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On Paradise: Between Hope and Memory. A roundtable discussion

Friday 16 October 2026, 12pm
Pitt Rivers Museum Lecture Theatre (entry via Robinson Close)

Paul Basu (SAME, University of Oxford), Saad Qureshi (artist), Kathryn Murphy and Veronika Poier (University of Oxford)

On Paradise: Between Hope and Memory is a new exhibition at the Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities, featuring the work of Oxford-based artist Saad Qureshi. Qureshi’s works explore humanity’s enduring fascination with paradise – lost, longed for, or yet to come. The exhibition invites audiences to reflect on the personal, cultural and collective visions that sustain hope and inspire action.

As part of the exhibition, scholars across different disciplines were invited to discuss the concept of paradise and utopia in diverse temporal and cultural contexts, and their insights create a conversation with Qureshi’s sculptural mindscapes. In this roundtable discussion, the exhibition’s curator, Paul Basu, discusses On Paradise with the artist, and with two of the participating academics, bringing in Christian and Islamic traditions of paradisal thought, visual culture and material metaphor.

Pitt Rivers Museum Research Seminar in Visual, Material and Museum Anthropology, Michaelmas Term 2026

Fridays, 12pm-1.30pm (Weeks 1-8)

In person at the Pitt Rivers Museum Lecture Theatre (entry via Robinson Close) except for Week 5, which will be online only.

Convened by Professor Elizabeth Hallam and Dr Charlotte Linton.