New Galleries at the National Maritime Museum

Four new galleries at the National Maritime Museum looking at Polar exploration, the Tudor and Stuarts, Pacific Exploration and a gallery on our relationship with the sea.

Given these galleries were all developed and opened at the same time they all have a different feel about them. All were well styled and made really good use of audio visual material. The Tudor and Stuart gallery included a small scene showing Woolwich dockyard including tiny moving figures. It’s hard to describe but it’s the first time I’d seen this used in a gallery and it was really effective. I also liked the av displays of their map and atlas collection.

I loved the Polar gallery as I am a bit of a Shackleton and Scott geek. I did get a bit confused by going round the gallery backwards but all the objects I knew the museum held were there and I liked the fact it came up to date and looked at current scientific work going on in the area. I particularly liked an av display listing all the men on Shackleton’s ship Endurance. It was a great way of showing a lot of information for those of us who wanted it without swamping those who didn’t.

The Pacific display of course included all their Captain Cook artefacts including the George Stubbs painting of a kangaroo based on the body of one which was brought back to England. It also looked at our relationship with the area since including the Bounty and the work of missionaries.

The last gallery, looking at our relationship with the sea, was random objects, beautifully displayed, with the feel of the store room of a museum. I liked the way the objects were shown without labels spoiling the display but on boards nearby with fascinating stories about them. I loved a display of talking heads in this gallery, a series of busts highlighted by spotlights with an audio commentary of them talking to each other. I particularly liked there new bust commissioned from sculptor Eve Shepherd to represent people not reflected by the museum’s collection.