NEWS IN BRIEF - MUSEUMS, GALLERIES AND HERITAGE NEWS
By 24 Hour Museum Staff
22/09/2008
Welcome to the 24 Hour Museum news in brief page for the week ending September 28 2008. This page is updated every week day.
26.09.2008 - Scotland’s Other Crown Jewels in Mary, Queen of Scots Exhibition
Four of the Stirling Heads are going to France on temporary loan for a special exhibition about Mary, Queen of Scots.
The heads, large carved wooden roundels, once adorned ceilings in the royal palace at Stirling Castle which was among her most important residences.
Regarded by some as Scotland’s other crown jewels, the heads are a national treasure and among our finest surviving examples of Renaissance arts and crafts.
French experts approached Historic Scotland about the loan for an exhibition entitled Marie-Stuart, le destin d’une reine d’Ecosse at the Musee national de la Renaissance – Chateau d’Ecouen, from October 15 to February 2 2008.
Afterwards they will return to storage in Edinburgh while Historic Scotland creates a gallery for their permanent display on the first floor of the royal palace at Stirling Castle from 2011.
25.09.2008 - English Heritage Blue Plaque dedicated to founder of Smithsonian Institution
James Smithson, Scientist and founder of America’s Smithsonian Institution, has been commemorated with an English Heritage blue plaque.
The plaque has been placed on a home in Bentinck Street, London where he resided for a year in 1825.
It was at this address in October 1826 that Smithson wrote the will that eventually led to the foundation of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.
Smithson had over £100,000 to bequeath when he died in 1829 and it was his wish to have it go into building an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.
It was not until 1846 that the U.S Congress finally agreed to Smithson’s request, and work began on the Gothic Smithsonian Castle which was to house a museum, library, art gallery, chemical laboratory and lecture rooms.
Today, the Institution is the world’s largest museum and research complex and one that has helped shape the identity of the United States.
Heather Ewing, Smithson’s biographer who unveiled the plaque, said: “Smithson’s bequest exemplified the faith that he and his circle shared in science as a vehicle for progress and enlightenment – and the place that America occupied in the imagination.”
25.09.2008 - Winning Sari designer to be announced at Charnwood Museum's British Sari Story exhibition
The winner of a competition to design a British Bridal Sari is to be announced at the launch of Charnwood Museum’s British Sari Story exhibition on October 2 2008.
The national competition organised by Bridging Arts saw entrants from around the country submitting embroidered swatches illustrating their vision of a sari for a British Asian bride.
Susan Roberts, director of Bridging Arts, said: “We are delighted that the national winner will be announced in Loughborough. We have had a number of entries from Leicestershire – I know that people are hoping for a local winner!”
The designer of the winning sari will receive £250 and the top three will have their designs made up by Asian, Indian and ethnic haute couture specialists, RCKC.
The firm’s managing director, Amit Rastogi, said: “It’s exciting to see how the competition has caught the public interest. We’d all like to see a vision of a bride in a sari with patterns reflecting lives and experience in this country. I’m eager to see the winner.”
Competition judges include Leicester’s Lord Mayor, Manjula Sood, Britain’s first Asian member of the House of Lords, Baroness Flather and haut couturier, Rob Allen.
The exhibition, which has been funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Arts Council England, runs until November 30.
25.09.2008 - Franz Ferdinand assassination pistol goes on show at Imperial War Museum
One of the pistols and a bomb carried by the conspirators in the plot to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand goes on public display for the first time in the UK next week as part of a new exhibition at Imperial War Museum London.
The items are part of the museum's In Memoriam: Remembering the Great War exhibition, which opens on September 30 2008.
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28 1914 is generally acknowledged as being ‘the spark that set Europe ablaze’ and started the First World War.
The web of entangling alliances and political interests swept the rest of Europe, including Britain and its Empire, into its first global war that claimed the lives of over 21 million people worldwide by the time the Armistice was signed in November 1918.
The pistol and bomb have been lent by Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, Vienna. Admission to In Memoriam: Remembering the Great War is free. The exhibition will be accompanied by a website www.iwm.org.uk/90.
25.09.2008 - National Museums Liverpool breaks attendance records
The seven free museums and galleries notched up 360,000 visitors in July 2008 and another 370,000 in August 2008. This means that in this two-month period the venues – the only group of national museums in England outside London – had more visitors than in the whole of 2000 – 2001.
“These are our biggest visitor figures since records began," said National Museums Liverpool director Dr David Fleming. "Every day you can virtually guarantee that the galleries will be heaving with people."
“Obviously Liverpool being European Capital of Culture has helped boost the figures, but the trend has been upwards for seven years. People have definitely got the message that National Museums Liverpool offers variety, quality and excitement.”
The busiest venues this summer were the Merseyside Maritime Museum (including the International Slavery Museum - pictured above - in the same building) which had more than 160,000 visitors in July alone and the World Museum Liverpool.
The latter welcomed just under 200,000 visitors and more than half of them visited the blockbuster music exhibition The Beat Goes On.
24.09.2008 - Experts meet to discuss coastal town regeneration
Experts met in Southwold today, September 24 2008, to discuss how heritage can contribute to economic regeneration and tourism in coastal towns.
"Sea Change"? Examining the Regeneration Strategies of England's coastal resorts' drew on examples that have been chosen to provoke and encourage debate about what 'culture-led regeneration' could mean for coastal towns in the East of England.
Speakers from English Heritage, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE), East of England Development Agency (EEDA), and Visit Britain joined regeneration practitioners from Margate and Southend in The Electric Picture Palace Cinema in Southwold to discuss the issues.
They examined the work that EEDA is doing to progress coastal regeneration in the region and heard about CABE's Sea Change Funding which aims to 'use culture to make a difference'.
The programme places culture at the heart of regenerating England's seaside resorts by investing in arts, public spaces, cultural assets and heritage projects. The group heard the story of Southwold's Electric Picture Palace Cinema and about Southend's regeneration before enjoying a traditional lunch of fish and chips.
23.09.2008 - Chichester Walls Project gets funding for major restoration and research scheme
The Chichester City Walls Partnership, led by Chichester District Council, has been granted £685,000 for an ambitious programme of activity to restore, repair, research and celebrate the town's ancient city walls.
Chichester boasts the most intact circuit of city walls in the South East of England and the money from the Heritage Lottery Fund will be used to fund a variety of projects - from community archaeology projects and training for volunteer guides to a Project Officer to co-ordinate activities.
“The Chichester City Walls have stood for over 1,700 years and are important not only to local residents, but to people across the world due to their historic value,” said Councillor Nick Thomas, Portfolio Holder for Culture and Sport at Chichester District Council.
“The project will include a wide-range of community activities including excavations and research. Access arrangements for people with disabilities will be improved, along with the signage around the walls."
"There will also be some repairs to the City Walls so that they remain in good condition for the enjoyment of future generations."
22.09.2008 - Ironbridge Gorge to be lit up for the Cultural Olympiad launch weekend
Three of the famous icons and monuments of the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site are to be illuminated in spectacular style on Friday 26 and Saturday September 27 presenting the familiar sights in an amazing, new and creative way.
The Iron Bridge, Bedlam Furnaces and Museum of the Gorge will be shown in a new perspective as part of the Cultural Olympiad ‘Open Weekend’ celebrations and the World Heritage Site Festival (September 26 - 28).
The illumination of Ironbridge Gorge icons is one of the major projects in the West Midlands taking place during the launch weekend for the Cultural Olympiad. Some 40 events will be held in the region over the three days ranging from the opening up of rarely seen natural habitats, to outdoor theatrical performance, storytelling and an urban cycling display set to light and music.
22.09.2008 - Locomotion's fourth annual Steam Gala a roaring success
Visitors turned up in their thousands at the weekend to Locomotion: The National Railway Museum at Shildon which celebrated its fourth anniversary with its annual Steam Gala where pride of place went to the steam locomotive Duke of Gloucester.
The star arrival was actually one of the last big Pacific class (4-6-2) to be assembled in Britain and arrived at the gala under its own steam via the national rail network.
Other guest locomotives at the Steam Gala included Bellerophon, built by Haydock foundry in 1874, and one of the oldest surviving working engines in the country and Furnace No. 20, currently on the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway, and the oldest steam locomotive in Britain still working on a regular basis.
22.09.2008 - Penryhn Castle helps young people get into science
Young people from two North Wales schools will this week be attending an innovative new programme at Penryhn Castle designed to enthuse them about science.
A new partnership between the Institute of Physics, The National Trust, Bangor University and Careers Wales will work with 40 pupils from Ysgol Friars in Bangor and Ysgol Glan Clwyd in Denbighshire to encourage them to take an interest in Science.
Four workshop sessions will take place in the Castle throughout the day. In the historic kitchen pupils will be looking at heat conduction and insulation. They’ll be touching slate surfaces, looking at how the traditional boiler and cistern works and investigating why copper pans were used in kitchens throughout the world.
The Famous Ice Tower at Penrhyn Castle will be used to demonstrate how molecules change and the effects of ice compaction in limiting thaw. The Coachman’s Room will be used for exploring recording and uses of music through the ages. The young people will also be exploring how the National Trust uses modern techniques to preserve items from the past.
22.09.2008 - Revolving artwork is Tatton Biennial closing piece
The closing weekend for the Tatton Park Biennial sees the art festival come full circle on Sunday September 28 with a revolving art installation by artist Helen Maurer.
Maurer’s Set Dance will be staged in the unique setting of Tatton’s Tenants’ Hall. A grand mirror will rotate in the centre of the room. Slowly turning, it will shed light on intricate, ‘found’ objects and cast slowly moving shadows on carefully placed screens.
The objects will appear to ‘dance’ to a musical score, looped to reflect the circular motif of the piece.
The first of its kind in the region, the Biennial has brought new and diverse visitors to Tatton’s gardens during Cheshire's Year of Gardens ’08. Over thirty emerging and mid-career artists have been working at Tatton to develop new works inspired by the grounds.
Garden visitors will be able to experience Maurer’s magical Set Dance on Sunday September 28 between 1-5pm.
22.09.2008 - Leighton Buzzard Railway wins reprieve from development plans
Staff and supporters of Leighton Buzzard Railway are this week breathing a huge sigh of relief after it emerged that developers who want to build on the green belt surrounding part of the railway have been told to go back to the drawing board.
A detailed 5-page critique of the planning application was sent recently by South Bedfordshire District Council to the developers’ planning consultants, requesting a large number of clarifications and changes, which will require substantial extra work.
Among the changes is the suggestion that more thought be put into integrating the railway into the development plans.
“We are very encouraged by this show of support from our local planning authority," said LBR Chairman, Mervyn Leah, "which is final confirmation that our future well-being has been accepted as a ‘material consideration’, to use the planning jargon."
“Specific mention is made of the large volume of correspondence the Council has received, expressing concern about the effects of the proposed development on our line. Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to write in, because it has obviously made a difference.”
