Past Exhibitions

Take a look at some of our past exhibitions below.

 

A World A Particle Exhibition

A World A Particle

Tate Hall Museum

8 February 2014 – May 2018

'A World A Particle’ charted the contribution of the University of Liverpool to the field of Particle Physics – Past, Present and Future, from the 1890s through to the University’s current involvement in the world’s largest particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.

A World A Particle Exhibition Details

Before Egypt Exhibition

Before Egypt

Galleries 1 & 2 

11 May - 26 October 2019

A major exhibition that featured the internationally important collections of Predynastic Egyptian and Nubian artefacts from the University of Liverpool’s Garstang Museum of Archaeology, supplemented by loans of key objects from UK museums.

Before Egypt Exhibition Details

Eleanor Rathbone Exhibition

Eleanor Rathbone – An Independent Woman

Gallery 5

6 October 2018 - 11 May 2019

This exhibition celebrated Eleanor Rathbone and her remarkable achievements.  The exhibition formed part of the VGM@10 celebrations and also marked the centenary of the first women’s suffrage.

Eleanor Rathbone Exhibition details

She's Eclectic

Galleries 6 & 7

15 December 2018 - 11 May 2019

This exhibition showcased the diversity of women artists represented in the VG&M’s permanent collection. 

She's Eclectic Exhibition Details

Benefactresses – Women of the Holt Family Exhibition

Benefactresses – Women of the Holt Family

Gallery 4

24 November 2018 – April 2019

This exhibition turned a spotlight on Eva Melly, Emma Holt and Jane Brandreth Holt, who were patrons of the University in its early years

Benefactresses Exhibition Details

Dystopolis Exhibition

Jasmir Creed - Dystopolis

Gallery 2

17 November 2018 – 20 April 2019

Through expressive mark-making and collaged imagery, Jasmir's exhibition evoked a sense of the alienation and disorientation experienced in the modern city. 

Dystopolis Exhibition Details

John Garstang and the Discovery of the Hittite World Exhibition

John Garstang and the Discovery of the Hittite World

An exhibition that showcased the archaeological discoveries of the Hittite Empire more than 100 years ago by the Liverpool archaeologist, Professor John Garstang.

John Garstang Exhibition Details

Triangulation Exhibition

Triangulation

Gallery 7

18 July - 24 August 2019

A selection of panoramic  photographs from McCoy Wynne’s ongoing project to record the British landscape from Ordnance Survey’s 310 primary triangulation points.

Triangulation Exhibition Details

 

The Allotments Exhibition

The Allotments

Gallery 7

29 August to 28 September

Photographer David Lockwood and writer Pauline Rowe reflect on insights and stories from the community of Dingle Vale allotments in Aigburth.

The Allotments Exhibition Details

Shanghai Sacred Exhibition

Shanghai Sacred - Liz Hingley with Chen Hangfeng

Gallery 6 

7 June - 28 September 2019

Photographer and anthropologist Liz Hingley uncovers the spiritual landscape of China’s largest city. Her photographs are displayed on a bamboo structure designed by Chen Hangfeng.

Shanghai Sacred Exhibition Details

 

Ian Irvine Exhibition

Something Borrowed, Something New. Ian Irvine vs the VG&M

Gallery 5

25 May – November 2019

Contemporary prints and collage inspired by the VG&M Collections.

Exhibition Details

Secret Art of Survival Exhibition

Secret Art of Survival- Creativity and Ingenuity of British Far East prisoners of War 1942-1945

Galleries 6 & 7
 
25 October 2019 - 20 June 2020
 

The culmination of seven years’ research, this exhibition features over 100 artworks, many never before seen in public. Created secretly and kept hidden at great risk, Far East prisoners of war from their captors.

Secret Art of Survival Exhibition Information

From Near and Far Exhibition

From Near and Far

Tate Hall Museum

20 January 2019 – February 2020

A display of pottery and porcelain from the VG&M collection

From Near and Far Exhibiton Information 

 

The Errant Muse Exhibition

The Errant Muse

Galleries 1 & 2

16 November 2019 – 28 March 2020

An innovative exhibition mixing historic objects with new work by long-time collaborators artist Charlotte Hodes and poet Deryn Rees-Jones. In a set of three interlinked spaces, the exhibition interprets the lives and works of women writers and their ‘errant’ voices across three centuries.

The Errant Muse Exhibition Information

 

The Eruption of the Soufriere Mountains in the Island of St. Vincent - William Turner

Nature v Humans

Gallery 6

This exhibition features artworks illustrating the ever-present tensions between the natural world and the human race.

Nature v Humans Exhibition Information

 

Here or Roundabout Exhibition

Here or Roundabout: Local scenes by Allan P. Tankard

Gallery 4

This exhibition of watercolour paintings by Allan Tankard show locations around the University of Liverpool campus in the post-war years. Many feature our Victoria Building or are views from it.

Here or Roundabout Exhibition Information

 

Piece from the Granby Workshop

Granby Workshop Installation

Gallery 7

open - until Sat 25 September 2021

This display features products from the Granby Workshop which is an innovative ceramics studio based in the L8 area of Liverpool.

Granby Workshop Installation Information

 

 

Watercolours of the VG&M Collection Exhibition

Watercolours from the VG&M Collection

Gallery 5

Until 8 January 2022

A display of watercolour paintings from the Victoria Gallery and Museum’s own collection ranging from the 1780s to the 1980s.

Watercolours from the VG&M Collection Exhibition Information

 

Doodles - Drawing and thinking architecture at Stirling Wilford and Associates, 1984 – 2000

Galleries 4, 6 & 7

Until 29 January 2022

Liverpool-raised architect James Stirling (1924 – 1992) was one of the most inspiring designers of the twentieth century. This exhibition provides visitors with a glimpse into his studio life and offers the opportunity to find out more about some of his celebrated - and sometimes controversial - projects.

Doodles Exhibition Information

Alicia Lisa Brown: Priest 2, 2017

Jamaica Making: The Theresa Roberts Art Collection

Galleries 6 & 7

19 February - 9 July 2022

An exhibition showcasing the vibrancy and variety of contemporary Jamaican art since the country’s Independence in 1962. 

Exhibition Information

Study of a Head, 1895 - Edward Coley Burne-Jones (1833 - 1898)

A New Beauty

Gallery 2

Open until Saturday 30 July 2022

Romanticism in Art 1880 -1920. A display exploring the evolving ways that physical attractiveness was depicted from the late 1800s.

A New Beauty Exhibition Information

 

 

Alpacas by Jacques Laurent Agasse  (c.1840, oil on canvas)

Creature Feature – A Small Display about Large Animals

Gallery 4

A look at different ways that animals have been depicted in art from the VG&M collection.

Exhibition Information

The Black Girl's Silhouette

The World Reimagined - with the VG&M Collections

Gallery 2

13 August – 31 October 2022

The World Reimagined is a nationwide programme of art education around Black history and achievements. This display of artefacts from the VG&M’s collections is to support the work of the programme.

Exhibition Information

Fion Gunn Exhibition

Arrivals/Departures -An Exhibition by Fion Gunn

Galleries 6 & 7

30 July - 23 December 2022 

Artist Fion Gunn explores themes of global migration and displacement through paintings, sculpture and audio-visual installation.

Exhibition Information

Unstructured Icons By Yinka Shonibare CBE RA

Gallery 4

12 October 2022 - 25 February 2023

A display of our latest acquisition, Unstructured Icons, a set of woodblock prints with a decorated portfolio box by the celebrated British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare CBE.

Exhibition Information

Left - one of the Garstang Museum Stores, Right - Beni Hassan JG-B-356 photograph of pottery vessel with rope netting

Secrets of the Stores - Unseen Objects of the Garstang Museum

Gallery 5

This selection of ancient artefacts have never been displayed to the public. Some are beautiful, some are intriguing, and all have thier own story to tell.

Exhibition Information

Harry Diamond, Lucian Freud

Quiet Observation: Artists & their Abodes 1950s – 1990s

Gallery 2

12 November 2022 - April 2023

To celebrate the centenary of Lucian Freud’s birth in December 1922, this display shows how he and a number of his contemporaries were inspired by the personal environments they lived and worked in.

Exhibition Information

Ean Flanders

The Descendants – Portraits by Ean Flanders

Galleries 6 & 7

28 January – 13 May 2023

These contemporary photographic portraits, and the conversations that took place during the sittings, offers a new perspective on those seen as part of the Windrush Generation and their descendants. 

Exhibition Information

Untold Stories: Liverpool by Jennifer Vanderpool

Gallery 4

25 February 2023 - 17 June 2023

Artist Jennifer Vanderpool explores post-industrial centres around the world and reflects on shared issues of labour history, gender and race.

Exhibition Information 

photographer Mark McNulty

Liverpool Biennial 2023

Galleries 6 & 7

10 June - 17 September

Artists Antonio Obá, Charmaine Watkiss and Gala Porras-Kim explore ancestral memory and contemporary experience. Their works offer spaces to rest, reflect and listen.

Exhibition Information

Image credit: Gender Scrambling 776: Astaire, Rodgers (limited edition archival print) by Linda Stein. © Linda Stein

LINDA STEIN: Gender Scrambling

Gallery 2

22 April - 9 December 2023

Linda Stein is an American feminist LGBTQ+ artist whose work investigates themes of gender identity stemming from her own struggles with her sexuality and sense of womanhood while growing up.  Linda makes visual a world where men wear dresses and women wear armour so the lines of gender become blurred into androgyny.

Exhibition Information

Cunard Couple

Travel in Style – Iconic Cunard Advertising in the 1920s and 1930s’

Gallery 5

24 March 2023- extended until 16 March 2024

The `Travel in Style – Iconic Cunard Advertising in the 1920s and 1930s’ exhibition features 14 vintage posters that were used by the historic shipping line to advertise its services alongside associated materials including brochures, menu cards and collectable souvenirs from the era.

Exhibition Information 

Abstract Thinking: Fanchon Fröhlich & Her Contemporaries

Galleries 6 & 7

7 October 2023 - 30 March 2024

Prints and paintings by this fascinating Liverpool artist are shown alongside those of internationally-known abstract artists of the 20th century such as Gillian Ayres, Sandra Blow, Peter Lanyon and William Hayter, plus other leading artists based in the city.

Exhibition Information

The Art of Ruin Display, Landscape, Rosa (follower)

The Art of Ruin

Balcony Wall

A display that depicts Italian landscape paintings which celebrate the ruinous and crumbling. It was a taste that emerged in Rome in the mid-1600s when visiting archaeological sites and collecting ancient artefacts became popular.

Exhibition Information

Bright blue amulet of an Ibis-headed man, wearing a crown made of ostrich feathers

Creatures of the Nile

Galleries 6 & 7

4 May 2024 - 5 October 2024

This exhibition from the Garstang Museum of Archaeology explores the fascinating position animals held in ancient Egyptian and Sudanese society and culture.

Exhibition Information