Season launch spring 2024 press release
Immersive exhibition on bees and their fight for survival headlines National Museums Liverpool’s Spring / Summer 2024 season
Immersive exhibition on bees and their fight for survival headlines National Museums Liverpool’s Spring / Summer 2024 season
Nature at the heart of 2024 season, featuring landscapes and an iconic masterpiece, alongside the life of bees
Image one: BEES: A Story of Survival © Photo by Pete Carr. Render by Battlecat / Wolfgang Buttress Studios
Image two: Diego Velázquez, 1599 – 1660, The Toilet of Venus ('The Rokeby Venus'), 1647-51 Presented by the Art Fund, 1906 © The National Gallery, London
Image three: Capari and Pomegranate, by Winifred Nicholson © Trustees of Winifred Nicholson
National Museums Liverpool has announced a series of exhibitions across their venues that will challenge audiences to think about how they view the natural world.
A relentless battle to survive, the beauty of our landscapes as painted by female artists and natural beauty in a masterpiece by Diego Velazquez, are all displayed in galleries for the Spring / Summer 2024 season.
Bees: A Story of Survival will transport visitors into a world of bees, to explore their importance to our own lives and to understand their fight for survival. In a unique partnership with award-winning artist and sculptor Wolfgang Buttress, the immersive exhibition is a beautiful harmony of art and science featuring cutting edge technology. Using sound and light environments, the exhibition provides visitors with a real-time connection to the bees within their natural habitat and reveals the changing picture of their activity. Bees: A Story of Survival opens at World Museum on 3 May 2024.
The work of female artists will go on show at Lady Lever Art Gallery as Another View: Landscapes by Women Artists opens on 20 April 2024. The exhibition will examine women artists’ place in the history of British landscape art, a story traditionally dominated by male artists. Featuring artwork from National Museums Liverpool collections and works from other institutions, Another View: Landscapes by Women Artists celebrates the history of landscapes by women artists.
The only surviving nude artwork by artist Diego Velázquez, The Rokeby Venus, is the focal point of National Treasures: Velázquez in Liverpool, opening at the Walker Art Gallery on 10 May 2024.
The masterpiece is being loaned to the Walker as part of the National Treasures programme celebrating the 200th birthday of the National Gallery in London. The Walker will display the painting alongside a selection of unexpected works from the collections of National Museums Liverpool, exploring this iconic 17th century painting in a contemporary light.
Laura Pye, director of National Museums Liverpool, said: “From a brand-new exploration into landscapes by women artists to the visually-stunning and important Bees exhibition, I’m sure we’ll have something for everyone to enjoy. This season we are focussing on the natural world, the role many species and we play in it. From learning about insects, animals and humans over the years to how we can help in the fight against climate change, our venues are perfectly placed to help you discover, educate, experience and take action.”
Alongside exhibitions, a range of learning events will take place across the season, with activities suitable for all ages. Beyond the Label talks delve into the hidden stories in National Museums Liverpool’s collections, and Old Dock Tours give people a chance to see Liverpool from below the ground.
For more information on all exhibition and events taking place across National Museums Liverpool venues, please visit: liverpoolmuseums.org.uk.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Chris Wardle
PR & Communications Officer
Chris.wardle@liverpoolmuseums.org.uk
+44(0) 7779 123 321
NOTES TO EDITOR
National Museums Liverpool
National Museums Liverpool (NML) comprises seven venues, including some of the most visited museums in England outside of London. Our collections are among the most important and varied in Europe and contain everything from Impressionist paintings and rare beetles to a lifejacket from the Titanic. We attracted nearly 2.5 million visitors in 2022.
Our venues are Museum of Liverpool, World Museum, Walker Art Gallery, Maritime Museum, International Slavery Museum, Sudley House and Lady Lever Art Gallery. National Museums Liverpool is regulated by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
Another View: Landscapes by Women Artists
Lady Lever Art Gallery
20 April – 18 August 2024
FREE ENTRY | DONATIONS WELCOME
Your donation makes a real difference and can help us welcome school and community groups, care for our world-class collections and share our great museums and galleries with everyone.
A brand new exhibition exploring and celebrating the history of landscapes by women artists will open at Lady Lever Art Gallery in April.
This exhibition will examine women artists’ place in the history of British landscape art, a story traditionally dominated by male artists. Starting with early depictions by female amateur artists, the exhibition will move through the 19th and 20th centuries, presenting the changing ways women have looked at the outside world, and how social, economic, cultural and environmental developments have affected that.
The artworks range from oil paintings to prints and drawings, and will be drawn from National Museums Liverpool’s collection alongside works from other institutions. They will tell a story of women artists' growing ambition and development of technique as they get more of a foothold in the art world. Some of these artists will be relatively unknown, while others are recognised as leaders and innovators of their time. 'Another View' will seek to present for the first time an overarching narrative drawing these artists together.
The exhibition comes alongside increased interest in how women from all backgrounds experience ‘the great outdoors’. In presenting these artists' own approach to looking at and being in the natural world, the show will open up the conversation about how we research and understand landscape art by women artists.
There will also be a programme of events and activities, including panel discussions, curatorial talks, printmaking and painting workshops. Keep checking our website for details.
liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/anotherview
Bees: A Story of Survival
World Museum
3 May 2024-5 May 2025
Members: Free / Adults: £12 / Concessions: £11 / Young people and children (12-17): £5 / 0-11 years: Free. On sale now.
Bees: A Story of Survival is a visually stunning and immersive exhibition that reveals the epic tale of these incredible creatures and their essential relationship with the natural world.
In a unique partnership with the award-winning artist and sculptor Wolfgang Buttress, Bees: A Story of Survival is a beautiful harmony of art and science featuring cutting edge technology. Using sculptural sound and light environments, the exhibition provides visitors with a real-time connection to bees within their natural habitat, revealing and expressing the ever-changing picture of their activity.
Journey with us into their universe, from the tiny and fascinating anatomy of a single bee to the magic and wonder of bee colonies, the role of bees and the threats they face. Bees are facing extinction. With more than 20,000 known species, bees are vital to our way of life and essential to the planet’s survival.
Could the decline in bees be a reflection of the impending destruction of our natural world? Join us on an emotional and thought-provoking voyage of discovery, reminding us all that the time for action is now.
liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/bees
National Treasures: Velázquez in Liverpool
Walker Art Gallery
10 May-26 Aug 2024
FREE ENTRY | DONATIONS WELCOME. Your donation makes a real difference and can help us welcome school and community groups, care for our world-class collections and share our great museums and galleries with everyone.
In May 2024, Walker Art Gallery will host a new display centred around The Rokeby Venus by Diego Velázquez - a masterpiece that is being loaned to the Walker as part of the National Treasures programme celebrating the 200th birthday of the National Gallery in London.
The Rokeby Venus is Velázquez’s only surviving female nude and one of his most celebrated works. The Walker will display the painting alongside a selection of unexpected works from the collections of National Museums Liverpool, exploring this iconic 17th century painting in a contemporary light.
National Treasures will see twelve galleries across the UK receive a painting loaned from the collections of the National Gallery. For the duration of the displays, 35 million people - more than half the UK population - will be within an hour’s journey of a National Gallery masterpiece.
liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/nationaltreasures