Past exhibitions

The award-winning 'Eye for Colour' exhibition is back by popular demand!

Visit the museum to immerse yourself in the amazing world of colour through hands-on interactives. You can experience the Mood Room and Colour Food Cafe, create your own virtual masterpiece with The Art Machine or create a Flashy Fish using your own colour scheme.

From science to art, from the natural world to human culture and language, Eye for Colour demonstrates how colour brings our planet to life. This fascinating exhibition is a real eye-opener for all the family!

Find out more about Eye for Colour

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A little DNA can make a big difference! This touring exhibition from At-Bristol will help you get to grips with the latest issues in genetics and genomic research. Looking at subjects such as identity, health and evolution, 'Inside DNA' will feature interactive exhibits that offer a fascinating insight into cutting edge science. You will be able to tell us your views in the Dialogue Zone and the News and Views pods will give access to the latest news on genomic research.

This exhibition was developed on behalf of the Association for Science & Discovery Centres.

Find out more about Inside DNA

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Biodiversity, the variety of life on Earth, provides us with everything that we need to survive and thrive. We are causing the diversity of life on Earth to disappear very quickly and are damaging the Earth's life support systems.

This exhibition will help you learn more about biodiversity through interactive displays, which explain what it is, why it is important to us and how it is under threat.

'Biodiversity: what on Earth is it?' is part of World Museum’s Wild Wild World programme of events for the International Year of Biodiversity 2010.

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Discover the secret world of plants in Plantastic!, an exhibition for all the family.  Enter a magical realm with giant leafy canopies, massive seed pods, huge root systems and strange man-made trees. Forty exciting interactive displays help explain how we use plants in our daily life and show that plants are essential for the planet’s survival.

An exhibition co-produced by National Museums Liverpool, The Museon (Netherlands), Technopolis, the Flemish Science Centre (Belgium), Bruns (Netherlands) and Le Vaiseau (France). Touring details are available on the Plantastic! partners micro-site.

This exhibition is available for tour. See the touring exhibitions page for further information.

Find out more about Plantastic!

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Traditionally crafted quilt

To celebrate the Guinness Liverpool Irish Festival 2009, we hosted this beautiful exhibition of textiles, brought together by curator Roberta Bacic. The pieces were created by a variety of community groups and individuals, who have used their craft to express their thoughts and feelings.

The exhibition comprised a number of traditionally crafted quilts from Ireland and England, covering topics such as community, daily life and family. Some of these pieces were created by women directly affected during the ‘Troubles’ in Northern Ireland and demonstrate both their feelings of loss and their hope for peace within their community.

The exhibition also contained a selection of arpilleras (pronounced “ar-pee-air-ahs”); three-dimensional appliqué textiles from Latin America. The pieces that were displayed were from Chile and Peru, with most of the Chilean pieces coming from the times of the country’s dictatorship (1973 - 1990.) Many of these textiles depicted the experiences of people living during that difficult time and reflect their determination and courage.

For an extensive archive on this subject, visit www.cain.ulst.ac.uk/quilts

Photos by Colin Peck and Martin Melaugh

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Inspired by Liverpool’s significant contribution to popular music, The Beat Goes On showcased Merseyside’s vibrant music scenes that have played a major part in the city’s life over the past 60 years. The first exhibition of its kind, it brought together material from record companies, institutions and private collectors.

Find out more about The Beat Goes On

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A science exhibition showing how Darwin’s ideas are relevant today and how they have influenced learning and research, including Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection.

Exhibition created by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council on behalf of the Research Councils UK.

Find out more about Darwin Today

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Image copyright Lode Saidan 2007

This spectacular UEFA football exhibition was on at World Museum Liverpool. From the classic era of the 1950s to the modern age of global superstars, Europe’s love affair with the beautiful game was explored.

European culture was examined from a footballing perspective. Topics such as solidarity, success, participation, celebration, racism and integration were all tackled. 

Visitors saw player memorabilia from the National Football Museum - the shirts, medals and trophies of great European players such as Phil Neal, George Best, Ferenc Puskas, Franz Beckenbauer, Bobby Moore, Stanley Matthews and Petr Cech. They discovered the city’s own part in this European tale and saw key items from the Everton Collection and from the Liverpool FC Museum, plus glorious UEFA trophies - the Champions League trophy and UEFA Cup.

Visitors had a ball with our interactive displays, and mixed their own football highlights into a video clip and set it to a soundtrack, or rose to the challenge with our multimedia quiz.

Players and managers, legends and fans, friends and foes - we’re all part of the extended European family of football which was celebrated at World Museum Liverpool. Only a Game?

Only a Game? was a collaborative project between UEFA, The National Football Museum, The North West Development Agency and National Museums Liverpool and was UEFA’s contribution to Liverpool 08.

Find out more about Only A Game?

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'Maybe in the sky' took a fresh look at time and space through the work of visual artists Lily Markiewicz and Anne Robinson. These two exciting video works were installed in the planetarium creating shifting orbits, bringing the far-away near, questioning vision and perception.

Find out more about Maybe in the Sky

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This community exhibition was a collection of striking self-portraits created by the Young Learners Group at EMTAS, using a variety of collage and textile techniques.

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This thought provoking community exhibition, displayed in the World Cultures gallery, tells the stories of displaced womn and those living in conflict around the world.

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A ground-breaking experiment‚ which could unlock some of the biggest mysteries of the universe‚ was explored in 'BIG BANG! which celebrated the 'World’s Largest Physics Experiment'.

This exhibition enabled visitors to see the different stages of this unique experiment through a wide range of objects‚ video footage‚ images and interactives.

Find out more about BIG BANG!

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RESPECTacles was Liverpool's artistic response to the events of the Holocaust and other Nazi atrocities, in particular to the images of the mounds of spectacles discovered in Auschwitz Birkenau concentration camp on its liberation.

Find out more about RESPECTacles

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Steve Higginson and Tony Wailey, authors of Edgy Cities, working with local photographer John Lafferty created a series of ‘edgy’ visuals which try to represent Liverpool as a unique place and space.

Find out more about Edgy Cities, Take a Look on the Westside

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This exhibition allowed you to immerse yourself in the amazing world of colour through hands-on interactives. You could experience the Mood Room and Colour Food Cafe, create your own virtual masterpiece with The Art Machine or create a Flashy Fish using your own colour scheme.

From science to art, from the natural world to human culture and language, Eye for Colour demonstrated how colour brings our planet to life. This fascinating exhibition was a real eye-opener for all the family!

Eye for Colour was produced by National Museums Liverpool for eTEC (the ecsite-uk travelling Exhibitions Consortium). eTEC is a consortium of At-Bristol, ecsite-uk, National Museums Liverpool, Magna and W5 together producing three interactive, travelling exhibitions funded by the Millenium Commission through a ReDiscover grant. www.ecsite-uk.net.

Eye for Colour opens at Le Vaisseau in Strasbourg on 22 Sept 09 to 29 August 2010.

This exhibition is available for tour. See the touring exhibitions page for further information.

Find out more about Eye for Colour

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Animated Adventures captured the full animation process from storyboards to set design. Find out how the world’s top animators, including Wallace & Gromit creators, Aardman Animations, create their on screen characters and discover the art of cel painting, stop frame and CGI technology. All the industry’s secrets were revealed through a fun and engaging mix of hands-on exhibits and multi-media pods that guarantee to get everyone animated!

Find out more about Animated Adventures

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LoveSport was an exciting new exhibition that celebrated the benefits of sport and encouraged everyone to get active! You were able to find out about the sporting body and mind, the latest sport technologies and its impact on performance. From learning about the science of sport to actively engaging in new and unusual activities, this exhibition provided a fun challenge for all the family, regardless of  fitness level. 

Find out more about LoveSport

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A wonderfully colourful display of statement flags created by local school children around the theme of fair trade and what it means in Liverpool in 2007. Tibetan prayer flags provided the inspiration for this glorious display on the third floor.

This display, which was created in partnership with Liverpool World Centre and Liverpool John Moores University, ran for the duration of Fair Trade Fortnight. It was part of a larger project working with faiths from across the city.

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Romuald Hazoumé: ARTicle 14

Romuald Hazoumé explores signs, symbols and mythologies of West African culture. His works carry traditional and coded information, but they are also accessible to a wider public as aesthetic vehicles of a powerful history.

Hazoumé's art is steeped in cultural and personal experience. His themes are derived from the 'oracle' of life, which is to be found in ancient rock engravings between Nigeria, Benin and Ghana.

Find out more about Romuald Hazoumé: ARTicle 14

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You could experience the amazing world of colour through this hands-on interactive exhibition. Visitors were able to explire the Mood Room and Colour Food Cafe, create their own virtual masterpiece with The Art Machine or create a Flashy Fish.

From science to art, from the natural world to human culture and language, Eye for Colour demonstrated how colour brings our planet to life.

Eye for Colour was produced by National Museums Liverpool for eTEC (the ecsite-uk travelling Exhibitions Consortium). eTEC is a consortium of At-Bristol, ecsite-uk, National Museums Liverpool, Magna and W5 together producing three interactive, travelling exhibitions funded by the Millenium Commission through a ReDiscover grant. www.ecsite-uk.net.

This exhibition is available for tour. See the touring exhibitions page for further information.

Find out more about Eye for Colour: the rainbow revealed

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Celebrity jockey silks designed by chef Gordon Ramsay

Like the Grand National this display aimed to capture the nation's imagination. Stars from the world of sport, fashion, entertainment and business each designed an exclusive jockey silk, imprinting their own style on the design.

The silks will eventually be auctioned for the IMAGINE Appeal at Alder Hey Children's Hospital.

Find out more about Celebrity Silks

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Photograph Copyright James Mollison

This stunning collection of 30 photographs by James Mollison brought the visitor face to face with man’s closest biological relative - the ape. Each face is as different and as unique as our own and has an intensity of expression that is startling. Viewing this magnificent display was a humbling experience that forced us to reflect on our relationship with our distant cousins. All the great apes are under threat in their natural environment due to poaching and the consequence of human activity on the land. This exhibition was sure to have had a lasting impact on anyone who visited it, particularly those interested in wildlife preservation and photography.

Find out more about Face to Face

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Showcasing some of the best disabled photographers in the country. The meaning of community was explored in a wide array of beautiful, thought-provoking images.

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An exhibition demonstrating the ground-breaking techniques used in the pre-school educational centres of excellence in the Italian city of Reggio Emilia, Italy. The schools were established more than 40 years ago and central to their approach is the interests of the child, with teachers observing and supporting the 100 ways in which children communicate and express their ideas.

This exhibition was of particular interest to teachers, learning professionals and parents with an active interest in education. World Museum Liverpool was the last place to house the exhibition in Britain.

Find out more about 100 Languages of Children

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Fascinating images from Mongolia, taken by Liverpool-born photographer Barbara Hind at World Museum Liverpool until 2 October 2005.

Barbara Hind, originally from Knotty Ash, visited Mongolia 16 times between 1994 and 2001. The result of her extensive travelling was a group of photographs, providing an intimate portrayal of everyday life for Mongolian Buddhists. The photographs, which were rich in colour and texture, including scenes of monk ordination, the call to morning worship and Tibetan language classes. This stunning collection gave a gripping insight into an intriguing culture.

Find out more about Mongolian Buddhism

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Developed from personal stories that reveal how wartime experiences changed people’s lives and how people remember those they lost, the 'Their Past Your Future' touring exhibition included diaries, letters, objects and poems, some of which are previously unpublished; unseen footage and photographs from the Imperial War Museum archives; an audio-visual display, and Luftwaffe bomb maps of the local area. It was designed to encourage visitors to explore what they can learn from the Second World War from their local landscape, veterans, family and friends, and to highlight the ongoing significance sixty years on.

With an estimated reach of three million it was the largest programme of its kind, with nine different versions touring the UK. Around 50 venues across England were awarded grants by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) to host the exhibition, with further grants awarded by partner organisations in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. 

Find out more about Their Past Your Future

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Visitors of all ages from the youngest to the oldest enthusiasts were able to enjoy Beatrix Potter’s Garden. The exhibition provided a unique insight into the life and works of this enchanting author, artist and naturalist, emphasising her love of the natural world. Visitors were able to explore Beatrix Potter’s Victorian childhood and her life in the Lake District, and see how this influenced the charming characters she created.

Right: Image of Peter Rabbit, © Frederick Warne & Co., 2004.

Find out more about Beatrix Potter's Garden

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Puppets have been used to tell stories to audiences across the world for centuries. This exhibition was designed by the Horniman Museum, using puppets collected over the last hundred years. Visitors could look at the wonderful variety of puppets from around the world. Most of the exhibits were on open display, with special play areas for younger visitors. Puppets from National Museums Liverpool collections were also included.

Find out more about Puppet Worlds

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This exhibition explored the impolite science of the human body! Grossology told the story of the good, the bad and the downright ugly elements of human biology. Visitors could  take a 'Tour du Nose' and discover how snot acts as a filter and a mucus producer. They could also play pinball 'Gas Attack' and score off bumpers dressed up as food that cause flatulence. The exhibition also let visitors find out about indigestion with the 'Burp Machine' and climb the skin wall's zits, blisters and warts. 

Find out more about Grossology

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This exhibition allowed visitors to step inside a magical Christmas wonderland and join in great craft activities.

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This exhibition showcased the winning entries from the annual BG Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition. Billed as the world's most respected forum for wildlife photographic art, it brought together an array of spectacular images from the natural world. The beautiful, the wondrous and the baffling were all on display, taking visitors on an photographic safari across seven continents.

The BG Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition organised by BBC Wildlife Magazine and The Natural History Magazine, sponsored by BG Group.

Find out more about BG Wildlife Photographer of the Year

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A treat for bear lovers - an exhibition celebrating 100 years of the world's most enduring and appealing toy. From German Steiff bears to old favourites like Rupert, Paddington and Winnie the Pooh, this exhibition will capture the hearts of adults and children alike.

Find out more about Teddy Bear Story - 100 years of the teddy bear

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The striking and sensual clothing of one of London's most innovative post-war fashion designers will be on show in this major exhibition.

Find out more about Vivienne Westwood: the collection of Romilly McAlpine