The following text is the second part of our online tours around the Manchester Museum; the first tour is here. This time we are presenting a brief overview of the museum’s gallery called ‘Living Worlds’.
The ‘Living Worlds’ gallery sits at the heart of the oldest galleries of the Manchester Museum, which were purpose built to show their newly acquired natural history collections. The striking views of the cases and the balconies to the floors above are similar now to how they were in 1912, but without game trophies on its columns. The view includes the skeleton of the sperm whale, hanging suspended over the gallery floor after its discovery in Massachusetts in February 1896 (Fig. 1).
Despite the historic setting, the gallery today aims to move away from a traditional understanding of nature when it is presented as if existing in far off countries, separate from people. ‘Living Worlds’ puts people back into nature and describes its role in our everyday lives. Different ecosystems of our planet vary from polar lands to tropical forests, all full of life adapted to live in those conditions (Fig. 2). The life surrounding us could be viewed with fascination or fear, as something to exploit or to protect or as something to admire or to understand how it works (Fig. 3).
Each case in Living Worlds takes a theme exploring one way in which people might connect with nature, either past of present. For example, the taxidermy tiger takes centre stage in a story about hunting for sport and trophy collecting. The tiger stands as if frozen in the moment of attack, telling us more about how the species was predominantly seen by Victorian society and about how the hunter wanted to be remembered, as a conqueror (Fig. 4). In comparison, other animals, such as those which came to the museum after living their lives at Belle Vue Zoo, are in poses which aim to show people how they may have behaved in life.
We all rely on nature in our daily lives. There are the very practical things, like food, clothing and shelter, but there are also less tangible ways we rely on nature. Having access to greenspaces and nature is known to help our own sense of wellbeing, helping us stay healthy, find a sense of place and of peace. We also use nature to help us communicate complex ideas about ourselves, our cultures and organisations. By a symbolic view of animals and plants we represent ourselves in the way we want to be seen or interpreted. The industrious and communal bee is the symbol of Manchester, whereas the bee has long been a universal symbol of ethical virtues, such as diligence, sociability, purity, wisdom, hard-work and community (Fig. 5).
Today, many animals and plants are threatened in the wild, and museum collections hold examples of species which are already extinct (Fig. 6). Human activities such as agriculture, deforestation or mining can make it hard or impossible for nature to find the space to thrive, or even to co-exist with us. Many charities, organisations and individuals work to keep ecosystems healthy and make room for wildlife. How we view nature and the choices we all make in our day-to-day lives all has an impact on the natural world around us (Fig. 7).
Entomology Manchester 