World Museum Liverpool, (From Wallace and Gromit to Egyptian Mummies)

The first thing I noticed was that it has a real mix of exhibitions being advertised and held here. The building holds thousands of exhibits; the official line the museum uses to describe them is ‘with everything from real life bugs to Egyptian mummies, prehistoric pottery to space exploration, as well as lots of hands-on-fun, there’s something for everyone. But aside from this slightly predictable advertising introduction, I was actually impressed by what they had done.

I am one of those that have bad memories of school days in dull buildings surrounded by old things I didn’t want to look at, but I decided it would be at least worth a try. It may be that I have grown up since I was first dragged round these things but I actually didn’t find this too bad. I had been advised before I went that it’s best to pick what you want to see first and then go to those bits. Although you end up missing things you do avoid most of the people moving from one interactive part to the next.

The main bit we went into was the ‘atrium’ which was one of the parts the bought and rebuilt after the fires and bombing during the war. I had gone to see the Wallace and Gromit ‘Animated Adventures’ exhibition (which I will review separately), where as my boyfriend also wanted to go again to see the Egyptian Mummies that he had seen as a kid.

The actual sections were laid out well and weren’t so huge that you got fed up before you reached the other side, but the main thing we were disappointed in was that it looked like they had forgotten to turn half the lights on. This was a shame as you couldn’t see some of the things let alone read about them.

Aside from that there was quite a good mix of hands on things and more traditional exhibits. In my opinion one of the things that this museum did well was manage to make it accessible for both children and adults. I have read some reviews that say that it re-opened in 2005 with a more dumbed down appeal. I can’t really comment on that as this weekend was the first time I visited, but all I can say is they will never get the hands on technologically orientated younger generation in the doors unless they include things to appeal directly to them. Overall although I normally prefer Art Galleries to Museums, I was quite impressed with the World Museum Liverpool, and I would consider going back, just in a few years and another time except during the school holidays.