Tag: The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery

Celebrate Diwali at the Potteries Museum

Visit the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery on Saturday, October 18, to celebrate Diwali.

Diwali is the colourful and vibrant Hindu and Sikh Festival of Lights.

Visitors will see different traditional Indian dances performed by professional and semi-professional artists. They will show you Kathak, Bharatanatyam, Kaikottikali, Bhangra and Bollywood dances which come from different parts of India.

There will be stalls in the foyer where you can buy Indian clothes, jewellery and vegetarian street food.

The celebration starts at 11.00am and ends at 5.30pm. Free Admission.

Celebrate Black History Month at the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery

Come to the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery on Saturday, 4 October to celebrate Black History Month.

The event is a creative cultural day that celebrates the art, music and food of people of African or Caribbean descent.

This year, Black History Month’s theme is ‘Standing Firm in Power and Pride’, a tribute to the resilience, strength, and unwavering commitment to progress that define the Black community.

During the day, there will be a wide range of events including craft workshops, dancing, music and singing, Ghanaian acrobatics, stalls and many more things to enjoy.

 The celebration starts at 11 am and ends at 5 pm. Admission is free.

Visit Stoke-on-Trent during its Centenary Year

A 19th-century kitchen in a typical working-class terraced house in the Potteries.

We strolled through the ‘Street of Life in Stoke’ [at the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery] where we envisaged living in the past and gazed in wonderment at the old chemist’s shop with its small wooden drawers filled with pills and potions. Also on display was an antiquated fish and chip shop range, a cosy potter’s cottage and the interior of a village pub.

Why you should visit Stoke-on-Trent as it celebrates its centenary

The Tragedy of Lidice – A talk at the Potteries Museum

In June 1942, the small Czech village of Lidice, 12 miles from Prague, was destroyed. Its inhabitants were murdered or deported, and the village was wiped off the map.

The atrocity was a reprisal for a top-secret operation code-named “Operation Anthropoid,” to kill Reinhard Heydrich, a high-level Nazi official who planned the Holocaust, which murdered at least 6 million people.

On 9th June, the day of Heydrich’s state funeral in Berlin, Hitler ordered retaliatory measures against the Czech population. That very evening, German police and SS officials surrounded Lidice. Their behaviour was caught on film. The atrocities they committed caused an international outcry that strengthened the resolve of Great Britain and the United States to destroy Nazi Germany.

On Friday, 5 September, Dr Kate Vigurs, a Second World War Historian, will give a talk at the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery telling the story of Lidice from Operation Anthropoid to 2025, revealing its special relationship with Stoke-on-Trent.

Her talk starts at 7.00 pm and ends at 9.00 pm. The bar opens at 6,00 pm. Tickets cost £12.

Telephone 01782 232323 or email museumevents@stoke.gov.uk to book your ticket.

Daydreaming at the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery

Daydreaming is Stoke-on-Trent College’s 2025 end of year art exhibition at the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery. A vibrant mixture of students’ work will take you into a world of surrealism, imagination and different perspectives.

Short films created by students will be shown. A presentation, “The Plastic Ocean”, will raise your awareness of plastic pollution and highlight its impact on marine ecosystems.

The exhibition runs until Sunday, 31st August.

Can You Help Trace a War Hero’s Relatives?

An appeal has been launched to find the relatives of Stoke-on-Trent’s Second World War hero, Lance Sergeant John Baskeyfield.

John, who came from Burslem, was killed during the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944. During the battle, he single-handedly manned two anti-tank guns and refused to leave his post. For his remarkable courage, he was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.

As part of Stoke-on-Trent’s Centenary Celebrations, the city council is planning to commemorate John’s bravery.

Councillor Lyn Sharpe, Lord Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent, said: “Our city is proud of Lance Sergeant John Baskeyfield. His bravery will never be forgotten in Stoke-on-Trent and beyond.

“We hope any relatives can be found so they can be part of the special events we are holding this year in his memory.”

The events in November are expected to include an expanded exhibition in the Spitfire Gallery at the Potteries Museum. Additionally, there will be an act of Remembrance at John’s memorial in Festival Park.

If you are one of John’s relatives or can help trace them, email sot100@stoke.gov.uk

A visit to the Museum and Art Gallery

The Potteries museum and art gallery Stoke

Exploring the pottery industry’s history

Starting on Friday, 2nd February 2024, Miranda Goodby, the former head of ceramics at the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, is running a six-week course exploring the social history of the pottery industry.

The course at Newcastle’s Brampton Museum costs £80. Students will learn about Newcastle’s forgotten pottery industry, the growth of the Staffordshire Potteries in the 18th and 19th centuries, working conditions in the industry and the dramatic changes that took place in the 20th century.

More details can be obtained from the Brampton Museum.