Pitt Rivers Museum
University of Oxford
South Parks Road
Oxford
Oxfordshire
OX1 3PP
England
Website
Website
General enquiries
Telephone
Recorded general information, group bookings and option to speak our Receptionist
01865 270927
Fax
General fax number
01865 270943
The Pitt Rivers Museum is the University of Oxford's museum of anthropology and world archaeology. Founded in 1884 following a gift to the University from General Pitt-Rivers it retains its unique period atmosphere with dense displays of artefacts, many in the original wooden display cabinets. As a result, it has often been described as a 'Museum of Museums'.
The new extension and restored entrance which provide better provisions for the public, students and staff is now complete.
The entire collection of this museum is a Designated Collection of national importance.
Venue Type:
Museum
Additional info
Induction loop available in museum shop.
Please pre-book disabled parking spaces.
The entire collection of the Pitt Rivers Museum is a Designated Collection of national importance.
The Pitt Rivers Museum takes the world for its province, with collections of artefacts that date from earliest times to the present day and extensive photographic and archival collections. The museum is a resource of international importance for the study of human cultures and their history. Its collections span all parts of the world from prehistory to the present day and celebrate the range of human creativity and technological ingenuity.
The collections are arranged typologically with material organised not by origin or date but by function to show how, at different times and in different parts of the world, people solved a wide range of everyday problems. Every aspect of human life is presented in displays of basketry, body adornment, magic, masks, medicine, music making, navigation and textiles, among dozens of other themes. These are complemented by a number of culture-specific displays, such as that devoted to material from the South Seas collected on Captain Cook's Second famous Voyage of Discovery.
Collection details
World Cultures, Weapons and War, Toys and Hobbies, Religion, Photography, Music, Costume and Textiles, Archaeology, Agriculture
Key artists and exhibits
- The museum's displays contain an almost overwhelming variety of material from masks to magic, mummies to musical instruments. Highlights include a 40ft Totem pole, a witch in a bottle and a temporary exhibition of photographs taken in Iraq, by the renound traveller Wilfred Thesiger.
- Designated Collection
Visiting with the Ancestors : the Blackfoot Shirts Project
What happens when museum objects go home for a visit? The Blackfoot shirts at PRM, collected in 1841, express Blackfoot culture and beliefs. In 2010, PRM staff took them home to Canada for a visit so that Blackfoot people could learn from them and strengthen cultural knowledge and identity. Blackfoot people were delighted to see these important heritage items and were inspired by them. The exhibition includes three of the shirts and quotes and photographs from the reunions with Blackfoot people.
Where
Pitt Rivers Museum. Entry via the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PW
Admission
Free admission, donations welcomed. Open: Mondays 12.00-16.30, Tuesdays-Sundays & Bank Holidays 10.00-16.30
Website
Andrea Stultiens: The Kaddu Wasswa Archive
Dutch artist Andrea Stultiens met Kaddu Wasswa in 2008 after an introduction by his grandson, the photographer Arthur C. Kisitu. Stultiens found in the way Kaddu Wasswa had personally documented his a life a fascinating route into the Ugandan history she had been searching for. The three set out on a mission to tell Kaddu Wasswa's life in photographs, based on the documentation he had compiled over the decades. The result is a fascinating insight into both an extraordinary man's life and post-independence Ugandan society.
Where
Pitt Rivers Museum. Entry via Oxford University Museum of Natural History
Admission
Free admission, donations welcomed. Open: Mondays 12.00-16.30, Tuesdays - Sundays & Bank Holiday Mondays 10.00-16.30
Website
After Hours: Arabian Peninsula
Explore the Museum at your own pace after closing time! Enjoy a slideshow of Thesiger photos, music from the Pitt Rivers collection and an evening talk by Prof. Oliver Watson about 'Collections in and for Qatar: the Museum of Islamic Art and other projects'.
Suitable for
- 18+
When
4:30-7:30pm
Admission
Evening schedule: 16.30-18.30 Slideshow of photos & music, 17.30 & 18.00 Museum tours, 18.30 (Museum closes) -19.30 Talk
Website
Pitt Stop: Flibbety Flub
Celebrate Alice Day by creating some nonsense art inspired by the collection.
Suitable for
- Especially for children
When
1-4pm
Where
Pitt Rivers Museum. Entry via Oxford University Museum of Natural History
Admission
Free drop-in session for children aged 5+ but all ages welcome. Please ensure that all children are accompanied by an adult.
Website
Under 5 event: Shadow Puppets
Make a puppet and watch a show at this special event for under 5's.
Suitable for
- 0-4
When
2-4pm
Where
Pitt Rivers Museum. Entry via the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PW.
Admission
Free drop-in session for under 5's. Please ensure that all children are accompanied by an adult.
Website
Catching Frogs and Fishes: Basketry Techniques from around the World
Contemporary basket makers Geraldine Poore and Margaret Sparks will be demonstrating basketry techniques and talking about the exhibition 'Soundweaves' on display at the Museum. The knotting technique that Margaret will be using can be seen in soft bags and fishing nets from many parts of the world. Geraldine will demonstrate plaiting, another universal technique, and she will give a short talk about the baskets made by the Yekuana people of southern Venezuela. Basketry is of great significance for them and making plaited baskets with geometric patterns representing sacred animals, such as frogs, monkeys and anacondas, is one of the skills which adult men should learn! Come and see Geraldine and Margaret demonstrate these techniques, talk to them about their work and that of other 'Soundweaves' artists.
Suitable for
- 18+
When
2:30-3:30pm
Admission
Free entry.
Website
Summer Holiday Activities: Bags of Fun!
Borrow a backpack full of activities and become a family of museum explorers!
Suitable for
- Especially for children
Where
Pitt Rivers Museum. Entry via the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PW
Admission
EVERY TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY during opening hours. Free drop-in session for children aged 5+ but all ages welcome. Please ensure that all children are accompanied by an adult. Open: 10.00-16.30
Website
Trail: Beside the Seaside
Discover the people that live by the sea with lots of sensory seaside surprises...
Suitable for
- Especially for children
Where
Pitt Rivers Museum. Entry via the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PW
Admission
Free drop-in sessions for children aged 5+ but all ages welcome. Please ensure that all children are accompanied by an adult.
Museum open: 10.00-16.30 Tuesdays - Sundays & Bank Holiday Mondays, 12.00-16.30 Mondays
Website
Pitt Stop: Guardians of the Museum
Meet the objects who protect and guard... Then make a guardian of your own!
Suitable for
- Especially for children
When
1-4pm
Where
Pitt Rivers Museum. Entry via the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PW
Admission
Free drop-in session for children aged 5+ but all ages welcome. Please ensure that all children are accompanied by an adult.
Website
Under 5 event: Fan-tastic
Keep cool this summer by making a fan in this special event for under 5's.
Suitable for
- 0-4
When
2-4pm
Where
Pitt Rivers Museum. Entry via the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PW
Admission
Free drop-in session for under 5's. Please ensure that all children are accompanied by an adult.
Website
Royal College of Art at the Pitt Rivers Museum: Matrimonial Rituals, Gender Studies and False Facial Hair
"I attempted to understand an Angolan marriage ritual by reenacting it with 30 women from London... Did we discover the truth? I'm not so sure, but we did unearth many other truths along the way." RCA artist Joanne Wardrop discusses her project ' Matrimonial Rituals, Gender Studies and False Facial Hair' exhibited at the Pitt Rivers Museum from April-June 2013. Joanne will focus on the ways in which this Museum has influenced her practice and how she believes this diverse and expansive collection can enhance comprehension of our own culture and ourselves within it. To watch 'Matrimonial Rituals, Gender Studies and False Facial Hair' and find out more about this Angolan ritual, visit www.joannewardrop.com.
Suitable for
- 18+
When
2:30-3:30pm
Admission
Free entry.
Website
Summer Holiday Activities: A load of rubbish...
Explore our recycling displays and make your own art and animations out of junk.
Suitable for
- Especially for children
Where
Pitt Rivers Museum. Entry via the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PW
Admission
2.00pm - 4.00pm. Free drop-in sessions for children aged 5+ but all ages welcome. Please ensure that all children are accompanied by an adult.
Website
Pitt Stop: Let's go fly a kite
Hope for a blustery autumn and make your own Chinese inspired kite!
Suitable for
- Especially for children
When
1-4pm
Where
Pitt Rivers Museum. Entry via the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PW
Admission
Free drop-in session for children aged 5+ but all ages welcome. Please ensure that all children are accompanied by an adult.
Website
Under 5 events: Row, row, row your boat
Explore the boats in the Museum and make one of your own at this special event for under 5's.
Suitable for
- Especially for children
When
2-4pm
Where
Pitt Rivers Museum. Entry via the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PW
Admission
Free drop-in session for children under 5. Please ensure that all children are accompanied by an adult.
Website
Saturday Spotlight: How do you make a film about the Pitt Rivers Museum?
How do you make a film about the Pitt Rivers and represent the work that goes on behind the scenes of the Museum and the people who make this happen? This was the challenge that documentary film makers Alan and Udi Mandel faced when they were invited to make a film following the 'Small Blessings: Exploring the amulet collections at the Pitt Rivers Museum' project. They will talk about their experience of making the film 'Artisans of Memory' and of making documentary films more generally. For a taste of the talk and the film, see http://www.pittrivers-amulets.blogspot.com/2012/09/pitt-rivers-on-film.html.
Suitable for
- 18+
- 16-17
When
2:30-3:30pm
Admission
Free entry. Suitable for adults and older children.
Website
Saturday Spotlight: 'The Action of Objects'
Cecilie Gravesen, a visual artist working in film and installation, questions the ethical and philosophical implications of preserving ethnographic objects that are imbued or empowered in various ways. She works with source communities and conservators and is interested in how the objects lodged in museums have the power to instigate dialogue and social change by highlighting what is at stake for both the museum and the source community. Cecilie will talk about her work and present her film, recorded at the Pitt Rivers Museum conservation department and featuring conservator, Misa Tamura. The film follows the conservation of a quiver of arrows from the Ainu people of Japan.
When
2:30-3:30pm
Admission
Free entry. Suitable for adults and older children.
Website
Getting there
The entrance to the Pitt Rivers Museum is through the Oxford University Museum Natural History (OUMNH) on Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PW. The Pitt Rivers' entrance is at the far wall of the OUMNH. The OUMNH is closed during 2013 but access to the Pitt Rivers remains as usual.
Parking: The Museum unfortunately cannot offer parking facilities. Vehicles parking in the University's Science Area without a permit are liable to be wheel-clamped. We suggest that you look for parking in either the side streets around the Museum or at the multi-storey car park. We can offer disabled parking, please call 01865 270927 to book a space.
By bus: There are also five Park and Ride car parks (situated on the A40 at Headington; Red Bridge at the bottom of the Abingdon Road, near Kennington; Pear Tree Roundabout, Woodstock Road; Water Eaton, Banbury Road, Kidlington and Seacourt at Botley). The coach park is on Oxpens Road. The walk from the coach park and the multi-storey car parks to the Museum is about half an hour.
By train: Oxford train station is approximately a 20 minute level walk to the Museum.
By cycle: There are bicycle racks outside the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.
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