All Day
Sew What?
We're all starting to ask more questions about fashion. Where do our clothes come from? How environmentally sustainable are they? Should we be making more and buying less? These questions aren't just relevant to modern society. The history of garment making is deeply intertwined with British culture, both rural and urban. In Sew What, we'll […]
Find out more »In Conversation with Bill Hooks
This display in the Digging Deeper gallery at The MERL links to a collaborative recent project between artist Alice Blackstock and designer/maker Philip Crewe that investigated a bladed tool called a billhook. The 2019 collaboration was initiated by a visit to the extensive collections of The MERL and developed into the creation of five object […]
Find out more »Conservation for Wellbeing: Kintsugi Binding
Kintsugi is a traditional and longstanding Japanese method of object repair that visibly accentuates and enhances the damage an item has sustained to create a new, equally beautiful object. These sessions will explore the wellbeing that can come from conservation and participants will have the opportunity to take a book of their choice that is […]
Find out more »Among the Trees
This exhibition in the Staircase Hall, Community Case and MERL galleries explores the complex relationship between humans and trees. Using the MERL and Special Collections it examines treescapes and themes of folklore, myth, craft, outdoor learning, and wellbeing. It has been designed by third year Museum Studies students at the University of Reading in collaboration […]
Find out more »10:30 am
Bookfest: a day of family craft workshops
The MERL and Special Collections have a huge selection of books, archives and art works that are all created from naturally occurring or recycled materials. These include paper, parchment and plant dyes and colours. Over time, people reused library and archive components to create new objects, and these may still be seen in the books […]
Find out more »