Tomorrow's Oxford Heads appear on Broad Street
New sculpted heads recently appeared outside the Museum of the History of Science – the result of the ‘Tomorrow’s Oxford Heads’ project, a temporary art installation taking place between 17 June and 21 July
The installation comprises two plaster heads on plinths at the entrance of the History of Science Museum, as well as a large pink head on the cobbles east of the museum’s entrance.
Michael Gray, Acting Head of Conservation & Buildings, was closely involved with the project, and the DLO Joiners helped build the bases on which the plaster heads sit and then helped install them. Security Services also played a role, helping the organisers carry out a risk assessment before going ahead with the plan.
Created with the support of the Vice-Chancellor’s Diversity Fund, the project aims to stimulate dialogue about how the University can make public sculpture in the city more diverse and more representative of the city’s people, supplementing the all-male line-up of stone heads that currently sits outside the Sheldonian theatre with women and members of other under-represented groups.
The installation, the result of a competition to choose an artist, complements the current display in the Weston Library on the ‘History and Mysteries of Oxford’s Broad Street Heads’ which focuses on the past and present state, meaning and importance of the large sculptures outside the Sheldonian Theatre and History of Science Museum.
