Academics - The Museum of English Rural Life

Charles Hasler: A Mid-Century Designer and Collector

Charles Hasler (1908 - 1992) was an internationally important typography and graphic designer, whose work included the 'Dig for Victory' and 'Make Do and Mend' campaigns of the Second World War. This exhibition uses materials from the University of Reading Special Collections to celebrate Hasler's career and the wonderful collection he amassed in his life [...]

From Pen to Press

An exhibition featuring highlights from the Special Collections, Archive of British Publishing and Printing to coincide with the Conference for the Society of History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing (SHARP) which will be held at the University of Reading 1-5 July 2024. Image: pen formerly owned by James Joyce dated circa 1935. SSJ-OBJ_002

Fear & Yearning: Meet the Artists event

Silhouette of a horses head against a pink and grey background

Join us for a presentation of short films created by poet Toby Martinez de las Rivas, filmmaker Jane Glennie, and sound artist Neda Milenova Mirova. Together, they question bucolic depictions of rural life, and explore notions of the uncanny, the intangible, and the obscure in relation to landscape, agriculture, and rural social practice. The films […]

James Joyce: a love of language

Stephen Le Heros by James Joyce, open to title page, surrounded by other books from the Solange and Stephen James Joyce Collection.

This display of items from the Solange and Stephen James Joyce Collection uses translations of James Joyce’s work to explore his place as a European and a citizen of the world. The exhibition opens on the European Day of Languages and closes on Joyce’s birthday. The University of Reading has acquired a major collection of [...]

What is Landscape? on Saturday 9th December

A photograph of the a Lake District landscape with green fields and trees in the foreground and fells in the distance

What does landscape mean to you? Many people care deeply about landscape, but why does it matter to us so much? ‘What is Landscape?’ will explore the varied and often highly personal meanings that landscape has for us. There will be short talks by four of the UK’s leading landscape thinkers, followed by an open [...]

Annual FOLAR Symposium: Landscape of Communities

community gardeners laughing and digging in a sunny garden

Photo. Bankside Open Spaces Trust This year’s FOLAR Symposium will be on the subject of the Landscape of Communities. These are seen as amenity landscapes which respond first to the wishes and ways of the local community, whether local residents or workers. Talks include: London Wildlife Trust: community involvement Leah McNally, Director of Learning Youth [...]

A History of English Georgic Writing

A black and white photo by John Tarlton showing a man riding two white heavy horses across a field with a hayrick in the background

This event launches A History of English Georgic Writing (Cambridge University Press, 2022), a historical survey of the literature of rural working lives and landscapes. This important new book argues that the skilled labour of people and animals in farming communities, and the land as it is understood through that work, is one of English [...]

FOLAR SYMPOSIUM 2021

The 1951 Festival of Britain was a national celebration to mark Britian’s achievements and recovery following the Second World War, and was timed to mark the 100th anniversary of the 1851 Great Exhibition. In many ways this was also a coming of age for the British landscape architecture profession. On the 70th anniversary of the […]

WHOSE LANDSCAPES? OPEN SPACES SOCIETY SYMPOSIUM

Black and white lantern slide of people walking on a hill

This half-day online symposium will explore themes and sources from the Open Spaces Society collection at The MERL. The Open Spaces Society (OSS) is Britain’s oldest national conservation body, founded in 1865 as the Commons Preservation Society. Join us online for short talks, discussion, poetry, and artistic responses. There will be a ‘find the location’ […]

AIMA 2021 – PAST AND FUTURE AGRICULTURES

Involved in museums of farming life? Then this event is for you… This international congress brings together agricultural and rural museum and heritage professionals from around the world to explore and share their work. It is a rare opportunity for agricultural museum professionals and others interested in farming heritage to discuss engagement, research, collections practice, […]