This year’s April Fakes Day focuses on the fakers, fraudsters and those they fooled. Who are the people who fake? What motivates them? How do they manage to fool?
In collaboration with Professor Patricia Kingori (Oxford Population Health’s Ethox Centre) and The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH), museums and art organisations in Leeds, London and Oxford will spotlight the people who dare to fake and those who have successfully fooled.
Through a series of exciting exhibitions and activities, a diverse array of artifacts and activities will examine the people behind the fakes.
- Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum will host a conversation with John Myatt - described as one of the most prolific art forgers of the 20th Century, discussing why he forged and his views on art experts. (Tuesday 1 April)
- The Ultimate Picture Palace, Oxford, will have a special screening of the Third Man with Q&A and Parasite focusing on the charisma and appeal of fraudsters. (Tuesday 1 April and Tuesday 8 April)
- At the Thackray Museum of Medicine, Leeds, the quacks who shaped medicine will be on display. (Tuesday 1 April)
- In London, the Society of Antiquaries, one of the world’s oldest learned societies, will explore the infamous forgers in the Victorian era. (Friday 4 April)
- At the Story Museum, Oxford, choose a Trickster Portal Pass and discover pranksters and shapeshifters in the Enchanted Library and hear trickster storytelling in the Whispering Wood. (Saturday 5 April and Sunday 6 April)
- At Pitts Rivers Museum, Oxford, a workshop will explore the stories behind the hundreds of copies, casts, replicas and fakes in their collection, prompting questions about the fakers and forgers. (Sunday 6 April)
April Fakes Day serves as an opportunity to engage with the complexities of fakery and its role in shaping our understanding of reality. Visit the TORCH website for full details.