August 20 – October 30, 2022

Why eastern India's upcycling handicraft, kantha, is now booming globally

Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson star in The Banshees of Inisherin

September 16 – October 21, 2022

September 15 – October 22, 2022

September 13 – October 29, 2022

September 9 – October 29, 2022

From declining ratings to cancellations, are soap operas facing extinction?

What Cézanne reveals about the visual processing of the human mind

September 2 – October 22, 2022

September 18 – October 29, 2022

7 min read

Inclusivity, culture and power

The nightlife of Oxford occupies an important place in the story of the city, and in its historic contribution to the wider world.

Nightlife can embrace or ostracise. Some spaces are widely accessible – open to non-students and actively welcoming to those who identify as LGBTIQA+. Other spaces bar entry in accordance with university tradition.

This accessibility is important, because the international importance of the university gives Oxford’s night-time scene real power. Over time, it has been shown to dictate national politics, shape culture, and embody the systemic social divide in this country. In many ways, traditional systems of power are perpetuated by Oxford’s nightlife.

There is also an important relationship with film and literature. Oxford’s nightlife has been widely portrayed in fictional media, and at the same time venues in the city have played a role in the discussion and production of literary creations.

Cultural contributions

The public houses of Oxford have long contributed to the cultural fabric of the city and the wider world. The most prominent example is the Eagle and Child pub, founded in 1650. In the early to mid-twentieth century this was the place in which J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis first shared the manuscripts of The Lord of The Rings and the Chronicles of Narnia, reading them aloud to a group of writers known as ‘The Inklings’. This group, which included poets Owen Barfield and Charles Williams, was a forum in which the writers discussed their work. They met in the ‘Rabbit Room’ of the Eagle and Child, and in Lewis’s own rooms at Magdalen College.

4 min read

Tracing Oxford’s history in its buildings

During my time in Oxford, I have seen many shops come and go. Nowadays they often leave with little or no sign they ever existed, but back in the day when advertising was hand painted on walls, the new owners often just covered it up. Taking a walk in Oxford and keeping your eyes open, you can still find the fading remains of some of these so-called ghost signs today as they get uncovered. In a broader definition they can also include metal signs or stone engravings. Have you noticed some of the ones below?

1) Curry’s, Cowley Road

Curry’s signage on Stockmore Street / Cowley Road. Photo by Paul Freestone 2020.

On the popular Cowley Road in East Oxford, you can find the traces of a shop that some of you may be very familiar with. Although now selling primarily electronics, then Curry’s were advertising above what is now Atomic Burger with the words “Accessories Curry’s Cycles”. On the side of the building on Stockmore Road the faded writing reads “Toys & Baby Carriages Curry’s Cycles and Radio”. The advertisement was likely put up sometime between 1934 and 1948.

2) Lumley’s Grocery, Walton Street

Lumley’s corner shop. Photo by Isisbridge 2013, album “ghost signs etc”.

In Jericho two special signs are displayed above the Oxford Wine Café at 127 Walton Street: they are ghost signs covered up by ghost signs. The sign at the top reads “The finest Turkey coffee ¼ [meaning: one shilling and fourpence] in one pound canisters”. However, if you look very closely, you can make out another advertisement beneath the visible one. It says “G. Lumleys Grocery Provision Warehouse”. The previous corner shop also encouraged passers-by to “try Geo Lumleys 2/6 [meaning: two shillings and sixpence] tea” on the lower of the two signs. Again, a previous advertisement can be made out beneath this sign proclaiming “[illegible] Bacon, Crosse & Blackwell’s Pickles”. George Lumley was a grocer there until 1888.

The strange magic of Britain's master storyteller

My Policeman is quiet and understated – and 'the opposite of explosive'

From Alien to Triangle of Sadness, the power of the gross-out scene

Why the Victorian language of floriography is now back as a way to communicate

How 140 blocks of wood summon up a forgotten history

September 17 – October 15, 2022

September 3 – October 8, 2022