Take a line for a walk as one of today's Art Card Challenges! Pick an object and then draw it without taking your pencil off the paper - it's trickier than it sounds! Free drop-in activity every Wednesday & Thursday from 12-3pm in the summer holidays. All welcome.

Detail of the Day🧵 As the Clothworkers’ team unpack the textile collection at the new CTRC, we're sharing highlights along the way. Today's detail is a sampler stitched by Mary Taylor, aged 9, in 1810. In the piece Mary practises her stitches to create the alphabet, flowers, a house, birds & people.

An orderly drawer of ceramic birds and animals seemingly oblivious of a couple of plastic impostors in their midst - two bright yellow warbling bird whistles ready to disturb the peace if you 'Fill with water and then blow!'...

Follow the process of lost wax casting in A 21st Century Benin Bronze with the clay core covered with layers of beeswax, clay & wire. When heated, the wax melts, allowing molten bronze to fill the cavity. Once cooled, the casing is removed & the final piece is finished & polished. bit.ly/4pcL5D0

Our next Relaxed Morning Opening will take place on Friday 21 August, when we open an hour early to welcome visitors who may struggle in the museums at peak times. Visitors numbers are capped to reduce noise, so booking is required. Family members are welcome to support. go.glam.ox.ac.uk/1Eb6aiCqT

Enjoy our organised art activities or just be inspired by the galleries and collections to make your own artwork...

Find a world of colour in today's Summer Art Challenge! When you first see the Museum, it might look a bit brown but look closer and you'll see that it's actually full of colour, so pick a colour and go hunting for objects that match your chosen colour... Free drop-in activity, Weds & Thurs 12-3pm.

In Mesoamerica, women used metates (grinding stones) of volcanic rock for food preparation. A pestle-like tool was worked back and forth, processing domesticated maize and seeds into a paste. The earliest known metates made in stylised animal forms like this one date to around 800AD. 1884.10.26

💙 Recently rehoused in the Museum’s new collection store, this magnificent Hausa riga from Nigeria. Traditionally worn for ceremonial occasions, its richly embroidered motifs symbolise protection, strength and faith. Collected by Dr M.D.W. Jeffreys, it entered the Pitt Rivers Museum in 1942.

Used to memorialise a deceased Ọ́bá (King), this bronze head with an elephant tusk is depicted in 'A 21st Century Benin Bronze'. During the violence of the 1897 looting, many commemorative heads & tusks became separated, like the lone tusk in the neighbouring ‘Kingdom of Benin’ case. bit.ly/49SDdjx

The Inspiration Station is back on the Clore Balcony, so pop in, pick up a card & challenge yourself to find patterns, colours, lines & designs in the galleries. There's a lot in the collections to inspire your creative side! Free, drop-in activity every Wed & Thurs in the summer holidays, 12-3pm.

A huge thank to Professor Lady Sue Black & @stjohnsox.bsky.social for last week's Beatrice Blackwood Lecture. We were all riveted by Sue's fascinating talk about real forensic anthropology (not as depicted in films or TV!), followed by drinks in the beautiful grounds. Thank you for a lovely evening.

Starting today, our popular Summer Art Challenge is back! Pick a mystery Art Card from our Inspiration Station on the 1st floor & use your creative side to see the Museum in new ways! Free, drop-in drawing activity suitable for any age. From 12-3pm every Wednesday & Thursday during the summer hols.

In 'A 21st Century Benin Bronze', artist Phil Omodamwen depicts a soldier tearing a plaque from the palace walls. Other soldiers, wearing distinctively shaped pith helmets, pose with looted objects, echoing photographs taken in 1897 which show British troops showing off plunder. bit.ly/4pcL5D0

Pietra ollare is a grey green soapstone mined in Italy's Valtellina valley since the Bronze Age. Turned on a water-powered lathe, these cooking pots (laveggi) are said to neutralise poisons in food and not taint flavour, unlike pots made of copper or brass. Donated in 1928. #collectionhighlights

Due to a cancellation, a ticket has now become available for tomorrow's Beatrice Blackwood 2026 Lecture with forensic anthropologist Professor Lady Sue Black at St John's College. 5-7pm. £15/£10, includes a drinks reception after the talk. bit.ly/4cree8F

Starting on 18 July, pick up your Oxford Explorer passport, hop on a City Sightseeing bus & collect stamps from 6 exciting locations, including the Pitt Rivers Museum, with fun child‑friendly activities and a collectable Oxford Explorer’s Certificate to claim as your prize. tinyurl.com/ytwdjkrd

Due to a cancellation, we now have one ticket available for this Saturday's Cordage Making Workshop with artist Alice Fox. Saturday 18 July, 10.00-16.30. £120 (Members £96), includes lunch, refreshments and all materials. bit.ly/3Y2efIc

A tapestry of a Palestinian henna party on the eve of a wedding embroidered by Ruba Al Behery, Gaza, as part of the Palestinian History Tapestry Project. Henna decorations on the bride's legs represent the return of the dove to Noah signifying the end of the flood. www.prm.ox.ac.uk/palestine-pi...

Have watched this yet? @katewiseman.bsky.social went to @pittriversmuseum.bsky.social to talk about the artefact that inspired her upcoming novel! Out 29th October 2026🔎📚 Happy Friday everyone🥰 youtu.be/ojauyjXVIg4?...

What's in the Witch Bottle at Pitt Rivers Museum?

YouTube video by Time Tunnellers

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FULLY BOOKED Next week's Beatrice Blackwood Lecture with Prof. Lady Sue Black is fully booked & we're looking forward to a brilliant evening at St John's College, who are kindly hosting this event. For anyone who didn't preorder a copy, 'An Expert Witness' will be on sale at the talk. bit.ly/4cree8F

Please note that due to essential roadworks currently taking place in Robinson Close, there is no visitor access via this entrance until approximately Tuesday 11 August. Please use our main entrance via the Oxford University Museum of Natural History on Parks Road. www.prm.ox.ac.uk/visit-us

In 'A 21st Century Benin Bronze', the newly cast plaque depicts the King’s palace in Benin City. The snake depicts the protective brass pythons installed on palace roofs. Horizontal grooved walls denote the Ọ́bá’s high rank, whilst figurative posts represent the ceremonial courtyards. bit.ly/4pcL5D0

Hot off the catwalk, this dress is the outcome of a project by Multaka Oxford volunteers, Oxford Brookes students, designers VIN + OMI & project lead Amy Harris. Using reclaimed textiles & upcycled garments, it is made of plastic-derived fabrics developed through VIN + OMI's UK clean-up initiatives.

In the 2026 Beatrice Blackwood Lecture, Professor Lady Sue Black, the UK's leading forensic anthropologist, will talk about how forensic science has assumed such importance in our modern world of war crimes, mass fatalities, murder & suicides. Fri 17 July, 5-7pm, St John's College. bit.ly/4cree8F

An embroidered veil from the Hebron region, Palestine. The S shaped design along the side panels represent leeches, which have been used in medicine since 1500BCE in ancient Egypt. The design of this tatreez illustrates the past use of leeches for cures and remedies in Palestine. bit.ly/43ccryX

What purpose do magic and witchcraft serve in cultures throughout time and across the globe? Why have people always placed their faith in 'lucky' objects to ward off ill fortune and keep themselves safe? Find out more on our next Witchcraft, Amulets & Magic tour, Wed 22 July, 2-3pm. bit.ly/4wcpAVG

For anyone who is coming to the Beatrice Blackwood Lecture on Friday 17 July, please note that the venue for the talk & the drinks reception is St John's College, St Giles and NOT the museum. Pre-ordered books will be available to collect at the event at St John's, not the museum. bit.ly/4cree8F

Applications are now open for two fellowships for Māori curators to work, in partnership with Pitt Rivers Museum staff, on some of the taonga Māori held in the Museum. The fellowship will include a 6 week residency in Oxford. Applications close on 20 July 2026. www.teaonews.co.nz/2026/06/29/a...

Applications open for Te Māori fellowships to the UK

Applications are open for two fellowships for Māori curators to work directly with some of the taonga Māori held at Oxford in the United Kingdom.

teaonews.co.nz

In 'A 21st Century Benin Bronze' you can see a plaque within a plaque, mirroring objects in the adjacent ‘Kingdom of Benin’ display. The historic bronzes are much darker than the bright gold of the newly cast ámà (plaque), which will gradually deepen in colour as it ages. go.glam.ox.ac.uk/J2hW996Kf