Pop-up exhibitions at the Folger

Starting in 2017, the Folger has hosted several staff-curated "pop-up" exhibitions, both as stand-alone displays and in support of public programs and events with Folger Education, Folger Public Programs, Folger Institute, and other organizations. These are temporary exhibits which feature approximately 15 items from the Folger collection on display for only a few hours. Pop-up exhibitions allow us to display some of our lesser-known or -circulated items, and also give staff outside of the Exhibitions department a glimpse at what curating an exhibit is like.

Exhibitions have taken place in our Reading Rooms, the Founders' Room, the Board Room, and the Deck B Seminar Room. Click through for a description of each pop-up, a list of items displayed, and the labels used.

Past exhibitions

2019

• Written by a Lady (November 14). Curated by Folger Public Programs.
• I Put a Spell on You: Poetry, Witches, and Witchcraft (October 30). Curated by Teri Cross-Davis and Beth DeBold.
• Music for Machiavelli (September 25). Curated by Greg Prickman.
• Shakespeare’s Westeros: Literary and Historical Inspirations for Game of Thrones (May 23, 2019 11am-2pm). Curated by Kate Long.
• Small Latin and less Greek: A WhanThatAprilleDay pop-up exhibit (April 2). Curated by Sara Butterfass Schliep.
• Tastes of the Mediterranean (March 31). Curated by Elisa Tersigni.
• "A scribbled form drawn with a pen upon a parchment": Shakespearean cartoons and caricatures (March 18). Curated by Sarah Hovde.
• Shakespeare, Past and President: A Presidents' Day Pop-up (February 19). Curated by Rachel B. Dankert.
• Off With His Head: the 370th Anniversary of the Execution of Charles I (January 29 and 31). Curated by Beth DeBold.
• A New Year's Gift: Pop-Up Exhibition (January 16). Curated by Beth DeBold.

2018

• Muggle Books of Magic and Wizardry: From Hogwarts to the Folger (October 31). Curated by Meghan Carafano.
• Spotlight on the Art Collections: Watercolors (September 28). Curated by Kristen Sieck.
• Golden Century: Spanish Books at Folger (May 25). Curated by Andrès Álvarez-Dávila.
• English Civil War Broadsides: Nadia Sophie Seiler Resident Pop Up (June 29). Curated by Brittney Washington.
• Summer Vibes (July 27). Curated by Rachel B. Dankert.
• Pi(e) Day pop-up exhibition 2018 (March 14). Curated by Emily Wahl, Beth DeBold, and Sarah Powell.

2017

• Feast of Feasts: Celebrations in the Folger Collection (December 18). Curated by Dumbarton Oaks Fellows Andrès Álvarez-Dávila and Abby Westover.
• "The Word they still shall let remain": a Reformation pop-up exhibit (November 15). Curated by Rachel B. Dankert and Emily Wahl.
• The Discouerie of Witchcraft in the Vaults (October 31). Curated by Sarah Hovde and Anna Loewenthal.
• Black Monday: Eclipses in the Folger Collection (August 21). Curated by Beth DeBold.

See also

• Material Witness, the “source talk” program organized by the Folger Institute featuring "an hour of open discussion and study" of a small group of items curated by a scholar.