Event type: Exhibition

What is gender? How have ideas about it changed over time? How does it shape our day-to-day lives? These questions and more will be explored in a brand-new exhibition co-created by National Museums Liverpool.

Through a diverse collection of fine and decorative art, personal stories and objects, Gender Stories traces the spectrum of genders and their expression across time and place, examining how gender intersects with our sex, class, sexuality and heritage to shape who we are.

Featuring works by David Hockney, Catherine Opie, Grayson Perry, Rene Matić, Zanele Muholi and Del LaGrace Volcano, this ground-breaking exhibition explores the role art can play in questioning traditional gender roles.

Created in collaboration with Bristol Museums, National Museums Liverpool, Brighton & Hove Museums, and people from all three cities and the Walker Art Gallery will be the final venue to host the show.

Gender Stories has been created for the Museums and Galleries Network for Exhibition Touring (MAGNET), with Art Fund support, and supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

Image: Still from ‘The Mind is a Group Muscle’, Ree Bradley, 2025

‘Listening All Night To the Rain’ by John Akomfrah was commissioned by the British Council for the 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, 2024.

The title is drawn from the poetry of Chinese writer Su Dongpo (1037 – 1101) written during a period of political exile. The work explores diasporic experiences in Britain, reflecting on pivotal moments in colonial and post-colonial history relating to memory, migration, racial injustice and climate change. It weaves together newly filmed material with archival imagery, audio clips and video footage from across the world.Akomfrah’s signature cinematic style creates critical and poetic connections across different places and times to encourage acts of listening and looking again, as forms of activism. His work explores how sound can shape and influence cultural realities. By layering fragments of audio materials such as political speeches, popular music and nature, he investigates how sound operates as a shared cultural experience, globally uniting us in relation to one another.Water is also a central motif. Like sound, it moves in waves, echoing the dispersal of diaspora communities. It forms the connective tissue that holds the visual and sonic narratives together, exploring how the experience can shape our understanding of the world.Akomfrah (born 1957) lives and works in London. He was a founding member of the pioneering Black Audio Film Collective (1982-1998). He is best known for works such as Handsworth Songs (1986), Seven Songs for Malcolm X (1993) and The Nine Muses (2010). His influence on experimental film and the study of colonial history and racialised identity is unparalleled.

‘Listening All Night To the Rain’ by John Akomfrah was commissioned by the British Council for the 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, 2024. It was co-commissioned by Lisson Gallery, Thyssen Bornemisza Art Contemporary and Smoking Dogs Films. The Commission and UK Tour of ‘Listening All Night To The Rain’ is supported by Art Fund

For centuries, gardens in their myriad forms, from the surreal, to the mystical, contemplative or mythical, have had profound impacts upon artists of all kinds. They act as sources of inspiration and as mirrors reflecting the cultural, social and emotional landscapes in which they were created.

This exhibition traces how artists across time have interpreted gardens not merely as physical spaces, but as symbols of creativity and solace. From delicate, nostalgic studies to immersive and grand paintings, these pieces reveal how gardens can function both as sanctuaries and laboratories of artistic experimentation.

Drawing exclusively from the Williamson’s rich and varied collection, The Garden as Muse invites visitors to wander through these imagined and observed worlds, celebrating the enduring allure of the garden as a site where art and nature meet, influence one another, and continue to grow in unexpected ways.

Jalsaghar is a solo exhibition by Debjani Banerjee that explores the relationship between the artist’s Bengali heritage and her 1980s upbringing in England. Across film, sculpture, and installation, her work playfully merges traditional craft, religious imagery and modern culture, encouraging audiences to think about what it feels like when different ways of life interplay.

The title Jalsaghar means ‘music room’ in Bengali, and comes from Satyajit Ray’s 1958 film of the same name. Banerjee reimagines this idea of a ‘music room’ and transforms the gallery into a sensory space where you can reflect with music, stories and artworks that connect the past and the present.

In the exhibition visitors will discover figures like Rabindranath Tagore, a Bengali writer, composer and thinker; Hindu deities such as Ganesh and Shiva; and imagery drawn from The Mahabharata – an ancient Indian epic poem, infused with elements of contemporary popular culture. These combined references create dreamlike works that present the artist’s ever changing ideas of India, formed through personal experience, family histories and inherited stories.

Collaboration is central to Banerjee’s practice, and Jalsaghar has developed through work with a range of artists and contributors, reflecting her interest in shared making, participation and collective exchange.

The gallery will also have a space with free creative activities for children and families to be inspired and make their own art in response to the exhibition.

Jalsaghar was initially commissioned by CCA, Glasgow (2024), Jalsaghar has since been presented in new iterations at KARST, Plymouth (2025) and at Mimosa House, London (2025).

To mark the launch of the exhibition, there will be a Celebration Day on Saturday 11th July with refreshments, family activities and a bookable walk-through of the exhibition with artist Debjani Banerjee and Head of Exhibitions at Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dan Brown. Booking info coming soon.

Free entry

Join us for an evening of celebration to mark the official opening of our new exhibition! This exhibition explores the history of Merseyside Unity Theatre from 1937 – 1987, which has been made possible through the Unity Theatre Heritage Lottery funded project ‘A Radical Re-imagining’.

Discover original documents, photographs and hidden stories about a group of talented, determined performers that put politics at the heart of performance.

The launch event will include speeches, refreshments, pop up performances, and a chance to explore the archive material in more depth.

Thursday 21 May, 4:30 – 6:30pm LG and G Floors Mount Pleasant Campus Library 29 Maryland Street Liverpool L1 9DE Book via Eventbrite The building is wheelchair accessible.

Email archives@ljmu.ac.uk for all enquiries. If you can’t make the launch event, you can still visit the exhibition anytime from 14 May – 28 June at Mount Pleasant Campus Library.

Opening hours Monday to Friday 8:45am-7pm, Saturday 10am-6pm and Sunday 10am-4pm.