‘Our Beautiful Universe’ Summer Series at The Museum in the Park
Special Guests in Conversation with Jo Durrant
We are delighted to announce that Jo Durrant will be presenting a series of ‘In Conversations’ with special guests this summer. With topics spanning history, photography, art and science, these events will inspire, spark curiosity and debate, and invite us to look at the world with fresh eyes.
Jo Durrant is the award-winning presenter of the independent arts and science podcast ‘Jo Durrant’s Beautiful Universe’. She’s a highly respected and accomplished interviewer and event chair, and a familiar face at literature, history, and science festivals. Jo is freelance but for over 20 years was a presenter, producer & reporter with BBC radio and interviewed hundreds of people, from Melanie C to Tim Peake.
Each conversation will be followed by a chance to ask questions if you wish, and enjoy hot and cold drinks and a wander around the Museum, Gallery or Walled Garden. Several guests will bring new books which you can buy and have signed.
Tickets cost just £7.50, or £5 for Museum in the Park Members (Membership is free to join).
TO BOOK ONLINE CLICK HERE or call us on 01453 763394
7.30pm, Tuesday 23 July: ‘A Night at The Flicks’ with Jeff Downes & Graham O’Dwyer
Fancy a night exploring the weird and wonderful world of Cinema and Sci Fi? Jeff and Graham make the ‘At The Flicks’ podcast which is about all kinds of film and also appear on Jo’s podcast ‘Jo Durrant’s Beautiful Universe’ to talk about science fiction cinema. If you enjoyed the Stroud Illustrators Sci Fi Film Posters Reinterpreted show earlier this year, you’re in for a treat – and you can see some of the posters again or even buy one.
3pm, Saturday 3 August: ‘Lost in Time’ with Theo Deproost, Photographer
Many years ago when Theo was a young student he said “Maybe I could have an exhibition at The Museum in the Park one day …” Roll forward to 2020 and what turned out to be an aptly named solo show: ‘Lost In Time’ was a collaboration with the Museum focusing on the large and eclectic stored collection not on public display - exploring the beautiful, the slightly unsavoury and the frankly bizarre. Theo’s striking images offered a window into the surreal, unexpected world that the objects found themselves in – inviting us to look again at the world around us. Hear more about his ideas and work, and see some of the ‘Lost in Time’ objects up close.
2pm, Thursday 8 August: ‘Missing Threads’ with Dr Daisy Dunn
Dr Daisy Dunn is a classicist and award-winning author. Her first two books, Catullus’ Bedspread: The Life of Rome’s Most Erotic Poet and The Poems of Catullus: A New Translation, both published in 2016, led the Guardian to name her one of the country’s leading historians. Her new book, published in May, is called The Missing Thread: A New History of the Ancient World Through The Women Who Shaped It. While Penelope and Helen of Troy live on in the imagination, their real-life counterparts have been relegated to the margins. Daisy’s new book inverts this tradition and puts the women of history at the centre of the narrative.
2.30pm, Sunday 18 August: ‘Rediscovering Black Portraiture’ with Peter Brathwaite
Peter Brathwaite is an opera singer, an acclaimed baritone, based in the UK and performing internationally. He is the author of the new book ‘Rediscovering Black Portraiture’.
In Rediscovering Black Portraiture, begun during the Covid-19 pandemic, Peter reworks historical depictions of Black subjects with the help of domestic material culture. With this body of work, Peter centres Black figures whose stories have previously been marginalised or erased. These new images address social and political concerns, but also originate from his own identity as a performer. Through reimagining representations from the 11th century to the present day, he dares viewers to consider how the global majority have and should be seen and portrayed.
“An inspiring makeshift ingenuity... These mirror images with their uncanny resemblances traverse space and time, spotlighting the black lives that have been silenced by the canon of western art, while also inviting us to interrogate the present.” The Times
7.30pm, Friday 23 August: ‘Chain Reactions’ with Lucy Jane Santos
Lucy Jane is a writer, presenter, and historical consultant, and she specialises in health, beauty, and leisure and where they crossover. She is the author of ‘Half Lives: The Unlikely History of Radium’ and her new book is ‘Chain Reactions: A Hopeful History of Uranium’ which is out at the start of July this year. Tracing uranium's past, and how it intersects with our understanding of other radioactive elements, this book aims to disentangle our attitudes and to unpick the atomic mindset. Chain Reactions looks at the fascinating, often-forgotten, stories that can be found throughout the history of the element.
2pm, Wednesday 28 August: ‘House Histories & Secrets’ with Melanie Backe-Hansen, House Historian
Melanie Backe-Hansen is a historian, writer, and speaker, who specializes in researching the social history of houses throughout the United Kingdom. She is the author of three books, House Histories: The Secrets Behind Your Front Door (2011) and Historic Streets and Squares: The Secrets on Your Doorstep (2013), and A House Through Time – with David Olusoga (2020). She was a consultant on the television series of A House Through Time. She is a member of the Royal Historical Society and an honorary teaching fellow at the University of Dundee. If you’ve ever wondered what secret histories your house could tell, this event is for you! Books will be available to buy and have signed.
TO BOOK ONLINE CLICK HERE or call us on 01453 763394
