Integrating Collections Care and Knowledge at National Museums Liverpool
Lead Research Organisation:
National Museums Liverpool
Department Name: National Conservation Centre
Abstract
National Museums Liverpool (NML) is a group of eight exceptional museums and galleries, sharing important stories from ancient times to today through collections consisting of four million objects of global importance. Our venues are Lady Lever Art Gallery, Walker Art Gallery, Sudley House, World Museum, International Slavery Museum, Merseyside Maritime Museum, Seized, and the Museum of Liverpool, which, combined, welcomed more than three million visitors in 2019/20.
Our mission is to create memorable experiences, challenging expectations. Caring for and providing deeper understanding of our collections is at the heart of this mission. NML aims to ensure that each of our eight museums and galleries has the highest standard of offer and that our collections and colleagues are fully equipped to deliver quality public engagement.
Our vision for 2030 aims to ensure that we have the right facilities to look after our collections and be a leader of cultural and economic growth for the Liverpool City Region and other heritage organisations across the North of England. As part of this vision, NML created a new structure for the Collections Care Department in 2019, to support the delivery of our collections' storage, exhibition programme and ongoing developments of permanent display spaces alongside strengthening opportunities for collaborative work, including research.
From sharing hidden microscopic details uncovered in the conservation of Walter Sickert's drawings to creating the first Biobank for NML's outstanding zoology collections, AHRC funding will enable a real step-change in our capabilities. The benefit will be felt across our collections, from recently excavated archaeological finds to affecting future environmental sustainability.
Funding will renew NML's role as a regional leader in Heritage Science research. It will provide us with an essential facility for elemental analysis and microscopic imaging and will consolidate research already being undertaken on NML's collections. Having our own modernised equipment will enable us to proactively take the lead on research projects, be more cost effective and sustainable and provide new opportunities for income generation.
The equipment will strengthen our ability to provide a vital service to other smaller museums and heritage organisations in the region enabling them to access analytical facilities difficult or impossible to access outside the London-based national museums. New cutting-edge equipment will help us to fulfil our remit as a national to build capacity in the North West and strengthen existing collaborations with strategic HEI partners, Independent Research Organisations and regional and national partnerships in the cultural and heritage sector.
Our increased research capability will also strengthen NML's ambitions to invest in research and technological development to create highly innovative, exciting museum experiences with new partners from the creative industries sector.
Our mission is to create memorable experiences, challenging expectations. Caring for and providing deeper understanding of our collections is at the heart of this mission. NML aims to ensure that each of our eight museums and galleries has the highest standard of offer and that our collections and colleagues are fully equipped to deliver quality public engagement.
Our vision for 2030 aims to ensure that we have the right facilities to look after our collections and be a leader of cultural and economic growth for the Liverpool City Region and other heritage organisations across the North of England. As part of this vision, NML created a new structure for the Collections Care Department in 2019, to support the delivery of our collections' storage, exhibition programme and ongoing developments of permanent display spaces alongside strengthening opportunities for collaborative work, including research.
From sharing hidden microscopic details uncovered in the conservation of Walter Sickert's drawings to creating the first Biobank for NML's outstanding zoology collections, AHRC funding will enable a real step-change in our capabilities. The benefit will be felt across our collections, from recently excavated archaeological finds to affecting future environmental sustainability.
Funding will renew NML's role as a regional leader in Heritage Science research. It will provide us with an essential facility for elemental analysis and microscopic imaging and will consolidate research already being undertaken on NML's collections. Having our own modernised equipment will enable us to proactively take the lead on research projects, be more cost effective and sustainable and provide new opportunities for income generation.
The equipment will strengthen our ability to provide a vital service to other smaller museums and heritage organisations in the region enabling them to access analytical facilities difficult or impossible to access outside the London-based national museums. New cutting-edge equipment will help us to fulfil our remit as a national to build capacity in the North West and strengthen existing collaborations with strategic HEI partners, Independent Research Organisations and regional and national partnerships in the cultural and heritage sector.
Our increased research capability will also strengthen NML's ambitions to invest in research and technological development to create highly innovative, exciting museum experiences with new partners from the creative industries sector.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Christian Baars (Principal Investigator) |