911爆料网

We've just this week launched a project called 鈥楩luff it Up: Make Taxidermy Great Again鈥�.  We're taking some of our animals who need a bit of TLC out of the displays.  While they're having a bit of love, we've made sure there's still things to look at by replacing them with some other kinds of stuffed animals, to highlight the important role of taxidermy conservation. [[{"fid":"4791","view_mode":"large","fields":{"format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Stuffed toy in Grant Museum","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Stuffed toy in Grant Museum","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"height":"1536","width":"2048","class":"media-element file-large"}}]]Taxidermy is a scientific art, requiring knowledge of anatomy and morphology, craftsmanship and accuracy to arrange, preserve and restore real animal skin over pre-made forms of the animal鈥檚 shape.  [[{"fid":"4807","view_mode":"medium","fields":{"format":"medium","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Lucie Mascord","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Lucie Mascord cleaning a platypus specimen","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"%3Cp%3E%3Cem%3ELucie%20Mascord%20cleaning%20a%20platypus%20specimen%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"medium","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Lucie Mascord","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Lucie Mascord cleaning a platypus specimen","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"%3Cp%3E%3Cem%3ELucie%20Mascord%20cleaning%20a%20platypus%20specimen%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"height":"704","width":"500","class":"media-element file-medium"}}]]Many of our specimens at the Grant Museum are over a hundred years old, and they're going to need some specialist attention because of what time does to them. As Jack Ashby, Manager of the Grant Museum of Zoology explains  鈥淕iven the rarity of the species in the wild, as well as the historic value of nineteenth and early twentieth century taxidermy, they would essentially be impossible to replace. This project will allow us to protect our incredible specimens for the long-term future.鈥濃�淗istorically, taxidermy has not always been very accurate 鈥� loose animal skins would be sent from collectors around the globe, and then mounted as taxidermy when they arrived in the UK 鈥� sometimes by people who had never actually seen the living creature. This can lead to animals being positioned in impossible poses, or being overstuffed鈥� added Jack.The museum has around 75 examples of taxidermy, ranging in size from a chimpanzee to a pink fairy armadillo, including platypuses, koalas, turtles and pangolins.  Some of the specimens to be treated include a chimpanzee from 1913 that has cracks along its face, a koala that is splitting to reveal wood shavings beneath the skin, and an inflated pufferfish that has lost its tail. However, not all of them will be repaired. 鈥淥ur Australian echidna 鈥� a spiny relative of the platypus 鈥� has feet which point in the wrong direction and consequently, rips across the ankles. Echidnas were so unfamiliar to people in London that the taxidermist didn鈥檛 realise that their feet should point backwards. We won鈥檛 be correcting this mistake as it forms invaluable evidence of the ways these animals were historically understood,鈥� said Jack. [[{"fid":"4815","view_mode":"medium","fields":{"format":"medium","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Echidna","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"medium","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Echidna","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"height":"477","width":"591","class":"media-element file-medium"}}]][[{"fid":"4799","view_mode":"medium","fields":{"format":"medium","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Twitter speculation","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"%3Cp%3E%3Cem%3ETwitter%20users%20respond%20to%20the%20Grant%20Museum%26%2339%3Bs%20Echidna%20specimen.%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"medium","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Twitter speculation","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"%3Cp%3E%3Cem%3ETwitter%20users%20respond%20to%20the%20Grant%20Museum%26%2339%3Bs%20Echidna%20specimen.%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"height":"330","width":"591","class":"media-element file-medium"}}]]鈥楩luff It Up: Make Taxidermy Great Again鈥� is running until September, while the toys will replace the taxidermy in the displays.The Grant Museum of Zoology is open from 1鈥�5pm Monday to Saturday. Visitors of the museum will have an opportunity to see conservation expert, Lucie Mascord, carrying out treatments on the specimens from the 12 -15 June.  Admission is free and there is no need to book. 鈥淭axidermy in museums plays an important role in engaging people with the natural world and its incredible biodiversity. We hope that the opportunity for people to see conservation first hand will inspire our visitors.鈥� said Jack.  

The Art UK Sculpture Project, which launched in July at the UCL Art Museum will run for three years, and capture seldom-seen works from collections across the country making them freely available online. The charitable organisation which has secured a 拢2.8 million National Lottery grant for the work, aims to catalogue around 170,000 sculptures. The project will focus on works from the last thousand years (which is probably enough to be getting on with!) exploring a hugely diverse range of cultures from twelfth-century Nigeria, Victorian Britain, and Tokugawa-period Japan, to Renaissance Italy and 1960s New York.Keen followers of UCL Museums news may remember an equally ambitious project by the charity, to digitise 200,000 oil paintings of international significance from around 3000 British collections. You can see the results of the project here, and the UCL Art Museum pieces here.[[{"fid":"5151","view_mode":"super_xl","fields":{"format":"super_xl","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Art UK banner","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"super_xl","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Art UK banner","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"height":"311","width":"1902","class":"media-element file-super-xl"}}]]This project will focus attention on works of a three-dimensional nature, something that鈥檚 long overdue says Stuart Hobley, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund for London, 鈥淲herever you are in the UK you can find public sculpture, quietly existing within our parks, museums and squares. Sculpture can be extraordinary, emotive, even challenging and yet, many of us are unaware that this sort of world-class artwork is on our doorstep and free to access. Thanks to National Lottery players we鈥檙e able to help Art UK raise awareness of our sculpture heritage by developing its interactive website with exciting activity to get people involved, inspired and exploring this fascinating collection.鈥漑[{"fid":"5147","view_mode":"large","fields":{"format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Front Portico sculpture","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Front Portico sculpture","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"height":"640","width":"751","class":"media-element file-large"}}]]It will help in understanding the history of artists at 911爆料网, says Helen Downes of the Art Museum, 鈥淒espite being part of the Slade curriculum since the establishment of the school in 1871, sculpture is severely underrepresented in UCL Art Museum鈥檚 collection, with only a handful of prize-winning works having been retained.  The new Art UK project may help us locate works by artists who won prizes but whose works were not kept by the school, helping us to build a much better picture of the teaching and development of Sculpture at the Slade School.鈥淎s one of the first public collections to collaborate with Art UK (then the Public Catalogue Foundation) in 2005, to digitise and make publicly available our paintings collection, we know first-hand the benefits such a resource can provide. It facilitates research and enables us to make contact and broaden our network with other museums and collections.鈥漈he ART UK website not only catalogues artworks, but provides opportunity for dialogue with the public about little-known pieces. Helen told us, 鈥淭hrough the Art Detective facility, people can provide us with information on works via the site which may otherwise remain unknown鈥�. This crowdsourcing of expertise has been successful in identifying work by Walter Sickert, the locations of previously unknown landscape paintings, the longest-running investigation lasting more than a year and involving art historians from around the world. You can read the fascinating discoveries here.[[{"fid":"5159","view_mode":"medium","fields":{"format":"medium","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Art UK map","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"https://artuk.org/visit/region/london","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"left","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"medium","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Art UK map","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"https://artuk.org/visit/region/london","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"left","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"height":"521","width":"590","class":"media-element file-medium"}}]]Art UK鈥檚 Sculpture Project team will travel up and down the country to photograph the works, using 3D photographic techniques in some cases.  The project will also offer a UK-wide training and volunteering programme, offering nearly 2,000 people across the UK opportunities to gain photography, digitisation and other museum-centred skills, meaning important work can continue long after this project ends. The first sculptures will be available to view online in early 2018. Watch this space for updates!