EDMUND DE WAAL: FRAGMENTS, MUSIC & POETRY EVENING

PAST EVENT

Wed 4 Jun 2025, 6–8pm

At the Museum

This past event has now taken place.

Presented by the Ashmolean Museum and Cultural Programme at Oxford University

Acclaimed artist Edmund de Waal explores transformation and creation through fragments and brokenness at this unique performative event in the Museum.

Reflecting on pot shards, poetry, and Museum collections, de Waal will reveal the creative potential of the incomplete. With Oxfordshire performers, multilingual soundscapes will bring new life and meaning to the Museum.

Edmund de Waal sitting on a white table piled with books holding a cup of coffee wearing blue shirt and jeans

Portrait of Edmund de Waal by Tom Jamieson

Coloured shards of pottery by Edmund de Waal the ceramicist and author

Edmund de Waal (b. 1964), Collection of Chinese shards (1100–1220) © Edmund de Waal. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Alzbeta Jaresova.

Experience a captivating evening with acclaimed artist Edmund de Waal as he explores the theme of 'Create and Transform' through fragments and brokenness.

Bookended by musical performance, de Waal will deliver an inspiring 40-minute talk, reflecting on the creative power of pot shards, poetry, and the beauty of incompleteness in his work.

He will examine how broken fragments spark transformation, shaping museum spaces and personal meaning. The event concludes with performances that respond to the theme, filling the Ashmolean with soundscapes of creation, transformation, and cultural resonance.

Edmund de Waal is author of the bestselling memoir, 'The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance,' and his most recent book 'Letters to Camondo'.

Edmund de Waal is also Visiting Fellow at Harris Manchester College with the Cultural Programme at Oxford University. Find out more about this.