With these Hands: Crafting a Shared Humanity
2025-11-08 - 2026-11-08 | Pitt Rivers Museum, S Parks Rd, Oxford
With these Hands is a co-produced gallery trail created by a multicultural team of volunteers who share an interest in the hand-crafted.

Through the objects chosen and the stories told, you are invited to learn more about the way we craft and make in different cultures. Objects and storytelling enabling us to engage in shared experiences, emotions and ideas.

Objects tell human stories
They speak of hardship and dignity, of celebration, and resistance

The trail has nine stops around the Museum galleries, with five of the nine stops on the ground floor, three on the first floor and one on the second floor. We encourage visitors to use the trail map, starting on the first floor, moving up to the second floor and then finishing on the ground floor.
This trail was created as part of Multaka-Oxford. Our co-curators went on a journey together working closely with the museum collections and teams of experts. They have all thought deeply about the stories their chosen objects inspired.

ROMAN OXFORDSHIRE COINS DISPLAY
2025-12-06 - 2026-11-29 | Ashmolean Museum, Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, OX1 2PH, United Kingdom
6 Dec 2025 – 29 Nov 2026
Gallery 7
Admission is FREE

Coinage remains one of the best represented and most recognisable elements of Roman material culture.
This display will showcase a selection of Roman coins in the Ashmolean collection that were found in Oxfordshire and tell the story of the region from the Roman conquest in 43 CE to the end of Roman Britain, around 410 CE.
Some of the coins reflect everyday life through trade, soldiers’ pay, or the collection of taxes. Others tell us about Britain’s position in the empire or served as offerings people made to the gods.
Discover a group of Iron Age gold staters buried in a flint nodule around the time of the Roman invasion, known as the Henley Hoard, and various Roman coins from Claudius I to the end of Roman Britain. These historic finds were discovered in local towns and villages, such as Cowley, Dorchester, Asthall, Horton, Shiplake and Childrey, and add to the evidence for coin use and circulation in Roman Oxfordshire.

Map (detail) accompanying the Roman Oxfordshire coins display in the Money Gallery

Roman coins were an important means of communication. They were carried across the empire in purses, spreading images and messages central to Roman society: religion, politics, the Imperial family, or the empire’s prosperity. As with modern money, most Roman coins also had more straightforward messages, showing exactly who held power.
These coins are not always beautiful objects, but each is a small, powerful voice connecting us to the people of Roman Oxfordshire and their place in the wider Roman world.
Header image: Obverse and reverse detail of silver coin of Carausius © Ashmolean Museum

Found anything locally?
Since 1997, the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) has recorded more than 360,000 Roman coins from England and Wales, including nearly 15,000 from Oxfordshire.
If you think you may have found a Roman coin, it’s important to have it properly recorded. Contact your local Finds Liaison Officer at the PAS

SELECTED OBJECTS ON DISPLAY

Silver coin of Carausius

Silver coin of Roman Emperor Carausius, found at Shiplake, with a wolf and the twins Romulus and Remus on the reverse, 286–293 CE © Ashmolean Museum

Copper coin of Nero

Copper coin depicting Nero, found at Dorchester on Thames, 65 CE © Ashmolean Museum

Henley Hoard

Henley Hoard

Henley Hoard

Complete local Iron Age coin hoard of 32 gold staters buried in a flintstone nodule, found in Henley-on-Thames, 55–45 BCE © Ashmolean Museum

Silver coin of Arcadius

Silver coin of Roman Emperor Arcadius, found at Horton, 392–394 CE © Ashmolean Museum

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Song of Myself (Display)
2026-02-23 - 2026-12-31 | Weston Library, Broad Street, Oxford, England, OX1 3BG, United Kingdom
Song of Myself, 1995, Tom Phillips RA (1937–2022), wire, 360 x 180 cm.
Credit: Estate of Tom Phillips CBE RA
Tom Phillips described Song of Myself as “an attempt to list the various identities that go to make a single artistic life”. The work borrows its title from a poem in Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman. Its beginning is based on the confessional Anglo-Saxon poem, The Seafarer, which Phillips first came across as an undergraduate at St Catherine’s College, Oxford.
Within the work, the alert reader will find further references, direct or cryptic, to Homer, Plato, Dante, Cervantes, Shakespeare, Marvell, Conrad, R. L. Stevenson; to the music of Wagner and Robert Schumann; and to the films of Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Welles. The text is littered with echoes of Phillips’s own artistic preoccupations: as a painter, calligrapher, user of stencils and maker of books.
Phillips first made a pencil drawing of the text, then worked with the fabricator Leo Verryt to realise the work in wire, as a hanging poem. Other versions of the text exist, one in a series of paintings called Curriculum Vitae (No XX, 1992), and another in Self Portrait in Silver (2004). Phillips writes: “The unity of the piece in which letters are tortured into cooperation hopes to reflect an overall homogeneity in the spirit of its maker”.
The Bodleian Libraries also has the Tom Phillips archive in our collection.

IN BLOOM
2026-03-16 - 2026-08-16 | Ashmolean Museum, Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, OX1 2PH, United Kingdom
★ ★ ★ ★
“This rip-roaring history of botanical adventurers disturbs and delights”
The Guardian

“Consistently illuminating”
The Observer

“There’s much to savour”
The Telegraph

In Bloom exhibition – open until 16 Aug 2026

What do we really know about the plants and flowers in our gardens and window boxes?
Beyond their beauty, many have hidden histories – tales of exploration, obsession, and knowledge.
This major new exhibition takes visitors on a journey from Oxford to the farthest corners of the world and back, uncovering the global stories behind some of Britain’s most beloved blooms – from roses and tulips to camellias and peonies.
Featuring over 100 artworks and objects, including drawings, paintings, rare prints, and ceramics, In Bloom explores our changing relationship with the natural world.
From the fascinating stories of curiosity and ingenuity of early plant explorers to the networks that shaped global trade, this exhibition reveals how the pursuit of exotic plants transformed landscapes, economies, and cultures, leaving a legacy that still shapes our world today.

In Bloom is the first Ashmolean exhibition to consider sustainability from conception to delivery. Find out more

SELECTED ARTWORKS IN THE EXHIBITION

Exhibition catalogue
Explore the story of how plants and flowers shaped our world in the lavishly illustrated exhibition catalogue.

Exhibition audio guide
Enjoy the show’s highlights with the audio guide narrated by BBC Gardeners’ World presenter Arit Anderson. Choose your ticket and add to your booking.

EXHIBITION TICKETS

Timed tickets are in operation. Visitors are recommended to book tickets in advance to guarantee entry.
A booking fee of £2 applies on telephone bookings and booking amendments, to help support the Museum and cover Box Office costs.

SOMA SUROVI JANNAT
2026-03-28 - 2026-11-01 | Ashmolean Museum, Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, OX1 2PH, United Kingdom
CLIMATE CULTURE CARE

FREE EXHIBITION – opens 28 Mar 2026
Gallery 8

This is the fifth in the Ashmolean NOW exhibition series, where contemporary artists are invited to create new work inspired by the Ashmolean’s historical collections.

This exhibition showcases the work of Bangladeshi artist Soma Surovi Jannat, who draws inspiration from the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world, and the Ashmolean collections to address the climate crisis.
Her art reflects on environmental issues and the interconnectedness of nature and humanity, especially in Bangladesh, where the Sundarbans, faces threats from climate change. In her paintings and drawings, capturing urgent global and environmental issues, Surovi critiques the link between natural disasters and social inequalities.

Detail from Between the Sea and the Sky, Who Holds the Ground? 30ft-scroll by Soma Surovi Jannat and the exhibition poster image

As the first Bangladeshi artist-in-residence at the Ashmolean, this exhibition marks Surovi’s debut solo show in the UK and also the first solo exhibition of a Bangladesh-based artist in a museum in the UK.
This exhibition will focus on Surovi’s new works and include Ashmolean objects that inspired some of her imagined landscapes.

Between the Sea and the Sky, Who Holds the Ground? (sections), 30-ft scroll, Soma Surovi Jannat, 2024-25, archival ink pen on paper, acrylic colour, gold & silver leaf

About 40 objects will be on display, including various works on paper, a 30-foot-long scroll, and an ephemeral drawing which she will be completing on the gallery’s wall.

Where every leaf holds a tale (2 of 8 paintings), Soma Surovi Jannat, 2023, archival ink pen on paper, acrylic colour, gold & silver leaf

Header image details are taken from: ‘Where every leaf holds a tale’, and ‘Between the Sea and the Sky, Who Holds the Ground?’ artworks. All header image details and works by the artist are © Soma Surovi Jannat

COLONIAL VIEWS OF INDIA
2026-04-11 - 2027-03-14 | Ashmolean Museum, Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, OX1 2PH, United Kingdom
FREE EXHIBITION

Opens 11 Apr 2026
Gallery 29
Admission is FREE

This is the first exhibtion to focus on photographs and negatives in the Ashmolean, and as such features previously unseen photographs of India by Colonel Eugene Clutterbuck Impey (1830–1904).
A member of the East India Company, Impey arrived in India in 1851 and took part in military actions during the Indian Uprising of 1857. After the British Crown took control in 1858 following the Uprising, he worked as a political agent until returning to Britain in 1878.

Stereoscopic image of a tiger with tripod shadow, Colonel Eugene Impey, 1858-1865, albumen photographic print on paper © Ashmolean Museum

Impey’s photographs reflect British imperial interests, showcasing portraits of colonial officers and Indians, as well as staged scenes of daily life, clothing, religious sites, animals, and landscapes.
These images often reinforced stereotypes with the aim to justify colonial efforts. Photography, which gained popularity after its debut in 1839, was used to highlight cultural differences. From the mid-1800s British officials documented various social groups in India, often categorising people by ethnicity.
The Impey collection includes 247 glass negatives preserved at the Ashmolean.

SELECTED PHOTOGRAPHS ON DISPLAY

Seated girl

1858-1865

Qutub tower

1858-1865

Maharaja Takhat Singh of Jodphur

1858-1865

Four Rajputs with jezails and swords

1858-1865

Snake charmer

1858-1865

Small temple and rope bridge in hilly landscape

1858-1865

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Diffuser Making Workshop
2026-06-06 14:30 - 2026-08-08 15:30 (Europe/London) | Bicester Candles & Crafts, Station Road, Bletchingdon, OX5 3BQ
Join us for a fun and creative workshop where you create your own car freshener! Elevate your senses one scent at a time 🙂

Welcome to Making your own Reed Diffuser workshop! Join for a fun and interactive event at Bicester Candles & Crafts. Learn how to create your own custom scent using high-quality essential oils and materials. Our experienced instructors will guide you through the process, sharing tips and tricks along the way. This is a great opportunity to unleash your creativity and make a unique diffuser that suits your taste. Don’t miss out on this exciting workshop – sign up now!
During the course you will first choose your diffuser vessel. We will then go on a journey of creating your favrouite scent before blending it with a vegan base.
At the end of the course you will have a a reed diffuser and 150ml of your own scent to take home with you.
You can enjoy one of our freshly brewed bean to cup coffees while browsing our shop. As a particpant of this workshop you will also receive 10% of any purchases in-store.
The overall experience should last about 1hr.

The Phantom of the Opera (1925) Silent Film
2026-06-29 21:00 - 2026-08-24 22:30 | Magdalen College, High Street, Oxford, Select a State:, OX1 4AU, United Kingdom
The Phantom of the Opera (1925) Silent Film with live improvised organ accompaniment by David Bednall

The Phantom of the Opera (1925) follows Christine Daaé, a young singer at the Paris Opera House who becomes the obsession of a mysterious masked figure dwelling beneath the theatre. Known only as the Phantom, the disfigured genius manipulates events from the shadows—coaching Christine’s voice, terrorizing the new opera managers, and committing murder to advance her career. When Christine discovers his true identity, she becomes trapped between fear and compassion, while her suitor Raoul races to save her. As the Phantom’s desperation grows, the opera house descends into chaos, leading to a dramatic final confrontation in the catacombs below Paris.
David Bednall is published by Choral Music Publishing, Oxford University Press, Boosey and Hawkes, Faber, and Novello. He is Choral Director of Clifton Cathedral, Musical Director of Bristol Bach Choir, Bristol Chamber Choir and Chew Valley Choral Society, alongside an extensive freelance career. He was previously Organ Scholar at The Queen’s College, Oxford, and then at Gloucester Cathedral, Assistant Organist at Wells Cathedral, Sub Organist at Bristol Cathedral and has improvised on live radio, and performed extensively in the UK and abroad, including at Notre-Dame de Paris – and even was stunt organist on Dr Who! His compositions are widely performed, recorded, and broadcast on BBC Radio and Classic FM. David’s St Mark Passion was commissioned for the BBC Singers in 2025.

Pets & their People
2026-07-24 | Weston Library, Broad Street, Oxford, England, OX1 3BG, United Kingdom
11 March – 27 September 2026
ST Lee Gallery, Weston Library
Free admission, no ticket required
About the exhibition
We have been domesticating animals for over ten thousand years. But why do we want tame wolves in our homes or wild cats on our laps?
This exhibition explores the relationship between humans and their pets – or pets and their humans.
Pets & their People draws on depictions of pets in stories, imagery and poetry in the Bodleian’s collection – from one of the earliest recorded depictions of an assistance dog for the blind to a rare copy of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland that has never been displayed in the UK before. The exhibition asks how the special bond between owners and their pets has evolved over time, and what that evolution tells us about who we really are.
Are we taming our pets, or are they bring us back to our wild roots?
Curators
Charles Foster, Fellow of Exeter College and bestselling author of Being a Beast
Acknowledgements
Pets & their People is made possible with generous support from the John S Cohen Foundation.

Brokenness and repair exhibition
2026-07-24 09:00 - 17:00 | Oxford Brookes University, Oxford Brookes University, Headington, Oxfordshire, OX3 0BP
Venue:

The Glass Tank, Oxford Brookes University

Date(s):

Monday, 26 January 2026 to Friday, 6 February 2026

Timing:

9am – 5pm

Cost:

0

Inspired by the sublime beauty of techniques of visual repair across cultures, these works invite reflection on brokenness and why it matters.
In recent years, the traditional Japanese technique of repairing broken pottery using lacquer, often embellished with gold or other precious metals, known as ‘kintsugi’ has fascinated and inspired not only contemporary artists, but also pscyhologists, philosophers, scientists and archaeologists. But the idea of caring for something that is broken and finding beauty in its imperfection resonates much more widely. Whether we are living with the painful yet precious memories of loss, or trying to reassemble places of belonging from the remnants of abandoned buildings, brokenness and repair speak to our fundamental ways of being in the world.
Through sculpture, sound, images, and pottery, this exhibition creates a space of dialogue between Japanese aesthetics of brokenness and repair and those of other cultures. Each piece invites visitors to reflect on the complex, sometimes challenging beauty of brokenness, and the care and attention involved in repair.
The exhibition includes original works from Rob Simpkins, Katie Taylor, Johanna Tulloch, Dan O’Brien, Natasha Durie, Juliet Eccles, and Rachel Barbaresi, as well as kintsugi pieces by Iku Nishikawa (Oxford Kintsugi).
All are invited to join us to meet the artists and organisers over wine and refreshments.
This exhibition and reception was made possible through the generous support of the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation.

Further Information

Contact Details:

https://www.brookes.ac.uk/about-brookes/…
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/brokennes…
dobrien@brookes.ac.uk

Recycled Extravaganza
2026-07-24 10:00 - 16:00 | Thame Museum, 79 High Street Thame, Oxfordshire, OX93AE, United Kingdom
Venue, Timing and Cost

Venue:

Thame Museum

Date(s):

Saturday, 7 February 2026 to Friday, 20 March 2026

Timing:

During opening hours Wed. Fri. Sat. 10am-4pm; Sun. 1pm-4pm-

Cost:

Free admission

This exhibition has been created by the talented art students of Lord Williams School Thame. Exhibition Gallery Thame Museum

Further Information

Contact Details:

Yvonne Maxwell, publicity@thamemuseum.org.
Thame Museum, 79 High Street Thame, OX93AE
www.thamemuseum.oirg

New Work 2026 at the West Ox Arts Gallery in Bampton
2026-07-24 11:30 - 16:30 | Ox Arts Gallery, Bampton, Market Sq, OX18 2JH
Venue, Timing and Cost

Venue:

West Ox Arts Gallery, Bampton.

Date(s):

Saturday, 14 February 2026 to Saturday, 14 March 2026

Timing:

Tues to Sat 11.30 – 4.30, Sun 2 – 4, Mondays closed

Cost:

free

West Ox Arts is delighted to present New Work 26, an exhibition celebrating the breadth and diversity of work created by its members. Taking place from 14 February to 14 March 2026, the exhibition will be held at the WOA Gallery, a distinctive and well-established venue in the heart of Bampton, Oxfordshire.
Visitors are invited to explore an inspiring range of contemporary art and craft, including painting, sculpture, glass, jewellery, textiles, wood, and wirework. The exhibition reflects the richness of artistic practice within the West Ox Arts community and offers something to engage every visitor.
Highlights include:
* Meet the artists – Learn about their inspirations, creative processes, and the stories behind the work.
* Discover new talent – Find emerging and established artists, uncover unique pieces, or simply enjoy the pleasure of artistic exploration.
* Support local creativity – Your visit helps sustain and encourage the region’s vibrant artistic community.
Artists interested in exhibiting in our member exhibitions are warmly invited to enquire about West Ox Arts membership. For further information, please contact: gallery@westoxarts.com
We look forward to welcoming you to the gallery.
Visitor Information
* Free entry
* Opening Times:
* Tuesday–Saturday: 11:30am – 4:30pm
* Sunday: 2:00pm – 4:00pm
* Monday: Closed
* WOA Gallery,Market Square. Bampton, Oxfordshire. OX18 2JH

Further Information

Contact Details:

Email: gallery@westoxarts.com
Website: www.westoxarts.com
Instagram: @westoxarts
Facebook: WestOxArts
Telephone: 01993 850137

Venus & Adonis
2026-07-24 14:30 - 15:30, 2026-07-24 19:30 - 20:30 | Oxford Playhouse, 11-12 Beaumont St, Oxford, OX1 2LW
Directed by Sir Greg Doran
Puppets designed and created by Lyndie Wright

Former Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company and renowned Shakespearean, Greg Doran, revives his celebrated production of Venus & Adonis, Shakespeare’s great narrative poem.

Animated by a team of world-class puppeteers, this unique production blends comedy, tragedy and Shakespeare’s incredible poetry to bring the famous story of Venus and her obsession with the handsome Adonis thrillingly to life in a rich, immersive theatrical experience.

Drawing inspiration from the bewitching artistry of Japanese Bunraku puppets and the Jacobean Court Masque, this spellbinding production tells the story using marionettes, rod, shadow and table-top puppets.

This is an exclusive and rare opportunity to witness, close at hand, this powerful erotically-charged story of unrequited love.

The Rhythm of Life
2026-07-24 19:30 - 21:30 | Oxford Playhouse, 11-12 Beaumont St, Oxford, OX1 2LW
Tickets £19.50*
Interval
Yes
Venue
Oxford Playhouse

Travel from Oz to Seville, step onto 42nd Street, tumble down the rabbit hole, and raise the barricade — all in one exhilarating evening.
Join Oxford Operatic Society (OXOPS) this July as they present The Rhythm of Life, a staged concert with heart, humour and high-energy performances. This fast-paced production brings together beloved classics and contemporary favourites in a joyful tribute to the stage.
From the timeless wit of Gilbert & Sullivan to the soaring drama of Andrew Lloyd Webber, the golden age of Rodgers & Hammerstein to modern West End and Broadway hits, there is something here for every generation of theatre fan. Featuring music from Wicked, Les Misérables, Chicago, Beauty and the Beast, Company and more, the programme is packed with iconic songs that have defined musical theatre for decades.
And this year makes it even more special.
As OXOPS celebrates its 80th anniversary, we’re marking eight decades of bringing musical theatre to Oxford. Since 1946, we’ve been staging ambitious productions, building a vibrant community of performers, and sharing the joy of live theatre with audiences across the city. The Rhythm of Life is both a celebration of the genre and a tribute to the company’s extraordinary legacy.
Whether you’re a lifelong musical theatre devotee or just looking for a genuinely uplifting night out, join us for an evening packed with music, movement, and moments you’ll be humming long after the curtain falls.
