Ashmolean Museum
Beaumont Street, 01865 278000

official website

Open: Tues - Sunday 10am - 6pm, Bank Holiday Monday 10am – 6pm. Free admission.

Contained in a gorgeous building across from the Randolph Hotel, the Ashmolean has paintings, coins, musical instruments, antiquities, statues of deities, and a must see Egyptian exhibit. Cafe and Museum Shop.

What's on?

Royal Elephants from Mughal India
Wednesday 28th April - Tuesday 28th September
Paintings & drawings from the collection of Sir Howard Hodgkin. This temporary display in Gallery 29 presents twenty elephant subjects, dating from about 1570 to 1750, have been selected from the distinguished collection of the artist Sir Howard Hodgkin. Elephants were highly prized by the Muslim and Hindu rulers of India, for their power in battle and as majestic mounts on ceremonial occasions. The royal elephants were often depicted by court artists, in expressive individual portraits or in scenes of hunting and processions.

Saturday Highlight Tours
Ongoing
Discover the treasures of the Ashmolean. A great introduction to the museum. Every Saturday, 11 am - 12 pm. Free but donations welcome. No booking needed but numbers limited. Places are allocated on the day by tokens. Tokens will be available from the information desk from 10 am. Talks are led by education volunteers.

The Lost World Of Old Europe: The Danube Valley, 5000 - 3500 BC
Thursday 20th May - Sunday 15th August
The Ashmolean Museum will launch its major new exhibition programme with The Lost World of Old Europe: The Danube Valley, 5000–3500 BC. This unprecedented exhibition, prepared by the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University (ISAW), has been made possible through loan agreements with over 20 museums in Romania, Bulgaria and Moldova. On display in Britain for the first time are more than 250 artefacts recovered by archaeologists from the settlements and cemeteries of ‘Old Europe’, a period of great sophistication, creativity and technological advance in southeast Europe between 5000 and 3500 BC. The exhibition is supported by the Leon Levy Foundation. Tickets: £6.00 / £4.00 concession

Lunchtime Gallery Talks: August
August 2010
Tue 3: Anglo-Saxons - the bold & the beautiful
Wed 4: Chinese Ceramics
Thur 5: Narrative Painting
Fri 6: Ancient Greek sculpture
Tue 10: World of Shakespeare
Wed 11: Early Italian Art
Thur 12: Ancient Aegean
Fri 13: Islamic Middle East
Tue 17: Worcester Porcelain Highlights
Wed 18: Chinese Paintings
Thur 19: Seeds of Change in the 17th Century
Fri 20: Crossing Borders
Tue 24: Mughal Art
Wed 25: Voyage of Discovery in Western Painting
Thur 26: The Textile Gallery
Fri 27: Landscape Painting
Tue 31: Dutch Painting
1.15 - 2.00pm Cost: Free but donations welcome. No booking needed but numbers limited to 12. Places are allocated on the day by tokens. Tokens are available from the information desk from 12 noon. Talks are led by education volunteer

The Pre-Raphaelites and Italy
Thursday 16th September - Sunday 5th December
Italy, its landscape, literature, art, and history, was a central reference point for the movement known as Pre-Raphaelitism in the 1850s and 1860s. The exhibition will explore the Pre-Raphaelites’ interest in Italian literature and landscape for the first time. Of the original members of the Brotherhood, Dante Gabriel Rossetti was the son of an Italian refugee and spoke fluent Italian, but never visited Italy. Nevertheless, he found one of his principal sources of inspiration in the writings of Dante Alighieri, and made a magnificent series of watercolours and oils illustrating key episodes in the Divine Comedy. Later, Burne-Jones and other artists made illustrations of Italian writers. Other members of the Brotherhood, notably William Holman Hunt, followed explicitly John Ruskin’s injunction to study nature closely. Ruskin’s influence was felt by a group of artists who represented not only the Italian landscape, but also architecture and paintings, with extraordinary fidelity. The exhibition will include cartoons and preparatory drawings for this project, which have never been exhibited before in England. Tickets: £8 / £6 Concessions.
Temporary Exhibition Galleries

Modern Art Oxford
30 Pembroke Street, 01865 722733

official website

Open: Tues - Sat 10am - 5pm, Sun 12pm - 5pm. Free admission. Closed: Mondays

Founded in 1965, the Modern Art Oxford is the South East's leading centre for modern and contemporary art. Cafe and Museum Shop.

What's on?

Modern Art Trolley
Saturdays & Sundays
Our programme includes a range of free events for young people, children and families. Every weekend, from 2 - 4 pm, the Modern Art Trolley offers free art activities linked to the exhibitions led by art students and artists for families to enjoy together. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Free, just drop in!

Richard Woods
Saturday 8th May - Tuesday 1st September
Renowned for his signature architectural interventions and transformations, Richard Woods creates encompassing installations of wood-block printed floors, walls and exterior elevations, that fold the history of the decorative arts, functional design and graphic language into intoxicating plays with image and surface. Launching the first in a series of new commissions for the new yard space that, seasonally, will house Modern Art Oxford’s café, Wood’s work includes sculptures, seating, table tops, lighting and even aprons for the café staff. From May to September, take a seat in our brand new covered yard designed by leading architects dRMM and artist Richard Woods. Enjoy the great coffee, homemade food and a changing seasonal menu.

brook & black: Art in Rose Hill: Plot 16 Residency
Friday 11th June 2010 - Friday 30th September 2011
Artistic partnership brook & black (Leora Brook and Tiffany Black) are newly appointed artists-in-residence on Plot 16, the Gallery's allotment in Rose Hill. We have been at the Lenthall Road Allotment Association on Plot 16 since May 2009, growing vegetables and meeting new people, as part of the Gallery's Art in Rose Hill programme. The brook & black residency is the first major commission for the allotment. Having spent time in Modern Art Oxford's archive researching the history of the building, originally a brewery in the 1800s, brook & black plan to grow hops and barley on Plot 16 and to make a dedicated beer from the crop. Once the hops are established the artists plan to train the plants to grow over a sculptural structure replicating the architecture of the Gallery: creating a mini Modern Art Oxford in Rose Hill. Plot 16 is part of Art in Rose Hill. Art in Rose Hill was launched in 2007. Thanks to a major grant from The Paul Hamlyn Foundation, the programme continues until 2011.

Howard Hodgkin: Time and Place
Wednesday 23rd June - Sunday 5th September
A new major exhibition of paintings by Howard Hodgkin explores the acclaimed British artist’s use of abstraction as an expression of subjective experience. Spanning ten years of the artist’s career, the exhibition will include paintings not previously seen by a broader public, including a powerful body of new work developing out of his Home, Home on the Range series of 2008. Together, they will highlight the physical as well as emotional charge of Hodgkin’s art through his use of scale, sensitivity to light and his ability to create painterly equivalents of depth and atmosphere using colour and brushstroke. Howard Hodgkin Time and Place is organised by Modern Art Oxford in partnership with the De Pont Foundation, Tilburg, and the San Diego Museum of Art, to where it will travel in September 2010 and February 2011 respectively.

Lunchtime Tours
Wednesdays
Informal exhibition tours led by members of the Modern Art Oxford team every Wednesday at 1 pm. FREE, just turn up.

Art in Rose Hill: Family Day @ Rose Hill
Sunday 1st August
Join Modern Art Oxford at Rose Hill Primary School to help celebrate summer by printing colourful bunting using images of summer plants. Led by printmaker Emma Molony who uses screenprint, monotype, etching and lino cut in her work. Part of the Alexandra Reinhardt Memorial Award, sponsored by the Max Reinhardt Charitable Trust in conjunction with The Art Room. FREE, just drop in. 11 am - 3.30 pm.

Oxford Summer Tour - The Master and Margarita
Monday 02 August
Black Magic, romance, hellish parties and one very fat cat. Oxford University Dramatic Society presents a unique performance of their 125th Anniversary UK tour production, The Master and Margarita, a brand new adaptation of Bulgakov's cult classic.

Live Friday: Ichi & The Hand
Friday 6th August
The Hand are Rachael and Wig who met on the Bristol ferry boats and united around a love of banjo, kora and ukele, going on to develop a sound that draws together enchanting threads of folk and world music. Ichi hails from from Nagoya, Japan. Taking the notion of the one-man band to the limits he combines steel drum, tape loops, xylophone and ping pong balls to produce something unique, ritualistic and fun. FREE, booking essential on 01865 813 800. 7 pm.

Film Screening: Wings of Desire
Thursdy 12th August
Set in West Berlin in the late 1980s, towards the end of the Cold War, Wenders’ poetic classic follows two angels, Damiel (Bruno Ganz) and Cassiel (Otto Sander) as they roam the city, unseen and unheard by the people, observing and listening to the diverse thoughts of various Berliners. £3, booking essential on 01865 813 800. 7 pm.

The Mountain Parade
Saturday 14 August
The Mountain Parade, Oxford's finest ramshackle folk-pop band, will be performing their unique brand of anthem with ukulele's, trumpets, strings and an indomitable spirit of adventure.

Exhibition Talks: Howard Hodgkin
Saturday 14th August
Talk on Howard Hodgkin’s exhibition – Led by Andy Barker, artist and assistant to Howard Hodgkin. £3 booking essential on 01865 813 800. 3 pm.

Film Screening: Ivans XTC
Friday 20 August
A remarkably raw and powerful work set in Hollywood and partly based on Leo Tolstoy’s novella The Death of Ivan Ilyich. Shot on digital camera it portrays the last day in the life of LA movie agent Ivan Beckman, played demonically by Danny Huston. £3, booking essential on 01865 813 800. 7 pm. Certificate 18

Exhibition Talks: Howard Hodgkin
Saturday 21st August
Talk on Howard Hodgkin’s exhibition – Led by Sam Smiles, Emeritus Professor of Art History. £3 booking essential on 01865 813 800. 3 pm.

Artists in Conversation
Thursday 26th August
A very special event in which art critic, writer and broadcaster Andrew Graham-Dixon talks to Howard Hodgkin about developments in his recent work, and looks back at various aspects of his distinguished career. £5 / £4 concessions. FREE to friends. Booking essential on 01865 813 800. 7 pm.

Family Day @ MAO
Saturday 28th August
Join artist Dionne Barber for an afternoon using your senses and memories to construct a colourful snapshot of life. The results of the day will be on display in the Education Room until Sunday 5 September. FREE, just drop in. 12 - 4 pm.

Yard Gigs: The Yarns
Saturday 28th August
The Yarns present an evening of live acoustic music in The Yard. FREE, just drop in. 7 - 10 pm.

Film Screening: Far from Heaven
Thursday 2nd September
Starring Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid and Dennis Haysbert, Far from Heaven tells the story of Cathy Whitaker, a 1950s housewife living in suburban Hartford, as she sees her seemingly perfect life begin to fall apart. With a strong reference to the films of Douglas Sirk, Haynes conjours a lush and moving exploration of race, sexuality and class. £3, booking essential on 01865 813 800. 7 pm.

Live Friday: The Gluts: Café Carbon
Friday 3rd September
Concluding their week-long bike tour of the South East, The Gluts will perform Café Carbon in The Yard at Modern Art Oxford. Café Carbon is a musical performance written by The Gluts (Gina Birch, Kaffe Matthews and Hayley Newman) originally performed in Copenhagen during the UN Climate Change Conference. Café Carbon offers a menu of music about food and climate: the audience choose songs and The Gluts sing them! FREE, just turn up. 7 pm.

Artist Talk: Angela Palmer
Saturday 4th September
Angela Palmer talks about the genesis of her project Ghost Forest and its ongoing journey. Drawing attention to threatened rainforests worldwide and deforestation’s impact on the world’s climate, Ghost Forest is a remarkable installation consisting of tree trunks that Palmer brought from primary rainforests in Ghana. From this July Ghost Forest will be sited on the front lawn of Oxford University Museum of Natural History and the Pitt Rivers Museum for a 12-month period. £5 / £4 Concessions, FREE to friends. Booking essential on 01865 813 800. 7 pm.

Film Screening: Wild Combination
Saturday 16th September
An absorbing portrait of the seminal avant-garde composer, singer-songwriter, cellist and disco producer Arthur Russell. Before his untimely death from AIDS in 1992, Russell prolifically created music that spanned both pop and the transcendent possibilities of abstract art. Joining us to introduce the film and to talk about his recent biography of Arthur Russell Hold On to Your Dreams will be writer Tim Lawrence. £3, booking essential on 01865 813 800. 7 pm.

University Museum of Natural History and Pitt Rivers
Parks Road, 01865 272950

Open: Monday - Sunday 12.00 - 4.30pm, from the 1st May 2007 we will be open daily 10.00-4.30pm except Monday, which will remain 12.00-4.30pm. Free admission

The Oxford University Museum of Natural History houses the University's scientific collections of zoological, entomological, geological, palaeontological and mineralogical specimens, accumulated in the course of the last three centuries. Small museum shop.

What's on?

A Wonderland of Natural History: The Oxford University Museum of Natural History 1860-2010
Saturday 24th April - Friday 31st December 2010
Contemporary documents, photographs and engravings trace the campaign to build the Museum as a home for Oxford science, the subsequent architectural competition, and the construction of the building between 1855 and 1860. The sculptures, carvings, stone and metalwork are explored through the drawings and words of John Ruskin, Henry Acland and others. Images record the evolution of the art, architecture and displays throughout the history of this remarkable temple to science.

A Few of Our Favourite Things
From 24th April
A selection of favourite objects, places and features chosen by the people who work within the Museum.

Chengjiang: Extraordinary Fossils from the Cambrian of China
Monday 17th May - Sunday 14th November
This exhibition features one of the world's most important fossil collections. The fossils are 525 million years old and are part of the 'Cambrian Explosion'. This event heralded the first appearance in the fossil record of most of the major animal groups that make up global marine biodiversity today.

Free Family Friendly Fun!
Ongoing
Every Sunday from 2 - 4 pm in the Pitt Rivers and the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. Activity backpacks, sorting boxes, trails, colouring sheets and craft activities.

Ghost Forest
5th July 2010 - July 2011
A group of huge primary rainforest tree stumps, most with their buttress roots intact, will be installed on the lawn of the Natural History Museum and Pitt Rivers Museum for a year from July 5.The 'Ghost Forest' is a project by artist Angela Palmer, and is intended to highlight the impacts of worldwide deforestation on the earth's climate, biodiversity and the livelihood of indigenous populations. The artist brought the trees from a selectively logged tropical forest in Ghana, Western Africa, in what turned into a logistical exercise of gargantuan proportions. The project was first shown in Trafalgar Square in London in November before being moved to Copenhagen for the UN Climate Change Conference in December. The Ghost Forest is the result of a collaboration between several departments at Oxford University including the Department of Engineering Sciences, The Environmental Change Institute, Plant Sciences and the Oxford Centre for Tropical Forests. The artist is a graduate of the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art and Exeter College. Free Admission.

Family Friendly Trail: Sensory Seaside Trail
Friday 23rd July - Wednesday 31st August
Sounds, sights and smells of the seaside come alive in this sensory trail. Drop-in during opening hours.

Family Friendly Event: Beside the Seaside
Tuesday 24th - Thursday 26th August
Discover the people and animals who live by the sea. Make your own boat, catch a magnetic fish and lots of other seaside surprises in store. 1 - 4 pm, drop-in.

Family Friendly Event: Insect Spectacle
Saturday 11th September
Come along today and enjoy our fantastic insect collection with handling tables and experts from the Amateur Entomological Society. 1 - 4 pm, drop-in.

Art in Rose Hill: Magic Greenhouse
Sunday 12th September
Come and help brook & black, artists in residence on Modern Art Oxford’s Plot 16 Allotment, build a Magic Greenhouse from bamboo canes. Afterwards there will be a picnic inside and around the structures as part of Lenthall Road Allotment Association summer party. Suitable for all ages – the more the merrier! Please bring picnic treats and any spare bamboo canes. FREE, just drop in. 2 pm.

Family Friendly Event: Museum Stories and Secrets
Saturday 25th September
Come along and celebrate our 150th birthday. Discover lost tales and museum secrets, with real museum specimens to handle. 1 - 4 pm, drop-in.

Visit the permanent exhibitions which are devoted to the history and diversity of life on earth, and to the rocks and minerals from which it is formed.

 

The entrance to the Pitt Rivers Museum is through the Oxford University Museum Natural History. The Pitt Rivers' entrance is at the far side from the main entrance, therefore, you need to walk across the ground floor to reach it. The Pitt Rivers has three floors of curious artefacts contained in glass display cabinets - including masks, magic, musical instruments and much more, with a memorable period atmosphere. Most visitors don't notice the drawers underneath many of the cabinets that can be opened to display more hidden treasures.

What's on?

The Burial of Emperor Haile Selassie: Photographs by Peter Marlow
Thursday 22nd April – Monday 21st November
When Emperor Haile Selassie was finally buried in Addis Ababa in 2000, twenty-five years after his death, only a few European journalists and reporters were there to witness it. Renowned Magnum photographer Peter Marlow was one of them. The 21 photographs in this exhibition document an extraordinary event and its colourful participants, from former soldiers to priests and dignitaries of the Eastern Orthodox Church, dressed in bright robes.

Wilfred Thesiger in Africa: A Centenary Exhibition
Friday 4th June 2010 – Sunday 5th June 2011
Marking the centenary of the renowned British traveller and writer Sir Wilfred Thesiger’s birth, this major new exhibition will show a wide selection of his photographs – many for the first time. They relate to his life and travels in Africa, and include images from Ethiopia, Sudan, Morocco, Tanzania and Kenya. Also on show will be a selection of objects collected by Thesiger and later donated to the Pitt Rivers Museum. The exhibition will be accompanied by a major new publication by the Pitt Rivers Museum and HarperCollins, Wilfred Thesiger in Africa (to be published May 2010)

Free Family Friendly Fun!
Ongoing
Every Sunday from 2 - 4 pm in the Pitt Rivers and the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. Activity backpacks, sorting boxes, trails, colouring sheets and craft activities.

Family Friendly Activities: Sweet Dreams
Saturday 7th August
Explore the American Great Plains in the Pitt Rivers and make your own dreamcatcher. 1 - 4 pm. A fun way to explore the museum and discover more about our exciting collections. FREE drop-in activity for children aged 5+. 

 Please note: Children must be accompanied by an adult at all activities.

Audiovisual presentation: Taking the Past into the Future
Saturday 21st August
In the 1990s Sir David Attenborough recorded an audio tour of the displays, in conversation with some of the curators. This recording has now been illustrated to create a fascinating introduction to the Museum, throwing light on its history, character and the study of anthropology, as well as introducing many familiar, and some easily missed, treasures of the collections. 2.30 pm.

Summer Holiday Activities: Beside the Seaside
Wednesday 24th - Friday 26th August
Discover the people and animals who live by the sea. Lots of seaside surprises in store! Joint with the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. 1 - 4 pm. A fun way to explore the museum and discover more about our exciting collections. FREE drop-in activities for children aged 5+. Please note: Children must be accompanied by an adult at all activities.

Summer Holiday Activities: A Celebration of Summer
Saturday 4th September
Find out about traditional English folklore and make your own corn dolly to celebrate the end of summer. 1 - 4 pm. A fun way to explore the museum and discover more about our exciting collections. FREE drop-in activities for children aged 5+. Please note: Children must be accompanied by an adult at all activities.

Open Door: Guided Tours Behind the Scenes
Saturday 11th September
Visit the Museum’s new research centre to see how new acquisitions are catalogued and cared for. A chance to meet the Head of Collections and find out more about working on a collection of international importance. Booking essential - call in advance on 01865 270927. Maximum 15 people per tour. Tours at 2.00, 2.45, 3.30 (tours last 40 minutes). Suitable for adults, and children aged 12+ accompanied by an adult.

Gallery Talk: Peter Marlow: The Burial of Emperor Haile Selassie, 2000
Saturday 18th September
Dr Chris Morton, Curator of Photographs, in conversation with Magnum photographer Peter Marlow, whose work is currently on display in the Long Gallery. This is the first public exhibition of these images, which document a remarkable event in recent Ethiopian history. 2.30 pm.

Gallery Talk: Wilfred Thesiger in Africa: A Centenary Exhibition
Saturday 16th October
Dr Chris Morton and Philip Grover, curators of the current exhibition, discuss Thesiger’s travels and photography in Africa, as well as the history of his photographic archive at the Pitt Rivers Museum. 2.30 pm.

Oxford University Press Museum
Great Clarendon Street, Jericho, 01865 353527

official website

Open: 30 minute tours by appointment only between 10am - 4pm. Call for an appointment.

This small museum preserves and displays historic books, documents and printing equipment of the Oxford University Press, an international publishing house which is also a department of the University of Oxford.

Museum of the History of Science
Broad Street (next to Sheldonian), 01865 277280

official website

Open: Tuesday to Friday: 12.00 - 17.00, Saturday: 10.00 - 17.00, Sunday: 14.00 - 17.00

The Museum of the History of Science houses an unrivalled collection of historic scientific instruments in the world's oldest surviving purpose-built museum building (built in 1683), originally the old Ashmolean.

What's on?

The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work
Wednesday 14th April - Sunday 5th September
Texts by Alain de Botton. Photographs by Richard Baker. This special exhibition showcases 16 stunning photographs by Richard Baker for Alain de Botton’s recent book The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work. An exploration of the joys and perils of the modern workplace, the book beautifully evokes what people get up to all day – and night – to make the frenzied contemporary world function. The exhibition juxtaposes texts from the book with a selection of Richard Baker’s specially-commissioned images. Ranging from rocket science to biscuit manufacture, it illuminates art, nature and industry through the hidden worlds of modern work.

The Secret Life of the Museum
From 10th August
A decade after their last exhibition, this will be a rare opportunity to see a selection of the finds made beneath the floorboards of the Top Gallery during the redevelopment in 1999. All sorts of things dropped through the floorboards, whether accidentally or intentionally, form an unnoficial but revealing record of life in the Ashmoean Museum in the 18th century.

Lecture: Printmaking and the Early Royal Society
Tuesday, 17 August 2010
The early Royal Society was much concerned with engraving and printing - both as a technical discipline and a practical tool for illustration and publication - yet we seem to know little about the artists involved. In this public lecture, Dr Jim Bennett talks about the most enduring images of the Society's early work; the plates from Robert Hooke's Micrographia.
7.00 pm

Family-Friendly Drop In: Send a Message SOS
Saturday, 21 August
Find out how Morse code works and have fun sending messages with the Museum's irresistable telegraphic apparatus. Suitable for ages 7+, no need to book - just drop in!

Family-Friendly Drop In: Euclid you Can!
Saturday, 28 August
Find out about Euclid and make some exciting 3-D geometric shapes out of coloured card. Suitable for ages 7+, no need to book - just drop in!

Special Event: 10/10 Work
Saturday, 04 September
The latest in the Museum's distinctive '10/10' days, on this occasion linked to the special exhibition 'The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work'. A programme of talks, tours, music and film, all on the theme of 'Work'.
10:00-22:00

Table Talk: The Microscopes of Antoni van Leeuwenhoek
Sunday, 05 September
A table talk about these fascinating instruments with Stephen Johnston.

Museum of Oxford
Town Hall, St. Aldate's Road, 01865 252761

official website

Open: Tues - Fri 10am - 4pm, Sat 10am - 5pm, Sun 12pm - 4pm. Free admission.

The Museum of Oxford is the only museum that is dedicated to the history of Oxford and its University. The museum tells the story of the city and Oxford University including history, archaeology, architecture, and environment.

What's on?

Gallery Pack: Brass Rubbing
Ongoing
Try your hand at brass rubbing using the five brasses in the galleries. Packs cost £1 per person.

Gallery Packs: Adventures with Alice
Ongoing
Find the Alice objects in the A-Z of Literary Oxford gallery and solve the puzzles Lewis Carroll set for his friends! Packs cost £1 per person.

Wonderland Imagined
Tue 1 Jun 2010 - Fri 3 Sep 2010
An exhibition about Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland and some of its past interpretations. Featuring objects, books and framed illustrations from the Lewis Carroll Society as well as work from artists and local schools it is being created in partnership with the Lewis Carroll Society and the Story Museum to celebrate the anniversary of the creation of the story.

Christ Church Picture Gallery
Oriel Square, 01865 276172

official website

Open: 1 Oct - 30 Apr: Mon-Sat 10:30 - 13:00 & 14:00 - 16:30, Sun 14:00 - 16:30; 1 May - 30 Sep: Mon-Sat 10:30 - 17:00, Sun 14:00 - 17:00. Admission £3/£2.

Christ Church is unique among the Oxford and Cambridge colleges in possessing an important collection of Old Master paintings and drawings, housed in a purpose-built Gallery of considerable architectural interest in itself.

What's on?

The Firing Line: Depictions of Conflict in the Collection of General John Guise
Tuesday 25th May - Saturday 29th August
The collector and military-man General John Guise (1683 – 1765) left his impressive art collection to Christ Church, his former college. Among the almost 2000 Old Master drawings are many with a military topic. Is this is a mere coincidence or do they illustrate the General’s own interest and taste? The exhibition will show over thirty drawings, ranging from a depiction of the war-god Mars by Rubens to whole compositional drawings of battle scenes by the Florentine artist Niccolò Circignani.

Sacred Faces - Icons in Oxford
Wednesday 25th August - Sunday 19th December
An exhibition showcasing some of Christ Church Picture Gallery's least known, but most captivating treasures.

Likenesses: Photographs by Judith Aronson
Saturday 18th September - Tuesday 19th October
An exhibition accompanying Judith Aronson's new book.

Bate Collection of Musical Instruments
Faculty of Music, St. Aldate's, 01865 276139

official website

Open: Mon - Fri 14:00 - 17:00, Sat 10:00 - 12:00 during term time only

The Bate Collection celebrates the history and development of musical instruments of the Western Classical tradition from the medieval period until the present day. The Collection is made available for study and judicious use by scholars, students, makers, and players, so as to enhance and increase the knowledge of the history of music as well as the enjoyment of historic performance for all.

What's on?

Bodleian Library
Broad Street, 01865 277224

official website

Free admission to these areas at the following times: Old Schools Quadrangle and Bodleian Library Gift Shop: 09:00 - 17:15 Monday - Friday, 09:00 - 16.45 Saturday, 11:00 - 17:00 Sunday; Exhibition Room: 09:00 - 17:00 Monday - Friday, 09:00 - 16.30 Saturday, 11:00 - 17:00 Sunday

The Bodleian was opened in 1602 by Thomas Bodley with a colection of 2,000 books. Today, there are more than 9 million items on 176 kilometres of shelving. Please note that children under 11 are not admitted. Tours given daily Monday through Saturday.

What's on?

'My wit was always working': John Aubrey and the Development of Experimental Science
Friday 28th May - Sunday 31st October
The Bodleian Summer exhibition will examine the intellectual world of the English seventeenth-century scientific and cultural figure, John Aubrey (1626-97). As one of the founding fellows of the Royal Society of London, Aubrey lived a rich life in the great decades of the British scientific revolution. A keen mathematician, pioneer biographer, natural philosopher and antiquary, Aubrey manifested a broad and deep range of scholarly interests, from the study of ancient megaliths to the creation of a new artificial language. The exhibition features Aubrey’s papers which are today held in the Bodleian Library.

Shelley’s Ghost: Reshaping the Image of a Literary Family
3 December 2010 – 27 March 2011
The Bodleian Library presents a major exhibition dedicated to one of the most renowned literary families in Britain: Percy Bysshe Shelley, his wife Mary Shelley, and Mary’s parents, William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft. Spanning three generations of literary figures, the exhibition charts the history of a family blessed with genius but marred by tragedy.

The Shelley family gave the first two parts of their family archive to the Bodleian in 1893-4 and 1946-61, whilst the final part -- known as the Abinger papers -- was bought by the Library in 2004 through a public appeal. The exhibition will showcase letters, literary manuscripts, rare printed books and pamphlets, portraits and relics. Star items will include Shelley’s own notebooks, a letter of John Keats, William Godwin’s diary and the original manuscripts of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The exhibition will also feature treasures lent by the Pforzheimer Collection of the New York Public Library, many of which have never been on public display in the UK.

Manifold Greatness: Oxford and the Making of the King James Bible * In celebration of the 400th anniversary of the publication o
22 April – 4 September 2011
The Bodleian Library summer 2011 exhibition tells the story of the most frequently printed book in English language, the King James Bible. Exploring the political, religious and intellectual context of its time, the exhibition looks at the events and conditions that led to and shaped this translation enterprise.

Commissioned by King James I of England (1566–1625), the translation was the outcome of the laborious efforts of 47 scholars located in Oxford, Cambridge and Westminster. Drawing on the Bodleian holdings, the rich resources of collegiate libraries from around the University of Oxford, and collections elsewhere, the exhibition specifically showcases the contribution of the Oxford translation committees, of which notable members were John Rainolds (President of Corpus Christi College), Henry Savile (Warden of Merton College) and Miles Smith (Corpus Christi and Brasenose College).

The King James translation of the Bible had an immediate cultural and social impact in 1611 and has become ubiquitous in British and American culture.

The exhibition is a project organised by the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford in association with the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, DC where some items from the Bodleian exhibition will be on display at the Folger’s related exhibition in Autumn 2011.

There will also be a series of four public lectures in association with the exhibition, to take place in Oxford during Hilary Term 2011.

Science Oxford Live
1-5 London Place, St Clements 01865 810000

official website

Science Oxford Live is a cultural centre for science and enterprise in St Clements, Oxford. As such it is the place for anyone and everyone to come and be engaged by the wonder of science. The centre includes a hands on science gallery for children, a science lounge for visitors to relax and a series of regular events for public and families. Opening times: Saturdays, 10am to 5pm, during Term Time and Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm, during local school holidays. £3 per person (science lounge free) Information and bookings on 01865 810000.

What's on?

Decoding Human History
Thursday 5th August
Joining us at Science Oxford Live will be Prof Gil McVean, who researches how humanity's genetic makeup has changed over history. Together we will explore how and why different modern human populations differ from each other, and what that might mean for Homo sapiens today and in the future. 7.30 pm. £3/SO Live Friends Free.

The Law of the Beehive
Thursday 12th August
Just like humans, bees live in “cities” of thousands of individuals, each with a tightly defined social role. Can they tell us anything about our own society? Local beekeeper Chris Richmond will round off our “Identity” season by explaining how honeybee society works, and asking you to draw your own conclusions...7.30 pm. £3/SO Live Friends Free.

Other Current and Upcoming Exhibitions