Museum Late Night: Material Culture

Friday 20 November 2026, 19.00–22.00

Booking essential, book your tickets here 

This event is free but your donations help us put on events throughout the year.
Please consider making a donation of £5, £10 or £15 when booking your tickets.

About the event

Enjoy the Pitt Rivers Museum and the Museum of Natural History after hours at our joint Material Culture themed late night.

In the Pitt Rivers Museum, enjoy music from local groove-roots band Papa Nui, beer, wine and soft drinks by Tap Social, plus exhibition talks, drop-in weaving crafts and a Materials Bingo hunt in the galleries.

At the Museum of Natural History, you are invited to explore the new 34: The Critical Raw Materials shaping our future exhibition, examining our reliance on minerals and the critical raw materials we source from nature through stalls, games, talks and art and craft activities. Meet researchers and explore specimens or have a cocktail at our mineral themed bar

Further details

Exhibition Talk: Museum materials in transit 

An ethnographic museum can be thought of as a collection of objects and materials of the past. What happens when these objects are taken out of glass cases and museum storage, digitised, and taken to people? How do these materials travel through time and manifest in the present? This talk will discuss how these ‘materials of past’ remain more relevant than ever, through the example of the Gaidinliu Collection from Nagaland, soon to be exhibited for the first time in the Museum’s history.

Live Music: Papa Nui 

This Oxford-based fiery festival band delivers ska-pop, reggae-funk, and roots-groove. Guaranteed to shake yer bones!

Workshop: Miniature weaving 

Create your own mini woven textile using a cardboard loom and a range of materials, then take it home as a keepsake or contribute it to a collective weaving made by Late Night visitors.

Please note, this event is for ticket holders only. Admission is FREE but only ticket holders will be admitted.