NEWS IN BRIEF - MUSEUMS, GALLERIES AND HERITAGE NEWS
By 24 Hour Museum Staff
26/08/2008
Welcome to the 24 Hour Museum news in brief page for the week ending September 7 2008. This page is updated every week day.
05.09.2008 - Giant spider to assail Liverpool this weekend
In the latest spectacular in their year of Capital of Culture, the residents of Liverpool are to be assailed this weekend by a giant mechanically operated spider.
The giant contraption will explore the city accompanied by a team of scientists who will track and investigate its journey across the city’s famous landmarks.
The show is the work of French company La Machine and is led by Francois Delaroziere who in 2006 engineered and fabricated the gigantic forty two tonne mechanical ‘Sultan’s Elephant’ that brought London to a standstill.
Standing at 50 feet high and weighing 37 tonnes, the spider is fabricated from reclaimed wood and steel and has already grabbed attention, appearing overnight ‘sleeping’ on the side of a building before its journey begins.
Commissioned by Liverpool Culture Company as part of European Capital of Culture and delivered by Artichoke, a regularly funded Arts Council England organisation, the weekend event promises to be an unforgettable experience.
05.08.2008 - Weather wrecks plans for Caldicot Castle Medieval Extravaganza
Due to poor ground conditions the Medieval Extravaganza due to take place this weekend Saturday 6 and Sunday September 7 at Caldicot Castle has been cancelled.
Unfortunately, following weeks of extremely wet weather the Country Park grounds are too saturated to use for camping, which means the re-enactment group Early Medieval Alliance are unable to set up camp at the castle.
The castle itself is not flooded and its internal grounds are still suitable for use. At present all other scheduled events are proceeding as planned.
The next events are Joseph Cobb’s Ghost Tours (Mondays in October) and Horrible Halloween (Friday October 31, 11am to 7pm) and it is very unlikely these events will be cancelled.
05.09.2008 - Archaeology tours announced at Sheringham Park
The National Park property Sheringham Park in Norfolk is offering visitors the chance to discover archaeological evidence from prehistory to World War II this September, with a guided walk with National Trust warden Rupert Eris (pictured).
Rupert will take visitors on a guided walk around the property and talk about some of the historical and archaeological features like the remains of an unusual tumulus, a burial mound that consists of a Neolithic oval barrow, with a Bronze Age round barrow on top.
Other features of the tour include the only visible remnants of a village that was once situated in the park and a wander through the woodland to find an early 20th Century steam-driven saw bench that has been recently restored.
There is also the chance to discover the remains of some of Britain’s military defences situated down towards the cliff, such as the spigot mortar and old pill boxes. Here the last surviving World War II anti-tank ditch in Norfolk can also be seen.
The tour takes place on Saturday September 13, from 10am to 1pm and includes refreshments. Please note the ability to walk five miles over uneven ground is necessary. £5 per person (£4.50 NT members), booking is essential on 01263 820550.
04.09.2008 - Tate acquires important Stanley Spencer painting
A painting entitled The Woolshop, by Sir Stanley Spencer, has been acquired by the Tate Gallery as part of a bequest from Maurice Farquharson.
The gallery was given the work by The Art Fund, the UK's leading independent art charity, who had received it under the will of Farquharson.
Farquharson, who died in 1993 aged 94, was keen for the nation to benefit from his collection but equally keen to know that the works would be properly cared for after his death.
His will stipulated that the painting - together with two others by Mark Geitler donated to the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art’s collection and Southampton City Art Gallery - should be given to his chosen galleries upon the death of his widow Nancy who died last year.
04.05.2008 - Pallant House Gallery holds its free open day this Saturday
With the forecast for Saturday predicting more grey skies and showers, resdients of West Sussex may want to take advantage of the seventh free open day at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester.
Visitors wil get the chance to see all the latest exhibitions, take part in a free guided tour of the collection, or even meet the artist artist Colin Self who will be signing copies of the exhibition catalogue ‘Colin Self: Art in the Nuclear Age’ from 12noon.
03.09.2008 - Tatton Park Biennial artist feeds her artwork to visitors
Recent garden visitors to Tatton Park in Cheshire have been feeding their minds and their mouths thanks to Tatton Park Biennial artist Lisa Cheung (pictured).
Visual artist Cheung has created a Kitchen Goddess for the Walled Gardens at Tatton Park. Using steel and scrap metal to create an elegant female form, the Goddess towers over her scarecrow neighbours.
The frame was installed ‘naked’, and then dressed with skirts made of grow bags. These were then planted up with salad crops, tomatoes, strawberries, peas and other vegetables and fruits, which grew over the summer months.
During a weekend of special Biennial events in August, the Goddess was harvested by Cheung and visitors were invited to feast their eyes and mouths at a celebratory lunch.
02.08.2008 - Nobel Prize winning scientist celebrated with a new commission at the NPG
The National Portrait Gallery has unveiled a commissioned portrait of the Nobel Prize winning scientist, Sir Paul Nurse.
The portrait, by acclaimed British artist Jason Brooks, is the largest realist painting that the National Portrait Gallery has acquired.
Sir Paul Nurse (b 1949) was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (jointly with Dr Tim Hung and Dr Leland Hartwell) for his work on the genes that regulate the cell division cycle. His important discoveries have improved our understanding of how cancer cells divide.
A large scale black and white close-up of the scientist's face, the portrait was developed through a series of meetings between artist and sitter in New York and London. Without overtly referencing Nurse's biological research, Brooks explores through his painting process the scientist's essential make-up and structure.
02.09.2008 - Autumnal wreaths workshop at Tullie House
Experienced florist, Kassi Martin, will be at Tullie House Museum in Cumbria on Saturday September 13 to show workshop participants how to make a spectacular wreath on a large wicker ring.
Using wheat bunches, dried flowers, berries, moss, poppy and lotus heads, fir cones and other seasonal materials, each person will go home with a fully finished wreath which will last at least five years or more.
The idea is to celebrate the time of gathering in the harvests and the approaching autumn with all of its rich warm and earthy colours, flowers, fruits and vegetables.
The workshop is suitable for adults & young people aged 14+. Tickets: £20 (£15 concessions). For Further information contact: Events Officer Angie Ball on 01228 618731.
02.09.2008 - Architecture Foundation launches film season at Barbican
The Architecture Foundation, in partnership with the Barbican, is launching a bi-monthly offering looking at the built environment’s depiction in cinema, with an accompanying question and answer session with the filmmakers.
Architecture on Film kicks off on September 24 with a double bill headlined by the UK Premiere of the acclaimed documentary Koolhaas HouseLife, by Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine; an inspired look at Rem Koolhaas’ Maison à Bordeaux through the eyes and routines of its cleaner, the wonderful Guadalupe.
This will be accompanied by Niklas Goldbach’s short film, Gan Eden, set in the remains of MVRDV’s Dutch Pavilion.
02.09.2008 - New exhibit provides physical kicks at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard
There’s a new kick start for hands-on visitor attraction ‘Action Stations’ at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard as it welcomes its latest exhibit ‘3 Kick’.
‘3 Kick’ is a novel interactive exhibit that can be used as a reaction game, a competitive sport or simply as an enjoyable way to work out. It features a 10ft. diameter steel ring with three 6ft. posts around it, each of which incorporates three combat pads positioned at different heights.
“It’s important to keep investing in interactive exhibits," said General Manager Frank Nowosielski. "3 Kick adds an extra punch to our existing portfolio which includes over 30 interactive displays, a 19 seater simulator ride and a 28ft vertical climbing tower.”
Action Stations is just one of six landmark attractions at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. These include three of the world’s most famous warships ever built, HMS Victory, HMS Warrior 1860 and the Mary Rose, the UK’s leading maritime museum the Royal Naval Museum and Harbour Tours.
02.09.2008 - Conservation in Action at Penrhyn Castle
Visitors to Penrhyn Castle, Bangor on Saturday September 13 will be able to get a sneak preview of specialist cleaning work being carried out by the castle’s conservation team.
From 2pm onwards, the team will be demonstrating the painstaking and meticulous process of how they care for a chair designed by Thomas Hopper, the castle’s architect, who also designed the interior fixtures and fittings along with most of the furniture.
The demonstration will take place in the Grand Hall, and will run from 2pm – 4pm.
01.09.2008 - Soros and De Botton in philosophical battle as part of Artangel Longplayer
This year's Artangel Longplayer Conversation will bring together British writer and philosopher Alain de Botton with the internationally renowned financier and philanthropist George Soros (pictured).
The pair will engage in a discussion inspired by the philosophical premise of Jem Finer's Longplayer. Launched in 2000, Longplayer is a musical composition playing, in real time, over the course of an entire millennium.
Each year, Artangel invites two leading cultural thinkers, aware of each other's work, but never having met, to collaborate in an open real time discussion within the context of Finer's extraordinary soundtrack and its diverse implications for contemporary society.
The conversation will take place at the Royal Geographic Society on Friday September 12 at 7pm. Tickets £10 / £8 conc. (plus booking fees). See Tickets: www.seetickets.com / 0870 264 3333
01.09.2008 - Liverpool Maritime Museum to host great museum debate 2008
The event asks you to imagine building a museum from scratch, with no-one telling you what to do. What would it be made of? What would it look like? What would you select to go in it? If you could have a museum of absolutely anything, what would it be?
Chaired by broadcaster John Waite, the debate has a distinguished panel including teen fiction author Bali Rai, Nick Poole Chief Executive of the Collections Trust, National Museums Liverpool’s Director of Urban History Janet Dugdale and historian Andrew Wheatcroft.
