New Walk Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester

Visit Date: 14 February 2008

Admission Price: Free

Ownership: Leicester City Council

Tel. Number: 0116 225 4900

Website: http://www.leicester.gov.uk/your-council-services/lc/leicester-city-museums/museums/nwm-art-gallery/

Walkthrough: The mosaic-walled entry hall, where the museum’s stairwell is located, leads into the central area by the cafe, with galleries on either side. To the right of this area is The Mighty Dinosaurs, the museum’s most popular permanent gallery. The central space is made up of standing dinosaur skeletons, dominated by the large Rutland Dinosaur. Along the rail around this area are a number of standing information panels, which focus upon both the skeletons in front of them and the history of dinosaurs in general. There are also display cases around the walls which contain a variety of fossils whilst the fossilised remains of an amphibious dinosaur are displayed on the wall itself. The adjacent gallery is Leicestershire’s Rocks, which displays a number of minerals and ores that were mined locally. The majority of the gallery is taken up by the labelled displays of these rocks, although there are also exhibits of artefacts that have been made from similar minerals and a map of popular mining areas within Leicestershire.

The opposite wing of the building starts with Ancient Egyptians, a dimly lit area with a number of orange walls. Between these walls are a number of spotlight displays, with information panels alongside. The general theme is that of death and mummification, with the highlight being a partially unwrapped mummy lying across a sheet of glass within its display case with both parts of the sarcophagus standing vertically behind its owner. There is a separate mummified hand in a nearby display case, along with a mummified cat with a panel nearby explaining that they were popular offerings. There is also a fake mummy posing as though it has just burst through one of the walls, with an adjacent panel listing a number of films that have included living mummies. The displays aren’t wholly devoted to death however, as there are display cases containing labelled artefacts of jewellery and wooden models. There is also a reconstructed Egyptian kitchen area, with lighter wall colours, ceramic pots and a model kiln amongst other objects.

The nearby Wildspace gallery moves away from history, looking instead at the natural world and its various environments. These main displays run along the wall, with labelled exhibits of animal taxidermy that are local to that specific environment and complementary features. In addition to the general hands on area in the centre of the room, the environments are explained via video footage of live animals in their habitats, buttons that play lengthy audio accounts of the conditions animals face within these habitats and laminated pages of information attached to the desks in front of the display cases. There are subtle touches as well, such as water lighting effects on the whale model, which benefits from parts of the gallery being lit differently to create different atmospheric moods. The highlight of the interactive features for children may be the woodland environment’s tunnel beneath the main display, with more animals encased within both the tunnel and the trees, which displays insects as well as birds. After moving around the environments, the back wall by the entrance is illustrated with the causes of extinction and lists species that have died out.

The remaining room on the ground floor is an art gallery entitled Our World Through Art, meaning that visitors have to return to the lift area or stairwell for more exhibition galleries on the first floor. As well as the permanent art galleries, including World Arts and Expressionism and Beyond, there is also a fairly large temporary exhibitions space located by the top of the stairs. During my visit, the temporary exhibition was Ancient Greeks: Athletes, Warriors and Heroes, a touring exhibition that originated in The British Museum. The main exhibits within the display case were examples of Greek pottery and sculpture, whilst the far end of the gallery had a large television screen showing a slideshow of further artefacts that were not physically on display. This retained a stylistic feel as the seating provided was curved, as though it was a tier in a classical amphitheatre! There were also specific activities for younger visitors, such as traditional Greek games for them to try and a dressing up area by a mirror, with handheld wooden masks in the style of stock character types in Greek drama.

Highlights:

- Stylised galleries.
- The Mighty Dinosaurs
- Ancient Greeks: Athletes, Warriors and Heroes

Lowlights:

- Some very dated features.
- Route unclear and impaired by construction work.

Access: Situated on one of Leicester’s longest pedestrianised routes, the New Walk Museum also provides a car park, although there are only a limited number of spaces and it isn’t easy to locate either due to the one way system. Additionally, the museum is a five minute walk away from the train station and its bus stops. There are ramps throughout the ground floor for wheelchair users, as well as a lift up to the first floor.

Overall Impression: The New Walk Museum is a venerable attraction within Leicester, with some interesting galleries. Despite this, aside from the temporary exhibitions, a number of galleries have barely changed in the space of twenty years – something I can vouch for, having grown up in Leicester. As a result, some exhibits have dated and are in need of being replaced. The museum has started to refurbish its natural history and dinosaur galleries whilst continuing to put on temporary exhibitions. It is well worth seeking out.