Six sculptures by Scottish artist Angela Palmer created to mark the 30th anniversary of the Oxford Vaccine Group

The sculptures, woven by expert basket makers and willow weavers Jenny Crisp, Issy Wilkes and Mel Bastier, represent several of the most important vaccines in which the Oxford Vaccine Group (OVG) played a key role, including those for malaria, Ebola, typhoid, pneumonia, meningitis, and the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. The work was commissioned by Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, director of OVG, to mark the anniversary in September 2024.

Each sculpture is made from willow, a tree native to the UK and a material imbued with historical medicinal associations dating back over 3,500 years. To create the pieces, Palmer worked closely with the weavers, who interpreted the forms from scientific drawings, electron microscope images and sketches.

Also on display in the museum is Angela Palmer’s Torus of Time, recently named winner of the ‘Art in Stone’ category at the biennial Natural Stone Awards. The sculpture represents a time period of 3 billion years, featuring rocks collected from across the UK. At the base are the oldest; moving clockwise around the ring, each segment was formed more recently than the last. In this way, we travel through the geological life of the land we now call the United Kingdom. This award-winning sculpture is on display as part of the Breaking Ground exhibition.

Free