Martina Mrongovius captures urban environments in assembled photomontages she prints into holographic images. Her artworks investigate how perception shapes experience and are often installed in ways that provoke viewers to move. In this lecture Martina will discuss how her artworks were inspired by...

Damien Hirst is the most famous British artist since Henry Moore. Not even Francis Bacon had such a huge international presence. And yet in his home country he is often seen as a practical joker, pulling the wool over the eyes of the public, and not making proper art at all. This lecture aims to dis...

The ancient art of Southeast Asia took Hindu and Buddhist ideas from India and made them into something unique. Each of the major kingdoms of Southeast Asia evolved distinctive styles of temple building, sculpture and relief carving, from the vast cities of Pagan to monumental Angkor. The evolution ...

The Nordic countries played a minor role in the historic development of world glassmaking. It is astonishing that these nations, with some 20 million inhabitants, produced more Post-War glass designers of international consequence than the rest of the Western World combined. The talk examines the fa...

Wine has sustained humanity for almost 10,000 years. While causing wars and riots, it’s also helped broker peace and more commonly served as an aphrodisiac. Wine has been personified in the form of Gods and been a catalyst in civilised entertaining and dining rituals. Bottom’s Up! traces the st...

Japan has an extraordinary appreciation for art – with exhibitions drawing some of the world’s highest visitor numbers. Since the 20th century, government funding for acquisitions has continued to drop making private collections and corporate art museums ever more important. These include the ex...

Explore the origins and development of the nineteenth-century Indian Renaissance in theatre, architecture, literature, poetry and painting. We start with the arts and architecture of the vibrant city of Calcutta, the capital of British India. Then go on to explore the life and work of Calcutta’s m...

The Maharajahs and Maharanis of India were semi-independent rulers, responsible for governing territories outside the direct control of the British Empire; seen by the British public, as powerful symbols of ‘exotic India’. This lecture draws on an extensive collection of portraits and photograph...

Explores the work of an artist whose, inventiveness, and ability to catch the zeitgeist is still admired a century after her bold 'Bizarre' wares were launched in 1927. These Art Deco masterpieces are the products that most vividly signify Clarice Cliff's legacy. Cliff's talents were recognised w...

Portraits provide a fascinating insight into the changing styles of dress over the centuries. Follow the different fashions as revealed in paintings, looking at dress and accessories, and some of the more ridiculous styles of fashion from the 16th century to the 19th century – with a focus on fash...

The legendary Paris circus, from its beginning as the Cirque Fernando in 1875 (it was renamed Cirque Medrano in 1897) until its closure in 1963 was an integral part of Parisian cultural life. It attracted writers, painters and poets who created many works inspired by the Circus. Performers have been...