Oxford University

Making the Pitt Rivers Museum

Education EN ↓ 5 episodes

Lieutenant-General Pitt-Rivers did not make the museum in Oxford that bears his name, or the objects within it. The real makers of the museum are the people who lived (and live) outside its walls; who made and used the objects on display, and the people whose lives are captured in the photograph collections. Yet these makers have often been silenced within the Museum's displays, labels, catalogues and exhibitions, which have historically focused on collectors, cultures, and curators. Join the Making the Museum project team for a behind-the-scenes look at how we are trying to redress this balan...

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Oxford University

Episodes

Making Benin Bronzes in the Museum 04.12.2025 41:51

Phil Omodamwen, a sixth-generation Benin bronze caster, speaks to us about the importance of repatriation, the new bronze artwork the museum has commissioned, and working in a 250-year-old forge in Banbury! Phil Omodamwen is a sixth-generation bronze caster from Benin City in Nigeria. He is a member of just one of 11 families licenced by the Kingdom of Benin to practice traditional bronze casting....

Making Replicas in the Museum 20.10.2025 1:06:35

One of the UK’s few professional flint knappers, Dr James Dilly, speaks about the importance of replica making for modern museums, tells us what we can learn from objects of the ancient past, and introduces the team to the ‘sexy hand axe’ theory! Dr James Dilley is an experimental archaeologist and flintknapper, specialising in the British Stone Age & Bronze Age. James founded the company Anci...

Making Sense of the San Collections 19.05.2025 37:00

The University’s inaugural San visiting fellow Kileni Fernando speaks about the significance of the San community items in our collection. Join us to hear about stealing fire from ostriches and shapewear made from ostrich egg shells! Content note: In this episode we will be discussing terminology used in museum labels that is outdated and that has historically been used in a derogatory way. Be awa...

Making Music with Sound Archives 17.02.2025 1:04:21

Hip hop, rap, and multimedia artists X and Rawz tell us about the music they produced using sounds from the museum archives. The project team talk about how understanding more about makers (rather than takers!) fits into the work of a modern museum. The first two creative fellows on the Making the Museum project – X and Rawz – talk to us about sound quality, music as a form of time travel, and bei...

Trailer 27.01.2025 1:35

Get ready for a new behind-the-scenes podcast from the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford! Looking for a new listen for the New Year? Look no further! Join us for a behind-the-scenes look at the Pitt Rivers Museum – one of Oxford’s hidden gems! We’ll be talking to researchers, community experts, crafters/makers, and in-house academics to bring you the very cutting edge of museum work. It’ll be low commitm...