Join historian Lesley Newnham as she discusses Burmantofts Pottery, the Leeds Victorian ceramics company which rivalled Doulton and Minton.
Burmantofts Pottery employed some of the leading sculptural and architectural names of the age and invented many new techniques and remains collectable today.
The talk will be accompanied by archives from Burmantofts along side ceramics form the collection held at the Discovery Centre.
On 23 September 2025, a milestone of sculpture scholarship will be reached by the publication of a catalogue of 1,800 works of European Sculpture in the Royal Collection.
To mark the appearance of this major new work in four volumes, the author Jonathan Marsden (former Director of the Royal Collection) will speak about the Collection with John Chu, Senior Curator of Pictures and Sculpture for the National Trust.
This splendid mosque, built in 2018, with one of the largest chandeliers in Leeds, invites you to discover the architecture and the faith, customs and culture of Islam. Timed to allow a follow on visit to the nearby GNNSJ Gurudwara (Sikh).
The tour will explain the history of this impressive mosque, the high quality of the building materials used, the symbolism on the bronze doors and throughout the building. There are five floors used for prayers which can accommodate 1000 people each Friday. The main floor has the aforementioned chandelier.
Great Scott!!! We’re channelling 1.21 GigaWatts of electricity, going where we don’t need roads, and marking Back To The Future day!
A trio of talks linked to your top time-travelling trilogy, including:
Kristin Lohwasser: 1.21 Gigawatts of electricity?! Dispatches from the High-Energy Frontier
Ben Evans: We don’t need roads! Fast cars, planes, evolution and artificial intelligence.
Robbie McAllister: It Runs on Steam! Steampunk goes to the Movies
As has become tradition, we will be closing the exhibition with the Lunchtime Conversation. An opportunity for a home-cooked meal around the kitchen table here at BasementHQ and lively chat with the artist and other guests before a guided tour of the exhibition.
The world can be a mundane and underwhelming place, @Pheemakesthings stand out. The monotony of the working week and the things we see so often that we stop noticing them are undone in the hyper-realistic work of Phee Jeffries.
Workshop: 10:00am – 11:30am
Networking Session: 11:30am – 12:30pm
John R. Ellis has lived in Yorkshire for most of his life and has spent many years exploring Yorkshire's diverse landscapes, history, language and communities.
After a career in teaching, he turned to writing and started his bestselling Yorkshire Murder Mystery series, as well as writing poetry and ghost stories amongst other things.
If you pop along to the Courthouse on a Monday morning though, you can spot him behind the counter of the Cafe - he has been a volunteer at the Courthouse for more than 10 years!
Transform 25 is a festival of powerful international performance, happening right here in Leeds from 21-25 October 2025.
Over 5 days this autumn, Transform 25 creates a meeting point for the bold, the electrifying, the reflective and hopeful. Join artists from across the globe to explore urgent perspectives and look to the future. Expect vivid, visceral theatre, dance, performance and intimate experiences across iconic venues and unusual spaces.
Dust off your wildest Hawaiian shirt, grab a deckchair, and soak up the summer’s most skin-tingling experience
After five consecutive sell-outs, Thackray Lates are back! And for one night only, we’re peeling back the science behind the body’s largest organ: skin.
Expect myth-busting talks, craft workshops, and pop-up performances, both inside and outside the museum. From tattooing to tanning, skincare to scar tissue – you’d be a flake to miss it.
The café will serve hot food, snacks and soft drinks, with a pop-up bar by Kirkstall Brewery serving drinks.
Discover more about the rich history and diversity of batik in Indonesia with our exhibition curators.
For Indonesians, batik is more than just a cultural product. It is a storytelling art deeply woven into the nation’s identity. Let us share some of these stories with you, surrounded by examples of the craft.