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Museum Shop Sunday

Christmas cards and products on display in the MERL gift shop

Do this year's Christmas shopping in style on Museums Shop Sunday, an international day dedicated to the joy of visiting museum gift shops. Plus, buy your gifts knowing that every single purchase supports our work in creating museum experiences and opportunities for people across Reading.

Magical Lights

star shaped lights on a green hedge background

Wrap up the year with an evening of lights and lanterns in the museum garden. Choose from two versions: the main event (6pm to 7:30pm), or an earlier session with sensory provisions for neurodivergent visitors and their loved ones (4:30pm to 5:45pm). Magical Lights 6pm - 7:30pm Celebrate the end of the year with crafts, [...]

Closer Look: Conversations with a Curator

Join museum and gallery experts, including curators, conservators, and scholars, for a free, online deep dive into a selection of objects in the University of Reading’s Art Collection. In each talk, we will take a closer look at a specific work of art and hear new insights and untold stories from our specialist speakers. You’ll […]

Eco-Monsters

Creative workshops uncovering the spooky side of nature

Our Green Stories Gallery Tours – September

Curator of MERL Collections, Dr Ollie Douglas, will be joined by a different specialist for each of these tours. Together they will take visitors on a short conversational trip through the galleries, exploring our collections, and sharing Green Stories about environment, climate action, social justice, and the life and future of the planet. Each tour will […]

Our Green Stories Gallery Tours – July

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

Miller’s Ark, My Way at The MERL

A mother goat snuggling with her baby in the MERL garden

Bring a picnic, meet the Miller’s Ark farm animals and enjoy other activities in the MERL garden. This event will be a relaxed session with additional sensory provision, geared towards neurodivergent visitors and their families. Please only book this session if you feel it is appropriate to do so. Limited spaces: Booking required £2 per […]

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 […]

Panel event: Envisioning the future? – POSTPONED

During Reading Climate Festival, adults and young people aged 14+ can join us for these events which explore the potential of agroforestry (farming and forestry) to mitigate climate change and enhance biodiversity with Dr. Jen Clarke (anthropologist, artist and educator, leading the arts research on a multi-disciplinary project about Agroforestry in the UK.) This Panel […]