Find out more
22/07/2025
18/10/2025
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Free
Event information
Time
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Price
Free
What
Exhibitions and displays
Where
Museum of Classical Archaeology

Faculty of Classics
Sidgwick Avenue
Cambridge
CB3 9DA

 

We do not have an entrance on the road. Find us inside the Sidgwick Site.

Who
All ages

Summer Opening Hours

Tues-Fri: 10am-5pm

Sat, Sun, Mon: closed

 

 

Summer Temperatures

Our glass-roofed gallery can get very warm in the summer months. We recommend bringing water if the weather is forecast to be warm and sunny.

Cultured Canines: Evolution, Emotion, Imitation is an exhibition which explores the history and mythology of different dog breeds – via the style of ancient Greek pottery. The show is the culmination of nine-year collaboration between Cambridge-based artist Allison Ksiazkiewicz and Attic Black | Thetis Authentic, a studio in Athens reviving the craft and technology of ancient Greek ceramics. 

The result is a series of ceramic works which combine new designs with ancient decorative and manufacturing techniques as reconstructed from ancient Mediterranean cultures. The surprising appearance of our four-legged friends on ancient-looking vases begs for closer inspection: each object tells a story not about the gods and heroes of Greek myth but about a different dog breed.

 

A ceramic pot originally used for carding wool, decorated with a dog's head and images of dogs with a woman working wool.
Allison Ksiazkiewicz, Charlie Epinetron, 2023. (Copyright: the artist)

 

Producing the pots: working with Attic Black

The process of making the vases in this show was the result of a truly international partnership. While Ksiazkiewicz was undertaking research and carrying out the preparatory work in the UK, the vases were made in Greece, at the Attic Black | Thetis Authentic workshop in Athens. Each vase shape was designed and produced under the supervision of Dr Eleni Aloupi. Allison then travelled to Athens to paint the vases, working closely with Dr Aloupi and her team to create an object that captures the visual conventions of ancient Greek ceramics.

Dr Marianne Bergeron has acted as advisor on the project.

 

About the artist

Allison Ksiazkiewicz was born in Canada and today lives in the UK. She trained as a printmaker and as a historian of art and science. Cultured Canines: Evolution, Emotion, Imitation is the first time all twelve of the vases in the series have been exhibited together.

 

Find out more

 

 

Volunteer with us

We're looking for Exhibition Engagement Volunteers to help us with this exhibition. Get in touch with us if you'd like to chat to visitors about the exhibition, help to facilitate daily family activities, and just make sure everything runs smoothly.

Included Events

Cultured Canines: Evolution, Emotion, Imitation. An exhibition by Allison Ksiazkiewicz. 22 July - 18 Oct.
Cultured Canines: Evolution, Emotion, Imitation
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Free

An exhibition by Allison Ksiazkewicz

Find out more >
Background image shows sandpit and archaeology tools. Foreground reads "archaeology week" with Denny Abbey and the Farmland Museum logo
Archaeology Week at Denny Abbey and the Farmland Museum
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Admission applies

Free archaeology themed children's crafts and archaeological activities - including a mock archaeology dig at the Farmland Museum and Denny Abbey.

Find out more >
A child holding a bowl filled with various fresh green leaves, including kale, lettuce, and parsley.
Helpful herbs
10:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Free with normal Garden admission

Join the Botanic Garden this school holiday to find out more about herbs.

Find out more >
A cluster of Venus flytrap plants with open green and red leaves surrounded by various small green plants.
Cool carnivorous
10:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Free with normal Garden admission

Join the Botanic Garden this school holiday to discover some of our carnivorous plants.

Find out more >
Background shows broken roman pottery shards. Foreground reads Roman Week and shows the Denny Abbey and the Farmland Museum logo
Roman Week at the Farmland Museum
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Admission applies

Re-assemble Roman pottery and create your own mosaic design to explore what life may have been like for some of the first settlers on the site of Denny Abbey and Farmland Museum.

Find out more >
Two knights on a blue background. One holds an axe and the other a sword and shield. The text tells the event information.
Knight School
10:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Included with entry

Have you ever wanted to be a knight? Complete the tasks and activities to earn your title at Ely Museum.

Find out more >
A table displays art supplies and nature-themed prints. There's a red roller, sheets with leaf prints and various dried leaves and twigs.
Plant printing
10:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Free with normal Garden admission

Join the Botanic Garden this school holiday to create prints using leaves and petals.

Find out more >
Image shows colourful bunting
Arts Award Discover SEND
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM, 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
£15 per participant

We are excited to be running Arts Award Discover SEND across TWO fun and creative sessions at the Norris Museum! 

Find out more >
Image shows Denny Abbey and a walnut tree.
Medieval Week at the Farmland Museum
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Admission applies

Take part in free medieval themed activities - including free crafts! All at the Farmland Museum and Denny Abbey.

Find out more >
Background shows hands working clay. Foreground reads Tudor week and shows the Denny Abbey and the Farmland Museum logo
Tudor Week at the Farmland Museum
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Admission applies. Some activities are free, some have a small charge.

Have you got what it takes to be a Tudor? Make Tudor tiles like those uncovered in the Refectory and have a go at some Tudor themed crafts at the Farmland Museum and Denny Abbey.

Find out more >
Various stylized insects and bugs are illustrated, including butterflies, a caterpillar, an ant, a bee, a ladybug, beetles, and a worm. Green leaves are scattered among them. The colours are vibrant and varied.
Marvellous minibeasts
10:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Free with normal Garden admission

Join the Botanic Garden this school holiday to create craft inspired by insects.

Find out more >
Image shows colourful bunting
Arts Award Discover SEND
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM, 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
£15 per participant

We are excited to be running Arts Award Discover SEND across TWO fun and creative sessions at the Norris Museum! 

Find out more >
Background shows an image of a mangle and a dolly tub and dolly peg. Foreground reads Victorian Week with the Denny Abbey and the Farmland Museum logo
Victorian Week at the Farmland Museum
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Admission applies

Step back in time to explore the lives of the Victorians. Experience Victorian washday using a dolly tub and mangle and create Victorian inspired crafts at the Farmland Museum and Denny Abbey.

Find out more >
A hand arranges sprigs of lavender and small green leaves on rolled-out clay.
Nature impressions
10:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Free with normal Garden admission

Join the Botanic Garden this school holiday to create impressions of leaves and petals in clay.

Find out more >
The image shows a beach and Bee-Bot with a summer's hat, bucket and spade.
Bee-Bot at the Beach
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Workshop Participant (including accompanying adult): £18.50 | Additional participant (under 16): £8

Help Bee-Bot plan a trip to the beach at the Centre for Computing History.

Find out more >
A close image of Roman sandals.
Hands On with the Romans
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Free

Get up close with the ancient world at Hands On with the Romans.

Find out more >
Paint patterns
Squidgy pictures
11:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Child: £5

Get experimental with paint to make one-off paintings at St Neots Museum.

Find out more >
A variety of wildflowers and leaves are arranged on a white background. Various green leaves and sprigs add contrast.
Summer nature wand
10:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Free with normal Garden admission

Join the Botanic Garden this school holiday to create a summer wand.

Find out more >
A blue poster with cartoon images of a polar bear, penguin footprints and a narwhal. The white text reads: Chill out at the Polar Museum.
Chill Out at the Polar Museum
10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Free

Drop in to chill out at the Polar Museum with family-friendly crafts and activities

Find out more >
A child is holding out a fossil they have found to a Sedgwick Museum volunteer for identification help. Their younger sibling looks on in the background.
Summer School of Rock: Drop In and Rock Out
10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Free

Have you found a rock or fossil that you’d like identified? Perhaps found over the summer holidays? Drop in and meet our Museum scientists for help.

Find out more >
Image shows a man wearing a black top hat and jacket writing on a piece of piece or parchment with a quill.
17th Century School
10:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Free

Discover what was school like in the 17th century with the Cromwell Museum.

Find out more >
Graffiti making materials
3D Graffiti Horses
11:00 AM - 3:00 PM
FREE with museum admission
Find out more >
The interior of a large shoe box has been painted to form a scene with blue sky and green grass. To the right hand side is a snow covered mountanous area with a wooly mamouth. To the left is a stone age man lighting a 3D fire, adjacent is a 3D painted foam egg. The scene also has a prehistoric bird in flight and 3D foligae stuck to the sides of the box.
Shoe Box Diorama
10:00 AM - 11:30 AM, 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
£10 per child, Normal adult admission costs apply.

Create your own scene in a shoe box at Saffron Walden Museum. Choose from Stone age, British wildlife, or Land of the Dinosaurs.

Find out more >
Image shows colourful bunting.
Arts Award Discover in a Day
10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
£15 per participant

Join us for Arts Award Discover in a Day workshop at the Norris Museum.

Find out more >
Child with adult doing a paper craft activity. Photo by Mike Cameron.
'Oceans' Family Day at the Museum
10:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Free

Join us for a day of Family Fun at the Museum of Zoology.

Find out more >
Background shows a spinning top and wooden toys. Foreground reads Toys from the Past week and shows the Denny Abbey and the Farmland Museum logo.
Toys from the Past Week at the Farmland Museum
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Admission applies

Have a go at playing with toys and games from different historical time periods at the Farmland Museum and Denny Abbey.

Find out more >
The image shows some Scratch code with the background of the Broken Internet game.
Rex Runner
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Workshop Participant (including accompanying adult): £25.50 | Additional participant (under 16): £15

Learn how to code the ‘broken’ Internet T-Rex game using Scratch at the Centre for Computing History.

Find out more >
Paint patterns
Squidgy pictures
11:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Child: £5

Get experimental with paint to make one-off paintings at St Neots Museum.

Find out more >
Printing Drop In
Printing
10:30 AM - 3:00 PM
Included in museum entry

Experience printing in different ways.  Explore cyanotype or sun printing (weather dependent) and printing by hand at this free drop-in, included in museum entry at Cambridge Museum of Technology.

Find out more >
Event poster including 2 old maps.
Time-Hopping Holiday
11:00 AM - 3:00 PM
FREE with museum admission

Step into the past this Summer with Museum of Cambridge.

Find out more >
A bright green and orange strip of card hold a number of different brightly coloured feathers. Below the feathers are brown straw like strips which add texture. The band also has brightly coloured jewel embellishments..
Colourful Feather Crown
10:00 AM - 10:45 AM, 11:15 AM - 12:00 PM, 1:00 PM - 1:45 PM
£4.80 per child Normal adult admission costs apply

Impress the crowd with a colourful feather crown. Saffron Walden Museum have many beautiful hats and bird feathers on display, to help you draw inspiration. 

Find out more >