Making, Breaking, Sharing: Ritual Practice in Ancient Egypt

Making, Breaking, Sharing: Ritual Practice in Ancient Egypt

£65.00

2nd & 9th May, 12 – 2PM

A two-day pottery workshop exploring ritual practice in ancient Egypt through ceramic making, intentional breakage and communal eating. The workshop is organised in collaboration with Petrie Museum of Egyptian and Sudanese Archaeology – UCL Museums and Cultural Programmes, and will be led by Rochester Square’s Ewelina Bartkowska.

This workshop responds to themes in the Petrie Museum’s display "Broken, Burnt, Buried: Ritual Lives of Objects in Ancient Egypt".

Across ancient Egypt, people broke, buried, and even burned objects - not by accident, but deliberately and with deep meaning. These intentional acts formed important parts of practices thought to protect, heal, and communicate with the divine.

The workshop will take place across two Saturdays 2nd May and 9th May and promote the use of traditional hands-on craft processes to create a contemporary experience parallel to ancient ritual acts: making, breaking, transforming, and sharing.

The workshop will:

Provide insights into ritual practice in ancient Egypt, focusing on food, vessels, offerings, and purposeful breakage.
Teach ceramic-making techniques used in antiquity, including moulding, controlled breakage, slip application, and burnishing.
Lead you in making your own ceramic tool to take away and work with others to create a ceramic vessel.
Experience the performative and social dimensions of intentional breakage.
Explore how fragments (sherds) gain new meanings and uses in ritual contexts.
Take part in a shared meal using vessels collectively created and transformed.

No ceramic making experience is required and materials and tools will be provided.

Audience

This event is suitable for ages 18+.

Access

Access to the venue is step-free with universal toilets available on the same level. Regretfully, the toilets are not suitable for wheelchair users.

Refunds and cancellations

One booking covers the two workshops. Refunds will not be offered if you can only attend one workshop. Workshops cannot be refunded with less than two weeks' notice. Please note that a £10 administration fee will be charged for each cancellation.