On Friday 25th October, the Rumble Museum Student Council took over the Randolph Sculpture Gallery at the Ashmolean Museum to run activities and performances themed on a Pompeian street. The students designed a range of fun street stalls, including the opportunity to make a Roman mosaic of the famous Cave Canem image, jewellery making and artefact handling using objects from the Rumble Museum collection.
Rumble artefacts included a quern stone (used for milling flour at the many Pompeian bakeries), Roman furniture fittings, a dice, mortaria fragments (used in Roman kitchens for grinding herbs) and mosaic tiles. We also brought some pumice stones from Mt Vesuviius.
A trio of Cheney students played music on the lyre, flute and tambourine throughout, creating an atmospheric sound in the gallery. Students also wrote and performed a play of a Pompeian street scene, involving a thief stealing bread from a thermopolium (a Roman snack shop).
We brought our large model of the House of the Tragic Poet, made by model-maker Nicholas Wood for a TV documentary. Visitors enjoyed exploring the house layout, and peering into the highly decorated rooms.
We are very grateful to the Ashmolean for giving us the beautiful Randolph Gallery to run a Pompeian street. The students did a brilliant job of engaging the many visitors who came through.
