Ashmolean Museum unveils 2026 exhibition programme

The Ashmolean has announced a packed 2026 line-up spanning botany, ancient myth, South Asia, modern China and contemporary photography. Two major ticketed exhibitions book-end the year; In Bloom: How Plants Changed Our World in spring and Aphrodite: The Making of a Goddess in autumn, supported by free displays and new commissions in the Ashmolean NOW strand.

The big exhibitions (ticketed)

In Bloom: How Plants Changed Our World

19 Mar – 16 Aug 2026 | The John Sainsbury Exhibition Galleries

A globe-spanning story of beloved plants and flowers, how they crossed oceans, altered landscapes and drove new economies. Expect 100+ works (drawings, paintings, rare prints and ceramics) and the lives of the explorers, gardeners and traders who spread tulips, orchids and other blooms. The exhibition traces the legacies that still shape gardens, allotments and floristry today.

Aphrodite: The Making of a Goddess

8 Oct 2026 – 11 Apr 2027 | The John Sainsbury Exhibition Galleries

From a Bronze Age cult in Cyprus to Roman Venus and the modern imagination, this show follows two millennia of reinvention, culminating in iconic images such as Botticelli’s Venus. Loans include the celebrated ‘Lely Venus’ (Royal Collection), Yves Klein’s Blue Venus, pieces from the Louvre, and early Cypriot objects rarely seen outside the island.

Free exhibitions & displays

Ashmolean NOW: Soma Surovi Jannat: Climate Culture Care

28 Mar – 1 Nov 2026 | Gallery 8

The museum’s first Bangladeshi artist-in-residence presents a UK debut show exploring climate, culture and care. Inspired by the Sundarbans mangrove and the Ashmolean’s collections, the exhibition mixes works on paper, a 30-foot scroll and an ephemeral wall drawing completed in the gallery.

Colonial Views of India: Photographs by Eugene Clutterbuck Impey

11 Apr – 13 Dec 2026 | Gallery 29

A rare look at late-19th-century India through a British colonial officer’s lens. From the Ashmolean’s Eastern Art archives: 25 newly printed works with an original print and album, this display considers photography’s role within colonial governance and ethnography while revealing striking portraits, animals, architecture and landscapes.

Brothers, Sisters, Others: Nationality and Modern Chinese Art

11 Jul 2026 – Mar 2027 (TBC)

How national and ethnic difference has been shown in the People’s Republic of China, from the late 19th to early 21st century. A broad media mix; litho and woodblock prints, oil and ink painting, paper-cuts and books, ranging from propaganda posters to intimate self-portraits.

Ashmolean NOW: Garry Fabian Miller: Between the Moon and the Hawthorn

Nov 2026 – Jun 2027 (TBC) | Gallery 8

The pioneering British photographer (who works without a camera) shows new, intensely coloured light-exposure works in dialogue with pastoral landscapes by Samuel Palmer (1805–81) from the Ashmolean’s holdings, connecting material experiment to visionary Romanticism.

Key dates at a glance

Tickets and on-sale dates to be confirmed by the museum. Free displays are included with general admission.

Plan your visit

• Where: Ashmolean Museum, Beaumont Street, Oxford OX1 2PH
• Booking: check the museum website for tickets, on-sale dates and late openings for the two major shows.
• Families & schools: look out for half-term workshops, trails and teacher resources tied to In Bloom and Aphrodite.
• Access: step-free routes, lifts and accessible toilets available; contact the museum for access support and quiet-hour information.