Wassail is celebrated in early January to wake up the trees in apple growing areas in South West England. The wassail cup enables orchard owners to offer refreshment when wassailers visit. Find this locally made wassail cup on the Multaka 'With These Hands' trail. bit.ly/4ojhINP

Photography of some Angami Naga textiles is underway, including this cloth by Ulhondu of Khonoma. Collected in March 1937 by J.P.Mills it shows the development of supplementary weft designs and features 12 motifs from geometric patterns to human figures, a horseman, pig , a butterfly and 2 beetles.

Discover the inspirational qualities of the ancient tradition of Bojagi (Korean wrapping cloths) and piece together your own gift-wrapping cloth using traditional Korean silk fabrics in our 1-day workshop. Sat 14 Nov, 10.00-16.30. £100 (Members £80). Includes lunch & refreshments. bit.ly/3Y5UfnY

The Clothworkers’ are mesmerised by this beautiful Yemeni zanna made of shimmering, mallet-burnished indigo-dyed fabric with exquisite embroidery. Herb-filled pouches, mother-of-pearl shards, brass sequins and protective motifs cluster around the neckline, cuffs and seams to ward off the evil eye.

Season's greetings from everyone at Pitt Rivers! Thanks to the generous support of the Clothworkers Foundation, the drawers have been reorganised and made beautifully accessible to visitors. Do come in for a browse over the Christmas holidays. (This is a detail of Drawer C.145.12.)

Book early for our Cordage Making Workshop with artist Alice Fox - or buy as a (very) last minute gift! Saturday 18 July, 10.00-16.30. Tickets: £120 (Members £96), includes lunch, refreshments & materials. bit.ly/3Y2efIc

Learn how to give new life to old clothes with the art of visible mending, turning a rip or hole into a beautiful feature. Sign up for a Sunday morning workshop with clothes restorer Rosie Leech & bring your favourite jumper back to life! Sun 19 April, 11.00-13.00. £40 (Members £32) bit.ly/44Dxb3I

Experience reimagined global sound recordings from the collections through live performance, artist conversations & interactive activities in this unique after-hours event in collaboration with Cities and Memory & Oxford Contemporary Music. Fri 27 Feb. More info & booking details at bit.ly/3MGbBFC

Book now for a hands-on embroidery workshop led by Yiran Duan, a Bai artist from Yunnan, China & founder of Yi Crafts, dedicated to preserving and sharing traditional craftsmanship from China's ethnic minority communities. Sat 14 March, 10.00-13.00 or 14.00-17.00. £85 (Members £68) bit.ly/3Y4Inmb

CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR CLOSURES As we head into the holiday season, a quick reminder that Pitt Rivers Museum will be closed on 24, 25 & 26 December 2025 and 1 January 2026. We are open all other days and look forward to seeing you! 🎅 🎄

Still looking for a last minute present? Have a look at our programme of amazing craft workshops coming up in 2026. All tickets now available to book online (Gold Work Embroidery coming in January). prm.ox.ac.uk/events

We are delighted to announce that Art Fund has awarded Pitt Rivers £47,500 for 'Reimagining Ceremony and Welcome', an innovative project to co-design cultural protocols & symbolic forms of welcome, embedding ceremony & ritual into museum practice & transforming organisational culture. bit.ly/4qbAnvE

MUSEUM CLOSURE Please note that the Pitt Rivers Museum will be closed this afternoon due to a staff event. We will reopen at 10am tomorrow as usual.

The Clothworker’s team continues to work with Naga community members to help bring the Museum’s Naga collection to life. A real highlight has been locating Atula Sangtam from Milada Ganguli’s 1975 Tuensang photograph—and receiving this beautiful response!

Buy a lasting souvenir of your visit with specially commissioned signed linocut prints by Robin Wilson & Rosie Fairfax-Cholmeley of The Wytham Studio now on sale in the Museum shop. Rosie has also created colourful linocut prints of some of our favourite museum artefacts, now available as postcards.

Displayed behind the Arctic clothing is this pictogram painted on seal skin with detailed drawings giving a fascinating insight into life in the Arctic 150 years ago, showing hunting, fighting, trading and travelling on Siberia's Bering Strait. Find this object on our Winter Trail: bit.ly/4oRZuCC

We are very proud to announce that the Chair of our Board of Visitors, David Isaac CBE, has been awarded a life peerage in yesterday's Political Peerage list. Thank you for all your work on behalf of the Pitt Rivers Museum.

Crafted by an unknown Pashtun embroiderer, this gun cover was found in an Afghan-run textile shop in Pakistan's Shinwari Plaza. Rich with silk, mirrors & metal thread work, it was created for utility and beauty, exemplifying how craft can sustain identity and culture, even amid war and uncertainty.

Not your average cutlery drawer... Ranging from utilitarian ladles to tiny scooped spoons, some worn by practical use and others only intended for decoration, a collection of humble and not so humble utensils, this drawer of spoons makes a beautiful display.

Our wonderful winter family trail launches today! Find the snowflakes hidden around the galleries and learn about objects from snowy environments. Pick up a trail in the museum or download from the website. www.prm.ox.ac.uk/event/wonder...

For any museum lovers in your life, give the gift of membership - supporting the museum and offering opportunities to connect with the collections and museum community from as little as £36. More info at: bit.ly/3Mj67QO

#BlogSpot Focusing on a reproduction Native American disc rattle from the Raymond Wilkes collection of Native American hobbyist material, which was donated to the Museum in 2017, VMMA student Beatrix Stark discusses what makes an object 'authentic'. pittrivers-object.blogspot.com

The Clothworkers’ team recently examined this 600-year-old textile from the Kongo Kingdom. Skilful weaving, where weft floats are used to create geometric patterns & are then cut & rubbed, creates a cut pile effect similar to velvet, a technique distinct from the famed Kuba cloths, also from Congo.

Did you follow along last week with the reveal of our new Benin bronze piece by Phil Omodamwen (@omobronze)? Then check out this video of Phil's time working with us at Tooley's Boatyard and Forge (est. 1778 in Banbury, Oxfordshire)! www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_q-... #newarrival #makingthemuseum

Pop into the Pitt Rivers shop this weekend and enjoy shopping our unique range of beautiful objects from around the world - blankets & baskets, soaps & shadow puppets, kites & candles, jewellery & gin, plus much more! Celebrate Museum Shop Sunday with free gift-wrapping from 11.00-13.00 on Sunday!

FINAL REVEAL: A brand new Benin bronze plaque, titled "Looting of the Oba's Palace in 1897". This #newarrival confronts the theft of works from Benin in 1897. It shows what the palace altar looked like before 1897 (left), and British soldiers in the act of looting (right).

'Suturing Wounds' features self-portraits of artist Sara Sallam wearing a tunic made of torn Egyptian textile fragments, bearing witness to the C19th practice of excavating Byzantine-era cemeteries, tearing garments from the dead to satisfy the growing demands of Western museums. bit.ly/3L6QX0n

Day 4: Our final sneak peek is a wider shot, providing a bit more of a clue about what this piece depicts. Can you guess what it is yet? Hold tight for the final reveal tomorrow! This #newarrival was commissioned from Phil Omodamwen (@omobronze) as part of the #makingthemuseum project.

Day 3: Today's sneak peek is this fabulous detail on the *side* of the piece! Phil Omodamwen (@omobronze) - the maker of this new piece - is incredibly detail oriented in all his works. We're thrilled to be receiving this new piece for the Museum's permanent collection! Full reveal on Friday!

Day 2: We spent today catching up with @omobronze , the maker of our exciting new piece! Today's sneak peek is a part of his signature - see if you can spot it on the piece when we reveal the full artwork on Friday! This #newarrival was commissioned as part of the #makingthemuseum project!

Each pot from the Oxford Kilns is a one-off, shaped by hand, then transformed by fire, with each piece quietly revealing the beauty of work, material & fire. A selection of unique pieces is now available in the Pitt Rivers shop. Pop in this Sunday & enjoy free gift wrapping from 11.00-13.00.

This week, we're thrilled to be receiving a newly commissioned object for the Museum's permanent collection - a brand new bronze artwork from Benin. We'll be showing sneak peeks all week, before its grand unveiling on Friday. Day 1: Check out this intricate snake detail, beautifully cast in bronze!

A drawer full of beautifully designed Japanese stationery and story books - a visual feast of colours and characters, with fairy tale books, fish-skin gift tags and a carefully labelled gratuity envelope for tips!

A Ukrainian 'Vyshyvanka' made by Nadia Petukh in 1945 in the Rivno region of Ukraine, donated by Okshana Shevchuk in 2025 - one of the objects on our new 'With These Hands' trail telling the human stories behind objects selected by MultakaOxford volunteers. bit.ly/4ojhINP

The Clothworkers’ Textile Team is enjoying the chance to choose woven pieces for Meet Me at the Museum, a programme supporting older people and those with dementia through connection and creativity. We’re especially inspired by these vibrant double-faced brocade designs on a Guatemalan sash!

What the best-dressed Christmas trees will be wearing this year - beautifully beaded Evenki decorations now available in the Museum Shop!

In 'International Slavery Museum: The Journey, the Progress and the Plans', hear Michelle Charters OBE speak about making the museum a global leader in understanding & exploring the impact & legacies of historic & modern slavery. Thursday 27 November, 5.30pm. Talk being held at Linacre College.

For her artwork 'Suturing Wounds', artist Sara Sallam reprinted archival photographs of textiles torn from the cemetery of Akhmim onto fabric & stitched them together into a single tunic, honouring her ancestors whose graves were desecrated & restoring care to lives long silenced. bit.ly/3L6QX0n

A hand-knotted rug featuring weapons and helicopters against a map of Afghanistan, donated to the Museum in 2009 - just one of the objects on the new 'With These Hands' trail co-curated with MultakaOxford, exploring crafts from different cultures through storytelling. bit.ly/4ojhINP

Don't forget to visit the museum shop for unique gifts - our limited collection of handmade shadow puppets have just arrived from Bali. Beautifully decorated in vibrant colours & highlighted in gold, they make perfect gifts or decorations along with Christmas decorations from Kenya, Nepal & Bali.

The Clothworkers’ Textile team love how textiles tell stories. We were amazed to find this stunning embroidered fabric hidden and being used as a sleeve lining in a dress from Afghanistan. A beautiful handmade secret tucked away! #clothworkerstextileproject

Due to a cancellation, we now have one ticket available for this Friday's Plastic Smithing Workshop with Bronwen Gwillim. Friday 14 November, 10.00-16.30. £90 (includes lunch & refreshments). More info & booking details at: bit.ly/4nQjl5p

As part of the @ox.ac.uk Visual, Material and Museum Anthropology programme, student Liangyu Geo researched a pair of lotus shoes 'worn by a Chinese lady with golden lily feet' donated to the Museum in 1927. Ornately embroidered with gold thread, the shoes are 13cm long. go.glam.ox.ac.uk/t1Wv65GtV

And the answer is an amazing 46 metres - that's a lot of fabric!

TODAY Join us for our Late Night celebrating the launch of the With These Hands trail, exploring crafts from around the world! Pick up a trail & explore the galleries, listen to a Ukrainian choir, plus global music DJ'd by Inspire Sounds, whilst enjoying a relaxed Friday night drink from Tap Social!

Enjoy the museums after dark in our Late Night 'With These Hands: Crafting a Shared Humanity' tomorrow evening! Craft workshops, object handling, food tasting, a Ukrainian choir, Inspire Sounds DJ & a bar by Tap Social! Fri 7 Nov, 7-10pm. Free but booking required. All welcome! bit.ly/46fZNBd

Embroidered shirt made by Arezo Sheykhizad, Iran 2024 - just one of the objects on our new With These Hands trail, being launched at this Friday's Late Night event, 7 Nov, 7-10pm. Craft workshops & activities, music & a bar. Free but booking required. bit.ly/46fZNBd

Craft & Chat left you eager for more? This Friday sees a unique opportunity to spend a night at the museum as @pittriversmuseum.bsky.social hosts an interactive session of crafting from round the world 'With These Hands: Crafting a Shared Humanity' Book now free of charge go.glam.ox.ac.uk/xWiM07O8y

Explore historic cameras from History of Science Museum & build a camera obscura, print symbolic patterns from Ukraine and Iran & make a traditional Ukrainian motanka doll - celebrate global arts & crafts at our Late Night 'With These Hands', Fri 7 Nov, 7-10pm. Free, booking required. bit.ly/46fZNBd