Museum Partnerships

Collections management

Collecting Contemporary India

'Religious Tolerance: Gujarat Riots' by Montu Chitrakar 2007

This project is a three year partnership (2006-09) with the Earth and Grass Workshop, an Indian organisation dedicated to the promotion and development of India arts and crafts. The organisation will act to identify and commission work by contemporary craftmakers in consultation with the Ethnology team at National Museums Liverpool.

The partnership will enable us to tackle the gap between historical collections at National Museums Liverpool and contemporary India and will generate public and learning events at World Museum.

Participation in the Museum Association's Effective Collections Scheme

Summer 2008

Painted bowl from Iran, 12th - 13th century

The review of the Islamic ceramic collections of the World Museum as part of the Effective Collections Scheme was completed in summer 2008. The collection has come from a variety of sources, including donations by private collectors and purchases from major museum in the Islamic world. Significant acquisitions came in the early 20th century notably in 1919 from the Arab Museum, in 1949 from Professor of Egyptology, Percy Newberry, (at the University of Liverpool from 1906 to 1911) and in 1951. These acquisitions include 20th century Palestinian pottery and material from Fustat. Later donations came in response to the devastating fire that destroyed Liverpool Museum during the Blitz of 1941.

We continue to work on the recommendations of the report, developing digital content, and have integrating collections with displays at World Museum and developed learning activities for the Weston Discovery Centre in summer 2009. We are also keen to link the collections with contemporary artists work and to explore stylistic influences and designs from the Islamic world and are therefore working closely with the Arabic Arts Festival in Liverpool.

Find out more on the Effective Collections scheme website.