Making the Pitt Rivers Museum

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Oxford University

5 episodes

16 hours ago

Phil Omodamwen, a sixth-generation Benin bronze caster, speaks to us about the importance of repatriation, the new bronze artwork the museum has commissioned, and working in a 250-year-old forge in Banbury! Phil Omodamwen is a sixth-generation bronze caster from Benin City in Nigeria. He is a member of just one of 11 families licenced by the Kingdom of Benin to practice traditional bronze casting. He uses the lost wax method of bronze casting to produce his pieces, working in traditional ways which have been passed down through generations of fathers and sons. He is working with the Making the Museum project to inform our understanding of lost wax bronze casting processes, helping us to better understand their detail and intricacy. However, Phil’s collaboration with the museum is also helping us to confront the theft of works from Benin in 1897. The piece the museum has commissioned him to make – a brand new Benin bronze plaque, titled "Looting of the Oba's Palace in 1897" – shows what the altar in the palace would have looked like before 1897 on the left, and British soldiers in the act of looting on the right. This piece will help us to tell this history in the museum, and its purchase supports the continuation of traditional bronze casting practices in Benin today. This plaque is the first of its kind to be produced - the only piece depicting the looting - and at c.80cm tall also one of the largest! It will make quite an impact in the museum displays and we hope you will come and visit the new display when it is installed mid-2026! In this episode, listen to Phil discuss why the repatriation of Benin bronze artworks is important, as well as learning about the lost wax casting process, and finding out more about work Phil produced right here in Oxfordshire with Ems Orving, blacksmith at the historic forge at Tooley’s Boatyard, Banbury. See more of Phil’s work on his social media pages: https://www.instagram.com/omobronze/ https://x.com/omobronze Want to follow along when we’re talking about collections items? Numerous bells from Benin are discussed (and rung) throughout this episode. The bells in our collection that are from Benin are: 1900.39.10 (https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/collections-online#/item/prm-object-38732) 1900.39.11 (https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/collections-online#/item/prm-object-38733) 1917.38.1 (https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/collections-online#/item/prm-object-38734) 1917.38.2 (https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/collections-online#/item/prm-object-38735) 1941.2.117 (https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/collections-online#/item/prm-object-38736) 1941.2.118 (https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/collections-online#/item/prm-object-38737) 1941.2.119 (https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/collections-online#/item/prm-object-38738) The items Phil has made for the museum have not yet been added to the online catalogue, but you can view images of the commissioned plaque in posts from Friday 28th November 2025 on the museum’s social media accounts: https://bsky.app/profile/pittriversmuseum.bsky.social https://www.instagram.com/pittriversmuseum/ https://x.com/Pitt_Rivers You can see video footage of Phil’s time working in Tooley’s Boatyard forge in Banbury on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_q-BfoGOPM&t=2s This episode features sounds recorded during Phil’s time in the Tooley’s Boatyard forge with Ems Orving, captured by Tim Hand, Chris Morton, and Beth Hodgett, reproduced with permission. You will hear from (in order of appearance): Dr. Rebecca (Becky) Martin (she/her) – Research Project Officer, Making the Museum project Phil Omodamwen (he/him) – sixth-generation Benin bronze caster Prof. Chris Morton (he/him) – Principal Investigator (PI), Making the Museum project Dr. Beth Hodgett (they/them) – Postdoctoral Researcher, Making the Museum project

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Episodes (5/5)

Making the Pitt Rivers Museum

Making Benin Bronzes in the Museum

2 weeks ago

41 minutes

Making the Pitt Rivers Museum

Making Replicas in the Museum

One of the UK’s few professional flint knappers, Dr James Dilly, speaks about the importance of replica making for modern museums, tells us what we can learn from objects of the ancient past, and introduces the team to the ‘sexy hand axe’ theory! Dr James Dilley is an experimental archaeologist and flintknapper, specialising in the British Stone Age & Bronze Age. James founded the company AncientCraft in 2009, through which he and Emma Jones aim to engage individuals and communities in prehistory through the creation and delivery of interactive experiences, using quality replicas and experienced specialists. James’ work is displayed at The British Museum and Stonehenge and he has worked with several high-profile media companies such as the BBC, National Geographic, New Scientist and Dorling Kindersley Publishing. He is working with the Making the Museum project to inform our knowledge of making practices for the Museum’s collection of stone tools. In September 2024, he delivered a flint knapping workshop for museum staff and other object history experts as part of a workshop titled ‘Makers and fakers: How copies, replicas, casts and fakes ‘make’ the museum’. In this episode, James speaks to us about connecting with human ancestors through the frustration of making, what we can learn from knobbly lumps of stone in the museum, and how he is going about making archaeology and pre-history more accessible through costumes and demonstrations. Join us to learn some flabbergasting facts about deep time and find out what the ‘sexy hand axe’ theory is! See more about the work James does with AncientCraft at: www.ancientcraft.co.uk Find out about AncientCraft’s upcoming events via their social media pages: https://x.com/ancientcraftUK https://www.youtube.com/user/ancientcraftUK https://www.facebook.com/AncientCraftUK https://www.instagram.com/ancientcraftuk/?hl=en Want to follow along when we’re talking about collections items? For examples of the kinds of items we’re talking about in this episode, take a look at: Example of a stone hand axe (1947.6.29): https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/collections-online#/item/prm-object-120008 Example of a scraper (1884.140.1277): https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/collections-online#/item/prm-object-245839 Forged stone hand axe by Edward Simpson (aka Flint Jack) (1884.122.598): https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/collections-online#/item/prm-object-152997 See some of the objects that we examined as part of the ‘Makers and fakers’ workshop, discussed in this episode, here: https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/collections-online#/item/prm-objectgroup-86017 You can see video footage from our ‘Makers and fakers’ workshop on the Making the Museum playlist on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3Y01FKCfEs&list=PLRD32d5F72a1LM-AtxvFQScpehl_EOIFq&index=9 This episode features sounds recorded during the flint knapping session, run by Dr Dilley, at this workshop. You will hear from (in order of appearance): Dr. Rebecca (Becky) Martin (she/her) – Research Project Officer, Making the Museum project Dr. James Dilley (he/him) – Experimental archaeologist and flint knapper, AncientCraft Dr. Beth Hodgett (they/them) – Postdoctoral Researcher, Making the Museum project

1 month ago

1 hour 6 minutes

Making the Pitt Rivers Museum

Making Sense of the San Collections

The University’s inaugural San visiting fellow Kileni Fernando speaks about the significance of the San community items in our collection. Join us to hear about stealing fire from ostriches and shapewear made from ostrich egg shells! Content note: In this episode we will be discussing terminology used in museum labels that is outdated and that has historically been used in a derogatory way. Be aware that this discussion occurs between 20'30" and 23'50" (following the discussion of ostrich eggshell water containers). Kileni Fernando is the inaugural San Visiting Fellow at the Pitt Rivers Museum, co-sponsored by the Africa Oxford (AfOx) Initiative and developed in association with the !Khwa ttu San Heritage Centre. She is a !Xung-speaking San woman from Namibia, currently pursuing a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree with the Open University of Tanzania. Since 2017 Kileni has acted as a voice for the San as a development consultant for the !Khwa ttu San Heritage Centre on the West Coast of South Africa. She is a co-founding member of an indigenous San youth organisation called Ana-Djeh San Trust (AST). Kileni has completed several courses on marginalization & inequality, as well as a diploma in legal history. She has also volunteered as a community facilitator for the Women’s Leadership Centre (Windhoek, Namibia) on the project “Speaking for ourselves, Voices of the San Young Women”. In this episode, listen to some of the work she has been doing with the Making the Museum project to improve the categorisation of San materials within the museum database and change the understanding and presentation of San collections within the museum. Find out more about Kileni and her work at https://www.afox.ox.ac.uk/person/kileni-fernando. For more about the !Khwa ttu San Heritage Centre: https://www.khwattu.org/ For information about the AfOx Initiative and the AfOx fellowship programme: https://www.afox.ox.ac.uk/ To learn more about the work the museum is doing to address the terminology used in its historic labels, check out the work of the Labelling Matters project: https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/labelling-matters Want to follow along when we’re talking about collections items? This episode features the following items from the Pitt Rivers collection (in order of appearance): Denise Gross collection rock art rubbings (not yet individually catalogued - link to the YouTube channel for videos of these items below) Ostrich eggshell water carrier (accession no. 2004.142.1110) Ostrich eggshell water carrier (accession no. 1970.11.1) Ostrich eggshell waist beads (accession no. 1886.1.492.1) Tortoise shell powder carrier (accession no. 1990.25.1) You can also see these conversations in video on the Making the Museum playlist on our YouTube channel: Making the Museum playlist - Pitt Rivers Museum YouTube channel This episode features music from the Kalahari San community, featuring a gut pluriarc and 3 men’s voices, kindly provided (with permission of the copyright holder) by Dr Chris Low of the !Khwa ttu San Heritage Centre, recorded by Megan Biesele and Nicholas England. Copyright Megan Biesele and Nicholas England. You will hear from (in order of appearance): Dr. Rebecca (Becky) Martin (she/her) – Research Project Officer, Making the Museum project Dr. Beth Hodgett (they/them) – Postdoctoral Researcher, Making the Museum project Kileni Fernando (she/her) –AfOx Fellow and !Khwa ttu Heritage Centre consultant Dr. Christopher Morton (he/him) – Principal Investigator, Making the Museum project

7 months ago

37 minutes

Making the Pitt Rivers Museum

Making Music with Sound Archives

Hip hop, rap, and multimedia artists X and Rawz tell us about the music they produced using sounds from the museum archives. The project team talk about how understanding more about makers (rather than takers!) fits into the work of a modern museum. The first two creative fellows on the Making the Museum project – X and Rawz – talk to us about sound quality, music as a form of time travel, and being part of a continuum of sound/music makers as they tell us about their work with the museum’s sound archives. Learn about how the museum space impacted the creative responses they produced and hear their ideas for museums now and in the future. In a special extra segment for this first episode, we (the Making the Museum project team) discuss how creative fellowships and responses fit within the research work we do at the museum. We also discuss why researching makers is so important, setting the scene for other episodes in this series. Want to follow along when we’re talking about collections items? This episode features the following items from the Pitt Rivers collection (in order of appearance): Audio recording of water drumming by Bayaka women and youths (Republic of Congo, 1994) (Accession number 1997.21.2.134, Side B, Track 14) Balonyona playing geedal (Yandoumbé, Central African Republic, 1992) (Accession number 1997.21.2.52, Side A, Track 3) Moru sanza music by Timon Beri, recorded by Patti Langton (South Sudan, 1979) (Accession number 2013.1.11, Side A, Track 1) 'Clay Pot' Vessel | Collections online | Pitt Rivers Museum (Accession number 1886.1.489) Want to see more from X and Rawz’s time as fellows? Check out the video from their Gathering Place event – the culmination of their fellowships – on our YouTube channel: The Gathering Place: Africa (Late Night Event, May 2024) This episode features live versions of the following music/poetry recorded during The Gathering Place late-night event at the Pitt Rivers Museum, May 4th 2024 (in order of appearance): X- Dear Old Man Rawz- There’s Fire to Find X- Ubomi (‘Life’) Rawz- The First Rawz (vocals) and Miles Ncube (mbira)- Art Starts A Story Rawz- ‘Til Sunrise X- Ingqayi Nawe Hlabula ('Ingqayi You Also Sip from This Knowledge') X- Intsukaphi ('Where we are From') You will hear from (in order of appearance): Dr. Rebecca (Becky) Martin (she/her) – Research Project Officer, Making the Museum project Rawz (he/him) – Creative Fellow Xolile (X) Madinda (he/him) – Creative Fellow Dr. Beth Hodgett (they/them) – Postdoctoral Researcher, Making the Museum project Dr. Christopher Morton (he/him) – Principal Investigator, Making the Museum project Dr. Noel Lobley (he/him) – Visiting Researcher (Assistant Professor, University of Virginia) Also featuring Miles Ncube (he/him) – Mbira Player About the artists: Xolile (X) Madinda is a hip hop artist, arts activist, and founder and CEO of The Black Power Station in Makhanda, South Africa. X's practice is rooted in the re-imagining and re-archiving of African creative works to educate, liberate and empower the self and communities. Check out what X is doing with The Black Power Station here: The Black Power Station – Arts Liberation Space Rawz is a Multidisciplinary Artist from Oxford. His practice centres around words and music, and is rooted in social justice and the exploration and understanding of our interconnected worlds. Rawz regularly updates his portfolio here: https://linktr.ee/rawz_official Email: urbanmusicfoundation@hotmail.com Instagram: www.instagram.com/rawz_official Facebook: www.facebook.com/realrawz Twitter: www.twitter.com/realrawz Bandcamp: www.Rawz.bandcamp.com

10 months ago

1 hour 4 minutes

Making the Pitt Rivers Museum

Trailer

Get ready for a new behind-the-scenes podcast from the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford! Looking for a new listen for the New Year? Look no further! Join us for a behind-the-scenes look at the Pitt Rivers Museum – one of Oxford’s hidden gems! We’ll be talking to researchers, community experts, crafters/makers, and in-house academics to bring you the very cutting edge of museum work. It’ll be low commitment, with a new episode released every month or two, but will keep you right up to date with the latest thinking, practice, and research in museums today. Subscribe now for a regular sneak-peak behind the cabinets and find out what really makes the Pitt Rivers Museum tick! Looking for a new listen for the New Year? Look no further! Join us for a behind-the-scenes look at the Pitt Rivers Museum – one of Oxford’s hidden gems! We’ll be talking to researchers, community experts, crafters/makers, and in-house academics to bring you the very cutting edge of museum work. It’ll be low commitment, with a new episode released every month or two, but will keep you right up to date with the latest thinking, practice, and research in museums today. Subscribe now for a regular sneak-peak behind the cabinets and find out what really makes the Pitt Rivers Museum tick! Featured track: Rawz- ‘The First’- LIVE May 4th 2024 Published 2025.

10 months ago

1 minute

Making the Pitt Rivers Museum