Liverpool museums and galleries reopen their doors

Liverpool museums and galleries will reopen their doors next week after the latest lifting of Covid restrictions was confirmed.

It will be the first time in almost five months the venues will have hosted live visits.

National Museum Liverpool sites, Tate Liverpool, the Bluecoat, FACT and Open Eye Gallery are among the city’s attractions set to open their doors to visitors again.

In most cases however, people will still need to book ahead to access the venues and will have to follow Covid-safe guidelines.

A new exhibition, AI More Than Human, is set to open at World Museum Liverpool from Tuesday, May 18, while that day will also be the first chance art lovers will have to see the John Moores Painting Prize in the flesh at the Walker Art Gallery.

Meanwhile the second phase of this year’s Liverpool Biennial will see commissions staged in the Open Eye Gallery, Tate Liverpool, Bluecoat and FACT, along with more unconventional sites like Central Library, Lush Spa, the Cotton Exchange and the former Lewis’s department store.

Along with Biennial work, FACT is showing FACT Together from May 19, an exhibition of 10 digital commissions created during lockdown.

Tate Liverpool opens its doors from Tuesday, May 18 and its acclaimed Don McCullin retrospective and Aliza Nisenbaum exhibition both now have extended runs until September 5, while its summer show Lucien Freud: Real Lives exhibition is set to open on July 24 and run until January 22.

Above: Lucian Freud, Girl with a White Dog 1950–1. Tate. © Tate

Top: John Moores Painting Prize at the Walker Art Gallery. Photo by Robin Clewley

Tate Liverpool director Helen Legg said: “Following the extended closure period I’m pleased that we’ve been able to extend our headline exhibitions by Don McCullin and Aliza Nisenbaum. Both of these shows are deeply empathetic and relevant to the times we live in.

“It’s also wonderful to be able to reopen with a vibrant new exhibition as part of the Liverpool Biennial, featuring new acquisitions and commissions from artists including Jamaican-born Ebony Patterson, American artists Martine Syms and Judy Chicago and Merseyside-born Linder.”

Open Eye Gallery on Mann Island will reopen from May 19. Biennial work on show comes from Zineb Sedira and Alberta Whittle.

And Merseyside Maritime Museum, the International Slavery Museum and Sudley House at Mossley Hill will all reopen on May 18, as will Lady Lever Art Gallery in Port Sunlight which boasts a new exhibition focussing on the work of early 20th Century bohemian artist Augustus John.

Meanwhile the Victoria Gallery & Museum plans to reopen first for University of Liverpool staff and students from May 18, with opening to the general public to follow in June.

For more details and online booking, visit the venues' websites.