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Ashmolean Museum Tour - by Uncomfortable Oxford™ | 1 hour 15 minutes

6 Reviews | Oxford
From $22.39 per person Lowest Price Guarantee
Select Date and Travelers
You can select up to 12 travelers in total.
Senior (65-110) Minimum: 0, Maximum: 12
0
Adult (18-64) Minimum: 1, Maximum: 12
2
Youth (8-17) Minimum: 0, Maximum: 12
0
Free Cancellation For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Private tour - up to 6 people
2 Adults x $166.95
$333.90
Approx Total
$333.90
Private Tour

Inclusions / Exclusions

  • Mobile ticket
  • Offered in: English
  • Uncomfortable Oxford™ Trained Guide

Overview

Explore the ‘uncomfortable’ side of the Ashmolean Museum. This tour highlights the contentious histories within museum spaces, bringing forward discussions about colonial origins, object transferal networks, and requests for repatriation. It encourages critical thinking and engagement with the Ashmolean Museum, its collections, and its displays. Delving into the intricate layers of history behind the exhibits, this tour will provide insight into the imperial connections that led to the development of the first public museum in England. Through the questioning of labels, displays, and exhibits, this tour asks participants: What is the purpose of a museum? All our tours are led by university researchers who have completed our official Uncomfortable Oxford training programme. Our guides combine expert knowledge and performance, ensuring each tour is a fun and educational experience. The tour has been developed in collaboration with the Ashmolean Museum staff and curators.

Itinerary

  • Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology

    Take a full guided tour of the Ashmolean Museum with one of our Uncomfortable Oxford™ trained guides. Meet at the Statue Gallery, near the Main Entrance.

    5 minutes

  • Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology

    We begin our tour in the Ashmoelan Story Gallery, discussing the historical origins of the museum and the legacies of early colonial collecting practices.

    10 minutes

  • Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology

    In the Cask Gallery, we raise questions about the focus on Greek and Roman culture, enslavement practices, and esthetics in ancient sculpture.

    15 minutes

  • Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology

    In the Hellenistic World, discuss the ethics of excavations, display, and replicas.

    15 minutes

  • Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology

    Examine and discuss the display on colonialism and repatriation designed by the museum.

    15 minutes

  • Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology

    Finish the tour in the Egyptian Galleries, discussing mummies and human remains as display items.

    15 minutes

Sample Menu

Additional Info

  • Wheelchair accessible
  • Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
  • Service animals allowed
  • Public transportation options are available nearby
  • Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
  • All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible
  • Suitable for all physical fitness levels

Free Cancellation

September 19100% refund
September 20No refund

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

  • For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
  • If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
  • Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
  • Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
  • This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.
Reviews

4.8

6 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews
  • 5 stars
    5
  • 4 stars
    1
  • 3 stars
    0
  • 2 stars
    0
  • 1 star
    0

Reviews by TravelOne travelers

Showing 1-5 of 5 reviews with 5 stars

Highly recomended!

Published on Jan, 2025

This is a really informative, and engaging, tour. It provides critical insights into the origins, curation, and mission of the museum. Our guide, Devika, did a great job of encouraging reflection and discussion. I would highly recommend it to all.

Highly recomended!

Published on Jan, 2025

This is a really informative, and engaging, tour. It provides critical insights into the origins, curation, and mission of the museum. Our guide, Devika, did a great job of encouraging reflection and discussion. I would highly recommend it to all.

Knowledgeable, enthusiastic guide makes this a visit not to be missed.

Published on Oct, 2024

I know the Ashmolean well, but the guide Jonathan really made it come to life and taught me many new things about the exhibits, the curation of the museum and its history. He was incredibly knowledgeable, but more than that, his love of the subject really came through. The tour was more like a conversation where all views were accepted and discussed. I recommend this tour very highly for anybody who wants to think about museums and the provenance of objects in a different way.

Knowledgeable, enthusiastic guide makes this a visit not to be missed.

Published on Oct, 2024

I know the Ashmolean well, but the guide Jonathan really made it come to life and taught me many new things about the exhibits, the curation of the museum and its history. He was incredibly knowledgeable, but more than that, his love of the subject really came through. The tour was more like a conversation where all views were accepted and discussed. I recommend this tour very highly for anybody who wants to think about museums and the provenance of objects in a different way.

This tour makes you look critically at how museums display & label items in their collections & how you feel about that

Published on Jan, 2024

This was the third Uncomfortable Oxford tour I did and it certainly lived up to the other 2! I had been finding myself feeling more conflicted about museums but this tour brought up things I had not considered yet. The tours encourage discussion among participants and this really added to the experience as it was fascinating to see how different people responded to the items we looked at. The tour made me see how much labelling is dedicated to the money - the people who paid for various exhibits are often more prominently labelled than what the item is and where it is from! It was especially interesting to be discussing marble sculptures and casts given the conversation around the Parthenon Marbles was in the news that very week. I will definitely be visiting museums with an even more critical eye in the future. Thanks so much to Charlotte and Georgia for being such great tour guides.

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