The Atkinson is delighted to announce that it has been awarded £35,000 from Arts Council England for Selling Egypt, a project that explores and celebrates Sefton’s outstanding collection of Ancient Egyptian artefacts, The Goodison Collection.
This grant award is important recognition by Arts Council England of the regional significance of The Atkinson development, which was funded by Sefton MBC.
The Atkinson’s Selling Egypt Project is one of 11 museum projects in the North of England that have been successful in the third round of The Arts Council’s Strategic Support Funding
In the last 12 months, The Atkinson has managed to secure over £100,000 in grants for new projects plus almost £1m from the Heritage Lottery Fund for the development of the new museum that opens later this year.
Alison Clark-Jenkins, Director North, Arts Council England said:
‘I’m delighted that the Arts Council is supporting this project through our Renaissance Strategic Support programme. The collaboration of North West museums in looking at different ways of working and using their collections is also a good way to ensure their sustainability as well as offering an opportunity to see The Atkinson’s Egyptology collection for the first time in 40 years.’
Emma Anderson, Director of The Atkinson said:
“Selling Egypt is one of the ways in which we want to raise the profile of this collection in the run up to the museum opening. We are exploring ways to develop a unique retail offer inspired by objects from The Goodison Collection.
The small scale and characteristics of the Collection are an advantage. It focuses on objects from everyday life with a particular focus on body adornment and beauty – some of the objects look as if they were made yesterday rather than 3000 years ago.
By involving researchers, designers and makers in developing this retail collection, we can bring our collections to life, increase people’s engagement with original uses and meanings, as well as increasing understanding of processes involved in their creation.”
Selling Egypt is also an important opportunity for The Atkinson to work with other regional museums that have Egyptian collections. The project will develop over the next 12 months, as a partnership with Blackburn Museum & Art Gallery, Bolton Museum & Archives Service, Towneley Hall, Blackburn and West Park Museum, Macclesfield.
For further information on the Selling Egypt project, the museum or the Goodison Egyptology Collection please check The Atkinson website theatkinson.co.uk for updates.
To find out more about the Arts Council’s Strategic Support Funding please visit the Arts Council’s website (artscouncil.org.uk).