Northern museums look to Event

Displays at two high-profile museums in the north of England which are struggling for funding are to be designed by London museum and exhibition specialist Event Communications.

The consultancy has been appointed by the City of Lincoln and Lincolnshire County Councils to create a new city museum, and it is designing the permanent galleries for Manchester’s Imperial War Museum.

The Lincoln project requires £8m, only 20 per cent of which has been secured, and the councils are approaching the Heritage Lottery Fund and European bodies for money. Manchester’s Imperial War Museum was turned down for Lottery money and has sought funding locally and from the European Regional Development Fund.

The Lincoln museum aims to “bring to life the people of Lincolnshire” from prehistory to modern day, according to an Event Communications spokeswoman. It will feature collections from the existing city and county museum, which has been without a home for several years. “Event’s design will combine museum objects, recreations, film and hands-on displays to allow visitors to explore the past of Lincoln and Lincolnshire county,” she adds.

Manchester’s Imperial War Museum of the North is being constructed by architect Daniel Libeskind beside the city’s canal, opposite the Lowry Centre. An Event spokeswoman says the consultancy aims to “recreate the reality of conflict” by integrating historical objects with images, film and sound recordings.

“We want to take the Imperial War Museum’s commitment to the human experience way beyond the confines of traditional museum display,” she adds.

The Imperial War Museum of the North opens in 2002.