Experiential Learning, The New Museum of Liverpool

" Liverpool is one of the wonders of Britain. What it may grow to in time I know not."

Daniel Defoe: 1708


In a time when our museums, some of the most wonderful and innovative cultural spaces, are taking a terrible hammering due to cuts, I found it uplifting to experience the New Museum of Liverpool. No surprise that this city is teeming with creativity, but just to walk around the Albert Dock and see the whole vista of historic and contemporary architecture unfolded, tells a valuable story in itself.
To my mind the success of this museum, which teemed with people at 10 a.m. on a weekday, is due to two factors, story and space: and how these are intertwined.
Liverpudlians are not short of stories! Here they are captured in every form imaginable: through audio, digital projections, and artefacts, ranging from iconic objects to the most intensely personal, and all equally honoured. And the spaces reverberated with voices of real people, telling their stories, both in audio, and in real time, as I listened in to parents and elders explaining images and objects to the kids, sharing history. There was a huge amount of enjoyable informal learning going on, plus a palpable sense of pride in their shared history.
None of this could have been achieved without the innovative use of the space. The galleries are linked by a central spiral stairway, and treated in a “theatrical” manner, in its’ best sense. Every surface, including the floor and the vertical spaces are mined for opportunities. Look upwards to see a life sized horse and jockey leaping overhead: part of the great Aintree story. Then discover a quiet corner to experience the stories of Liverpool people struggling with massive poverty in the 1930’s, turn about and immerse yourself in their proud history of football. The use of lighting is wonderfully effective, especially the huge suspended “drums” used to project images.
And that is what I enjoyed, this total immersion in an experience that is non- directive, but can be explored and experienced at your own pace. It reminded me of The Cerritos Library in California, an early innovation in the use of space for Experiential Learning.
The new Liverpool Museum is a powerful metaphor for learning, and how if we divorce the potential of physical space from learning, in all its forms, then we deeply misunderstand the nature of learning, which includes the engagement of all senses, visual, audio, touch and possibly even smell!