Exciting times ahead!

We are very excited to announce that plans are afoot to take the extInked project international!

It has always been an ambition of UHC to develop a global network of Ambassadors for the world's most threatened birds, marine species, amphibians, reptiles, invertebrates, mammals, plants and fungi and research is well underway in to making this a reality.

We do not want to give too much away at this time but we wanted to share our exciting news with you.

Keep an eye out for further announcements via the Website, Blog, Facebook and Twitter.

MUSEUM MEETS: AFTER HOURS - 26/11/2011

The Manchester Museum has once again teamed up with the Ultimate Holding Company and Anatomy Projects to launch the first in a series of the Museum Meets: After Hours Events.

Whether you're an extInked ambassador, project supporter, photography enthusiast or just simply interested in exploring the museum after hours come along and join us between 6.30-9.30pm on Saturday 26th November 2011 for an evening of entertainment, opportunity and exploration.

After Hours Activities include:

- For one night only, Ultimate Holding Company will be showcasing several new artworks including new moving image work, documenting the extInked project along with some new portraits captured by Anatomy Projects with their 19th Century Studio plate camera.

- Meet the extInked Ambassadors and be inspired by their experiences of being part of this unique social experiment and find out about the work they have been doing to protect and advocate for their species.

- A limited edition revised publication of the extInked Almanac will be available to purchase. Only one hundred copies have been produced, each has been individually numbered and signed by the artist.

- Learn how photography has been used by museums in the past and have the opportunity to create your own photographic narrative using items/artefacts/specimens from the Museum's unseen collections. (Bring your own camera.)

- Explore the museum through the lens of a restored Victorian Camera and interact with the collections in a new and unique way.

- Music will be provided by artist Naomi Kashiwagi, with her collection of wind-up gramophone turntables.

- There will be a Pay Bar available.

Event details:

MUSEUM MEETS AFTER HOURS, Saturday 26th November 2011, 6.30pm - 9.30pm.

The Manchester Museum, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL.

This event is free to attend.

For further information please contact:

Kate Houlton

We are extInked - Touring Exhibitions Coordinator

Ultimate Holding Company

t: +44 (0) 161 238 8523

e: kate@uhc.org.uk

w: www.extinked.org.uk

b: www.extinked.blogspot.com

t: @extinked

Anna Bunney

Curator of Public Programmes

The Manchester Museum

t: +44 (0) 161 306 1581

e: Anna.Bunney@manchester.ac.uk

w: www.manchester.ac.uk/museum

This evening event has been inspired by We are extInked, an exhibition which documents the legacy of extInked, a unique arts and ecology project by Manchester based artists Ultimate Holding Company. The exhibition draws to a close on Sunday 4th December 2011 so make sure you catch it before it's too late.

We are extInked is a touring exhibition supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and MIRIAD.

Photographs by Anatomy Projects.

Behind the scenes at Manchester Museum!

ExtInked Ambassadors Annie Harrison, Nick Dixon and Clyve Bonnell were invited by Manchester Museum to spend a day behind the scenes at the museum, meeting the experts and learning about their species. 

Gavin Parry and David Penny from Anatomy Projects were also invited along to document each meeting and produce several new pieces of work that will be shown in the forthcoming exhibitions as part of the We are extInked UK tour.

Here are some behind the scenes shots taken during each meeting at the wonderful Manchester Museum.

Clyve Bonnell, Ambassador for the Distinguished Jumping Spider had an opportunity to meet with Dmitri Logunov, Curator of Anthropods in the Entomololgy department and later explored the vast collections of specimens housed in the museum stalls.

Manchester Museum has a stunning herbarium located at the very top of the museum building, housing thousands of plant specimens dating back hundreds of years. We were lucky enough to spend an afternoon in there with Annie Harrison, Ambassador for the Cornflower as she met with the Lindsey Loughtman, Curatorial Assistant of Botany.
 

Nick Dixon, Ambassador for the Western Capercaillie met with Henry McGhie, Head of Collections and Curator of Zoology. 

Whilst Nick and Henry were deep in conversation we decided to take a look around the bird stalls!

We would like to thank Dmitri Logunov, Lindsey Loughtman, Henry McGhie and the team at Manchester Museum for their continued support with the extInked project and We are extInked UK tour.

extInked Big Saturday - 24/09/2011

FUN FOR ALL THE FAMILY!

Come and join us for the extInked Big Saturday at the Manchester Museum on 24th September 2011, 11.00 - 4.00pm.

Activities include:

ARTS & CRAFTS - Get involved with a variety of creative activites for all ages.

Drop-in, free, all ages, Discovery Centre, Floor G.

11am-4pm: Create your own animal ears & explore our bag of beasts.

11am-1pm & 2-4pm: Become a mini Ambassador and get your own temporary tattoo of an endangered species.

TALKS - Enjoy fun and informative talks from conservation experts.

Drop-in, free, all ages, Discovery Centre, Floor G.

12.30pm: The plight of the European Hedgehog.

Hugh Warwick, author of A Prickly Affair, has been studying hedgehogs for over 25 years and became the extInked ambassador for the animal back in 2009. He will be talking about his fascination (obsession) with these wonderfully charismatic beasts and why he thinks that they are the most important wild animal on the planet. Learn about their prickles, their habits and why they are disappearing from the countryside and our towns and cities and leave knowing how to make the world a better place for our delightful hedgehogs.

1.30pm: Fauna & Flora International & The Native Oyster.

extInked Ambassador, Elizabeth Allen has been passionate about conservation her whole life, so much so she got a job at leading conservation charity. She will be talking about her experience of becoming an extInked Ambassador for the Native Oyster and the fantastic work of Fauna and Flora International.

2.30pm: The Marine Conservation Society - Biodiversity, Fisheries and Pollution.

Rebecca Lowe, Conservation Support Officer at the Marine Conservation Society is stopping by to talk about the importance of marine conservation and what initiatives the MSC are currently focused on. The Marine Conservation Society has worked with UHC since 2009 to support the extInked project as a project partner.

FILM SCREENINGS - Enjoy a series of family friendly short films all about Bugs & Insects.

Drop-in, free, ages 7 and above, Kanaris Theatre, Floor 2.

2.00-3.00pm: Films include Roberto & the Insect Architect and Shaun the Sheep, Buzz off Bees.

OTHER ACTIVITIES:

Drop-in, free, all ages, Museum Entrance, Floor G.

- Find out about the work of leading conservation organisations and ways you can do to help wildlife.

- Have an opportunity to meet and touch some endangered species from the museum’s vivarium.

- extInked artist Jai Redman to do some live drawing.

- Meet Ambassadors and talk to them about their experiences.

All events are free!

For further information please contact the Manchester Museum.

extInked Artwork for Sale!

To celebrate the national tour of the extInked project, UHC has created a special revised edition of the extInked Almanac. There are only one hundred copies of this limited edition publication available, so hurry up and get yourself one before they sell out! Priced at £20.00, each copy is numbered and signed by the artist.

Whilst you're checking out the book, why not take a look at the extInked drawings. A number of the original artworks that formed the basis of the one hundred tattoos are still available to purchase, priced at £80.00.

To find out more please visit the UHC online shop.

Kelly's quest to find the Tall Thrift!

On a rainy Monday morning extInked Ambassador, Kelly Parish, accompanied by Gavin Parry and David Penny of Anatomy Projects and their free standing 19th Century Studio Plate Camera set off on a journey to find the Tall Thrift.

Kelly was invited to visit the Moor Closes nature reserve in Ancaster by the wardens at the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust who manage one of the sites where the tall thrift grows, as this species is only found in two locations in the UK it is considered very precious. Luckily for Kelly the second location is only walking distance from the nature reserve in the village cemetery. Kelly had the opportunity to meet with the warden and find out much more about her species and Gavin and David were on hand to document the days activities and here is a sneak peak of their trip.

More footage of the day, along with a detailed account of her adventure from Kelly will be posted soon.

WILDLIFE AMBASSADORS MAKE THEIR MARK IN THE M.E.N.

Our Jai Redman is interviewed in todays M.E.N talking about the launch of We are extInked at the Manchester Museum. The full article is below:

WILDLIFE AMBASSADORS MAKE THEIR MARK

A project to highlight plants and animals threatened by extinction using permanent tattoos has gone on show in Manchester.

ExtInked saw 100 volunteers tattooed with an image of a species in the UK under threat.

The aim was for each person to become an 'ambassador' for the species they were tattooed with and to campaign for it's survival.

Now two years on, portraits of all of the volunteers - tattooed with everything from eagles to toads and wildflowers - are on display in an exhibition at Manchester Museum.

Jai Redman, who was head artist on extInked and is now creative director of artists' collective Ultimate Holding Company which ran the project, chose a tattoo of a smooth snake.

He said: "The project started a couple of years ago so this is about catching up with the ambassadors and the work they are continuing to do to promote their species."

The photographs of each ambassador, plus original drawings of the designs, will be on display until November.

For further information about the extInked project and We are extInked tour please visit the project website - www.extinked.org.uk.

For exhibition details and information about related events at the Manchester Museum please visit - www.manchester.ac.uk/museum.