Sights of Wonder resources

Exhibition Resources Sights of Wonder is an online exhibition of photographs by Francis Bedford (1815-1894) taken during a royal tour to the Eastern Mediterranean in 1862. Curated by Art History and Curating MA students at the University of Birmingham in collaboration with Royal Collection Trust and the Barber Institute, the exhibition launched on 12 June … Read more

Hidden Histories

Hidden Histories 2018 The Barber’s Learning and Engagement team partnered with Dr Asha Rodgers, University of Birmingham (UoB) lecturer in Contemporary Postcolonial Literature, and artist and writer Dzifa Benson to deliver a two-part event collaborating with UoB students. Students participated in a workshop with Dzifa Benson which explored artworks and objects in the Barber collection … Read more

Reclaiming the Teapot

Objects can provide us with a window into the past. They can tell us stories about individuals, groups, societies and the world. Asking questions about objects can help us to build a picture of the past and consider how that past affects our present and future. Reclaiming the Teapot was a collaborative project between the … Read more

Currents: Empire and Migration

March – June 2019 This project brought together artist Jane Thakoordin, Ikon Youth Programme (IYP) and the Barber Collective to explore an exhibition at Ikon Gallery alongside an object in the Barber’s collection. The project drew points for consideration and inspiration from Hew Locke’s Armada (2019) which was displayed in his 2019 exhibition at Ikon … Read more

Looking again at a Collections highlight

The Marriage Feast at Cana by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo Since March 2020, colleagues in the Learning & Engagement and Curatorial teams have been re-looking at The Marriage Feast at Cana, from about 1672, by the Spanish artist Bartolomé Esteban Murillo. This ongoing collaborative project aims to address the representation, the possible identities and lived experiences, … Read more