Hidden Cambridge: Collections & Connections

Cambridge is well known for its ancient university, beautiful colleges and scientific discoveries, but it is also home to museum collections of international significance, many of which are interrelated. Some of these collections have undergone recent transformations, with Kettle’s Yard and the Museum of Zoology reopening in 2018 after major redevelopments, creating new exhibition spaces and redisplaying their fascinating holdings.

On this tour, we will delve beneath the city’s surface on a series of privileged visits to discover the hidden histories of remarkable patrons – from the 7th Viscount Fitzwilliam in the 18th century, to Jim and Helen Ede in the 20th century.

We will enjoy an extended visit to the Fitzwilliam Museum, studying its history and holdings with a special guest talk given by Dr Suzanne Reynolds, Assistant Keeper of Manuscripts and Printed Books, and discovering its varied collections. We will also enjoy a visit to the museum’s current exhibition, ‘Gold of the Great Steppe’, presenting artefacts from the incredible burial mounds of the Saka people of East Kazakhstan. We will also explore the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, the Museum of Zoology and the Parker Library at Corpus Christi College.

A particular highlight of our tour will be the opportunity to see the new exhibition spaces at Kettle’s Yard, as well as a special visit to the house. Here, works by artists such as Joan Miró, Ben and Winifred Nicholson, Christopher Wood and Alfred Wallis are exhibited alongside textiles, natural objects, ceramics, glass and furniture in what has been described as “a masterclass of curatorship”.

Our tour finishes with a special visit to the New Hall Art Collection at Murray Edwards College. Featuring pieces by Barbara Hepworth, Maggi Hambling, Tracey Emin and Eileen Cooper, it forms the largest collection of art by women in Europe. We will finish with tea in the Fellows’ Drawing Room.

We will stay throughout at the four-star Hilton Cambridge City Centre Hotel, conveniently located for our visits.

This tour will be led by Sarah Burles, MA, who studied History of Art at the University of Cambridge, before developing a career in museum and gallery education. This included twelve years at the Fitzwilliam Museum, as well as work in other Cambridge museums. She runs art tours and courses in and around Cambridge, and since the COVID-19 pandemic has moved her work online, offering art history courses to audiences all over the world. Sarah is particularly interested in the history of collections and the collectors whose legacies have shaped the museums we see today.