Fingerprints: Recent Episodes
Ashmolean Museum
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 alongside artists, experts, and community members. Fingerprints will be released on the Ashmolean’s website, on Spotify, Apple, and wherever you get your podcasts, weekly from 21 January 2022 until 25 February 2022. Guests include Bénédicte Savoy, co-author of the Report on African Cultural Heritage, commissioned by Emmanuel Macron; Professor Dan Hicks, of Oxford’s Pitt Rivers Museum; and Simukai Chigudu, one of the founding members of the Rhodes Must Fall campaign.
Fingerprints Episode 6The country’s first major art and antiquities collection now sits in the Ashmolean Museum. It reveals untold stories from the ancient world including shipwrecks, competitively collecting, underhand dealings and how classical art was used by aristocrats at the royal court to boost their status and standing. Join lecturer Alison Pollard, as she takes you on a journey which spans over 2000 years. Find a transcript of this episode here
Read more
- Read about the Arundel marbles here
Speakers in this episode:
- Series host: Lucie Dawkins, Director & Producer, Ashmolean Museum
- Dr Alison Pollard, Lecturer in Classical Archaeology, University of Oxford
- Professor Peter Stewart, Director of the Classical Art Research Centre, University of Oxford
- Jaś Elsner, Professor of Classics and Art History, University of Oxford
- Phiroze Vasunia, Professor of Greek, UCL
About the Fingerprints podcast
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 alongside artists, experts, and community members, for our new podcast: Fingerprints.
Fingerprints will be released on the Ashmolean’s website, on Spotify, Apple, and wherever you get your podcasts, weekly from 21 January 2022 until 25 February 2022.
Fingerprints is produced and hosted by Lucie Dawkins. Guests include Bénédicte Savoy, co-author of the Report on African Cultural Heritage, commissioned by Emmanuel Macron; Professor Dan Hicks, of Oxford’s Pitt Rivers Museum; and Simukai Chigudu, one of the founding members of the Rhodes Must Fall campaign.
www.ashmolean.org/fingerprints
Fingerprints Episode 5Curator Andrew Shapland shows us a tiny fragment which reveals the story of the man who set out to hunt down the mythical minotaur. Sir Arthur Evans went on to become known as the father of archaeology, but his journey reveals a culture war between empires in the Mediterranean. Find a transcript of this episode here
Read more
* Read more about the fragment here or view an image here
Speakers in this episode:
* Series host: Lucie Dawkins, Director & Producer, Ashmolean Museum
* Dr Andrew Shapland, Curator of Bronze Age & Classical Greece
* Dr Lucia Patrizio Gunning, Modern Historian, UCL
* Dr Antonis Kotsonas, Associate Professor of Mediterranean History and Archaeology
* Dr Lisa Bendall, Associate Professor in Aegean Prehistory, University of Oxford
* Dr Athanasia Kanta, archaeologist
* With the voice of Jonathan Aris as Arthur Evans
About the Fingerprints podcast
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 alongside artists, experts, and community members, for our new podcast: Fingerprints.
Fingerprints will be released on the Ashmolean’s website, on Spotify, Apple, and wherever you get your podcasts, weekly from 21 January 2022 until 25 February 2022.
Fingerprints is produced and hosted by Lucie Dawkins. Guests include Bénédicte Savoy, co-author of the Report on African Cultural Heritage, commissioned by Emmanuel Macron; Professor Dan Hicks, of Oxford’s Pitt Rivers Museum; and Simukai Chigudu, one of the founding members of the Rhodes Must Fall campaign.
www.ashmolean.org/fingerprints
Fingerprints Episode 4Curator Paul Collins takes us on a journey with a 3000 year old king uncovered by an Indian soldier digging a trench in World War I, and explore what he has to tell us about the formation of Iraq as a nation state. Find a transcript of this episode here
Read more
- Read more about the sculpture here or see an image here
Speakers in this episode:
- Series host: Lucie Dawkins, Director & Producer, Ashmolean Museum
- Dr Paul Collins, Curator of the Ancient Middle East, Ashmolean Museum
- Santanu Das, Professor of Modern Literature and Culture, University of Oxford
- Dr Mehiyar Kathem, Nahrein Network, UCL and Oxford, Researcher on cultural heritage in contemporary Iraq
About the Fingerprints podcast
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 alongside artists, experts, and community members, for our new podcast: Fingerprints.
Fingerprints will be released on the Ashmolean’s website, on Spotify, Apple, and wherever you get your podcasts, weekly from 21 January 2022 until 25 February 2022.
Fingerprints is produced and hosted by Lucie Dawkins. Guests include Bénédicte Savoy, co-author of the Report on African Cultural Heritage, commissioned by Emmanuel Macron; Professor Dan Hicks, of Oxford’s Pitt Rivers Museum; and Simukai Chigudu, one of the founding members of the Rhodes Must Fall campaign.
www.ashmolean.org/fingerprints
Fingerprints Episode 3Mallica Kumbera Landrus, the Ashmolean’s Keeper of Eastern Art, takes us on a journey with 200 clay figures from India, displayed alongside a human zoo at the Colonial and India Exhibition of 1886, and later used to teach young British colonial officers at Oxford’s Indian Institute. Find a transcript of this episode here
Read more
- View images of some of the sculptures mentioned in the episode here
- Find out more about Ali Kazim’s exhibition at the Ashmolean here
Speakers in this episode:
- Series host: Lucie Dawkins, Director & Producer, Ashmolean Museum
- Professor Mallica Kumbera Landrus, Keeper of Eastern Art at the Ashmolean
- Ali Kazim, one of Pakistan’s leading contemporary artists whose work will be on show in the Ashmolean from 7 February 2022
- Dr Nayanika Mathur, Associate Professor in the Anthropology of South Asia, University of Oxford
About the Fingerprints podcast
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 alongside artists, experts, and community members, for our new podcast: Fingerprints.
Fingerprints will be released on the Ashmolean’s website, on Spotify, Apple, and wherever you get your podcasts, weekly from 21 January 2022 until 25 February 2022.
Fingerprints is produced and hosted by Lucie Dawkins. Guests include Bénédicte Savoy, co-author of the Report on African Cultural Heritage, commissioned by Emmanuel Macron; Professor Dan Hicks, of Oxford’s Pitt Rivers Museum; and Simukai Chigudu, one of the founding members of the Rhodes Must Fall campaign.
www.ashmolean.org/fingerprints
Fingerprints Episode 2Dan Hicks takes us on a journey with three bronze masks from the West African city of Benin, through the hands of soldiers, collectors, and curators, and along with special guests considers the responsibility that European museums have towards looted art in their collections. Find a transcript of this episode here
Read more
- View the masks spoken about in the episode here
- Read the Pitt Rivers’ interim report on the provenance of African cultural heritage in their collection here
- Find out more about the Benin Bronzes and the Benin Dialogue Group here
- Find out more about Oxford University’s procedures about the return of cultural objects here
- And find more about Dan Hicks' book, The Brutish Museums
Speakers in this episode:
- Series host: Lucie Dawkins, Director & Producer, Ashmolean Museum
- Xa Sturgis, Director of the Ashmolean Museum
- Simukai Chigudu, Professor of African Politics, University of Oxford and founding member of Rhodes Must Fall
- Dan Hicks, Professor of Contemporary Archaeology, Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford
- Victor Ehikhamenor, artist
- Adenike Cosgrove, collector and historian of African Art Historian
- Professor Bénédicte Savoy, art historian and co-author of the report, The Restitution of African Cultural Heritage commissioned by President Emmanuel Macron
About the Fingerprints podcast
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 alongside artists, experts, and community members, for our new podcast: Fingerprints.
Fingerprints will be released on the Ashmolean’s website, on Spotify, Apple, and wherever you get your podcasts, weekly from 21 January 2022 until 25 February 2022.
Fingerprints is produced and hosted by Lucie Dawkins. Guests include Bénédicte Savoy, co-author of the Report on African Cultural Heritage, commissioned by Emmanuel Macron; Professor Dan Hicks, of Oxford’s Pitt Rivers Museum; and Simukai Chigudu, one of the founding members of the Rhodes Must Fall campaign.
www.ashmolean.org/fingerprints
Fingerprints Episode 1Join the Ashmolean Museum’s director, Xa Sturgis, as he questions what a museum is for. He introduces us to Powhatan’s Mantle, one of the museum’s founding objects, and one inextricably linked with British colonial history. From there, he traces the Ashmolean’s story to the present day, as special guests explore how we can transform an uncomfortable past into a more positive future. Find a transcript of this episode here
Read more
- See Powhatan’s Mantle here
- Find out more about Oxford University’s procedures about the return of cultural objects here
Speakers in this episode:
- Series host: Lucie Dawkins, Director & Producer, Ashmolean Museum
- Xa Sturgis, Director of the Ashmolean Museum
- Sumaya Kassim, writer, curator and museum-sceptic
- Reyahn King, CEO of York Museums Trust
- Dr Laura van Broekhoven, Director of the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford
- Mustafa Barcho, Oxford-Middle East Community Ambassador, Ashmolean Museum
- Marenka Thompson-Odlum, Researcher, Pitt Rivers
- Nicola Bird, Community Engagement Officer, Oxford's Gardens, Libraries and Museums
About the Fingerprints podcast
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 alongside artists, experts, and community members, for our new podcast: Fingerprints.
Fingerprints will be released on the Ashmolean’s website, on Spotify, Apple, and wherever you get your podcasts, weekly from 21 January 2022 until 25 February 2022.
Fingerprints is produced and hosted by Lucie Dawkins. Guests include Bénédicte Savoy, co-author of the Report on African Cultural Heritage, commissioned by Emmanuel Macron; Professor Dan Hicks, of Oxford’s Pitt Rivers Museum; and Simukai Chigudu, one of the founding members of the Rhodes Must Fall campaign.
www.ashmolean.org/fingerprints
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 alongside artists, experts, and community members, for our new podcast: Fingerprints.
Fingerprints will be released on the Ashmolean’s website, on Spotify, Apple, and wherever you get your podcasts, weekly from 21 January 2022 until 25 February 2022.
Fingerprints is produced and hosted by Lucie Dawkins. Guests include Bénédicte Savoy, co-author of the Report on African Cultural Heritage, commissioned by Emmanuel Macron; Professor Dan Hicks, of Oxford’s Pitt Rivers Museum; and Simukai Chigudu, one of the founding members of the Rhodes Must Fall campaign.
--- Transcript for this trailer ---
Voice 1: 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 alongside artists, experts, and community members, for our new podcast: Fingerprints.
Voice 2: It was magical to touch the impressions of someone’s hand, who may have made this piece thousands of years ago.
Voice 3: There’s a large gouge from the front of the statue of the pick that the Indian soldier had been using to dig his trench.
Voice 4: Those are signifiers and messages that are embedded, are hidden in them for each generation. So, their importance can never be underestimated even though they have been removed from where they were created.
Voice 5: It’s obvious that it’s the face of the human figure that has been scratched out.
Voice 6: One of the main attractions was the live display of 34 human beings who were transported from India.
Voice 7: So they’d suggests bribing a local Imam to say that the sculptures are against the tenets of Islam.
Voice 8: Although some of these stories can be uncomfortable they’re also vital. They’re stories which connect us to a vast global web of human experiences that allow the objects to speak to us in different ways and with different voices.
Voice 9: Because museums are very political places.
Voice 1: So, watch out for Fingerprints on the Ashmolean’s website, on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts, for weekly releases from the 21st of January.