Objects Out Loud

Dec 21 2021 8 ep. 14 mins 30

Objects Out Loud Podcast artwork

From a magician who inspired Shakespeare, and poems woven into Japanese prints, to manuscripts illuminated with the ancient love story of Layla and Majnun, this new podcast series will delve into the poetry and literature hidden in the collections at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. Join us each Friday, from 5 February, for a new audio adventure. Objects Out Loud is produced and presented by Lucie Dawkins.

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Subscribe to Fingerprints, a new Ashmolean podcast

Dec 21 2021 2 mins

Every object in the Ashmolean has passed from hand to hand to reach the Museum. In a new podcast, we uncover the invisible fingerprints left behind by makers, looters, archaeologists, soldiers, rulers, curators, and many more. These stories of touch reveal the ways in which the forces of conflict and colonialism have shaped Britain’s oldest Museum. Join the Ashmolean’s curators

Crazy for Love

Mar 11 2021 16 mins

Could Shakespeare have been inspired by Arabic and Persian poetry? Did Romeo and Juliet have their origins in the Bedouin nomads of the Levant? Join Francesca Leoni as she takes us through the ancient love story of Layla and Majnun, through the lens of a jewel-like miniature painting in the Ashmolean’s archives. In this episode, you’ll hear the poetry of Shakespeare and Nizami

Vanishing Into the Dark

Mar 04 2021 17 mins

Meet Paolo Uccello’s spine-tingling painting The Hunt in Forest, with a mysterious vanishing point right at its very heart. It is an image which has fascinated poets, including Derek Mahon and John Burnside, who both wrote collections inspired by this 600 year old painting. John Burnside joins host Lucie Dawkins in this episode, to talk about why The Hunt in the Forest has grippe

Not Just a Pretty Face

Feb 25 2021 26 mins

Lizzie Siddall was the 19th century’s proto-supermodel. Her beauty inspired the artists and poets of her generation, who presented her as a mysterious, fairytale creature. We tend to know her through the filter of the men who painted her, but in the archives of the Ashmolean Museum, you can encounter the real Lizzie. Behind the silent muse of Pre-Raphaelite art was a vibrant, cre

Poetic Presents and Picture Puzzles

Feb 18 2021 21 mins

In this episode, Clare Pollard, the Curator of Japanese Art, and researcher Kiyoko Hanaoka introduce us to surimono prints, which combined poems and picture puzzles in beautiful objects designed to be exchanged as gifts by members of Japanese poetry clubs. Join them as they decode the clues in these complex and beautiful prints.The priest Sōjō Henjō, who fell – a woodblock pri

Michelangelo and Monsters

Feb 11 2021 15 mins

In 1506, Michelangelo witnessed the excavation of a long-lost Roman sculpture, showing a battle between man and monster. This sculpture has inspired writers and artists for generations, including Vergil and Goethe. Meet the Laocoon group, and hear these writers in their own words.The Laocoon Group – View this onlineIf you want to take a closer look at the object mentioned in this

The Queen's Magician

Feb 04 2021 16 mins

What connects James Bond and Shakespeare? The answer: John Dee, magician, spy, theatre director, and inventor of the British Empire. Take a journey through his bizarre and extraordinary life, and hear him speak in his own words, alongside the poetry from Shakespeare and Marlowe.Portrait of John Dee c. 1594 – View the paintingIf you want to take a closer look at the painting menti

TRAILER: Objects Out Loud – Poetry and Literature Hidden in the Collections

From a magician who inspired Shakespeare, and poems woven into Japanese prints, to manuscripts illuminated with the ancient love story of Layla and Majnun, this new podcast series will delve into the poetry and literature hidden in the collections at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. Join us each Friday, from 5 February, for a new audio adventure.Objects Out Loud is produced and pres