First Years’ Family Lunch

A special Lunch in College for first-year students and their parents/guardians (or other guests of choice). Invitations have been sent to all first-year undergraduates. Please contact the Alumni Office if you have any questions: alumni.office@magd.ox.ac.uk

The Programme

11.30am-12pm: An opportunity to view the Old Library exhibition ‘In His own image? An exhibition exploring our connection to copies: what is the “real thing”, where do you find it, and why do you want to?’ curated by Dr Alexy Karenowska. More details below.
12pm-12.30pm: Reception in the OKB
12.30pm: Lunch in Hall
After lunch (approx. 1.30-3pm): An opportunity to view the Old Library exhibition ‘In His own image? An exhibition exploring our connection to copies: what is the “real thing”, where do you find it, and why do you want to?’ curated by Dr Alexy Karenowska. More details below.
6pm (optional): All are welcome to stay for Choral Evensong sung by the Consort of Voices

The Old Library exhibition

‘In His own image? An exhibition exploring our connection to copies: what is the “real thing”, where do you find it, and why do you want to?’ curated by Dr Alexy Karenowska.

This exhibition looks at our relationship to copies, reproduction, and recreation. From the idea that ‘God created man in His own image’ in Genesis 1:27, to Eugenio de Zuccaro’s invention of the Papyograph in 1874 humans are copy-obsessed. Whether it’s art in the age of reproduction, tiktok trends and memes replicating themselves ad infinitum, the copy seems to bring with it a sense of safety and group endorsement, and also a suggestion of a ‘real thing’ somewhere in the history of the object itself. 

 The exhibition will include highlights of a full-size replica of the Selene Horse from London’s Freud Museum, a 15th-century illuminated manuscript, a first edition of Copernicus’s theories on astronomy, a fake Oscar Wilde play written by a Burmese princess, and a genuine autograph by Lewis Carroll. As you examine each object in the exhibition, think about what message it communicates, and how the act of copying amplifies, mutes or transforms it.