October 2016 events at the World Museum Liverpool

October half-term is fast approaching and we are pleased to announce that we are hosting another Day of the Dead celebration on Wednesday 26^th October from 1pm – 4pm, in partnership with the World Museum Liverpool. Our event is free, fun and family friendly. There will be art based activities, Mexican music, a wishing tree and our specially decorated altar honouring those that have gone before us.

If you would like to add a picture to our altar, please bring it along. We will have some craft items to help you personalise the frame and we encourage you to leave a message on the back, sharing a memory about them. Your image will join others from past events, alongside our skull decorations and bright flowers. If you need us to print off your photograph, please email it to us before the event.

We can often talk about difficult subjects a lot easier when we're doing something therapeutic. Arts and crafts can be enjoyed while we talk about the topic of death, or reminisce about loved ones who have died. A lot of us don't have the opportunity to talk openly about those we have lost, as some people shy away from it for fear of upsetting others. We believe in keeping alive the memories of people who have been important to us, and that them dying does not mean we cannot talk fondly of them and the impact they had.

There will also be two more Day of the Dead events, ran exclusively by the World Museum Liverpool on Saturday 29^th and Sunday 30^th October. More information can be found here.

There is also an exciting exhibition at the museum, which is also connected to the topic of death, which runs until 26th February 2017 – Animal Mummies Revealed. This fascinating exhibition explores ancient Egyptian animal mummies, prepared in their millions as votive offerings to the gods.

Featuring mummified specimens such as jackals, crocodiles, cats and birds, the exhibition will also include a recreation of a subterranean animal catacomb, creating an immersive and atmospheric experience.

Mummified jackal, Oriental Museum, Durham, Copyright Kate Wightman, taken from Liverpool Museum website

Using animal mummies from a variety of UK collections, the exhibition will also look at the use of science, such as CT imaging, to learn more about the subject. Find out more here.

Day of the Dead Mexico: Summary

Our celebrations for Day of the Dead at the end of November were a huge success. We would like to thank Liverpool Central Library and WorldMuseum Liverpool for being gracious hosts and providing the perfect settings for people of all ages to engage on the topic of death.

The first event took place at Central Library and we had people there from start to finish, with approximately 40 people visiting our stand and around 15 stopping to have a chat. Grandparents with their grandchildren spoke about their late loved ones; a mother shared stories of her daughter that she felt she couldn’t openly discuss with many others; two teenage girls brought photographs of their beloved grandad and pet dog; and a mother with her friend and three children decorated a frame and left a beautiful message for their ‘Pop’. 

 Section of our Day of the Dead altar

We were so busy that we ran out of frames after the first hour! The stock was replenished before the next day of celebrations and crafts at the World Museum on Sunday 29^th November. And it was a good job we did. Numerous families joined us in the Treasure House Theatre and our craft tables were extremely popular, with almost 100 people visiting us and getting involved. A huge thank you to Adam for drumming up interest while simultaneously promoting the Destination Space Exhibition in his astronaut costume!

Our crafters busily decorating

Our crafts table had glittery stickers, plasticine and frames to decorate, alongside printed pictures of the Day of the Dead skulls to colour in. We had some beautiful submissions that we are hoping to display at our next event. Others loved their customised pictures so much, they took them home with them, but we were lucky enough to capture a couple of pictures of them showing them off.

 Our amazing artists proudly displaying their works of art 

               

The events were extremely popular, and we were asked when the next one will be. One young girl had attended our previous Day of the Dead Celebrations in the museum in Dying Matters AwarenessWeek 2014 and said she’d be back when we do another one! Initial talks about another event in half-term week early next year, have begun. If it does go ahead, it will be even more craft based and interactive. Watch this space for news of upcoming events.