At the Whipple, our collection is brimming with objects that highlight LGBTQ+ histories and themes, showcasing the remarkable contributions of individuals and their stories throughout history. Each tour is uniquely crafted by our specially trained volunteer guides, who bring their own perspectives and creativity to the experience.
This is a free, ticketed event.
There will be an opportunity to explore the exhibition prior to the event. Anne will be joined in-conversation with exhibition curator Dr Amy Tobin.
This panel will approach craft from the perspective of three of its authors who work with a diverse range of craft histories, chaired by Laura Moseley, Common Threads Press founder and Assistant Curator of the Women’s Art Collection.
Speakers include Gill Crawshaw (Rights Not Charity: Protest Textiles and Disability Activism, 2023) and Rachel Dedman (Stitching the Intifada: Embroidery and Resistance in Palestine, 2024).
This exhibition presents eight contemporary artists whose works offer vantage points on a world in perpetual crisis. Rather than representing specific political events, or taking singular positions, each artist in this exhibition explores broader conditions of domination and conflict, as well as horizons for survival.
Explore the exhibition, join one of our talks, soak up the music and visuals and enjoy tasty food and drinks. Future Legacies is an online interdisciplinary community commissioning platform focused on exploring the Black Atlantic. The aim of the platform is to foster ongoing dialogue and showcase cultural production and critique for diasporic communities, bridging the museum’s Black Atlantic: Power, People, Resistance exhibition (Sept 2023—Jan 2024) and the current Rise Up: Resistance, Revolution, Abolition exhibition.
Join exhibition curator Victoria Avery, alongside researchers Dawnanna Kreeger and Carol Brown-Leonardi, as they share their latest findings on prominent abolitionist and writer Olaudah Equiano (c.1745 - 1797) and the two pivotal women in his life: his wife, Susannah Cullen (1762–1796), from Ely, and his daughter, Joanna Vassa (1795–1857), born in Soham, raised in Chesterton and Cambridge, and later living in London.
Discover the distinctive visual language of British-Nigerian artist Joy Labinjo as she discusses her works in Rise Up, including an important new addition to the Fitzwilliam Museum's growing contemporary art collection, An Eighteenth-Century Family (2022). Drawing inspiration from her heritage, Labinjo’s art delves into the social, cultural, and political contexts that shape her everyday life.
Join contemporary British artist Kimathi Donkor for an insightful talk on his work in Rise Up. Discover the inspiration behind his evocative creations as Donkor discusses how his art reimagines mythical, legendary, and domestic encounters from Africa and its global diasporas.
British contemporary artist Karen McLean talks about her powerful work Ar’n’t I a Woman! (2021), on display in the Fitzwilliam Museum's Rise Up exhibition. Rooted in historical research, McLean’s installations, sound and moving image works incorporate evocative and symbolic materials such as sugar, blue soap and hessian bags and interrogate the complex legacies of colonialism.
Focusing on the selection of his artworks on display in the Fitzwilliam Museum's Rise Up exhibition, British contemporary artist, critic and academic Keith Piper discusses his wider creative practice and how he uses art as a tool to engage with historical and geographical narratives as well as the legacies and social issues affecting us today.
