Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities

05/06/2026

05/06/2026

5 Minutes With… Anna Clyne and Jody Elff

We caught up with composer Anna Clyne and sound artist Jody Elff during their residency in Oxford, where they had been working with students from Oxford University's Faculty of Music on Looking Glass, which premieres in the Sohmen Concert Hall on 24 June.

Inspired by the magic of Lewis Carroll, who used the looking glass as a metaphor for entering a surreal world, Looking Glass is a soundscape that is both mysterious and playful, classical and contemporary. 💫

In conversation, they reflect on the spark behind the project, their collaborative approach, and how they're exploring new sonic possibilities in Looking Glass.

Anna Clyne: Looking Glass
📆 19:30, 24 June
📍 Sohmen Concert Hall
🎟️ Tickets on sale now: https://www.schwarzmancentre.ox.ac.uk/whats-on/anna-clyne-looking-glass-r57m
Anna Clyne
Faculty of Music, University of Oxford

05/06/2026

"I really enjoy listening to music like this... it's a totally different experience." — Kjartan Sveinsson, Sigur Rós

Hear from Kjartan Sveinsson and David Sheppard of Loss﹥﹤Gain as they discuss ÁRA, the new immersive listening experience coming to the Schwarzman Centre this summer.

ÁRA invites audiences to experience the music in a new way — surrounded by its textures, details and emotional landscapes.

Developed with Sigur Rós in collaboration with spatial audio specialists Loss﹥﹤Gain (David Sheppard and John Best), the ÁRA multisensory experience is completed by subtle lighting design from Matt Daw, and ambient scents from Jónsi’s family perfume brand Fischersund, deepening the listening journey and drawing you further into the music.

Watch the full conversation on the Schwarzman Centre Digital Guide.

Sigur Rós: Ára
📅 26 June – 19 July 2026
📍 Black Box, Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities
🎟️ Tickets on sale now: https://www.schwarzmancentre.ox.ac.uk/whats-on/sigur-ros-ara-8jzs

Image credit: Garry Fabian Miller. Year One, Samonios 3, 2005.

04/06/2026

🌈 Taylor Mac, Matt Ray and Machine Dazzle's electrifying collision of music and drag spectacle, Bark of Millions in Concert, explodes onto the Schwarzman Centre stage this June! ✨

Celebrate the power of individuality and human connection, as 16 international artists, including Le Gateau Chocolat and Mama Alto, perform a collection of original songs, each inspired by a different q***r person from history - including one specially commissioned by the Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities, Oxford and Schwarzman Center, Yale University.

Bark of Millions is a provocative, transformative experience, with the fierce elation of a Pride parade - in Oxford for two nights only on 12 & 13 June.

Join the party: https://www.schwarzmancentre.ox.ac.uk/whats-on/taylor-mac-and-matt-ray-s-bark-of-millions-in-concert-fmq7

03/06/2026

Performances this weekend ✨

As part of our Past, Present, Future Weekender we are excited to be welcoming leading creatives at the end of each day, bringing new voices and stories to our stage.

Inua Ellams: Rooted in the Past
The award-winning artist hosts an evening of spoken word and poetry featuring bold new voices
📅Fri 5 June, 7pm

Fuel Presents: Beauty is the Beast
A rehearsed reading of Racheal Ofori’s brand new satire, followed by a Q&A
📅Sat 6 June, 5pm
Fuel

Pegasus Young Company: Future Continuous
A work in development that looks to the future with inspiration from 18th century revolutionary writers
📅Sun 7 June, 4.30pm
Pegasus Theatre

🎟️Tickets from £5 for Students and U25s. Book now: https://www.schwarzmancentre.ox.ac.uk/theme/past-present-future-weekender-sb2l

03/06/2026

Shakespeare. Stage. Screen. What's next?

The third event in our Schwarzman Centre Conversations series brings together leading acclaimed actor Toby Jones (Detectorists, Mr Bates vs the Post Office), Olivier Award-winning actor and Artistic Director at the Globe Michelle Terry, playwright Amy Ng (Shanghai Dolls, Kiln Theatre; Miss Julie, Storyhouse Chester) and University of Oxford English Professor Emma Smith, to explore how classical theatre continues to evolve across both theatre and screen.

From Shakespeare to screen adaptations, the panel will discuss how performers, directors and writers balance tradition with innovation, why these plays continue to resonate, and how each generation finds new meaning within them.

Schwarzman Centre Conversations with Samira Ahmed - Stage and Screen: Reimagining the Classics

📆 19:30, 17 June
📍 Theatre
🎟️ Book now: https://www.schwarzmancentre.ox.ac.uk/whats-on/schwarzman-centre-conversations-with-samira-ahmed-stage-and-screen-reimagining-the-classics-sg52

English Faculty, University of Oxford

02/06/2026

There’s still time to experience Refik Anadol: Archive Dreaming this week 💫

Drawing on centuries of Oxford Herbaria data, this immersive installation transforms a vast botanical archive into something living and evolving - using AI, botanical records are reimagined.

Presented in the Schwarzman Centre’s White Box — the first exhibition to be staged in this new space — Archive Dreaming explores how technology can reveal new ways of seeing, understanding and experiencing the natural world.

Have you visited yet? Let us know in the comments.🌿

Refik Anadol: Archive Dreaming
📍 White Box, Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities
📆 Open daily until 6 June, 10:00–17:00. Free to attend, no booking required.

Refik Anadol Studio
📸 Oxford Atelier

28/05/2026

Now screening at the Schwarzman Centre Cinema 🎞️

Black Horror in America: Fear on Film explores the ways filmmakers use horror, satire and suspense to examine racism, identity and power in America.

29 May — Candyman Double Feature
30 May — Sorry to Bother You
31 May — Get Out

On 31 May, join us for a pre-screening podcast and discussion about Get Out with Mike Muncer and Becky Darke of The Evolution of Horror and Leila Latif, cultural critic and film journalist, and host of Truth & Movies: A Little White Lies podcast. This event is complimentary for ticket holders for the Get Out film screening.

🎟️ Tickets available now: https://f.mtr.cool/jlkahdzots
Student and U25s discounts available.

Presented in partnership with Ultimate Picture Palace and curated by Dr Christy Wensley (Faculty of English).

English Faculty, University of Oxford
The Ultimate Picture Palace (UPP)

28/05/2026

What does creativity mean in the age of AI - and what remains uniquely human?

This evening, journalist and broadcaster Samira Ahmed hosts the second event in our Schwarzman Centre Conversations series, exploring how arts and culture are responding to urgent global challenges — this time turning to artificial intelligence and creative practice.

As generative tools and machine learning reshape the boundaries of authorship and imagination, how are artists redefining what it means to create? What remains uniquely human?

Joining Samira are internationally renowned media artist Refik Anadol, composer and artist Holly Herndon, Professor Raphaël Millière (Institute for Ethics in AI) and Dr Kathryn Eccles (Oxford Internet Institute).

Together, they’ll explore how artists are working with AI, and the wider questions these technologies raise around creativity, ethics and ownership.

🎟️ Last tickets remaining: https://f.mtr.cool/hjqxunjumq

Refik Anadol Studio
Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford

27/05/2026

Changing light above The Great Hall ✨

From coffee breaks to study sessions, performances to quiet moments, the Great Hall at the Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities is open to everyone.

Did you see your favourite spot? 📍

Featuring Es Devlin and Nico Muhly’s 360 Vessels: A Choral Installation, part of our Open House celebrations.
📸 Oxford Atelier