This week’s Culture Radar guest is Kirsty Hall, Learning & Engagement Manager, Victoria Gallery & Museum, University of Liverpool.
Loved: The exhibition Treasure: History Unearthed at Museum of Liverpool. I felt truly connected to this exhibition, with all the finds being from the North West and Wales, and many found by ordinary people including a schoolteacher who found a medieval brooch on his lunch break. Seeing the world-famous Mold Gold Cape was a highlight and caused my colleague to almost cry with delight!
Looking forward to: Opening this October, St Brigid’s Arms explores the experiences of Women of Irish Heritage across the North of England. Through oral histories, creative workshops and community collaborations, the project will explore themes of identity, belonging, migration and intergenerational heritage. A unique feature of the exhibition is its setting within a fictional pub, with different rooms used to display works created through the workshops; this reimagines a space that was not traditionally associated with women’s voices and places their stories at its centre.
What’s coming up at Victoria Gallery & Museum? I am very excited about our first Late event on 30 April, from 5 – 8pm and completely free. This is part of the public programme for our current exhibition, Toxteth: Harlem of Europe. The exhibition celebrates Black musicians from Toxteth in the 1950s and 60s, many of whom influenced The Beatles and generations beyond, and features photography by acclaimed Liverpool based photographer, Ean Flanders.
Visitors to the Late can enjoy DJ sets, gallery conversations, a record fair and the chance to explore our music archive by helping to catalogue vinyl records. On 6 June, we’ll also host a Super Saturday inspired by the same theme, with a family-friendly programme including dance workshops with Ithalia Johnson, arts and crafts, and the opportunity to meet legends from the era.
The powerful exhibition is one we’re proud to celebrate, and we hope to welcome as many visitors as possible, especially people from our local communities who may be visiting us for the first time.
Trivia: The world’s first public radio transmission was conducted from our clocktower by the University’s Professor Oliver Lodge. He transmitted down to the old Lewis’ building so not far but hugely significant! Two years later he took the first surgical X-Ray in the UK.