Ashmolean – Talking Objects

JOIN THE ASHMOLEAN’S STUDENT CREATIVE BOARD!

sarahd — Tue, 08 Mar 2016 14:57:38 +0000

What we do:
• LiveFriday event planning: the Board runs a stall or activity at each Ashmolean LiveFriday event, aiming to engage an audience of students with the museum collections. As a Board Member, you will be part of the creative process: brainstorming ideas for the stall, helping to organize the activity in the run-up to the event, and being there on the night to enjoy the fruits of your labours.
• Creative workshops: the Board also puts on independent creative events in the Museum, which in the past have included life drawing sessions and pottery workshops. Board members are encouraged to pitch any ideas that they have for future workshops at meetings, and a team from the Ashmolean will be on hand to help make them happen.
• Talking Objects blog: the Board is responsible for a lively ‘Talking Objects’ blog, which publishes student responses to pieces in the Ashmolean collections. As a Board member, you’ll be able to approve and edit blog posts submitted by other students and, working with the Public Engagement Officer, you will help to organize themed object-handling sessions in the Museum to facilitate the writing of blog posts.
Voice opinions: The Board is called upon to give the student perspective on museum matters and planning.

Who we are looking for:
Enthusiastic undergraduates (1st and 2nd year) and postgraduates from Oxford University and Oxford Brookes.

Must be:
Creative
Digital Savvy
Love museums, art, and archaeology
Organized

Time Commitments:
• Usually there are two or three Student Creative Board meetings per academic term, lasting around an hour and a half each.
• Other than these meetings, Board members can expect to spend an additional 2 / 3 hours a week on Board business, particularly in the run-up to big events such as LiveFriday.

Interested?

Email public.engagement@ashmus.ox.ac.uk

5 Objects to Love in the Ashmolean this Valentine’s Day

sarahd — Sat, 13 Feb 2016 12:01:32 +0000

BY ABBEY ELLIS

Forget match.com and OkCupid, the Ashmolean Museum has all the romance you need this February 14th. The following selection of objects from the museum’s displays, as well as a few gems from the vaults, will give you a taster of what you can expect on a Valentine’s visit.

1) Meet the goddess of love!

On this lekythos (an ancient Greek perfume vessel), Aphrodite, the goddess of love, is depicted riding a swan. The swan was a potent symbol of love in ancient Greece; as well as being associated with Aphrodite, the amorous god Zeus turned himself into a swan in order to get close to one of his many mistresses, Leda, without his wife finding out!

Object not currently on display, find out more here

Attic red-figure lekythos with image of Aphrodite riding a swan,
from Tomb 57 at Arsinoe (Marion)
donated by Cyprus Exploration Fund (AN1891.451

2) A wedding day to forget…

On a tiny gold iconographic ring, Saint George, the patron saint of England, is shown with the famous dragon, and the figure of a princess, dressed as a bride. According to legend, the princess in her bridal gown was to be fed to the plague-bearing dragon that was terrorizing her kingdom. But Saint George slew the dragon and rescued the princess before her wedding day ended in disaster.

Item not currently on display, see the ring for yourself here

3) Roman-ce in the Randolf Gallery

Head to the Randolf Gallery for a spot of romance from the 1st / 2nd century AD. On his tombstone, Lucius Sestius Sotericus, a Roman ex-slave, commemorates his “well-deserving wife / coniugi suae bene merenti”, Sestia Prisca. The tombstone reveals that the only thing Sestia did to hurt her husband was to die! This may not be the most romantic statement by modern standards, but for a Roman woman, this was as high a compliment as any.

Ashmolean ANChandler.3.21, 1st/2nd century AD. On display in the Randolph Gallery.

4) A Kabuki Love Triangle

Woodblock prints were massively popular in 19th and 20th century Japan; they commonly represented actors from kabuki plays, dressed in their theatrical costumes. In this tripartite woodcut, actors are shown performing the story of geisha Kasaya Sankatsu. Two merchants are depicted on opposing panels, competing for her love. Sankatsu, shown in the central panel, extends a red sake cup toward each man, emphasizing her divided loyalties. Both men draw their swords in anticipation of a fight.

Item not currently on display, read more about it here

Here two merchants compete for the love of the geisha Sankatsu. Sankatsu holds the two halves of a red sake cup in her hands, demonstrating her divided loyalties towards the two men.
Date 1849 – 1850

5) When is three not a crowd?

Part of Flemish artist Jacques de l’Ange’s Seven Deadly Sins series, this oil painting is named ‘A Loving Couple’, who represent the vice of Lust. A young woman sits centrally, holding a candle, wrapped in the embrace of the ardent male figure sitting beside her. Also illuminated by the candlelight is another male figure, gazing out at the viewer with a knowing look. His bare shoulder suggests that something untoward is about to happen…
Not currently on display, more information can be found here

attributed to Jacques de l’Ange (documented 1631-2 – 1642)
A23; oil on copper; 36 x 28 cm
WA1845.23
A Loving Couple: ‘Lust’

If you would like to see any of the objects which are not currently on display at the Museum, please contact Sarah at public.engagement@ashmus.ox.ac.uk about the possibility of arranging a viewing.

First Student Creative Board Event

admin — Mon, 23 Nov 2015 11:15:09 +0000

The Pharaoh’s Bucket List

In October 2015, the Student Creative Board ran its first workshop at the Halloween-themed DEADFriday event. Set in the ‘Egypt at its Origins’ gallery, the Pharaoh’s Bucket List game encouraged participants to dress up in Ancient Egyptian inspired clothing from the Board’s dressing up box and take a selfie with the object from the gallery that they would take to the afterlife. The selfies, posted on Instagram and Twitter using the hashtag #DEADFriday, popped up on the Student Board’s big screen. The photo challenge inspired some very creative responses, with participants saying that they would take everything from the colossal statue of Min to a model cat to the afterlife! A prize was awarded for the best selfie. The aim was to engage with a student audience, but people of all ages enjoyed taking part! The Student Board also had a great time dressing up and meeting the public.

If you’d like to be the first to hear about future Student Creative Board events, sign up to the mailing list by emailing: public.engagement@ashmus.ox.ac.uk

Click on the photos tab to see some of the images from LiveFriday

[See image gallery at blogs.ashmolean.org]