2023 PROGRAMME

Our Talks are held in the Fittleworth Village Hall at 2:00pm on the 1st Tuesday of each month. Visitors are welcome to join our Talks at a price of £7 each visit.

5 SEPTEMBER
THE COLOUR BLUE: FROM PARADISE TO POISON
PRESENTED BY HILARY GUISE

Deep blue is the most popular colour in the world. It is thought to symbolize strength and wisdom. It has always stood for the cosmos and the Virgin Mary, as a colour of the intellect and spiritual healing and was the colour of heaven for the Ancient Egyptians. This colour, made from ground-down lapis lazuli that travelled over the Silk Route from Afghanistan to Florence was more precious than gold. On the great altarpieces it came to symbolize the wisdom of God. But in the search for a cheaper blue, an entirely artificial chemical compound led to a deeply sinister result. Fashionable though it was, Prussian Blue, used in the Prussian court and in fashionable portraiture was the same chemical compound as the deadly poison – cyanide. Finally, there is a return to the glories of ultramarine in the stained glass windows of Chagall.

Hilary lectures in the main museums in London for American universities, and has toured widely in the USA and lectured for the Smithsonian Institution. Has also worked for the Art Fund, taught courses for Cambridge University, has been a guest speaker on cruises. Trained as a painter at Central St Martin’s, she exhibits abroad, most recently in Berlin and France. Lives in London and in Provence.

3 OCTOBER
BAUHAUS: THE IDEA AND REALITY
PRESENTED BY GAVIN PLUMLEY

Founded in 1919 in Weimar, the Bauhaus was a progressive art school. Under the directorship of architect Walter Gropius, its students studied a broad range of artistic disciplines. The Bauhaus lasted for a 14-year period, with bases in Weimar, Dessau and Berlin, and during that time it not only came to typify an age but also dictate matters of style for decades to come, through its art, architecture and design. This talk looks at some of the movers and shakers behind this hugely influential movement, including Marianne Brandt, Mies van der Rohe and Marcel Breuer, as well as exploring their legacy in our world and homes today.

Gavin is a writer and broadcaster, appearing on BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4 and contributing to newspapers, magazines and opera and concert programmes worldwide. Lectures widely about the culture of Central Europe during the 19th and 20th centuries. Recent talks include the Royal Opera House, the National Gallery, the National Trust, the National Theatre, the British Museum, the V&A, the Southbank Centre, the Tate and the Neue Galerie, New York. His first book, A Home for All Seasons, is published in June 2022.

7 NOVEMBER
THE GLEAMING SPIRES OF LONDON
PRESENTED BY IAN SWANKIE

London boasts a remarkable range of architecture and this talk reveals the evolution of the capital through its great buildings. We start with a brief look at the development of architecture in the capital and then focus on the modern. Whether we like it or not, there are currently well over 500 new buildings planned in London over twenty storeys high, including dozens more than twice this height. This is in addition to those already completed. This talk looks at the best of these buildings including the cutting-edge designs of the latest towers such as the Shard, the Walkie-Talkie, the Cheese grater, the Scalpel and 22 Bishopsgate. We will discover their amazing architectural and engineering challenges and also examine the controversies and difficult social decisions needed to manage this dramatically changing skyline.

Ian is a Londoner with a passion for art and architecture, an official guide at Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Guildhall Art Gallery and St Paul’s Cathedral, and gives tours around each venue. He is also a qualified and active freelance London guide and leads regular tours for various corporations and organisations. Since 2012 he has led a popular weekly independent art lecture group in his home town of Richmond in West London. He is a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Art Scholars, one of the City livery companies.

5 DECEMBER
CHRISTMAS: BACKSTAGE AT COVENT GARDEN
PRESENTED BY SARAH LENTON

Every year the Royal Opera House puts on a season of Christmas shows: the Royal Ballet in Nutcracker and Cinderella, the Royal Opera in any piece with a folk tale theme, and either genre if it features snow. How do we cope with all those magic coaches and snow bags? Not to say 17 Sugar Plums, 12 Princes, and the entire Lower Ballet School backstage? This talk takes you into the wings, down the traps and under the stage as our legendary Christmas Tree is moved on to its lift.

Sarah has spent her working life in the theatre: her principal employers are the Royal Opera House, English National Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera and Garsington Opera. She writes programme articles, radio and play scripts, gives lectures on the operas and ballets in the repertoire and broadcasts regularly for BBC Radios 3 and 4. She is also a cartoonist.