Current exhibitions

'The Induction Wing', Anon, HM Prison Altcourse

A group of young ex-offenders have curated an exhibition of art work produced in prisons, secure children’s homes and by people on probation in the North West .

The budding curators have made their selection of work for the exhibtion from a total of 600 pieces of art submitted as North West entries to the 2011 Koestler Awards. The Koestler Awards are an annual national scheme set up by the Koestler Trust, a prison arts charity, that promotes the creation of high quality art by offenders.

'Safety Net of Sky', named after a Koestler Award winning poem, is a display of thought-provoking art work including paintings and drawings.

This exhibtion is the result of a partnership between National Museums Liverpool, the group of young people and Liverpool City Council’s Youth Offending Service.

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© Isaac Bruce-Vanderpuije

A new display at World Museum shows photographic portraits of some of the West Africans who made donations to the museum between 1897 and 1916.

Almost eighty Africans are known to have donated more than 500 objects to World Museum. Their donations helped to create one of the most important historical collections of African cultural artefacts in Britain.

Most of the images were taken by West African photographers. All the donors were friends or contacts of Arnold Ridyard, the steamship engineer who transported their gifts to Liverpool.

Ridyard was a prolific collector himself. He brought an astonishing total of 6,450 artefacts and natural history ‘specimens’ to the museum in Liverpool while serving as Chief Engineer with Elder Dempster & Company’s West African shipping service.

Little is known about some of Ridyard’s West African friends and collaborators, but Zachary Kingdon, Curator of African Collections at World Museum, is helping to uncover their forgotten stories through his current research.

Images:
(Left) George Punshon During and Claudius D. Hotobah During (1886 - 1973) Photographer unknown. Permission: Solomon Jawara.
(Right) Nii Kojo Ababio IV, (formerly Amoako Atta) (1873 - 1938). Photographer: J.K. Bruce-Vanderpuije, Accra c.1935. Copyright: Isaac Bruce-Vanderpuije.

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'Edward Lear: Artist, Explorer and Poet' reveals five of Lear’s most stunning watercolours from his years spent travelling from 1837 to his death in 1888.

Edward Lear had a vast and varied career as an artist spanning six decades. Today he is best remembered for his nonsense poetry and caricatures, which demonstrate his offbeat humour and personality.

Find out more about Edward Lear: Artist, Explorer and Poet

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'Elements and Satellites' is a display of recent work by the winner of the Liverpool Art Prize 2011, Markus Soukup. This also includes a piece made especially for the Walker Art Gallery.

Soukup is a new media and sound artist whose work incorporates video, 2D and 3D animation. Other areas of his work are digital photography, typography, graphic and interactive design, field recordings and sound design.

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This display in the Craft and Design Gallery highlights the original fashions of the 1970s, currently enjoying a revival on the high street.

Discover some of the most influential 'looks' of that decade, from the simple country styles of Laura Ashley, through the sophisticated evening wear of John Bates, to the glamour of disco.

More about the Feathercuts and Flares exhibition

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‘Rolf Harris: Can you tell what it is yet?’ will be a major retrospective of legendary artist, musician and TV personality, Rolf Harris.

It will feature an eclectic range of paintings, memorabilia and much more from the UK’s best selling published artist and well loved entertainer.

The original works on display range from Rolf’s early days as a student to paintings he created at lightning speed in front of a TV camera.

The exhibition also includes some of his most impressive and well known pieces, such as his iconic portrait of Her Majesty The Queen. There will also be self-portraits, portraits, paintings of wildlife, urban and rural landscapes and studies of people and everyday life from home and abroad on display.

The range of subjects reflects the wide range of experiences and locations that Rolf has encountered in his personal life and his long and illustrious career.

Opening event at Light Night

Don't miss the opening event for the Rolf Harris exhibition at Light Night on Friday 18 May! The gallery will be open from 5pm, with lots of great activities going on throughout the evening. Find out more here.

Exhibition developed in partnership with DeMontfort Fine Art.

Find out more about Rolf Harris: Can you tell what it is yet?

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Sir Steve Redgrave (in white framed sunglasses) during competition, 2000. Photograph copyright Peter Spurrier, Intersport Images

To mark Britain hosting the Olympic Games, Racing for Gold is a display of three racing craft, including two from the collections and one on loan from a local club. The boats reflect the dynamic sailing and rowing scene in North West England.

The display is supported by the UK Border Agency National Museum based at Merseyside Maritime Museum. The role of the Agency in the 2012 Olympics will be explored in an accompanying display 'A Sporting Celebration', which will open in Seized! The Border and Customs Uncovered in the museum’s basement from 2 June 2012.

Find out more about Racing for Gold

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To mark the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic, this compelling exhibition explores Liverpool's central role in the Titanic story. The exhibition features previously unseen collections of international significance including material from Merseyside Maritime Museum's extensive archives. It complements the museum's permanent gallery, the hugely popular Titanic, Lusitania and the Forgotten Empress.

This exhibition is part of the Liverpool and the World exhibition series, part-funded by the European Union.

Find out more about Titanic and Liverpool: the untold story

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Copyright Lee Karen Stow (detail of photo)

An exhibition of 42 portraits of the women of Sierra Leone, by British photojournalist and writer Lee Karen Stow.

"When I turned 42 in 2008 life expectancy in Sierra Leone was around 42. I realised that I had double the chance of living a long and healthy life in the UK, where life expectancy for women is around 83. I became angry at what is a violation of human rights.

42 aims to show the beauty, spirit, hope and the value to society of women not just in Sierra Leone, but women everywhere, who wake each morning with the belief that one day, life really will get better." Lee Karen Stow

The exhibition includes photographs taken in summer 2010, which have not been shown before.

Find out more about '42' Women of Sierra Leone

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Reproduced with the kind permission of the Liverpool 8 Law Centre

A community exhibition to mark the 30th anniversary in July 2011 of the riots in Liverpool 8. It features the memories and photographs of the local people who were affected at the time, including a lot of previously unseen material.

The exhibition is a collaboration with the Merseyside Black History Month Group (MBHMG) and Writing on the Wall (WoW).

Find out more about Toxteth 1981

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Copyright Environmental Justice Foundation

This exhibition highlights the abuse of labour rights in the cotton industry, primarily in Uzbekistan, one of the largest cotton exporters in the world.

The Uzbekistan government forcibly conscripts hundreds of thousands of its citizens, including young children, to work in its billion dollar cotton industry. The Uzbek government is the main beneficiary of this forced labour, demanding high production quotas and retaining rigid control over the exports.

Every year many rural schools are closed and children, some as young as seven, are sent to help pick the annual cotton harvest. They then endure hard and hazardous working conditions and often face verbal and physical abuse.

This exhibition includes photographs of cotton workers in Uzbekistan, explores how the cotton supply chain works, how we as consumers are part of this chain and how we can make a difference.

Organised in partnership with the Environmental Justice Foundation.

Find out more about White Gold: the true cost of cotton

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Images courtesy of Musée d'Orsay, Paris.

Two striking self-portraits by van Gogh and Gauguin are now on display at the Lady Lever Art Gallery, on loan from the Musée d’Orsay, Paris.

Vincent van Gogh (born 1853) and Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) are two of the most popular artists of the Post-Impressionist era. Both developed ideas and techniques that influenced the development of modern 20th century art.

The van Gogh painting is one of more than 40 self-portraits by the artist - it shows how he liked to use rapid brushstrokes and thick layers of paint. Gauguin’s dates from a difficult period during which he returned to Paris in 1893 in an unsuccessful bid to sell his work.

The paintings have been lent to the Lady Lever Art Gallery in exchange for its loan of 'The Blessed Damozel' by Rossetti to the exhibition 'Debussy, Music and the Arts' at the Musée de l’Orangerie, Paris, 21 February - 11 June 2012.

Images: (Left) Self-portrait with a hat (1893-4) by Paul Gauguin, (right) Self-portrait (1887) by Vincent van Gogh.

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This exhibition explores the development of fashionable dress between 1790 and 1850, a period of rapid social, economic and political change. Exactly two hundred years after the publication of Jane Austen’s first novel, 'Sense and Sensibility', visitors to Sudley House will be able to see original clothes and accessories from her time.

Viewers of popular television adaptations, such as Austen’s 'Pride and Prejudice' and Elizabeth Gaskell’s 'Cranford' novels are sure to enjoy this collection of early and rare garments. Highlights include a man’s court suit from the 1790s or early 1800s, richly embroidered with multi-coloured silks and a brilliant yellow silk brocade evening dress, from the early 1840s.

They will be placed in their wider social and historic contexts through a wide range of contemporary fashion plates, engravings and drawings.

Find out more about Costume Drama: Fashion from 1790 to 1850

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Roger McGough has worked with book binder Mark Cockram and students from Liverpool John Moores University to turn doors donated by the public into this unusual installation.

The doors have been decorated with poetry and transformed into huge works of art. Each door is symbolic of a personal memory of the city.

The exhibition includes a door from the Everyman Theatre chosen by Roger himself, as his own celebration of a place close to his heart, as well as doors from Everton and Liverpool Football Clubs, Strawberry Fields and sculptor Arthur Dooley's studio.

Find out more about Liverpool Doors

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Copyright Joann Kushner

Artwork by 15-24 year olds on Merseyside exploring the effect of antisocial behaviour legislation on their lives and communities.

100 young people from areas including Norris Green, Toxteth and Kirby have collaborated with groups in New York on the Postcode project. They worked with film maker and photographer Joann Kushner in Liverpool and artist Dread Scott in East New York, using photography to create portraits resembling 'Old Masters'.

The young people from both countries live in areas where stop and search is used as a crime prevention tactic. The project aimed to get the young people who are affected to engage in conversations with each other and older generations about the effects these tactics are having on their communities.

Eight works from the project are being displayed on the first floor of the Museum of Liverpool.

The project is a collaboration between Urban Revolt Media, National Museums Liverpool, the Bluecoat and Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation in New York.

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Capturing the spirit of the city, the colourful tapestry is the result of a community project started by local retailer Home Bargains in 2008. Made up of nearly 5 million stitches, the tapestry features the work of 150 embroiderers.

Find out more about The Liverpool Tapestry: People, Places and Passions