Tuesday Mornings
10.15am to 12.15pm Community Arts Centre Roaring Meg Stevenage Tuesday 17th September. 10 weeks. Cost £40 Half term 22nd October MUSEUMS OF THE MIDDLE EAST 17th September – 26th November (10 weeks) Speaker: Wafa Tarnowska Our 10 week journey will take us around 10 key museums in the Middle East, some of which display art on loan from Western Museums, but others proudly displaying national treasures or art purchased with oil money, thus starting their cultural journeys from almost a blank slate. Not all countries in the Middle East rely on oil but those who do, are trying to actively broaden their economies away from reliance on it, wanting to attract tourists and educate their own people about art, thus opening a dialogue between Eastern and Western ideas of beauty. What is unique to many of these Museums are their stunning buildings which are works of architectural art in their own right designed by big international names in architecture. This journey will broaden our understanding about art in the Middle East which historically focused on the “decorative arts” rather than on sculptures and paintings. WALKING ACROSS NEPAL -a personal journey through its Culture and History 3rd December Speaker: Henry Edmundson Nepal has existed since the Middle Ages as a fiercely independent and frequently warring nation, only recently becoming the mecca for tourists, climbers and trekkers that we know today. Henry will describe his and his wife’s complete traverse of the country on foot, weaving in the complex story of the nation’s history and culture.” THE CHRISTMAS STORY IN ART 10th December Speaker: Sarah Burles As Christmas cards drop through our letter box, how many of us will stop to think where the imagery of the Annunciation, the Nativity, the Adoration of the Shepherds and the Magi originated and how it has developed, evolved and been expressed by artists over the centuries? The earliest depictions of the Christmas story are found on 4th century Roman sarcophagi. Since then artists have created images that tell the Christmas story in a myriad of different ways. In this lecture, we will be taking a journey, along with the shepherds and magi, in search of the origins and meaning of these familiar scenes. Why do the ox and the ass appear in nativity scenes? Why is Mary so often seen worshipping rather than holding her baby? Whose portraits do we find in the faces of the Magi? These and many other questions will be explored as we follow the star, through some of the most beautiful and striking images in western art, to the manger. |
Thursday Mornings
PLEASE NOTE EARLIER START OF 12TH SEPTEMBER FOR THURSDAYS
PERCEPTIONS OF VENICE 12th and 19th September Speaker: Ros Connelly Ros returns for the last 2 lectures of the course started in the Spring which she was unable to complete due to ill health. PAINTING WITH LIGHT – THE ART OF THE IMPRESSIONISTS 26th September Speaker: Liz Sargeant In 1874 a group of painters in Paris shocked the art world with their radical new approach to painting. A critic, Louis Leroy, mocked this style, describing their paintings as ‘nothing more than an Impression’. Thus Impressionism was born - a much-loved and popular art movement which hardly seems radical today. Join Liz to step back in time to look in detail at their paintings and discover why the Impressionists were considered so outrageous. THE HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE, ART AND DESIGN 3rd October (10 weeks) Speaker: James Willis. From ancient Egypt to the present day come and explore the evolution of architecture as an art form bringing together social history, art and design. Each week we will look at a period or style and find out how it reflected the times and society it came from. Buildings are amongst the most enduring and permanent of art forms that survive over centuries. Designs are influenced by new ideas, new technologies and discoveries. Starchitects are not a modern phenomenon as we will find out. Our journey will take us around the world, across centuries of creativity to include ancient monuments, Islamic design concepts, the Gothic spirituality of light and space, landscape design, a rebirth of ideas and post-modernism. All fully illustrated with architecture, sculpture and paintings. A feast for the eyes! |