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November 2019
Rediscovering Swansea
This family-friendly exhibition is an opportunity to rediscover Swansea. Learn about the Vivian family, who came from Cornwall, and their life at in Singleton Abbey; find out about the copperworks at the heart of Swansea life; and celebrate Swansea University’s forthcoming centenary in 2020 with a glimpse at its history. This event is part of the 'Rediscovering Swansea: From Land to Sea' hub series organised by Swansea University. The exhibition is available to view 24 hours a day.
Find out more »Histories from Worcestershire and Beyond
An exhibition of fifty secret histories of Worcestershire. Including the lost village of Croome, an amputation chair, Tudor demons, the trauma of the Spanish flu, a cold war nuclear bunker and where royalty was to be evacuated if there was a Nazi invasion during the Second World War.
Find out more »Unlocking the Secrets of Slavery and Abolition
At this exhibition see the original 'Slave Book' produced by enslaved and freed children in 19th century Jamaica. Part of a specially curated exhibition on the role of the British and Foreign School Society and nonconformist missionaries in the education of enslaved and freed children in the British Caribbean. Discover how this influential society led the way with training Britain’s first black professional teachers, and explore the global impact of our local history The exhibition will be open between 09:00…
Find out more »Dancing on the Tyne (Exhibition)
Come by to rediscover Newcastle’s ‘Scottish’ dance tunes, composed by 18th-century dancing master Abraham Mackintosh. Visit the exhibition to explore the local people and places who inspired Mackintosh’s tunes. Find out why ‘Scottish’ dances became popular and explore how being closer to Edinburgh than London has long shaped Newcastle’s cultural heritage and identity. The exhibition is open throughout the festival during the Lit & Phil opening hours: Monday 10:30 - 19:00 Tuesday 9:30 - 20:00 Wednesday 9:30 - 19:00 Thursday…
Find out more »Discovering Shakespeare’s Indian Connections
This exhibition showcases Indian representations of Shakespeare’s works. Curated by Queen’s University Belfast postdoctoral researchers Thea Buckley and Rosa García-Periago, the exhibition highlights the ongoing fascination that Shakespeare holds for creative artists across the globe. Today, there are dozens of Indian Shakespeare films and shows, numerous translations into various Indian languages, and many books on the topic. Suitable for all ages, the exhibition features items from stage props and costumes to translations and comics in Indian languages. Here, artists unfold…
Find out more »Arriving: Objects & Discoveries
Arriving at a new place is a core aspect of migration, but stories of arrival are not limited to the migration experience and we all have stories of arrival (e.g. school, workplace, new home) to tell. This exhibition documents younger and older people who define themselves as migrants, non-migrants or global citizens. Together they discover the secrets behind a special object that the other one holds. The objects unlock stories about arriving at a new place and create bonds between…
Find out more »Fern Crazy
Victorian fern fever is coming to town! Discover the forgotten history of the fern craze through family-friendly activities and exhibits in an original Victorian glasshouse. Explore the passion for ferns that inspired ordinary Victorians, the challenges faced by city gardeners and the stories that captured a nation’s imagination. Drop in for exhibitions, crafts or to spot the fern fairies and be sure to join one of the family planting sessions to help create a permanent new fernery. Throughout the day…
Find out more »Untold Histories of Empire
Between the 14 and 23 November drop-in to the World Museum for this not-so-usual treasure hunt through the collections. Explore untold histories, uncover the origins of objects attained during the empire and learn more about the ongoing legacies of Britain’s global past. You will be given clues to help you find your way through the collections and to piece together a deeper understanding of the complex and difficult histories of some of the objects on display. Students from the University…
Find out more »Being Mixed-Race: Stories of Britain’s Black GI Babies
The exhibition draws on research done by Professor Lucy Bland on the children born in world war II to black GIs and British women. Lucy interviewed over 50 people. The exhibition, in the form of 7 pop-up banners, will display some of the black and white photographs that have been given to Lucy by her interviewees of them as babies, children, some with the mothers, some of their fathers when young men in the UK, a few of them meeting…
Find out more »The Secret History of Ladybird Books
At this family friendly drop-in event discover the secret history of Ladybird Books, the iconic children’s books which were made and published in Loughborough from 1914 to 1999. Activities include: 10:30 and 11:00 - Storytelling sessions of Well-Loved Tales for toddlers (booking required) 11:15 - 15:00 - Vox Pop: Come and tell us about how you discovered Ladybird Books, share you reading experiences, tell us your memories. 12:00-13:00 and 14:00-15:00 - Ladybird Roadshow: bring your memorabilia, meet the expert 10:30…
Find out more »Greeks in Edinburgh
This exhibition focuses on the social interaction between Greeks in Edinburgh and other ethnic groups living in the city since the UK's EU membership referendum. The exhibition shows how such interaction in work or leisure activities has been mutually beneficial for these groups. You will have the opportunity to reflect on the photos and will be invited to contribute your thoughts in a guestbook. The exhibition will be open between 12:00 and 23:00 throughout the Being Human festival.
Find out more »Sunderland’s Unsung Heroes
Blue plaques are one of the UK’s most effective means of celebrating its history. Sunderland has approximately 78 commemorative blue plaques which mark buildings, places of interest or influential people with connections to the city. In this session, Sarah Hellawell will discuss her research on Sunderland’s first female MP, Dr Marion Phillips, who represented Sunderland in the 1920s and 1930s and who has recently been commemorated by the unveiling of a blue plaque. This interactive session will invite you to…
Find out more »The Aquatic City’s Well of Ideas
Inspired by the Poet’s Box shops in which Dundonians once performed and printed their latest creations, this festival-long shopping centre hub will celebrate the city’s aquatic heritage through hands-on workshops, dramatic performances, film and visual art, and more. Get your hands inky with Pathfoot Press and their hand-operated letterpress. Watch some of Dundee’s most talented 'zinesters' hard at work. Explore ideas of place, environment, and climate change in writing workshops. Or join in making poems from found texts, and take…
Find out more »Hack a Robot
Robot Lindsey is currently giving people tours around The Collection Museum, Lincoln - telling them about various artefacts and times past. Come and help improve what Lindsey does! Work with robotics researchers from the University of Lincoln to design a new tour for the robot. Then program the robot yourselves (with a little help if necessary), and see your tour come to life! Groups of 2-4 people will do the activity, with two groups at most simultaneously. This is a…
Find out more »Dear Memory…
This interactive, creative workshop will use poems by Thomas Hardy and others about North Wales to consider the relationship between landscape and memory. How do we record our experiences and why do we choose to write letters or poems? Why are we so attached to certain places? How reliable are our remembered version of experiences or places? Get ready to write postcards of your own as we explore memories and create new ones! Ymunwch â ni am weithdy creadigol, rhyngweithiol…
Find out more »Eating Under Fire: Food in WWII Britain and Italy
Have you got an Italian relative or a person you know who was living in Italy during WWII? How could they survive? What were they eating? Do you want to know what the situation was like here in Britain and make a comparison? Join us for this evening event where you will be able to see the types of bread, coffee, tea and other food available in Italy and Britain during WWII. Experts will introduce you to the food situation…
Find out more »Flying Circus Airlines
ice&fire theatre company presents extracts from their upcoming show: a fun, irreverent and accessible excavation of the complex themes of freedom of movement versus the politics of exclusion. Be prepared for a show featuring clowns, an airplane, karaoke and possibly a turf war between a brown owl and a parakeet. Includes Q&A with the creative team. Created by playwright Amy Ng and Olivier-award winning Director Donnacadh O’Briain in collaboration with Dr Sarah Fine (King's College London). This event is part…
Find out more »The ‘Softboiled’ Heroine
Fed up with women being typecast as either evil femmes fatales or housetrained ingenues in traditional crime fiction? If so, come along to Margate Bookshop to learn more about Elizabeth Sanxay Holding’s The Blank Wall, a pioneering text in the tradition of domestic noir. Learn and discuss how this 1947 novel, recently republished, changed the role of women in traditional crime fiction.
Find out more »Inherited Secrets
Advances in science mean that we can now discover a range of potentially life-changing facts about our DNA. Would you want to know your chances of getting various diseases in later life? How certain should this information be before you're told? Would this knowledge affect your life choices, or whether you inform your family? In this event, hosted by Vivienne Parry, three experts will discuss these complex ethical issues. Join them in exploring how such scientific advances can have immense…
Find out more »The Placeless Condition
Join Professor Lyndsey Stonebridge and Dr Jean McNeil as they discuss how the placelessness of our recent history resonates today. Not a day goes by without reference to refugees and migration, yet the deep imaginative history of modern placelessness is often overlooked. In her new book, Placeless People: Writing, Rights, and Refugees, Lyndsey Stonebridge (University of Birmingham) describes how the human condition became the 'placeless condition' for writers and thinkers in the middle of the 20th century, from Paris to…
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