Animals don’t do sexual identity; they just do sex.’

From same-sex sexual behaviour in giraffes and penguins to the scientists working in the field of zoology. How do the labels and categories we give animals affect the way we interact with the natural world?

Our volunteer guides share their personal selection of fascinating stories about gender and sex in the animal world at the Museum of Zoology.

Important Information

Since 2011 Issam Kourbaj’s artwork has responded to the ongoing conflict in Syria, and reflects on the suffering of his fellow Syrians and the destruction of his cultural heritage. This exhibition presents key works from this period alongside a new series which explores themes of loss, memory and renewal.

The exhibition – the artist’s largest to date – will include installation, sculpture, performance and works on paper. Kourbaj will be present at intervals throughout the exhibition, which will evolve as he adds to the displays.

Since 2011 Issam Kourbaj’s artwork has responded to the ongoing conflict in Syria, and reflects on the suffering of his fellow Syrians and the destruction of his cultural heritage. This exhibition presents key works from this period alongside a new series which explores themes of loss, memory and renewal.

The exhibition – the artist’s largest to date – will include installation, sculpture, performance and works on paper. Kourbaj will be present at intervals throughout the exhibition, which will evolve as he adds to the displays.

Since 2011 Issam Kourbaj’s artwork has responded to the ongoing conflict in Syria, and reflects on the suffering of his fellow Syrians and the destruction of his cultural heritage. This exhibition presents key works from this period alongside a new series which explores themes of loss, memory and renewal.

The exhibition – the artist’s largest to date – will include installation, sculpture, performance and works on paper. Kourbaj will be present at intervals throughout the exhibition, which will evolve as he adds to the displays.

Did you know that the word ‘posey’ means both ‘a little flower’ and ‘a little poem’? Explore the Botanic Garden in this self-guided trail and see how many poems you can spot. Student writers have joined with the Garden to give a voice to plants that people tend to walk past or overlook. Each little poem serves as a new kind of label, speaking to those of us who don’t understand much from a Latin scientific name alone. There is a link on the poem label that invites the reader to reply with their own poems.

Butterfly has lost her eggs and needs your help to work out where she’s left them. Pick up a free booklet on your way into the Garden and visit the trail points to learn egg-citing facts and discover clues to lead you to butterfly’s missing eggs. You might even be rewarded with an egg of your own at the end!

Self-led trail. Children must be accompanied at all times. Standard Garden admission applies for adults.

Exclusive sponsor: Mills & Reeve

From queens, emperors and divine beings, to scientists, artists and global communities, explore the spectrum of identities that exist across time, place and culture in Cambridge collections.

How do labels and categories affect the stories we choose to tell, or how we connect with each other? How do they affect our interaction with our natural world, and how we imagine the future?

From queens, emperors and divine beings, to scientists, artists and global communities, explore the spectrum of identities that exist across time, place and culture in Cambridge collections.

How do labels and categories affect the stories we choose to tell, or how we connect with each other? How do they affect our interaction with our natural world, and how we imagine the future?

The Museum of Classical Archaeology is home to more than 450 plaster casts of ancient Greek and Roman sculpture. But why do we have a collection of copies or ‘fakes’?

Join Curator Dr Susanne Turner on this tour of the Museum of Classical Archaeology’s Cast Gallery. The Museum houses a rather unusual collection: instead of original statues, the Cast Gallery is packed with more than 600 historical plaster casts of Greek and Roman sculptures. But why do we have all these replicas? And how might thinking about copying help us to look differently at ancient sculpture?

Why is there a fin whale skeleton in Cambridge? What can we learn from our Dodo skeleton? What did Darwin collect here and on the Voyage of the Beagle, and what can these collections tell us about him and is ideas on evolution?

Hear these stories and more on an expert guided tour around the Museum of Zoology.

Book your FREE place here

Tours last approx. one hour. 

Date: 

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