Hevelius Project 2026

The Hevelius Project 2026 takes over the Weston Library on Monday 26 October, a full day dedicated to Johannes Hevelius. He was a 17th-century astronomer and brewer from Gdańsk who built his own instruments and observatory, and drew the first detailed map of the Moon. His 1647 Selenographia is one of the earliest and most important works of lunar cartography, and it's the centrepiece of the day.

There are three things to work your way through. The original 1647 edition of Selenographia is on display in Blackwell Hall (Transept) from 9am to 4pm, so you can see it whenever suits you. From 10.30am to 1.30pm, there are creative workshops for children aged five and up, also in Blackwell Hall. Then, from 2pm to 4pm, the talk 'A Ripple Through Time: Ceramics Then and Now' runs in the Sir Victor Blank Lecture Theatre, with Polish sculptor and potter Alicja Patanowska and Professor Lambros Malafouris of the University of Oxford, moderated by Dr Joanna Bagniewska.

The workshops draw on the pottery tradition of Bolesławiec, a Polish town famous for its hand-stamped blue and white ceramics, and the wider programme links Oxford with its Polish twin city, Wrocław. The project is run by the Oxford Polish Association alongside the Bodleian Libraries, the Polish Cultural Institute in London, the Polish ceramic company Bolesławiec, and the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in London, as part of the IF Oxford Science + Ideas Festival.

Most of the day is free and just drop-in, but the talk does need a ticket, which is pay-what-you-wish. The display runs 9am to 4pm, the workshops 10.30am to 1.30pm, and the talk 2pm to 4pm, all at the Weston Library on Broad Street.