Cursed Objects in Museum Shops exhibition
May
2
to 26 Jun

Cursed Objects in Museum Shops exhibition


General admission: 2 May – 26 June 2025. Mon-Fri, 10am - 8pm. Free entry
Location: Peltz Gallery, Birkbeck, University of London. 43-46 Gordon Sq, London WC1H 0PD

Just this once, we’re asking you to enter through the gift shop…

Controversies in museums rarely start with the shop – but the souvenirs sold there can tell us as much as priceless objects in glass display cases. This new exhibition, curated by Kasia Tomasiewicz and Dan Hancox of the Cursed Objects podcast, explores the tat found in museum shops – objects that are ‘cursed’ not by magic spells, but by the sometimes good and occasionally bad cultural meanings that surround them.  

What stories do the pens, bouncy balls, and t-shirts found in museum shops tell us about the world we live in? How would you explain to an international visitor the existence of an imitation hand grenade ‘seed bomb’ for planting flowers, or rubber ducks made to look like Charles Dickens? This exhibition asks you to take museum shops seriously – and will make you see museums in a new, unexpected light.  

Kasia and Dan are available for interviews and related commissions. Contact: cursedobjectspod@gmail.com.

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Live Show #2: Cursed Objects in Museum Shops
May
8

Live Show #2: Cursed Objects in Museum Shops

Back by popular demand, the Cursed Objects podcast hosts its second-ever live show for Birkbeck's Arts Week!

Join hosts Kasia Tee and Dan Hancox, as they take you on a journey through a choice selection of objects from their recently opened exhibition ‘Cursed Objects in Museum Shops’ at the Peltz Gallery. They go through some of the best and worst tat from museum shops that they have curated for you!

The live podcast recording includes the opportunity to visit the installation before, and ask questions about the curatorial process after. Expect discussions of Lancaster Bomber lager, Shipping Forecast fudge, and as ever, how life under late capitalism is producing some highly questionable tat.

When: 8 May 2025, take a look around the Peltz Gallery from 6pm. The podcast live show recording begins promptly from 7pm.
Venue: Room G04, Birkbeck, 43 Gordon Square WC1H 0PD.
Book: Please book your place here.

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War, Memory and Tat
Jun
11

War, Memory and Tat

Join three expert guests – historian Dr Charlotte Lydia Riley, author Luke Turner and curator Kate Clements – as they explore the presence of war in the museum shop. 

This event explores two kinds of tension between the museum and its gift shop. First, how do war museums navigate ‘selling’ histories of death and destruction to their visitors, while maintaining an appropriate tone? What can replica First World War trench whistles and felt Christmas tree decorations of Winston Churchill tell us about the changing relationship between the museum, its shop, and its visitors? Secondly, this event traces what happens when museum shops themselves become sites of conflict – notably in the recent ‘culture wars’ surrounding the National Trust and their ‘vegan’ scone range.

War, Memory and Tat will take place in the ‘Cursed Object in Museum Shops’ exhibition at the Peltz Gallery from 7pm. Visitors are asked to arrive from 6:30, for a prompt 7pm start. The event will be recorded as a podcast ‘live show’ for the Cursed Objects podcast feed, late arrivals may not be admitted.

When: 11th June, 7 - 8:30 pm
Where: Peltz Gallery and Room G04, Birkbeck 43 Gordon Square
Cost: Free! But you must book here.

About the speakers:

Dr Charlotte Lydia Riley is a historian of twentieth-century Britain at the University of Southampton, specialising in questions about empire, politics, culture and identity. She is editor of The Free Speech Wars and author of Imperial Island: A History of Empire in Modern Britain.

Luke Turner is an author and editor. His most recent book Men at War: Loving, fighting, lusting, remembering 1939-1945 explores masculinity and sexuality within the memory of the Second World War. His first book, Out of the Woods, was shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize. Luke co-founded the influential music website The Quietus.

Kate Clements is the author of Total War: A People’s History of the Second World War and The Royal Family in Wartime. She curated the award-winning Second World War Galleries at the Imperial War Museums, and is a former curator of the Churchill War Rooms. Kate is currently Curator of the Tower of London.


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