Latest news with #NationalScienceAndMediaMuseum
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'This is a cultural gem for the city': Multi-million-pound museum refurb now complete
A NEW gallery documenting the history of film, television, and media opens its doors in the heart of Bradford today, and has been described as a 'cultural gem' for the city. It is hoped it will cement the National Science and Media Museum's reputation as a national attraction. The Sound and Vision Gallery includes priceless artefacts, including the camera that captured the first moving image, the fangs worn by Christopher Lee in the Hammer Dracula movies, and Stooky Bill – the dummy head that was the subject of the first television broadcast. The permanent gallery is the latest part of the museum's £6.8m refurbishment, and opens on the same day as another major city centre regeneration project, Darley Street Market. Both venues will be celebrating the openings with family events this weekend that are expected to attract huge crowds. Sound and Vision gives a spotlight to many artefacts that have spent years in the museum's storage, including a model dinosaur created by stop motion maestro Ray Harryhausen and a replica of the original xenomorph costume used in the first Alien film. Gallery project manager Yvonne Carmichael with a model of the Xenomorph costume used in Alien (Image: T&A) There is also an area dedicated to the Cottingley Fairies photos, which includes one of the original cameras used to take what became one of the most well-known hoaxes in history and which originated in a village just a few miles from the museum. The Cottingley Fairies section of the exhibition (Image: National Science and Media Museum) The refurbishment works have been supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. As well as more than 500 historic artefacts, there are a number of interactive areas and newly-created installations. The Telegraph & Argus was given a tour of the gallery ahead of today's launch. At the centre of Sound and Vision is 'Circus', a new art installation by Nayan Kulkarni that uses a series of cameras and screens to create a digital hall of mirrors. Nayan Kulkarni in the Circus installation (Image: T&A) People standing inside the installation can see their image distorted in a variety of different ways. Other installations allow visitors to be part of a Cottingley Fairy photo and become a sound engineer for a concert at Bradford's famous 1 in 12 Club. The first IMAX camera has been returned to the museum, and the hulking piece of equipment is one of the first exhibits in the gallery, reflecting the importance of IMAX to the history of the museum. In 1983, the museum opened the first IMAX cinema in the UK, with this camera used to project 'To Fly', a documentary about the history of flight. Louis Le Prince's single lens cine camera – which captured the world's first moving film footage in Leeds (Image: National Science and Media Museum) Other cameras in the exhibition include Louis Le Prince's single-lens cine camera, which captured the world's first moving film footage in Leeds, and the camera used by Herbert Ponting to document Captain Scott's Antarctic Expedition in 1910. John Logie Baird's ground-breaking experimental 'television apparatus' from 1926, which includes the Stooky Bill head that was the first image to be broadcast, is another hugely significant artefact in the gallery. Stooky Bill (Image: T&A) The fast-moving pace of technology means that some of the exhibits, such as an iPod and a television digibox, are not that far removed from the lives of many of the people who will visit the exhibition. Other exhibits include a Dalek from Doctor Who, a mixing desk used at festivals, and Shaun the Sheep models from Aardman Animation. Yvonne Carmichael, project manager for Sound and Vision, said the refurbishment works have seen many areas of the museum opened up, creating much more space. Exterminate! A Dalek in the Sound and Vision gallery (Image: National Science and Media Museum) She said: 'A lot of the items in this gallery were buried away or not very visible before, we've brought a lot out, things like the Cottingley Fairies artefacts. 'We hope this is something that people will travel to see.' Toni Booth, curator of film, said: 'One of the main focuses was to showcase more of the museum's collection, and the gallery was partly led by the objects we had. 'We've increased the number of objects we have on display three-fold compared to before. The vast majority of them were in our museum collection already, and it is great we've got so much space now. 'We've got around three-and-a-half million objects in our collection, so it is always a struggle to decide what to display.' Jo Quinton-Tulloch, director of the National Science and Media Museum, said: 'The galleries have been a true labour of love and collaboration, and they showcase our incredible collections in new and innovative ways. 'Our collections and the rich narratives they tell touch upon all our lives, from the first photographic negative and film footage to the advent of radio and television, and the power of sound technologies to bring us together. 'We have worked closely with a huge range of people to develop the galleries, ensuring these spaces work for everyone and that our visitors feel represented in the stories we tell.' Helen Featherstone, director, England, north at The National Lottery Heritage Fund added: 'The Sound and Vision galleries at the National Science and Media Museum are a cultural gem for the city, telling the story behind the photographic, film and sound technologies that have played such a big role in our lives.'
BBC News
14-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
Photographer 'over the moon' with second Bradford exhibition
Bradford photographer Victor Wedderburn had to wait 40 years for his first public exhibition - but now he has his second in as many self-taught snapper's Frontline 1984/1985 show captures life in Bradford's African Caribbean communities in the images first appeared in the Loading Bay art space during an exhibition ending in May, with a selection now on show at the National Science and Media his latest exhibition, the 70-year-old photographer said: "It's just unbelievable, I'm over the moon with it." The Lumb Lane area of the city was known to many locals as "the Frontline" at the time the photos were taken."We didn't have mobile phones so if you wanted to meet anyone you'd go to the Frontline," said Mr Wedderburn."That's why I called my pictures Frontline 1984/1985 because those were the main years that I was working in Manningham as a photographer.""As the years go by we seem to be getting less and less and people get moved around," he said."That place doesn't exist anymore and I just happened to have made a record of it." Mr Wedderburn arrived in the UK from Jamaica in 1971 at the age of 16 to join his Windrush generation was later made redundant from his driving job at Crofts Engineers but used his pay off to buy a second-hand camera and kit to develop colour with his Praktica camera, he set about documenting everyday life in Bradford as he saw it around the BD8 area."I didn't make any money, even though that wasn't the plan then," he said. "But now it ends up that I've documented the history of the Windrush generation really."He had to find other work to pay the bills and only recently retired after decades working as a psychiatric nurse. Mr Wedderburn, who still lives in Bradford, carefully kept more than 1,500 negatives of his images, with his first exhibition arising from an approach by the Bradford UK City of Culture team. Rebecca Land, the National Science and Media Museum's head of communications, said: "We hope that Victor's photographs can be preserved."I think digitising those images would be incredible so they could all be enjoyed."Frontline 1984/1985 is running in the museum's foyer space until the end of October. Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
BBC News
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Cinema inside lorry tours City of Culture Bradford 2025
A cinema inside a lorry has been visiting various locations across Bradford to help bring films to people's attraction - named the Incredible Moving Cinema - arrived in the district as part of a partnership between the Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture and the National Science and Media articulated lorry transforms into a movie theatre that can seat up to 100 people and will park up at locations including Woodbank Garden Centre in Bingley, TFD Centre in Holme Wood and Horton Park Avenue car started its journey at the Bradford Industrial Museum where it showed films ranging from The Greatest Showman to classics like Pulp Fiction. The cinema is expected to attract hundreds of visitors during its eight day journey through the Bradford of those was Mary, who said: "It's not often you get a mobile cinema is it?""Not everybody has access, or gets to know what films are on, and Bradford isn't always accessible for everybody," she from Ilkley, said she had visited because she thought the venue was "unusual".From Thursday, the moving cinema will be at Woodbank Garden Centre in Bingley where it will be screening seven Saturday it will move to Horton Park Avenue car park, before its final stop on Sunday at the TFD Centre in Holme Wood. Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Science and Media Museum unveils new galleries
An animatronic puppet and a recreation of a community radio station are among the new exhibits set to be unveiled at the National Science and Media Museum. The Bradford museum's sound and vision galleries have seen a £6.8m transformation and feature more than 500 exhibits - covering photography, film, television, animation and video games. A museum spokesperson called the revamped spaces a "true labour of love and collaboration", adding it showcased collections in "new and innovative ways". The galleries, spanning two floors of the museum, will reopen from 10 July. The March Hare puppet was created for the 1999 Alice in Wonderland film by Muppets creator Jim Henson's studio. The galleries will also feature an "authentic and interactive" version of Bradford Community Broadcasting's (BCB) radio studio. Other exhibits include the camera used to document Captain Scott's 1910 Antarctic expedition and TV pioneer John Logie Baird's 1926 television apparatus. Visitors will also be able to see a mixing desk used by electronic punk band The Prodigy, fangs worn by Christopher Lee as Dracula and an Alien head and torso from the 1979 hit film. A section will also be dedicated to the infamous Cottingley Fairies hoax. Jo Quinton-Tulloch, museum director, said: "Our collections and the rich narratives they tell touch upon all our lives, from the first photographic negative and film footage to the advent of radio and television. "Our sound and vision galleries showcase how everyday objects have the power to be extraordinary." A spokesperson for The National Lottery Heritage Fund added: "In 1995, the museum was one of the first transformational projects in Yorkshire that received National Lottery funding from the Heritage Fund. "After 30 years, we're proud to have supported the museum with another transformational grant for these fantastic new galleries." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North. Dracula's fangs and 'alien' head to go on show Museum will be open again for City of Culture year
BBC News
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
National Science and Media Museum unveils sound and vision project
An animatronic puppet and a recreation of a community radio station are among the new exhibits set to be unveiled at the National Science and Media Bradford museum's sound and vision galleries have seen a £6.8m transformation and feature more than 500 exhibits - covering photography, film, television, animation and video games. A museum spokesperson called the revamped spaces a "true labour of love and collaboration", adding it showcased collections in "new and innovative ways". The galleries, spanning two floors of the museum, will reopen from 10 July. The March Hare puppet was created for the 1999 Alice in Wonderland film by Muppets creator Jim Henson's galleries will also feature an "authentic and interactive" version of Bradford Community Broadcasting's (BCB) radio exhibits include the camera used to document Captain Scott's 1910 Antarctic expedition and TV pioneer John Logie Baird's 1926 television apparatus. Visitors will also be able to see a mixing desk used by electronic punk band The Prodigy, fangs worn by Christopher Lee as Dracula and an Alien head and torso from the 1979 hit film.A section will also be dedicated to the infamous Cottingley Fairies hoax. Jo Quinton-Tulloch, museum director, said: "Our collections and the rich narratives they tell touch upon all our lives, from the first photographic negative and film footage to the advent of radio and television."Our sound and vision galleries showcase how everyday objects have the power to be extraordinary."A spokesperson for The National Lottery Heritage Fund added: "In 1995, the museum was one of the first transformational projects in Yorkshire that received National Lottery funding from the Heritage Fund."After 30 years, we're proud to have supported the museum with another transformational grant for these fantastic new galleries." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
