ONLINE: A Queer History of the World through 10 objects in the British Museum

The British Museum, as the museum’s only openly gay director Neil McGregor once said, is a museum of the world, for the world. It is home to around 8 million objects, including some of the most iconic artefacts in the world. On this virtual, online Zoom tour we will be exploring 10 LGBTQ related objects in the museum’s collection that give an overview of queer history. We will look at the objects in depth to understand how LGBTQ lives have been a part of all cultures celebrated in the museum and how their stories have come down through the ages, and what this means for LGBTQ people today.

Join museum educator and LGBTQ historian Jack Shoulder on an hour long Zoom tour as he shares these histories and discusses some of the museum’s most well-known objects with some surprised along the way. We will see:

Hadrian and Antinous: and we will discuss how they have become the poster boys for LGBTQ history

The world-famous Rosetta Stone (the key to deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphics) and its queer connections

An LGBTQ object that’s about 11,000 years old

And a whole lot more!

The history of the world is much queer than you might have thought.

Speaker bio

Jack Shoulder is an LGBTQ Historian, researching at the Goldsmith’s Centre for Queer History, London. Jack is passionate about LGBTQ history and works hard to share these often overlooked and under represented histories at V&A and the British Museum.

Previously, Jack worked at the British Museum as an educator in the Samsung Digital Discover Centre where he designed and delivered learning experiences for families. Jack now works at English Heritage, working at sites all over the country to develop their offer for schools.

FAQs

When will the Zoom invite come?

The Zoom invite will be sent to your email address 24 hrs before the event, followed by subsequent reminder emails that will include the Zoom link. Please check your spam and social folders if you do not see it in your inbox. If you do not receive a Zoom invitation by 1hr before the event please get in contact with us.

What time zone is the event scheduled in?

The event is scheduled for 2pm Eastern Daylight Time (i.e. New York time). You can watch it in any time zone but please adjust to the time zone you are in.

Will the event be recorded and available to view later?

Yes the event will be recorded, please get in touch with us on an individual basis.

Refund policy

Refunds are available up to the start time of the event. After the start time, refunds are only available if you have been unable to access the event.