National Museums Liverpool Blog

Anansi the greedy spider and dutchy pot.

Come along to the International Slavery Museum next week and hear author Elayne Ogbeta read from her book Anansi & the Dutchy Pot. 

Greedy Anansi loves his food so much and gets himself into trouble in this entertaining introduction to the Anansi series.  Anansi and the Dutchy Pot is an inspiring Caribbean folklore tale re-told for the younger generation. After storytelling, why not take part in our Anansi craft session?

The date for your diary is Thursday 28 March at 1, 2 and 3pm. Follow this link for additional information.

The image shows objects from the collection of artists Jake and Dinos Chapman.

Hello,

I was in London recently for a series of meetings. I usually have a few hours to kill before getting the train back so I often have a bit of a busman’s holiday, checking out a new exhibition or snooping around some gallery.  I always seem to end up frantically rushing back to Euston in rush hour too.  This trip was no different and although I like to think I’m an experienced visitor to the capital at one stage I had to ask a postman, a shop assistant in Liberty’s, and two bobbies where the nearest tube station was.

London is a fascinating place, and at times for me, quite claustrophobic, which takes some doing for such a megacity. Getting off the tube at Westminster I was greeted with the click click of tourist cameras looking up towards Big Ben (technically the Elizabeth Tower, Big Ben is the great bell and it is partly built with good old Yorkshire stone).  I doubt Big Ben is seen as one part of the complex of the Palace of Westminster, the meeting place of two houses of the Parliament of the UK, but rather a big old clock which conjures up images of London, and indeed England, like a red bus, the Queen  etc  the list goes on.  For me personally other than seeing someone with a camera dangling from their neck or constantly checking a tube map, I could not tell you who was a tourist or not, and for me, that’s what I like about London. 

I walked down Millbank and fell into Tate Britain, located in a rather imposing but beautiful building with a classical portico entrance (not too dissimilar from our very own Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. building) which was funded by sugar magnate Sir Henry Tate and which opened in 1897.  I saw the rather controversial Chapman family collection of wooden sculptures, which although seemingly authentic artifacts were apparently made quite recently by the artists Jake and Dinos Chapman. 

Back up North I have just received some good news regards our Transatlantic Slavery touring exhibition which has reached Guyana as part of the 250th anniversary of the 1763 Berbice Slave Revolt.  The exhibition has been on the road since 2008 and has previously been hosted in Nigeria and Brazil. 

Keep an eye out for some of our exciting events later this month, particularly on the 28th, such as the UK premier of PBS America’s The Abolitionists  and in conversation with the artist Nicola Green which I am hosting. Hopefully see you there.

Bye for now,
Richard

Copyright Mark McNulty

Much has been written about the loneliness of the long distance runner. But what about the friends and families who support those runners? You get up at the crack of dawn, become a mobile cloakroom service when your runner takes off the warm layers of clothing and emergency waterproof that they wore on the train over, you cheer them off, and then what? You find yourself in town  with time to kill before your runner reappears across the finish line and suddenly realise just how little is open at the crack of dawn on a cold Sunday morning. Yes, I speak from experience.

Luckily for anyone coming to the Liverpool Half Marathon this Sunday, help is at hand. The Museum of Liverpool's Waterfront Café will be opening early at 8.45am with a pop-up shop outside, which means that you can wave off the runners with one hand while holding a nice hot drink in the other. They will also be serving fruit, breakfast rolls, and water.

The rest of the Museum of Liverpool will open at 10am as usual, so come in to be inspired by the stories of the city's sporting heroes in the Wondrous Place gallery. There's also a great vantage point to watch the end of the race from the huge window of The People's Republic gallery.

Good luck to everyone running on Sunday, have a great race.

Beth Tweddle has signed a copy of the Museum of Liverpool book that we're giving away

Following Olympic gymnast Beth Tweddle’s visit to the Museum of Liverpool yesterday, we have a little competition for you to enter.

During her visit, Beth signed a copy of the fabulous Museum of Liverpool book, Liverpool- the Story of a City. The book is illustrated with the collections in the Museum and celebrates Liverpool’s rich history and the people who have made the city what it is today. Beth is undoubtedly one of those individuals, as shown in her dedication and relentless determination.

To win the signed copy of the book you’ll need to watch this video and answer the question: where was our video interview with Beth filmed?

Send your answers, along with your name, postal address and phone number to: press@liverpoolmuseums.org.uk by midnight on Monday 18 March 2013. The winner will be drawn and notified on Tuesday 19 March 2013.

Beth, who trains and studied in Liverpool, visited the Museum of Liverpool yesterday to see a sculpture of her body on display, which was created by body cast sculptor Louise Giblin. Beth was also presented with her own edition of the piece which is called 'Olympian Series II – Beth Tweddle MBE'.

Beth is genuinely inspiring. Last year at her home games, she became the first British woman in history to win an Olympic gymnastics medal and the oldest female competitor to win a medal in gymnastics in nearly 50 years. Prior to this, Beth is a three-time World Champion, six-time European Champion, Commonwealth Champion and has won seven consecutive National Championships too.

Louise Giblin was inspired by Beth’s performance at the 2009 World Championships at London’s O2 Arena and has incorporated aspects into the bronze sculpture, such as the London Eye, leaping gymnasts and the Thames which weaves across the middle of the sculpture. If you take a look at the back of the sculpture you will see how Louise has used sweeping lines to create a spine and muscles which represent Beth’s strength and agility.

Olympic gymnast Beth Tweddle doesn't seem to have stood still since winning a bronze medal at London 2012. She became queen of the ice on Sunday, skating to victory in Dancing on Ice with a breathtaking Bolero. This morning she was back home in Liverpool to unveil a new sculpture, with has literally cast her in a much stiller moment.

The limited edition sculpture, 'Olympian Series II – Beth Tweddle MBE', which belongs to a private collector, is on temporary display at the Museum of Liverpool. If you come to see it then do pop upstairs to the Wondrous Place gallery, where there is a Locker Stories display about Beth's gymnastic career.

Artist Louise Giblin worked closely with Beth to create the sculpture. She was inspired to embed the flag in the design after visiting Beth's flat and seeing the Union Flag on her doormat, t-shirt and many other items. It was a motif that she carried over to her sculptures of other Olympians. Beth's sculpture also features scenes of London, including the stadium where she became World Champion in 2009.

At the press call this morning artist Louise presented Beth with her own copy of the sculpture, as a thank you for stripping down and being covered in plaster for a body cast in order to make the sculpture. The casting process required Beth to stand very still, something which she admitted doesn't come naturally to her!

See more photos from the press call on our Flickr page.

The Museum of Liverpool's first birthday celebration in July was just one of the events that brought in crowds in 2012

"In 2012 National Museums Liverpool had our most successful year ever, with more than 3.3m visits. We attract more people now than we did during Liverpool's year as European Capital of Culture five years ago, and nearly five times as many as a decade ago.

We are thrilled that the Museum of Liverpool is the country's most visited museum outside of London. We are equally thrilled that it has been awarded the Council of Europe Museum Prize for 2013, proving that the Museum's success has been noticed internationally.

Our museums and galleries are exciting and emotional places to visit - that's the secret of our success. We want our venues to inspire and educate, and also be fantastic for families. Across all our museums we like to try new things and reach new audiences. The big challenge is maintaining this success when public funding is shrinking."

Young people who trained in Capoeira with Daniel on his last visit to Brazil

Capoeira teaches discipline, self respect and respect for others as well as elements of self defence, dance, music and African Brazilian cultural identity and is a powerful tool in the fight to keep young people of the favelas off the streets and way from drugs and crime.

Daniel will be visiting a group he has previously trained in the Quinta de Boa Vista e Lapa favela in West Rio and would like to take some gifts for the kids in the ghetto there.

We are wondering if any of you have any old kids or teens size football shirts you don't want anymore you could donate to them? Especially from North West teams - Liverpool, Everton, Manchester United and others they would possibly have heard of in Rio.

If any of you have any football shirts that have been outgrown or are no longer needed, Daniel and I would be very grateful if you could donate them.

The deadline for any donations is 25th March. Please leave any donations at the information desk in Merseyside Maritime Museum, marked for the attention of Vikky Evans Hubbard. Thank you.

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. 

Etchingsfrom Paula Rego's abortion series.

We are lucky enough to have several Paula Rego works in the Walker Art Gallery's collections. Currently on display are three etchings from Rego's abortion series; 'Untitled, 5, 7 and 8'. Two of which are pictured above. These works were part of Rego's response to Portugal's rejection of the legalisation of abortion in 1998. The laws have since been changed. 

The Walker has quite a strong history of collecting work by female artists, having started with a painting called 'Elaine' by Sophie Anderson in 1871. In the 1950s and 1960s the Walker bought over 90 works by women artists, 57 of which were prints. Collecting work be female artists is now a strong focus for our curators. 

Curator Lucy Gardner told me: "Our most recent acquisitions are two pieces by up and coming artist Rachael Goodyear, whose original vision and unique style stand out in contemporary practice today. We are very pleased to be able to show such powerful pieces."

You can see work by Rego and Goodyear along with work by other female artists such as Yoko Ono, Louise Bourgeois and Lubaina Himid in our New Works at the Walker exhibition.

'In the Comfort of the Bonnet' by Paula Rego.

Willie Dailey, apprentice, c1886 (Maritime Archives reference DX/1924).

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.