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World Museum

@worldmuseum_

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Marvel at our natural and human world. 🌍
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A new display is coming soon to World Museum!

Journey through the rich artistic heritage of China in a new display from the Shanghai Art Collection Museum and several partner institutions, as part of the International Tour Exhibition of Chinese Traditional Fine Arts.

"Wings of the Sea", which celebrates the cultural links between the twin port cities of Liverpool and Shanghai, brings together a wide range of Chinese art-forms, created by artists who showcase both their craftsmanship and the evolving nature of traditional art in the modern world.

Discover works meticulously carved from jade and stone and sculpted from metal, displayed alongside paintings that portray countryside landscapes and everyday rural life.

Glimpse another side of Shanghai through paper cuttings, embroidery and enamelwork, which reveal how the city's art blends tradition with new cultural influences.

Experience the rich aesthetic language of Peking Opera, recognised by UNESCO as a national cultural treasure in 2010. Objects featured include vivid, highly decorative costumes, portraits and beautifully painted masks.

Wings of the Sea opens at World Museum on 10 October 2026 and runs until 8 November 2026.

Images courtesy of the Organising Committee of International Tour Exhibition of Chinese Traditional Fine Arts. by @worldmuseum_

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13 days ago

This week National Museums Liverpool at 40 opens at World Museum!

It’s a celebration of the diverse, powerful and important collections that we care for, and the stories that bring them to life.

Forty years ago, on 13 February 1986, the Merseyside Museums and Galleries Order was laid before Parliament, securing National Museums Liverpool’s place as England’s only national museum group outside London.

Since then, we’ve welcomed a staggering 80 million people through our doors, opened 688 exhibitions, and won 119 awards.

But where did it all begin? Here’s our story so far - told in our own words.

Watch the full video on Youtube or on our website via the link in bio 🔗 taken in World Museum by @worldmuseum_

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6 months ago

Our Wild World: Dinosaurs & Natural History gallery is now OPEN and we're so excited to share the new, refreshed gallery space with you!

We're expecting it to be very busy today, so please take care when in the gallery and be mindful of other visitors.

If you are looking for a quieter visiting time, we would recommend coming later in the day. The museum will be open from 10am - 4pm.

Images © Chris Wardle by @worldmuseum_

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8 months ago

Look who went on a guided hop round World Museum today!

Fizzleskip Bunny is jellycat that's bright, bold, and bursting with personality! She particularly enjoyed meeting her fellow bunny in the Clore Natural History Centre and the pop up Mindful Garden display in the Bug House. 🐰🐰

As an exclusive @jellycat for independent stores, we're one of the only stockists in the city. You can find her in the World Museum shop and online. by @worldmuseum_

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17 hours ago

Wings of the Sea opens today!

Curated by the Shanghai Art Collection Museum, the display showcases the rich artistic heritage of China and celebrates the cultural links between the twin port cities of Liverpool and Shanghai.

The display features a wide range of Chinese artforms, by artists showcasing their craftsmanship and the evolving nature of traditional art in our modern world.

Works meticulously carved out of jade and stone and sculpted from metal are displayed alongside paintings portraying countryside landscapes and everyday rural life.

Folk art and handicrafts give a glimpse into another side of Shanghai, with paper cuttings, embroidery and enamelwork revealing how Shanghai’s art combines tradition with new cultural influences.

Wings of the Sea is now on display on Level 2 at World Museum.# taken in World Museum by @worldmuseum_

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2 days ago

We're using Space Week as a great excuse to explore the wonderful world of Astrolabes.

This astrolabe was built around 1600-1609 in Persia. The maker’s name, which is engraved on it, is Muhammad Mahdi. Part of the physical sciences collections at the World Museum, bought in 1967, this astrolabe is currently on display in the Space and Time Gallery on the fifth floor.

The name comes from the Greek word astrolábos, meaning “star-taker” or “star searcher”. What is most fascinating about these small instruments is that they happen to be one of the most sophisticated and enduring computing devices in the history of technology prior to the contemporary era.

Originally conceived in outline by ancient Greek astronomers, this device was developed and repeatedly improvised by Medieval Islamic scientists. Astrolabes had hundreds of uses including mapping the exact position of stars and planets for navigation, determining the date, calculating time and even measuring heights and areas.

This versatility made these devices very important to the Islamic world. Because there was a community need to determine the exact time for the five daily obligatory prayers in Islam and facing Mecca is a requirement for the prayers, early Muslims made great advances in astronomy, mathematics and geography, to address these religious needs.

It has been said that nearly every instrument in astronomy is a development of the astrolabe. Today we need separate devices like a watch, a calendar, a surveying instrument and a navigating app connected to a satellite to do the work this small pocket device could do on its own. by @worldmuseum_

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3 days ago

Ever wondered what lurks in the waters of @thealbertdock? 🪼🦀

Recently, we welcomed @bbcnewsround to find out about our Dockwatch project.

Working in partnership with @ljmu and @canalrivertrust , Dockwatch gives passers-by the opportunity to find out more about the creatures that call our docks home. Crabs, mussels, moon jellyfish and plant life are collected from the dock wall so that the team can track the biodiversity and take a snapshot of what’s living in our waters.

Dr Gezi Reid, our Lead Curator of Botany, Geology & Science, spoke to the Newsround team and some local school pupils about how specimens are collected and how she tracks the health of the ecosystem through what is found beneath the surface of the Dock.

You can watch the full clip at the link in our bio 🐟🌊 by @worldmuseum_

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4 days ago

This little lump of metal is a piece of an asteroid's core.

It's a fragment of the Canyon Diablo meteorite, and it's 4.55 billion years old - making it one of the oldest objects in World Museum's collection!

It's mostly iron (92%) with a bit of nickel (7%), and it fits in your palm at 55 x 45 x 16 mm and 89.3g.

It crashed down in Arizona and was found in 1891. Over 30 tonnes of fragments have been collected since, but that's just a sliver of the estimated 25,000 tonnes that fell.

Before it came to National Museums Liverpool, it belonged to William James Lewis Abbott, a mineral dealer and gemmologist. His collection was later bought by Sir Henry Wellcome, the American-born chemist and science patron who set up laboratories, museums and expeditions. In 1981, NML acquired a large part of the Wellcome geology collections, and this fragment came with it.

The meteor fragment is currently on loan to Liverpool Central Library, where it is on display. ☄️ by @worldmuseum_

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4 days ago

🚀 This World Space Week the theme is Rocket Revolution 🚀

In our blog we take a closer look at the rockets we have here at the National Space Centre, shining a spotlight on their achievements, revealing how they came to be here, and sharing why they are so important to us.

Did you know? The Blue Streak (right) displayed at the National Space Centre is the 16th, and last one ever made. Rescued from the production line, it was stored by @worldmuseum_ and @nationalmuseumsscotland before being loaned to the National Space Centre in 2000.

Before arriving at the National Space Centre, Thor Able (left) stood for 27 years beside the Planetarium at the @stlsciencecenter. In 2000 it was strengthened and shipped across the Atlantic. Both rockets arrived before the Rocket Tower was completed, and the tower itself had to be built around the rockets due to their immense size.

Read more at the link in bio. #WorldSpaceWeek #WSW26 taken in National Space Centre by @worldmuseum_

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5 days ago

This intricately designed bracelet, made by T J Paris between 1870 and 1875, was made to supply the demand in Liverpool for unique, expensive pieces of jewellery.

It's typical of the bling (💅) worn by wealthy shipowners' wives and was purchased from T J Paris's shop on Lord Street.

It is significant because of its craftsmanship and design, and its story about Liverpool's lucrative jewellery trade, an offshoot of the city's successful shipping industry.

"For me, this is the most exquisite piece of jewellery in National Museums Liverpool's collections. Its intricate design was inspired by the 19th century discovery of ancient Etruscan tombs on the west coast of Italy. I love the combination of materials - the warmth of gold contrasted with the coolness of pearl and chacedony." Fiona Slattery Clark, Curator of Decorative Art, Lady Lever Art Gallery and Walker Art Gallery.

See this object and more in National Museums Liverpool at 40, now on display at World Museum📍 by @worldmuseum_

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5 days ago

🌿 Fading Plants & Forgotten Words is now on display at @worldmuseum_ Bug House 🦋🌿

Thank you so much to everyone who came along to the special private view last Saturday. I am so pleased with how the display has turned out and it was lovely to see everything come together.

A huge thank you to all the wonderful children who attended the workshops at World Museum this summer. Your beautiful herbarium sheets and poems are now up on display, and I’m so happy that your work is part of the exhibition. 🌱

📍 World Museum, Bug House — on display until 18 October

📍 Eureka! Science + Discovery — 21–27 November

📍 Ness Botanic Gardens — 13–20 February

Here is a little more about the project and the research:

Mindful Garden is a creative research project exploring how art-science can help us reconnect with plants and the natural world.

As part of the research, children took part in a series of workshops, Fading Plants and Forgotten Words, held at Ness Botanic Gardens, World Museum and Eureka! Science + Discovery. The children explored medicinal plants from Ness Botanic Gardens, preserving their specimens by creating herbarium sheets.

The workshops also explored The Lost Words by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris, created in response to nature words removed from the 2007 Oxford Junior Dictionary. The children discovered these forgotten words and created their own acrostic poems.

The children discovered these forgotten words and created their own acrostic poems.

Each herbarium sheet brings together a dried plant and a child’s poem, becoming both an artwork and an act of preservation.

Research undertaken in collaboration with the Liverpool Botanical Trust @livbottrust_ has explored how herbarium collections preserve botanical knowledge across time. Historical collections, including material associated with William Roscoe’s Monandrian Plants of the Scitamineae (1828), provide records that can help us understand which plants have survived and which have been lost.

Mindful Garden is a fully funded PhD research project at Liverpool John Moores University.

Photo credits: Robert Manville @rmweddingphotography www.rmweddingphotography.co.uk by @worldmuseum_

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6 days ago

🗳️ The votes are in! Over 2,500 of you chose your favourite object for inclusion in the National Museums Liverpool at 40 exhibition, and we're so excited to share the results with you.

It was a three-way race between the CSS Alabama photographs, the Cuban Íreme Doll and The Batman film poster - which one do you think came out on top? Tell us your predictions below.

We'll be revealing the winning object very soon... 👀 by @worldmuseum_

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7 days ago