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Woking DFAS Talk Programme for
September to December 2020
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| PLEASE NOTE: From September to
December 2020 our talks will be
online. We will revert to having live
talks as soon as we can in 2021. The
2021 programme can be viewed
here. |
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January
8th 2020 |
Talk:The Magic of
Pantomime
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Ian will examine the history of pantomime... a peculiarly British institution... from its origins in 16th century Italian commedia dell’arte through to the influence of 19th century music hall and on to the family shows that are much loved today.
He will tell us of the origins of some of the stories used in pantomime as well as such traditions as the (female) principal boy and the (male) pantomime dame. The talk is interspersed with personal anecdotes from his experiences of working and appearing professionally in pantomime. |
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LINDA GRAY (Linda starred as Sue
Ellen Ewing in “Dallas”)
Linda aged 74, with a magic wand
playing the Fairy Godmother in a
Pantomime in Wimbledon.ong |
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Speaker:
Ian Gledhill |
Ian has had a very varied
career, from designing
underground railways as an
engineer for London Transport,
to appearing in pantomime with
Julian Clary. In between he has
worked in travel and tourism,
music publishing, television,
and especially the theatre,
where he has been an actor,
director, set designer, stage
manager and opera translator.
His main interests include
architecture, history, transport
and classical music, especially
opera and operetta, and these
are reflected in the wide
ranging list of subjects for his
talks. He began giving
talks in 1997, and now gives
on average around 140 a year. |
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February
12th
2020 |
Talk: Raphael 500th
Anniversary
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Raphael is often referred to as one of the three giants of the High Renaissance in Italy alongside Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci. His career was short-lived as he died tragically young aged 37. Yet in this relatively short space of time Raphael managed to move from humble initial commissions in and around his home town of Urbino to the covetous position of one of the leading artists at the court of Pope Julius II for whom he created some of the most sublime and influential frescoes of the early 16th century.
Sian will explore how Raphael achieved this extraordinary rise in status, tracing the development of early works and influences to the masterpieces created in Rome.
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“THE THREE GRACES”
Painted by
Raphael in 1504 |
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Speaker: Sian Walters |
Sian studied at Cambridge University. She is a speaker at the National Gallery and The Wallace Collection. She taught at Surrey University, specialising in 15th and 16th century Italian painting, Spanish art & architecture, and the relationship between dance and art. Sian also teaches private courses, and organises talks, study days and art holidays abroad.
She has lived in France and Italy, where she worked at the Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice. |
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March
11th 2020 |
Talk: The Field Of Cloth
Of Gold: 6,000 Englishmen In
France For 18 Days - How Did
They Do It?
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Five centuries ago in 1520 the
Kings of England (Henry VIII)
and France (Francis l) arranged
a spectacular meeting lasting 18
days to try to seal a strategic
alliance between the two
countries designed to keep at
bay the Habsburg King, Charles V
and his Holy Roman Empire which
surrounded France on all
landward sides. There was also
the need to resist Ottoman
expansion into continental
Europe. Both Kings were young
and still in their twenties and
so the agenda included jousting,
games and much alcohol. The
event took place near Calais on
English owned land. It is said
that the meeting ended on a
rather sour note when Henry was
beaten by Francis in a wrestling
match.
However our Speaker, Jo Mabbut,
will concentrate on the
logistics of staging this event
so lavish that it emptied the
treasury coffers of both
countries. Included were an
enormous palace and a chapel
with an organ. Gold and silver
cloth, velvet and sables, jewels
and pearls were imported to
‘dress and impress’. The tents
and the costumes used so much
cloth of gold, an expensive
fabric woven with silk and gold
thread, that the site of the
meeting was named after it.
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April
8th 2020 - Rescheduled to
January 2021 due to Covid |
Talk: Coloured Sculpture:
What’s All the Fuss About?
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Throughout most of the nineteenth century, it was considered almost a crime for Sculptors to apply colour to a statue. Such practices, it was thought, defied the dominant aesthetic of neoclassical statuary — the pure, undifferentiated, classical white marble body inherited from ancient Greece. Gradually, through the centuries, the conservative stranglehold loosened and various forms of coloured sculpture began to catch on. Coming to the present day, Tom Flynn has written books about Sean Henry's coloured statues.
Sean (whose Mother, Rosalind Henry, was a Member of TAS Woking,) has won a broad international reputation as one of the most talented British artists of his generation. This talk investigates the fascinating controversy about the use of colour in statues over time and asks what all the fuss was about. |
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Speaker: Tom Flynn |
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Tom is a UK-based art historian,
writer and art consultant. He
holds a BA Honours degree (First
Class) in Art History from the
University of Sussex, a Masters
in Design History from the Royal
College of Art and a doctorate
from the University of Sussex.
His interests include
contemporary art, sculpture
history, museology and the
history of museums, art crime,
issues in cultural heritage and
the historical development and
professional practice of the
European art markets. |
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May
13th 2020 - Rescheduled to March
2021 due to Covid |
Talk: Restoration
Theatre - Rakes, Fops and
Wenches
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The return of Charles II led to
the re-opening of theatres after
the 18 year closure of public
playhouses under the
Commonwealth Government. The new
theatres saw the first actress
on the stage replacing the
cross-dressing males. Great
actors and lively audiences in
Restoration Theatre brought the
morals of the court onto the
stage in its comedies of city
life and an era of great
playwriting was unleashed. |
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NELL GWYNNE
1650-1687 |
KING CHARLES 11
1630-1685 |
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Speaker: Malcolm Jones |
Malcolm studied at University of
London, King’s College London
and RADA. He has worked as an
actor, director and teacher and
backstage at the Royal Opera
House. He was Workshop and
Events Manager at the V&A
Theatre Museum in London for 10
years. Since 2009 he has
talkd on the V&A Short Course
and Year Course Programme on
Theatre and has also worked on
the Art and Expression
Programme. He has taught at Rose
Bruford College, Mountview
Theatre School, The Actors
Centre and RADA.
He has written material for The
National Theatre Education
Department and contributed as a
speaker on theatre to many
television programmes while
working at the Theatre Museum.
He talks for Road Scholar
USA, for Theatre groups visiting
London and he has talkd in
America. |
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June
10th 2020
- Rescheduled to October 2021
due to Covid |
Talk: Clara Rhino
Superstar
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Brought up as a house pet by a
Director of the Dutch East India
Company in India, from a young
age, a rhinoceros called “Clara”
was shipped to Holland in 1741
and spent nearly 20 years
touring Europe as one of the
wonders of the age. She visited
all the major Courts of Europe
including that of King Louis XV
of France. She died in London in
1758. Clara has been recorded in
paintings, prints porcelain,
bronze, clocks and even hair
styles. This talk explores the
charming story of this
magnificent beast, only the
third or fourth rhino to be seen
in Europe, through contemporary
records and works of art. |
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Speaker: Clive Sinclaire-Lockhart |
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Clive studied on the Sotheby's Works of
Art course and has now been working in
the fine art world for 40 years. He is
Managing Director of Woolley and Wallis,
the UK's leading regional auctioneers in
Salisbury and has been a specialist on
the BBC Antiques Roadshow for over 20
years. Has also talkd on cruise ships
as well as for many other groups, and
recently published a major article in
the Journal of the Decorative Arts
Society on Betty Joel. |
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July
2020 |
No Talk (Summer
break)
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August 2020 |
No Talk (Summer
break)
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September
9th
2020 |
Talk: Dickens, Lawrence
of Arabia, and the Cinematic Art
of David Lean
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Cinematic images are modern
art forms. In the ‘golden
age’ of cinema – before the
development of CGI technology –
film-makers had to construct
sets to represent landscapes,
townscapes, and
interiors. Sometimes they
used paintings and photographs,
sometimes they built scale
models, and sometimes they
constructed full-size replicas.
In each case, they created an
art installation that they then
captured in celluloid images.
Drawing on new insights from the
archaeology of
cinema, this talk will
use the films of renowned
British director David Lean to
explore the art of cinema. How
do the ‘artists’
– in this case formed of large
collaborative teams (directors,
screenwriters, production
designers, costume designers,
camera crews, fixers, etc) –
choose locations, construct
sets, dress actors, and, more
generally, ‘imagine’ the world
they seek to represent? How much
is authentic, and how much
preconception and prejudice?
What are the influences on the
way the cinema depicts the
world? |
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Speaker: Dr Neil Faulkner PhD |
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Dr Faulkner last visited us in
2015 when his talk on
Lawrence of Arabia was rated
outstanding. He works as a
speaker, writer, archaeologist,
and broadcaster. |
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October
14th
2020 |
Talk: The Gold Lyre of Ur
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The name of the lyre is derived
from its adornment of an eye
catching gold bull’s head .This
talk is an account of the
construction of a replica of the
Mesopotamian Gold Lyre of Ur
which is the oldest known
stringed instrument dating back
to 2,500 BC. It was made from
authentic materials from the
Middle East: cedar wood,
mother-of-pearl, pink limestone
and lapis lazuli. Of particular
note is the bull’s head on the
front of the instrument which is
covered in gold.
A Power Point illustration with
sound will show all the stages
of the making the lyre as well
as musicians performing with it.
The story of the acquisition of
the materials, and the
construction, is quite dramatic,
and the finished product is
amazing. |
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The reproduction of the GOLDEN
LYRE OF UR |
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Speaker: Jennifer Sturdy |
Jennifer, a teacher of German and
English, first became involved with the
Gold Lyre of Ur Project in 2003,
initially as a researcher and
administrator, but as it progressed, she
also gave talks about how the team had
managed to build such a magnificent
instrument with the help of volunteers
from around the world.
She talks at academic conferences,
universities, churches and schools. She
also became a performer, dressing in
Mesopotamian costume and reciting the
poetry from Sumerian times, such as the
epic of Gilgamesh. |
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November
11th 2020 |
Talk: One Hundred Years
of Deception
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The 1700s was a period where the
people of England seemed to be
especially gullible. They
believed a woman could give
birth to rabbits; that a man
could climb inside a wine bottle
and sing and dance inside it;
and a balloonist could fly in a
Chinese Temple. These and other
hoaxes - which involved the
likes of Jonathan Swift, Samuel
Johnson and the politician
Charles James Fox - were written
about in newspapers and journals
and brilliantly and amusingly
depicted by satirical artists
such as William Hogarth and
James Gillray.
In this entertaining talk Ian
relates and illustrates sundry
hoaxes and deliberate
deceptions; all of which are
memorable not only for the
imaginative nature of the
swindles, but also because of
the differing motives of the
tricksters. |
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“Duke William’s Ghost” by James
Gillray
Ghosts...were the most believed
in of all deceptions |
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Speaker: Ian Keable |
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IIan gained a first class degree
from Oxford University in
Politics, Philosophy and
Economics. He qualified as a
Chartered Accountant and then
became a professional magician.
He is a Member of the Inner
Magic Circle with Gold Star. He
is currently performing a show
about Charles Dickens, who was
an amateur conjurer, called
The Secret World of Charles
Dickens. In 2014 he
published Charles Dickens
Magician: Conjuring in Life,
Letters & Literature.
Recently he presented a paper
Hogarth, Gillray &
Cruikshank and the Bottle
Conjurer Hoax at a
conference at the University of
Brighton. |
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Talk: IO Saturnalia!
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Happy Christmas the Roman Way Early
Christians celebrated Christmas at the
same time as the ancient Romans were
feasting and partying for their pagan
Saturnalia festival. Many of the pagan
habits were therefore absorbed into our
Christmas traditions. Present-giving,
holly and even party-hats all have their
origins in this 2000 year old party.
This talk will revel in artwork that is
ancient and modern as the images and
stories behind our festive season are
unwrapped. |
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“IO” is a greeting pronounced as “YO” |
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Speaker: Gillian Hovell |
Gillian gained a BA (Hons) Latin and
Ancient History from Exeter University
after which she studied archaeology.
Her media experience includes being an
interviewer and presenter for the BBC.
She is also a writer on History and
archaeology. As a Speaker she presents
lively, passionate and engaging talks on
ancient history and archaeology, Her
clients include the British Museum,
Ashmolean Museum Oxford, Classical
Associations, The Arts Society, national
media, universities and schools and
local societies. |
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Prior Year's Talks |
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To see the activities in
previous years, click on the
year;
2024
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2023
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2022
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2021
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2020
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2019 /
2018 /
2017 /
2016 /
2015 /
2014 /
2013 /
2012 /
2011 /
2010 |
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Disclaimer |
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The Arts Society Woking cannot be held responsible for any personal accident, loss, damage or theft of members' personal property. Members are covered against proven liability of third parties. |
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