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The 1st of May is an ancient pagan spring festival, traditionally celebrated across Europe with maypole dancing and the crowning with a floral crown of a May Queen.
Another big crowning ceremony will be that of our King! On May the 6th we will all see history in the making, the Coronation of King Charles 111.
International Museum Day is an international day, held annually on or around the 18th May, coordinated by the International Council of Museums. This event raises public awareness of the role museums play in the development of society whilst providing a continual dialogue between museum professionals, artists and their work.
Exhibition / 4 May 2023 - 13 Aug 2023 Room 35 The Joseph Hotung Great Court Gallery
Image courtesy of The Trustees of the British Museum,
Gold Wreath 350BC-300BC
'Treasure there was in plenty – tents full of gold and silver furniture… bowls, goblets, and cups, all made of gold'
When Greek soldiers captured the royal command tent of the Persian king during the Greco-Persian Wars (499–449 BC), they were confronted suddenly and spectacularly by luxury on an unimaginable scale. To many ancient Greek writers, the victories of the small Greek forces against the mighty Persians were a triumph of discipline and restraint over an empire weakened by decadence and excess.
Drawing on dazzling objects from Afghanistan to Greece, this exhibition moves beyond the ancient Greek spin to explore a more complex story about luxury as a political tool in the Middle East and southeast Europe from 550–30 BC. It explores how the royal Achaemenid court of Persia used precious objects as markers of authority, defining a style of luxury that resonated across the empire from Egypt to India. It considers how eastern luxuries were received in early democratic Athens, self-styled as Persia's arch-enemy, and how they were adapted in innovative ways to make them socially and politically acceptable. Finally, it explores how Alexander the Great swept aside the Persian empire to usher in a new Hellenistic age in which eastern and western styles of luxury were fused as part of an increasingly interconnected world.
Featuring star loans as well as objects from the British Museum collection, the exhibition brings together exquisitely crafted objects in gold, silver and glass, including the extraordinary Panagyurishte Treasure from Bulgaria. Whether coveted as objects of prestige or disparaged as signs of decadence, the beauty of these Persian, Greek and Hellenistic luxuries shaped the political landscape of Europe and Asia in the first millennium BC – and their legacy persists in our attitudes to luxury today.
A new major photographic exhibition from Tom Wood, showcasing 50 years of the artist’s work.
Image courtesy of Walker Art Gallery Tom Wood
'Photie Man' celebrates the internationally-acclaimed Irish artist Tom Wood (b. 1951), showcasing his iconic images of Liverpool and bringing together his work from across all decades, it will be the first major retrospective of Tom’s work in Liverpool.
Embraced locally as ‘photieman’, Wood has dedicated much of his career to the people and places of Liverpool and Merseyside to create an intimate, diverse and knowing portrait of the city and the surrounding area, and his pioneering photographs capture a definitive phase in the social and political history of the region. He is one of the most influential photographers working today.
Highlights include epic and renowned projects such as ‘Looking for Love’ from the Chelsea Reach nightclub in New Brighton, and Wood’s widely-praised Bus Series (‘All Zones Off Peak’). Unseen long-term studies of two major local institutions like Cammell Laird Shipyard feature alongside his images taken around the city’s football grounds.
The exhibition will also explore Wood’s use of found photographs and landscape photography taken in Ireland and North Wales, alongside never-before seen film work from the artist.
Joseph Mallord William TurnerStormy Sea with Dolphins c.1835–40 image courtesy of the TATE
Experience the power of the sea through paintings, sketches and an immersive sound environment
Take a fresh look atJMW Turner in the new exhibition Dark Waters. For the first time, Turner’s work will be presented within an immersive sound environment created by artist and musician, Lamin Fofana.
Although creating work centuries apart, both artists convey the power and politics of the ocean and explore its relationship to capitalism and colonialism. Turner’s paintings focus on the dangers of the waters around the British coast and Fofana’s sound work looks across the Atlantic.
Tate Liverpool’s location on the waterfront, combined with Liverpool’s maritime history, provides the perfect context for us to consider Turner afresh. The exhibition features some of Turner’s most celebrated seascapes alongside his sketchbooks and works on paper.
Lamin Fofana translates the writing of pioneering black authors into sound. Fofana’s work explores questions of movement, migration, alienation and belonging.
Hilma af Klint The Ten Largest, Group IV No.2, Childhood 1907 Hilma af Klint Foundation
Explore the powerful work of two ground-breaking modern artists.
This is a unique chance to discover the visionary work of Swedish painter Hilma af Klint and experience Dutch painterPiet Mondrian’s influential art in a new light.
Although they never met, af Klint and Mondrian both invented their own languages of abstract art rooted in nature. At the heart of both of their artistic journeys was a shared desire to understand the forces behind life on earth.
Best known for his abstract work, Mondrian in fact began his career – like af Klint – as a landscape painter. Alongside Mondrian’s iconic grids, you will see the rarely exhibited paintings of flowers he continued to create throughout his life. Also on display will be enigmatic works by af Klint in which natural forms become a pathway to abstraction.
Both artists shared an interest in new ideas in spirituality, scientific discovery and philosophy. Af Klint was also a medium, and this exhibition showcases the large-scale, otherworldly masterpieces she believed were commissioned by higher powers.
Visitors will be immersed in these ideas through the vibrant signs, shapes and colours in both artists’ beautiful, complex work.
Presented in the Eyal Ofer Galleries. Exhibition organised by Tate Modern and Kunstmuseum Den Haag
Image: Mounira al Solh, I Strongly Believe in the Right to be Frivolous, 2012-ongoing. Courtesy of the artist.
This exhibition uses the Whitworth’s collection to address one of the major humanitarian concerns of the 20th and 21st centuries – forced displacement. In tracing displacement within the collection, a partial, fragmentary, and yet compelling set of stories is emerging from academic and community collaboration. Traces of Displacement uncovers stories of persecution, creativity, and resilience, and the experiences of artists and makers who were displaced in their homelands, forced to flee, survived, and even thrived in exile.
Artists include Mounira al Solh, Otti Berger, Leilah Babiyre, Caroline Walker, Safdar Ahmed, Bashir Makhoul, Frank Brangwyn, Cornelia Parker, Mandla Rae, Raisa Kabir, Dusan Kusmic, Ian Rawlinson, Cecily Brown, Charles Green and Lyndell Brown, Francesco Simetti, Lucien Freud, Marc Chagall, Mary Kessell, Edward Bawden, James McBey, and Frank Auerbach amongst others.
Traces of Displacement is part of a majorAHRC-funded (Arts and Humanities Research Council) research project: Understanding Displacement Aesthetics led by Professor Ana Carden Coyne with Dr. Chrisoula Lionis and Dr. Angeliki Rousseau.
Cheerful-looking: Ryо̄goku Bridge, woodblock print from the series Twelve Views of Modern Beauties, designed by Keisai Eisen, about 1822 – 23, Japan. Museum no. E.12927-1886. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
The Japanese dye 'beni', made from safflower petals, produces red hues and an iridescent green. This display reveals its many uses in fashion, from heel-less shoes by Noritaka Tatehana, to textiles, cosmetics and ukiyo-e woodblock prints.
Lizzo and Lady Gaga's dresses that will be on show. PHOTO: GOTHAM/GETTY IMAGES; KEVIN WINTER/MTV VMAS 2020/GETTY IMAGES
See Crown to Couture, the blockbuster exhibition of 2023 at Kensington Palace and enter the glittering world of the royal Georgian court.
Witness the power of dress in the Georgian era and discover how it has inspired today's iconic red-carpet looks.
At the largest exhibition ever staged at Kensington Palace, you’ll be taken on an immersive journey through the palace. Over 200 objects will be on display including Lady Gaga's luminous green MTV Awards dress and the world-famous Silver Tissue Gown worn at the court of Charles II.
There's an exclusive chance to see Lizzo's spectacular Thom Browne dress from the 2022 Met Gala, complete with gold cape jacket. Also on display is the Monique Lhuillier gown worn by Phoebe Waller-Bridge at the Emmys in 2019, and Billy Porter's spectacular 'Sun God' outfit by The Blonds for the Met Gala 2019.
Historic items will include the Rockingham Mantua, one of several objects from Historic Royal Palaces'Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection.
Prepare to be dazzled as the palace State Apartments transform into London’s hottest catwalk under the expert direction of Alexander McQueen’s production designer, Joseph Bennett, promising a truly unforgettable experience.
Exhibition generously supported byGarrard, theBlavatnik Family Foundation andCunard.
Silver Tissue Dress. Image courtesy of FASHION MUSEUM BATH
The Rockingham mantua that will be on show. Image courtesy of HISTORIC ROYAL PALACES, IAN SERFONTEIN
Image: © Historic Royal Palaces / Courtesy of E-Land Museum
This ivory lace three-quarter length flared dress was designed by Edith Head for Roman Holiday, which starred Audrey Hepburn. It was then altered by Givenchy for Audrey to wear to the Oscars in 1954.
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This last instalment for 2023 brings us an exciting and varied programme of exhibitions and events; theatre, photography, Fashion, an Open exhibition that is 170 years old and a Renaissance Master, Francesco Pesellino!
Encourage a child who has the gift of creativity by giving the perfect present this Christmas.
