Current exhibition: Cursed Objects in Museum Shops
Free exhibition: 2 May - 26 June 2025. Weekdays 10am - 8pm.
Peltz Gallery, 43 Gordon Square, 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.
events
Cursed Objects Podcast Live Show
Join exhibition curators and Cursed Objects podcast hosts Kasia Tee and Dan Hancox, as they take you on a journey through a choice selection of objects from the exhibition.
Thursday 8 May 2025, 7-8pm
Book tickets for Cursed Objects podcast live show.
Curator Tours
Join the curators for a visit to the exhibition.
Friday 30 May 2025, 5-6pm
Tuesday 24 June 2025, 5-6pm
Book tickets for our curator tours.
Millennium Tat: New Labour and the Neoliberal Gift Shop
Join guests artist Darren Cullen and writer Imogen West-Knights as they explore the spirit of the millennium via the museum gift shop. Did grand projects like the Millennium Dome change our relationship with museums?
Wednesday 28 May, 6.30-9pm
Book tickets for Millennium Tat: New Labour and the Neoliberal Gift Shop.
War, Memory and Tat
Join historian Dr Charlotte Lydia Riley, author Luke Turner and curator Kate Clements as they discuss the presence of war in the museum shop.
Wednesday 11 June 2025, 6.30-9pm