Leeds University Library Galleries

2025 - 2026 - Portals Cataloguing Grants Awarded 2026 Churchill Archives Centre – £49,998 Project: The Personal is Political: the papers of Harriet Harman Churchill Archives Centre holds personal papers which are important...

Also receiving cataloguing grants… Royal Northern College of Music, @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social, @uniofhull.bsky.social, @lulgalleries.bsky.social & Yorkshire Film Archive
Find out more here: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archives-rev... (4/5)

📷️ Zia Siraj, Dervishes, 2011. © the artist. Image credit: The Christie NHS Foundation Trust
📷️ Robert Hawthorn Kitson, Coffee House, Kairouan, nd. LEEUA 2001.070.

Dancers from the members of the Sufi Muslim order sway in movement. They wear boxy white gowns and orange hats. The colours blend into gorgeous purples and oranges.

A watercolour painting of people siting and drinking coffee under illuminated arches.

It's @artukdotorg.social.bsky's #OnlineArtExchange.

This week the theme is #home, and we've picked the Dervishes by Zia Siraj. For some, home is where the body and soul can dance freely, and for others the heart of the home are the people who occupy it.

Whether you are a beginner or an experienced writer, use your time to hone your creative writing skills, chat with fellow writers or simply indulge your creativity in a calm, inspiring atmosphere.

This is a self-led activity. No need to book in advance – just turn up and write! ✍️

Three women in a museum are chatting and looking at objects, one writes on a clipboard.

Drop in and write every Wednesday afternoon with Cultural Collections & Galleries. 📝

✏️ Write on Wednesday
🕰️ Drop-in, 12:30 - 15:30
📍 Treasures of the Brotherton

This week is #WomensHistoryMonth and we have some special prompts to help you reflect on important women in your life. 💜

📷 arpillera work, c.1970-1990. ITC 2016.256

Arpillera work from South America (Chile or Peru), made to be sold commercially to help women support themselves. This brightly coloured banner style embroidery of a mountainous landscape with a river and bridge includes velvet llama and alpaca and attached figures made out of wire apertures. The figures are carrying supplies or spinning distaffs; one is fishing and one playing panpipes. The reverse is lined with white cotton with a pocket attached which holds a written detail in Spanish of the landscape of highland Peru, referencing the rivers and livestock, and the occupations of the people. Stitches include satin, stem and blanket stitch.

Craft and textile has often been a way for women to support themselves independently, whilst also acting as a tool for non-violent resistance and social justice when living under repressive regimes. These textiles are called 'Arpilleras'.

🧩 Play #MuseumJigsaw here: www.jigsawplanet.com/LULGalleries

Graphic of a person presenting to a clapping crowd overlaid on a photograph of a classroom in Helix. The presenter is gesturing to an illustration of a lightbulb. White text in a green box reads "Get your free tickers to the Library Innovation Competition final"

Innovative ideas 💡
Live pitches 💬
Networking 🤝
Refreshments 🥪
Prizes 🏆️

Join us at HELIX next Tuesday evening for the live final of the Library Innovation Competition

RSVP: www.tickettailor.com/events/leeds...

@leedsunilibraries.bsky.social @universityofleeds.bsky.social

📷️ Design for Textile or Wallpaper, Sheila C. Bownas, 1950 - 60. Image credit: Leeds Museums and Galleries @leedsmuseums.bsky.social
📷️ Repeated pattern printed textile, Dr Lin Xun, before 1995. ITC 2012.139

A black and white painting with repeating patterns of black lines, diamonds and squares.

A black and white textile with repeating motifs of what appears to be a paper lantern.

This #OnlineArtExchange is #renewal for @ulstermuseum.org's latest exhibition Ashes to Fashion. 👠 @artdotukorg.bsky.social

Rotating simple shapes can renew endless iterations of unique designs. Take a look at this piece from @leedsmuseums.bsky.social and one from our own textile collection!

Gloves Off: Stories from Cultural Collections & Galleries at the University of Leeds | University of Leeds Cultural Collections & Galleries Documentaries, artist interviews, panel discussions and more from Cultural Collections and Galleries at the University of Leeds.</p>

If you missed out, or want to recap on what was a fantastic and thought-provoking day, be sure to keep an eye on our podcast as recordings of some of the talks will be coming soon!

glovesoffleeds.podbean.com

A person with long black hair wearing a pale green cardigan and holding a yellow book stands in a white-walled gallery looking at colourful paintings on the wall. Behind them is a wall painted yellow, more colourful artworks, and more people.

Today we've been rethinking art exhibition methodologies with the Working Class British Art Network

Curating Class has brought together practitioners from across the sector to examine how working-class art is researched, framed and mediated within institutions.

Library Innovation Competition Are you ready to make a difference at your University Library? Do you have an idea that could enhance the student experience, boost wellbeing or improve our spaces and services?

The live final of the inaugural Library Innovation Competition will take place at Helix on Tuesday 3 March, 5.30pm - 8pm.

Find out more about the competition , and the shortlisted ideas, on the website:
library.leeds.ac.uk/info/99045/i...

@leedsunilibraries.bsky.social

Graphic of a person presenting to a clapping crowd overlaid on a photograph of a classroom in Helix. The presenter is gesturing to an illustration of a lightbulb. White text in a green box reads "Get your free tickers to the Library Innovation Competition final"

A week to go until the live final of the Library Innovation Competition, where the first ever Library Innovation Champion will be crowned 🏆

There’ll be refreshments, opportunities to network, and the chance to support your favourite idea! 💡

Book your free ticket now:
buytickets.at/leedsunivers...

Posters and bookmarks promoting library services on the table

Two staff crafting at the welcome event

Cakes and sweet treats at the event

It was brilliant to meet so many University staff members at our Libraries Welcome Fair this afternoon 👏

The Library offers all staff, students and researchers a range of opportunities.

Learn more on our website: bit.ly/4kPBjEG

A circular coin made of gold with a side portrait of a winged horse figure and small dots embossed on the front.

It's #MuseumJigsaw!

To keep with the theme of Lunar New Year commencing last week, we've found this beautiful gold quarter stater featuring a winged horse 🐎🪽

🧩 Play here! www.jigsawplanet.com/LULGalleries

📷️ Quarter stater. CC.6210

February 2026 e-news from University of Leeds Library Galleries News and upcoming events from The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery, Treasures of the Brotherton, and Leeds University Library Cultural Collections. Image: Scan the World's Jonathan Beck makes a 360° s

Check your inboxes ✉️

Our February e-news has just dropped! All the latest news, exhibitions, and events from Cultural Collections & Galleries - all in one convenient email.

PLUS! We record the whole thing - so you don't even have to read it!

Take a listen! 🎧
soundcloud.com/lulgalleries...

📷️ Archibald Knox, Barton, c.1900-1933. Manx Museum 1958-0084.
📷️ Robert Hawthorn Kitson, English Coast with Rocky Cove, n.d. LEEUA 2001.053.

A bright and light pastel coloured scene of sail boats resting at the edge of the bay. It's cloudy and silhouettes of ship masts lay in the far distance.

A watercolour painting of a rocky coastline and bay meeting the sea edge. The rocks are pale pink and white, fusing into burnt umber and orange as it meets the sea.

Rolling dunes and moon-blanched lands, our little island is home to coasts with both mighty seas and tranquil bays. 🌊 Take a look at our pick for #OnlineArtExchange's Of Land and Sea
@scarbsmuseums.bsky.social @artukdotorg.bsky.social

A notebook open with childlike illustrations of birds in black ink.

A notebook open with childlike illustrations of birds in black ink.

It’s #NationalNestBoxWeek and we’ve found this adorable 'Book of British birds' in the Abercrombie Collection, hand drawn by Ralph Abercrombie, aged 11, in 1894.

Today we’re giving magpie - it’s been one of those days. 🐦‍⬛🤪 Let us know which bird you’re channelling in the comments!🪿

A blue poster with an illustrated fist breaking through a heart. There is an eight-line poem underneath.

As an ode to those celebrating an anti-valentine, reclaiming your peace and saying no to negativity and toxicity. ❤️‍🩹

🧩 Play the #MuseumJigsaw here: www.jigsawplanet.com/LULGalleries

📷️ Battered Wives Valentine postcard, Women's Aid Federation of England, 1980s. MS 2265/4/7/10

Woman in darkened room speaks at lectern. Brightly lit screen image of a Paris manuscript behind

Group of people look at single folio on a table. Manuscript fragment on screen behind

Four people seated at a round dinner table (L-R Melanie Brunner, Kıvılcım Yavuz, Elaine Treharne and Axel Műller)

Elaine and Kıvılcım look at a range of manuscript fragments on a table

Highlights from @etreharne.bsky.social's visit to Leeds this week: a wonderful talk about mortuary rolls and a palaeography workshop for students and alumni, focusing on some of the Ripon Cathedral fragments cared for by @lulgalleries.bsky.social #medieval #manuscripts #fragmentology #palaeography

📷️ Emily S. Ford, Flying Figure (Towards the Dawn), 1889. LEEUA1923.81
📷️ Gwen John, Mère Poussepin Seated at a Table, 1913–1920. Image Credit: National Museum Cardiff

A painting of a naked woman appears to be floating in clouds, with a soft blue fabric draped around her. It is as if she's underwater or flying in the sky.

A painting of a woman in modest clothing and a veil, sat at a wooden table, her hands placed upon a book. A small picture frame is hung above her shoulder on the wall behind.

Strange and subtle is this weeks #OnlineArtExchange inspired by Gwen John: Strange Beauties at the National Museum Cardiff.

Gwen refers to herself as 'a seer of strange beauties,' - we think Gwen would approve that our pick by Emily Ford is just as strange and ethereal✨️

@artukdotorg.bsky.social

A colourful hexagonal block on a golden mirrored floor with golden spheres on threads hanging from the ceiling above it. In the background a person walks in front of a colourful multipaneled painting.

This Thursday

Join us for an in conversation with a panel of artists, curators and academics on the theme of memory in art, with reference to the Turner Prize 2025 and contemporary artistic practice

12 February, 17:30 - 19:30
Online tickets still available
🎟️ library.leeds.ac.uk/events/event...

📷 Yorkshire Pottery, Tea Bowl, 1946. Gift of Frank Geden Foster, 1946. LEEUA 1946.075
📷 Birds and flowers (fol. 104r) from a German Prayer Book, ca. 1500-1520. BC MS 11/31 (featuring our favourite #GrumpyOwl)

Ceramic bowl with a painted floral pattern on the front and inside the rim.

Page from an illuminated medieval manuscript in yellow featuring illustrations of birds, bugs, and flowers around a rectangle of Latin text. In the bottom right corner is an owl with a frown.

We love a #MuseumSuperbowl *almost* as much as we love a #MuseumSuperbOwl 🥣 🦉

So we're giving you both - and we've turned them into #MuseumJigsaws 🧩

Touchdown.
www.jigsawplanet.com/LULGalleries

@barnsleymuseums.bsky.social

A group of people sat around tables in front of an audience. One of them holds a microphone. Behind them is a projector screen.

We invite our panellists to consider the Turner Prize 2025 artworks as objects of memory that 'reveal' themselves through complex societal and institutional structures.

We ask, can artists be seen and understood, via their work, as sharing and revealing memories, whether individual or collective?

In Conversation: ‘Cultures of Memory’ – A Response to Turner Prize 2025 The theme of memory in art is explored by a panel of artists, curators and academics, with reference to the Turner Prize 2025 and contemporary artistic practice.

Next week we're joined by a panel of artists, curators and academics to discuss the theme of memory in art, curated by Yorkshire Contemporary

In Conversation: ‘Cultures of Memory’ – A Response to Turner Prize 2025 
12 February, 17:30 - 19:30

In person and online
library.leeds.ac.uk/events/event...

Black and white photograph of a person skiing down a snowy mountain with their poles in the air

Black and white photograph of a person on skis walking across snow

We're hitting the slopes for todays #WinterSport #OnlineArtExchange @artukdotorg.bsky.social ⛷️

Here are two glass plate negatives of skiers with two snowy styles

📷 Joseph Hardman, Skiing at Kirkstone, 1963. Lakeland Arts 2002.7.411
📷 Godfrey Bingley, Crossing the Horrebraekene, n.d. MS 1788/54/78