Exclusive visit: Unveil Women’s stories through Chinese ceramics
3 Nov 2025
3.30-4.30pm
Ashmolean Museum
Event in collaboration with the Alliance Francaise d'Oxford and the Asmolean Museum's Jameel Study Centre for Eastern Art.
Step into an intimate, behind-the-scenes experience at the Ashmolean Museum’s Jameel Study Centre for Eastern Art, where Chinese artworks rarely seen by the public come to life. Guided by Dr. Manhua Li, you’ll explore carefully selected ceramics and vases that reveal overlooked stories of women in ancient China. Through delicate images of children, gardens, and domestic life, these works invite reflection on women’s subjectivity and showcase how Chinese philosophy, artistry, and daily life intertwine, offering a fresh perspective on history, subjectivity, and material culture.
Dr Manhua Li is a London-based philosopher, writer, and curator. Trained at the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Paris and Marie Curie Research Fellow (2022–2023), she is now a Lecturer at Royal Holloway, University of London. Her work moves between philosophy, art, and feminist thought, bridging Western and Chinese aesthetics to explore how self-cultivation becomes an art of transformation.
