Our staff are Dementia Friends

National Museums Liverpool staff are Dementia Friends

This week, staff at National Museums Liverpool have had the chance to take part in some really interesting awareness sessions in order to become Dementia Friends.

We’re the first national museums service to take part in the initiative, which is led by the Alzheimer’s Society. Those living with dementia sometimes need a helping hand to go about their daily lives and feel included in their local community, so Dementia Friends sessions give participants an understanding of dementia and the small things people can do to make a difference.  Read more…

Remembering the Jewish victims of the Holocaust

This tablecloth was donated to the Museum of Liverpool by the AJR in 2012

On 27 January each year, Holocaust Memorial Day is marked to remember the millions who have been murdered in the Holocaust and subsequent genocides.

This Sunday 26 January we will be holding special events at the Museum of Liverpool to remember the Jewish victims of the Holocaust.

In partnership with the Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR) there will be a variety of talks and tours taking place between 11am and 4pm, with a particular focus on memories of the Kindertransport.  Read more…

The Big Draw

Design for bookcases and fireplace in the library of Sudley House, circa 1882

When you think about it, everything man-made has at some point been “drawn”. From the design of road signs to the largest buildings, someone has put pencil to paper and come up with an idea. Read more…

Do you remember Liverpool’s courts?

Copyright Mark McNulty

If you’ve visited the Museum of Liverpool you might have seen the court in The People’s Republic gallery.  This reconstruction represents a standard housing type in Liverpool from the early 18th to the mid 20th centuries.

Small back-to-back houses densely packed around courtyards formed the homes of tens of thousands of people.  Without adequate water supply or drainage in many areas they became ‘slums’.  From the early 20th century programmes to clear them and replace them with better quality housing with improved facilities benefited communities across the city. Read more…

Credit crunch art – and film posters!

Image courtesy of Empire magazine

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. Read more…

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans History Month

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans History Month takes place every year this month. It celebrates the lives and achievements of the LGBT community. A Liverpool Trans pioneer and inspiration, Miss April Ashley MBE, will be the focus of a groundbreaking exhibition at the Museum of Liverpool opening in September.

In partnership with Homotopia, the exhibition will tell the story of April’s life and will explore the significant role she has played in making social and political history in Britain. In detailing April’s life, the project will tell the wider story of social, political and legislative change affecting Trans, LGB and many other people in Britain over the past 70 years, and of the impact April’s story has had on family law and legal definitions of gender and identity. Read more…

Waves on the Mersey

The Waves on the Mersey team with the giant radio located at the Museum of Liverpool

Hurrah for half term! Aside from all the great half term events that are taking place at our venues next week, we are also set for some radio interference across the city from 18 – 22 February.

Waves on the Mersey is a project that has been created by Open the Door Theatre in Education, who are bringing five giant radios into the city to broadcast documentaries about major historical events that have shaped Liverpool’s history.

The documentaries have been created by young people between the ages of 14 and 21, who have researched, interviewed and devised radio shows and plays on each topic. They have also decorated the radios, which will be located at five locations around the city, broadcasting a different documentary every day. Read more…

Chinese New Year!

Most of us have already celebrated the New Year, and enough time has passed that we have made – and broken – New Year’s resolutions a plenty!

If like me you’ve taken a while to get started with your plans to start a new fitness regime or take up a new hobby, why not have another crack at starting a fresh this Sunday, with the dawning of the Chinese New Year.

2013 is the Year of the Snake, and World Museum can certainly boast a lot of snakes in its collections. You can visit the Clore Natural History Centre to see some of the snake specimens and skeletons on display, or have a look at our online collection if you really want to have a good nose at what’s in our stores. Read more…

April Ashley Heritage Project

April Ashley was at the Museum of Liverpool on Friday to launch a new project by Homotopia Liverpool

On Friday, we hosted a very special event, marking the beginning of an exciting project that will culminate in an exhibition at the Museum of Liverpool.

The event led by Homotopia Liverpool, took place to announce the ground-breaking project that will tell the story of the life of Miss April Ashley, utilising her unique collection of photographs, letters and personal documents supplemented with archive materials from Liverpool records Office, National Museums Liverpool and other sources.

April attended the event herself, and took part in a Q&A session with BBC Radio Merseyside’s Roger Philips, which inspired everyone who came along to hear about the project and April’s life. Read more…

Sylvia, volunteer extraordinaire, shortlisted for Merseyside Woman of the Year

The Education team at the Walker Art Gallery are pleased to announce that their nomination for the Merseyside Women of the Year Awards has been shortlisted – none other than Sylvia Jones! 

Celebrating her 80th birthday this year, Sylvia continues to be an inspiration for all women who work alongside her. Sylvia is an important figure in Liverpool’s art and culture scene and has been a committed volunteer at National Museums Liverpool for the past 25 years. We were inspired to nominate Sylvia for her enthusiasm, dedication and outstanding contribution to the Walker Art Gallery Education team, inspiring all those she comes in contact with.  Read more…