Exhibitions and Case Displays

Kwibuka Rwanda

21 April - 28 September 2018

During the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, more than one million people lost their lives in just 100 days. Today there are 243 memorials, often marking sites where genocide took place. Many memorials preserve the remains of those who perished. Kwibuka Rwanda highlights a small selection of these memorials, telling the story of genocide survivors' attempts to come to terms with loss and trauma. It gives voice to the 'care-takers', survivors who work at memorials, honouring the dead by cleaning and preserving their remains. Further information.

Sunil Shah: Uganda Stories

17 February - 30 September 2018

In this photography exhibition, Shah explores very personal themes linked to his family's roots and heritage as Ugandan Asians, and offers wider narratives around exile, displacement and dispossession. In 1972 Idi Amin expelled 80,000 Asians from Uganda. Shah was three years old when his family were made refugees and forced to endure an unexpected journey, leaving their lives and possessions behind and move to the UK.

Shah investigates the past and extracts fragments, narratives and meanings to re-imagine his own family's tale. The exhibition also alludes to the fading of memories, the blind-spots in representing history and to the legacies of colonialism. Further information.

Messy Realities: The Secret Life of Technology

23 July - 28 September 2018

A special display exploring the work of the research project SCALS: Studies in Co-creating Assistive Living Solutions. Through the Messy Realities display, an inter-disciplinary group of researchers, museum staff, designers and community members living with long-term health conditions, set out to see if connections could be made between museum objects and contemporary medical technologies, particularly 'assisted living' technologies. If we put unexpected objects together, could meaningful connections be made? Could we spark new ideas about what 'assisted living technologies' are and find out new things about what they mean to the people who use them? Visit the display to explore some of the connections we have made and help us answer "what is technology?" Further information.

SCALS is a five-year programme funded by the Wellcome Trust and led by Professor Trish Greenhalgh (Department of Primary Care Health Sciences).

'A Variety of Portraits of Persons': From the Official Account of Cook's Second Voyage to the Pacific (1772-1775)

28 May - 23 September 2018, Archive Case (Entrance to first floor)

This display marks the 250th anniversary of Cook's first voyage, which left Plymouth in August 1768. The eighteen prints in this display are from a copy of A Voyage towards the South Pole, and Round the World. This was the official account of Cook's second famous voyage to the Pacific, from 1772 to 1775 and was written by Cook himself, with the assistance of Dr John Douglas, Canon of Windsor. The prints are derived from portraits drawn in red chalk during the Voyage by the official voyage artist, London-born landscape painter William Hodges (1744-1797). Further information.

Amazing Amulets

1 June - 1 September 2018

Amazing Amulets is returning for its fourth year, showcasing the work of Year 9 students from the Langtree Academy. Working alongside jeweller Kate Coker, the students have learnt new metal-working techniques, including chasing and repousse. The result is a unique and diverse array of amulets reflecting the young people's personalities and inspirations drawn from the Museum collection. This successful project has encouraged more girls to get involved with Design Technology - a subject area which has traditionally struggled to engage young women, and offers a unique opportunity for students to have their work professionally displayed alongside the main collection.

Amazing Amulets and the accompanying exhibition is funded by ACE and HLF.

Syrians Unknown

15 June 2017 - 30 September 2018

A photographic exhibition by John Wreford. Visit the Upper Gallery to encounter large scale portraits of people displaced from Syria, now surviving and thriving in Istanbul, Turkey. Each person photographed has written powerful testimonies about their experiences. Exhibition in English and Arabic.