Galleries in the Age of Covid

ARTS

And say the animals responded?

REVIEW By LAURA WOODING at FACT, Liverpool

Galleries open up again

By LAUREN HUGHES

Museums and art galleries across Merseyside have begun to open their doors again to the public, after months of closure due to Covid 19. With it we’ve seen the arrival of new exhibitions and innovative ways of viewing with the introduction of VR.

As part of a track and trace scheme ‘National Museums Liverpool’ have asked people to book in advance, as they are allowing minimum capacity at one time, while other galleries are limiting their opening hours.

The Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight, Wirral, re-opened just last week, operating on limited opening times Wednesday to Sunday.

Assistant visitor experience manager, Nicola Hill, told Liverpool Life: “It just gives us a chance to feedback, I mean everything is an ongoing experience, so we feedback amongst our team about how certain things are going and if we think certain things might need tweaking then that’s the opportunity to discuss, so that’s really why we do that and also because we can do deep cleans on the days when we are closed.”

She added: “Within the next few coming months there are going to be more things available at the Lady Lever Art Gallery. Although not everything is ready yet, I can certainly assure you that behind the scenes there is a lot of work going on, looking into all that sort of digital presence.

Around Merseyside some galleries have taken to digital creation, using Virtual Reality to bring their exhibitions to a wider online audience. Theese include the World Museum, The Slavery Museum, as well as the independent not-for-profit photography gallery the ‘Open Eye Gallery.

Sorcha Boyle, responsive programme coordinator at the Open Eye Gallery spoke to Liverpool Life about the gallery’s plans for using more VR:

“Some people prefer visiting a space and some people maybe use more digital technology but we are kind of hoping that people do both, but obviously it’s good to have the option there for anybody who can’t come into the space.”

The current exhibition, which opened at the beginning of September, called ‘The time we call our own,’ showcases the work of six artists, looking at different underground music scenes and sub-cultures and how people find their own sense of community. The exhibition also has an online programme to accompany it, with VR in development.

“We have done VR in the past, for an exhibition called ‘Where Love is Illegal’ last year, so it is something we’ve tried before and were interested in, but I suppose now it’s becoming a bit more of a focus for us.”

The Open Eye Gallery is currently functioning with the minimum amount of staff needed to keep the gallery open, with the wider team working from home and a reduced capacity of people allowed in the space at one time, following all the safety guidelines. As well as limited opening days.

Covid may have brought a new way of living to the world, but galleries are making creative decisions to keep up with the changing times and bringing a new online world to those stuck at home. T his art exhibition stimulates all the human senses in the greatest way, while feeding into one's wonder of animal senses.

Artists from all over the world have delivered a brilliant collection of a deep dive into various species and their responsive ways, from those already extinct to imagining what our world would be like if others were to go the same way. This walk around FACT in Liverpool, all while fitting perfectly into the vibe of the independent art house, pleased my ears, eyes and my animal loving heart.

A fascinating collaboration between Amalia Pica and Rafael Ortega spies into the everyday life of apes, by way of a video that captures the longest surviving population of chimpanzees in north east Nigeria.

Through using camera traps, we get to see their movements without them being aware of our presence. It quickly became quite clear that they were aware of being watched in some way as they just sat and stared back to us almost mirroring our absolute awe. We want to know how they move and communicate in their simplest form, yet we watch them being equally intrigued by us in the form of the technology being used.

It’s funny how differently they are shown in a choreography video showcasing a dance piece that tributes the way all types of apes may express themselves with gestures, with the blank stare of a chimpanzee that your met with in all her glory.

The stand-out artist for me in this exhibition is Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, who presents a double whammy from rhinos to birds. She was inspired by the death of Sudan, who was the last remaining male northern white rhinoceros, bringing him back to life using biotechnology.

He stands on a big screen transforming before our eyes from pixelation to full form, correlating the process of learning and adapting to new territory.

We see him coming to terms with his new environment, giving us an insight into the importance of evolving with what surrounds us. It makes me more happy than scared that technology could bring me face to face with

A Nigerian ape displayed through video

a rhino as I just watch him be.

Along the same lines, Ginsberg also gives you a generous sending off as you finish exploring the exhibition with a chorus of birds.

This is my favourite piece of them all, as you embody an experience that is very familiar to our everyday life.

She highlights what our cities might sound like if we didn’t hear the sounds of the birds communicating with one another. Many bird species do not evolve and become extinct and it makes us wonder how many more will follow this path. You feel the outside breeze in the room while hearing a whole ten-minute chorus, all the while making you realise that birds are recognisable to us humans but we do not stop and take notice of them. She successfully displays a fragile and diminishing relationship between us and them.

In the unfamiliar and distant circumstances that we live in today, this exhibition left me realising that we are not the only living things on this earth and I think it is the perfect time to get in touch with the other side of the living.

A fully recommended experience if you’re a sucker for what feels like walking through a satisfying nature documentary on Netflix. It definitely leaves you more connected and aware of the world we live in today, so before you enter and make eye contact with the chimpanzee, just know they are an endangered species and go on from there.