Heaving with foods, textiles and decorative objects, these four enormous and indulgent tablescape scenes are the highlight of Picturing Excess: Jan Davidsz de Heem. Our fascinating new display explores the phenomenally popular ‘sumptuous still lifes’ known in Dutch as ‘pronkstilleven’, painted in the 1600s at the height of Dutch colonial trade.
2024 marks 150 years since the founding of the Cavendish Laboratory of Experimental Physics. No one could have predicted in 1874 that Cambridge physics would give birth to the atomic age: that the electron and neutron would be discovered, and the atom itself split, on Free School Lane.
From delicate glass vessels and workbench instruments to one of the first industrial-scale particle accelerators, our new temporary exhibition traces the founding of the Laboratory and its first six decades through its apparatus.
Día de los Muertos, often referred to as the Day of the Dead, has been celebrated for at least 3,000 years. It brings together elements of Aztec and Maya religions as well as Catholicism (brought to Mexico by the Spanish).
For Mexicans everywhere, the Day of the Dead is a time for remembering relatives, friends and ancestors in a lighter way, with the emphasis on laughter and music, rather than sorrow and fear. The colourful tradition reflects the belief that we are not truly dead until there is no one alive to remember us.
Recent sightings of the Northern Lights in Britain have piqued the public's interest in this wonderfully colourful natural phenomenon. Sophus Tromholt was also captivated by the auroras and hoped to capture them using photography while living in Norway from 1882-83, however the photographic plates were not sensitive enough at the time. Instead, he sketched the auroras on wood and photographed his works to accompany his book, Under the Rays of the Aurora Borealis.
Explore the Portia Zvavahera: Zvakazarurwa exhibition out of hours. Music provided by DJ Bosslady. The Garden Kitchen café will be open for special cocktails and food.
You will also be able to do some late night shopping ahead of the festive period in the Kettle’s Yard shop and pick up special Christmas gifts for friends and family.
For this exhibition Kettle's Yard invites children and young people in Cambridge to create artworks about what matters to them today, in any artistic style or medium, from local to global issues; from their home to our shared planet; from love for families, friends and communities to concern for nature, animals and the environment.
A selection of artworks created by Kettle’s Yard’s partner schools and community groups will also be on display.
Saturday 16 November, 10am - 4pm. Free, drop-in
November’s Saturday opening is all about maps, as we host the University’s Dr Sara Caputo for a very special exploration in partnership with the Being Human Festival. Explore the fascinating history of a device we often take for granted, and discover new ways of visualizing our place in the world.
What’s on?
We have been working with a fantastic group of 29 Year 12 students from across the UK, who have co-curated a new exhibition, starting on Sunday 29 September. The students were hosted by Clare College, Cambridge. It is a joint exhibition with the Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology (MAA). The exhibition runs throughout the Museum (and the MAA) and is based around the theme of ‘Our power over the natural world’. Do pop in to see the thoughts of these talented young people.
Presenting new and recent paintings, this exhibition will be Portia Zvavahera’s first solo exhibition at a public gallery in Europe. Drawing on southern African culture, Christian iconography, traditional European painting and African printmaking, this exhibition will show artworks informed by the artist’s own dreams and the spiritual traditions she grew up with as a child.
These semi-autobiographical works use layers of colour and texture and various artistic techniques including batik stencilling, block-printing, drawing and painting with ink.
From 21 September, visitors to the Whipple Museum will encounter an example of “guerilla history” - a blue plaque from nearby Bene’t Street which was repeatedly graffitied to acknowledge Rosalind Franklin’s enormous contribution to our understanding of genetics. The plaque will go on display for the first time, and will be exhibited alongside Franklin’s own handwritten DNA research notes from early 1953.
