What’s On Events Calendar

Enjoy our new special exhibition exploring the rich prehistoric and Roman archaeology of Durham.

• Exhibitions
• Everyone

Meet Cuthbert Tunstall: bishop, scholar, diplomat, builder, and author of England’s first maths book, celebrating its 500th anniversary this year. He might just be the most important man in Tudor England that you’ve never heard of.

• Exhibitions
• Everyone

The ancient Egyptian king Amunhotep III was the grandfather of the famous boy king Tutankhamun.

• Exhibitions
• Everyone

This exhibition showcases the work of the professional artists and craftswomen who do so much to preserve and transfer traditional knowledge and skills, adapting them for new audiences and popularising Central Asian folk art. Alongside photographs of the women practicing a variety of traditional craft techniques will be examples of their textile work.

• Exhibitions
• Everyone

This exhibition explores how photography turned Tutankhamun into a global sensation. It shows the most famous photographic images in archaeology, from the most famous of archaeological finds: the tomb of Tutankhamun. Marking the 100th anniversary of the tomb’s discovery in November 1922, this exhibition created by Durham University academic, Prof Christina Riggs, examines the striking images created by photographer Harry Burton during the decade-long excavation.

• Exhibitions
• Everyone

An international touring exhibition from the Japan Foundation.

• Public
• Everyone

The exhibition explores the stories connected through objects discovered in the River Wear, evoking the social history of Durham’s past 800 years. It has been co-curated by underwater archaeologist Gary Bankhead and the Museum of Archaeology. It will feature around 200 of the 13,500 artefacts that have been found in the River Wear by Gary since 2008, in a friendly-family display.

• Exhibition
• Everyone

Pick up a spotter sheet from the Visitor Centre and see what you can discover in the garden (subject to availability of leaflets).

• Holiday activities
• Public
• Everyone

Little Dragons, our group for children under 5 and their families, offers in-person sessions at the Oriental Museum. Booking essential.

• Public
• Everyone

Join us on a twilight visit to the Oriental Museum on a Thursday until 7pm.

• Public
• Everyone

Celebrate International Women's Day and find out all about the mighty ancient Egyptian Queen Cleopatra VII and make your own girl power portrait.

• Public
• Everyone

Little Dragons, our group for children under 5 and their families, offers in-person sessions at the Oriental Museum. Booking essential.

• Public
• Everyone

See our lifesize chariot sculpture at the museum then craft your own mini chariot to take home.

• Public
• Everyone

Join us for an afternoon of activities celebrating Bangladeshi independence and Bengali culture. Visitors can get hands on with Bangladeshi objects including a rare replica of the Bangladeshi Constitution.

• Public
• Everyone

Little Dragons, our group for children under 5 and their families, offers in-person sessions at the Oriental Museum. Booking essential.

• Public
• Everyone

Pick up a spotter sheet from the Visitor Centre and see what you can discover in the garden (subject to availability of leaflets).

• Holiday activities
• Public
• Everyone

Friends of the Oriental Museum lecture by Prof Kathryn Stevens, Fellow, Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford

• Lecture
• Friends of the Oriental Museum

We are celebrating all things wild with this national event to imagine a better future for wildlife. Explore the animals hidden in the galleries, write a wild poem and make a colourful tiger hanging decoration.

• Creative
• Holiday activities
• Outreach & community
• Public
• Everyone

Visit our temporary exhibition "Stories from the River: Exploring the history of Durham, the finds of underwater archaeologist Gary Bankhead" today, and meet underwater archaeologist Gary Bankhead.

• Exhibition
• Public
• Everyone

Find out how Easter is celebrated around the world and make a cute bunny to take home.

• Outreach & community
• Everyone