19 May 08

Traditional Indian dancers – Waaris Punjab De at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History

The Pitt Rivers and the Oxford University Museum of Natural History held their popular free event In a Different Light while the Museum of the History of Science ran An Evening With Dr Frankenstein.

At the Museum of the History of Science, ‘Victor Frankenstein’ gave demonstrations of how he breathed life in to his famous monster, in the Basement Gallery. From 7 to 11pm visitors of all ages enjoyed monster-themed activities, talks, films and performances.

The highlight was a rare chance to see a leaf from author Mary Shelley’s original manuscript of Frankenstein. The manuscript is so delicate it had only been exhibited once since the Bodelian Library acquired it four years ago.

Exhibited alongside the manuscript was a selection of twentieth century Frankenstein comics, which were auctioned with no reserve price. The comics, ranging from an issue of ‘The Frankenstein Magazine’ from 1951 to a ladybird horror classic adaptation from 1984, were on display at the museum throughout the week and attracted lots of attention.

Laura Ashby of the History of Science Museum said: 'The event went really well, all the talks and events were over-subscribed and all enjoyed themselves. The comic book auction was a big success.'

The Oxford University Museum of Natural History and the Pitt Rivers extended the length of this year’s event to start at 6pm, to ease overcrowding, and attracted more than 2,000 visitors of all ages and from many communities.

The Museum of Natural History was filled with the energetic music of Horns of Plenty, along with traditional folk dances performed by the Albanian group Shpresa. The enchanting sound of the kora (African harp) played by Jali Fily Cissokho and the Eastern European tunes of Kismet could be heard in the Pitt Rivers, further enhancing the experience of exploring the ground floor collections by torchlight.

Other activities included screenings of films from the 1920s and 30s as well an opportunity to have photographs taken in the vintage ‘Hollywood studio’.

Lorna Stevenson, an event organiser for the Museum of Natural History said: 'It was a fantastic evening. We were really pleased to host a variety of music and dance acts and activities. We were delighted that people came and had a great time and saw the collections "in a different light".'