiring is Portuguese artist Paula Rego. Two years ago I visited her dedicated museum 'Casa das Histórias' ('House of Stories') and was blown away by her work. It spans from etchings to installations to dramatic, large-scale paintings. 

I admire her (and her work) as she is not afraid to show the experiences of women, especially exploring subjects which are often considered 'difficult' or controversial. You also get an idea of her personal experiences too, which I also find inspiring as I think she must be quite brave to expose her feelings in this way. Her work often has a sense of fear running through it - a feeling she has recently admitted is still a constant in her everyday life. 

This handsome young man is Willie Dailey of Stafford who decided he wanted a life at sea and persuaded his parents to apprentice him on a voyage of the ship Benares, from Dundee to Chile and San Francisco, USA.  It was 1886 and he was 16 years old.  The Maritime Archives and Library hold some letters by Willie and his family and the ones from his mother would be achingly familiar even today.  His worried mother, Jane, tells Willie to mind his manners, wash his clothes and eat well.  She hopes his Captain is kind, his crewmates friendly and that he is warm enough, dry enough and not sea sick.  She tells him off when he fails to write.  The forms of communication may be different to today, but the emotions are just the same.  Jane mentions at least 4 other children, so she certainly had her hands full, but seafaring was, and still is, a dangerous life, so she must have been deeply concerned for his safety and wellbeing.  Two of Jane's letters are from 1906 and by this time Willie has a wife and child.  His mother is less worried about him and writes instead about the wet summer weather, another topic that is familiar today.  But as we approach Mothering Sunday, spare a thought for worried mothers, waiting for their children to get in touch.

Louise Beard, media assistant writes:

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This Friday is the annual International Women’s Day (IWD). The day has been observed since the early 1900s but has grown in significance more recently and is now recognised across the world. Interestingly, in many countries including Cuba, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Zambia, IWD is an annual holiday which sees men honouring women that they know with various small gifts and flowers. It’s a day that puts women’s rights and achievements on the map.

You may be thinking that women have gained equality and that attitudes have shifted over the past century, and to an extent, you’d be right. However, women remain underrepresented in business and politics, are paid less than men, and globally women’s education, access to healthcare, and violence against them is worse than that of men. IWD draws attention to these differences.

There are a number of events taking place at NML venues to mark IWD. Here’s my pick at what’s happening at the museums:

Looking globally at women’s lives, the International Slavery Museum is hosting a talk on Saturday 9 March. Chair of the International Female Genital Mutilation network (FGM) and midwife, Dorcus Akeju, OBE will be raising awareness of and discussing female genital mutilation which affects thousands of girls and women in the UK and millions worldwide. Booking is essential.

On Sunday 10 March the Museum of Liverpool will be having a special performance called Suffragettes - a Liverpool story. On 6 February 1918 the right to vote was finally granted to women. Hear the fascinating story of the suffragettes’ struggle and their highly significant Liverpool activity in this performance by Jane Murdoch.

These events looks at different aspects of women’s lives or their representation and raise awareness of the different struggles women faced or still face on a local, national and international level.

More International Women's Day events across our venues can be found here.

It is International Women’s Day tomorrow and we are celebrating all week with various talks and events at the Museum of Liverpool.

Today's talk, ‘Our Amazing Liverpool Women’ at 3pm will include many inspirational women featured across the museum. Just one example is Catherine Harvey, who aged 24 was one of 25 women to join the 1981 People’s March for Jobs to protest against injustice and to demand the right to work. You can see the sash, which Catherine made and wore on the march on display in The People’s Republic gallery.

This is followed by a pamper day for mums with young children tomorrow. Then on Sunday find out about Liverpool's suffragettes or get creative in a 'Mum and me' crafternoon - a great way to spend Mother's Day. Full details of all events across our venues are on the International Women's Day events page.

Kaylee Jenkinson tells us more about a new display at the Walker Art Gallery featuring prints by Bridget Riley, Thérèse Lessore, Paule Vezelay, Birgit Skiold and E.C. Austen Brown.

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Friday the 8th of March is International Women’s Day (IWD) – a day for celebrating the achievements of women across the world.

I have been working on 'Women in Print' a new display at the Walker (Room 8) featuring five artists who I have fallen in love with over the past few months! The Walker has a huge collection of works on paper – over 8,000 in fact – many of which are by women artists and have never been on display before. One print from the display, ‘Coffee Bar’ (early 20th Century), was made by Thérèse Lessore who was married to the artist Walter Richard Sickert. Before they were married, Sickert loved her work so much that used to secretly make his friends buy her prints, paintings and porcelain for him – so that he didn’t appear too keen!

On IWD this year, I will be giving two talks (at 1pm and 3pm) about the five women in this display, who have all been important throughout the past 100 years of printmaking. The Walker itself has been very influential in collecting and exhibiting artworks by women artists over time. Although these women may have been forgotten by many people, I hope that this display will make many of you fall in love with them too.

More information on IWD events at National Museums Liverpool here.

I love this fantastic recreation of the Life of Pi poster, spotted on the Empire magazine facebook page. The cat's face makes it for me - I think if I asked my cat to pose like a tiger to recreate a film poster then she would look at me with exactly the same expression!

This reminded me of our own Credit Crunch Art project, in which we asked people to create their own versions of art from National Museums Liverpool's collections. We have had some fantastic entries, which you can see in the Credit Crunch Art Flickr group. Below is my homage to Gainsborough.

We haven't had any entries with pets yet - could any talented dogs out there recreate this Briton Riviere painting from the Lady Lever Art Gallery, I wonder? Have a go and add your Credit Crunch Art to our Flickr group, we'd love to see it!

To celebrate World Book Day on 7 March we've a very special book offer. Something Wild... at the Walker Art Gallery follows Keith and Ali on their adventures around the Gallery. It's a fab book with some lovely illustrations - the type of book kids and adults both love. From Monday 4 to Sunday 10 March you can snaffle a copy for just £1 (usual price £3.99) from any of our venues. 

And as if that wasn't enough, we've also got a weekend of special tie-in events. On Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 March Big Art will be holding special storytelling sessions and craft activities, all linked to the book. And as ever, the events are free. More details on our website.

Paul Finnegan, a member of our Bug House team, has been lucky enough to receive some Death's-head Hawkmoth caterpillars for World Museum. The Death’s-head is the largest moth in the UK with a wingspan of up to six inches and played a starring role in the famous Silence of the Lamb’s movie poster. These fascinating little creatures migrate from North Africa and parts of Europe to the UK each summer. Adult moths make a loud squeaking sound which, prior to the creation of modern bee hives, the moths used to calm angry bees when raiding hives to steal honey! The caterpillars are currently munching their way through privet leaves and when they are about five inches long they will bury themselves in soil to pupate. After around three months the adult moths will emerge and Paul is hoping to breed them. We’ll keep you updated on their progress…  

We’re looking for young explorers to embark on an exciting journey through crafts and drama to discover more about where they live. Young Explorers is a new group for 8-12 year olds who want to learn new skills and make a difference to their surroundings. The project will culminate in designing an artefact that will be exhibited in World Museum. 

The sessions will be on Saturday mornings in March and April at World Museum, check out our What’s On listings for dates and times.