Armidale
ADFAS Armidale welcomes you.
In 2023 ADFAS Armidale will provide for its members and guests a program of ten illustrated lectures, presented by UK and Australian lecturers chosen for their communication skills and expert knowledge in their fields. Members also help to support young artists in our region and materials conservationists at a national level.
Armidale is on Anaiwan country in the Northern Tablelands of NSW. Our city balances a cosmopolitan culture with a stunning rural setting. Surrounded by national parks, majestic waterfalls and walking trails, our University town also boasts an impressive array of galleries, museums and a rich cultural and artistic life.
Lectures:
Venue:
Our lectures take place at the Michael Hoskins Creative Arts Centre at The Armidale School (TAS), with access and car parking available from both Douglas and Chapel Streets, Armidale.
Time:
Doors open at 5.30pm for 6pm lecture, except in July (5pm for 5.30pm start). Lectures run for approximately one hour, usually with the opportunity to ask questions and meet lecturers after each talk. A light supper served with wine or juice is provided following each lecture, the cost of which is included in the membership or guest ticket fee
Membership:
Annual membership – $140
Click here to join or email: adfasarmidale@outlook.com
Guests welcome:
$25 per lecture – book using the links on each lecture below
Full-time Student Guests (over 18 years of age): $5 per lecture.
Secondary Students (in uniform): Free
Contact:
For all enquiries please email: adfasarmidale@outlook.com
Postal Address: PO Box 1029 Armidale NSW 2350
ABN: 81 734 702 341
Committee 2023
Chairman: Hilda Nadolny
Secretary: Michael Gibson
Treasurer Membership Enquiries: Tom O’Connor
2023 PROGRAM
Thursday 9 February 2023
TO SERVE THE COMMUNITY: WARTIME GIRL GUIDE UNIFORMS, THEIR INFLUENCE, CONSERVATION AND THE VERY AUSTRALIAN TRADITION OF HAND-SEWN EMBLEMS.
Lecturer: Elizabeth (Bess) Elwell-Cook (Australian – Portland NSW)
Venue & time: The Armidale School, Hoskins Centre, 6pm
Girl Guiding was established in 1909 as a peaceful, but fundamentally patriotic movement. Soon, it became a valuable feeder for the women’s military services, even MI5/MI6. At the same time, it developed its own methods for moulding young women into good citizens. This lecture will explore the relationship between Guides’ and other female uniforms, and the impact of this remarkable movement on popular culture and war efforts in the 20th century. Elizabeth will also review the unique Australian tradition of hand-sewn Guide emblems.
Elizabeth Elwell-Cook is a costumier, historian, experimental archaeologist and recognised expert in historical Girl Guide uniforms. Her interests include Elizabethan costume, working men’s fashion of the 14th-16th centuries, and textile design of the Arts & Crafts Movement. A Charles Sturt University and TAFE lecturer in design history, theory and aesthetics, she has addressed conferences in Australia and internationally. Having conserved 300 Girl Guide uniforms for her M. Creative Practice, she is now working on her PhD.
Thursday 9 March 2023
PHRASES AND SAYINGS – THE ETYMOLOGY OF THE CITY OF LONDONLecturer: Alan Read MA MITG (UK Touring lecturer)
Venue & time: The Armidale School, Hoskins Centre, 6pm
The English language is rich in idioms, phrases and sayings which are part of everyday speech – yet seldom do we consider their original meanings. This is an exploration of historical etymology, often traceable to the City of London. Even if you have to ‘rob Peter to pay Paul’ and it’s ‘raining cats and dogs’ you’d be ‘barking mad’ to miss this lecture.
Alan Read holds a master’s and first-class honours degree in History of Art from Birkbeck College, London. He is a gallery guide at Tate Britain, Tate Modern, National Portrait Gallery and for Frieze Masters and regularly lectures at the NPG, Dulwich Picture Gallery, Plymouth City Art Gallery and other galleries in the UK. He also works as a London Blue Badge Guide and a City of London Guide.
Thursday 13 April 2023
CONSERVING BEAUTY: TECHNICAL INSIGHTS OF AUSTRALIAN IMPRESSIONIST PAINTINGS
Lecturer: Michael Varcoe-Cocks (Australian – NGV, Melbourne)
Venue & time: The Armidale School, Hoskins Centre, 6pm
Technical art history is the examination of artworks using scientific equipment to reveal layers of information that offers unique insights into the artistic methods and materials found in each work. This evidence-based approach has yielded some of the most remarkable stories in Australian art. This lecture will discuss the examination and conservation of iconic works from the Australian Impressionist movement by Tom Roberts, Arthur Streeton and Frederick McCubbin.
Michael Varcoe-Cocks is the Associate Director of Conservation at the National Gallery of Victoria where he has worked for twenty-five years. His Conservation practice has principally focused on collection-based research and the accompanying treatment of works produced between 1850 and 1950
Thursday 11 May 2023
SIGNS, SYMBOLS, AND ICONOGRAPHY: THE HIDDEN STORIES IN ART
Lecturer: Leslie Primo (UK Touring lecturer)
Venue & time: The Armidale School, Hoskins Centre, 6pm
How can the modern viewer recognise and interpret the hidden stories in paintings told through signs, symbols and iconography when visiting art galleries? Were paintings merely illustrations of text, or carry some deeper meaning? How did artists such as Botticelli, Titian and Tintoretto approach these subjects and why were they so popular?
To unravel the hidden iconography of paintings, today’s viewers need to acquaint themselves with what was common knowledge during the Renaissance – an awareness of religious and mythological signs and symbols. Leslie will reveal the hidden language in these paintings and help us appreciate historical artworks in their original context.
Leslie Primo holds a BA in Art History and MA in Renaissance Studies from Birkbeck College, University of London. He was Visiting Lecturer in Art History at the University of Reading in 2005 and 2007, and gives lectures and guided tours, plus special talks, at London’s National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery. He also lectures at the City Literary Institute and has presented a series of talks at the National Maritime Museum and the Courtauld Institute
Thursday 8 June 2023
THE BOOK OF KELLS – ITS HISTORY, MYSTERY & ITS WONDER
Lecturer: Gemma Black (Australian)
Venue & time: The Armidale School, Hoskins Centre, 6pm
Gemma was invited by the National Gallery of Australia to prepare and present this lecture on the calligraphy, illumination and the background to the Book of Kells for its highly acclaimed exhibition in Australia in 2000, which attracted over 81,000 visitors.
Her talk features numerous images to inform, educate and stimulate the audience. It is an excellent opportunity for those interested in books, book history and calligraphy to delve further into the past and to learn some of the history and the mystery of this astonishing manuscript, said to be “the work of angels …”.
Gemma Black is a calligrapher, artist and teacher who has worked throughout Australia, Europe & the USA. Her work is housed in private and public collections in Australia and overseas. She is an Honoured Fellow of the Calligraphy & Lettering Arts Society.
Thursday 6 July 2023
ROCOCO: A MASTERPIECE, A MYSTERY AND MADAME DE POMPADOUR
Lecturer: Jacqui ANSELL (UK Touring Lecturer)
Venue & time: The Armidale School, Hoskins Centre, 5:30pm
In 18th century France a new style emerged, encompassing furniture, paintings, prints, décor, and fashionable dress. Light and airy decorations (whimsically inspired by nature) climbed up walls, and encircled mirrors, wound up and down chair legs and drove out the heavy symmetry of the Baroque style. Madame de Pompadour was a champion of the Rococo, which coincided with her reign as mistress of Louis XV. When and why did she (and the Rococo style) lose favour? Through the paintings of Hogarth, Boucher, Fragonard and others we will address this question, with close examination of Pompadour’s elegant image and personal style.
Jacqui Ansell is a senior lecturer at Christie’s Education, London. She has an MA in History of Dress from the Courtauld Institute, was formerly an Education Officer at the National Gallery, London, and a tutor and writer for the Open University. She continues to lecture regularly at the National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery in London and to publish on dress as a cultural marker and indicator of class, gender, national and professional identity.
Thursday 10 August 2023
¡FIESTA! FESTIVALS IN MODERN MEXICO
Lecturer: Chloë Sayer (UK Touring Lecturer)
Venue & time: The Armidale School, Hoskins Centre, 6pm
Mexico has a vast range of cultures and a rich variety of festivals. Visually splendid, many festivals feature flamboyant processions and masked dances with elaborate costumes. Mexican fiestas are often preceded by extensive and costly preparations. While some festivals commemorate national events, most are religious in inspiration. For example, Mexico’s Day of the Dead festival combines Christian elements with aspects inherited from earlier religions. This is not a sombre occasion, but a time for feasting and reunion. This lecture draws on Chloe’s travels in Mexico and features objects that she has collected for the British Museum.
Chloë Sayer, based in London, is an independent scholar, author and curator, specialising in the art and culture of Latin America. In 2016 the Mexican Government awarded her the prestigious Ohtli medal to thank her for her long-standing commitment to Mexican culture. As well as undertaking fieldwork and curating exhibitions, she is also widely published on Latin American art and culture.
Thursday 7 September 2023
URBAN NOIR: EDWARD HOPPER’S NIGHTHAWKS
Lecturer: Kathy McLauchlan (UK Touring Lecturer)
Venue & time: The Armidale School, Hoskins Centre, 6pm
Edward Hopper’s paintings of urban life are characterised by a sense of loneliness and alienation. The most celebrated example is ‘Nighthawks’ (1942), depicting three men and a woman gathered in a brightly illuminated restaurant in downtown New York. The enigmatic quality of this scene which has made it so intriguing to generations of viewers and has turned Nighthawks into one of the iconic images of 20th century urban life. This lecture considers the background to Hopper’s masterpiece and offers possible reasons for its lasting fascination.
Kathy McLauchlan is a course director at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, organising courses, study days and publishing on the history of art and design. She is a graduate of Oxford University and the Courtauld Institute.
Thursday 12 October 2023
ANCIENT ROOTS: CLASSICAL STORIES GROWING IN YOUR GARDEN
Lecturer: Gillian Hovell BA (Hons) (UK Touring lecturer)
Venue & time: The Armidale School, Hoskins Centre, 6pm
Celebrate our gardens as we dig deep into Ancient Greece and Rome. Stories of gods, goddesses, demi-gods and mortals still fill our garden borders and orchards with vibrant and dramatic life. Even kitchen gardens and our garden aesthetics contain epic seeds propagated by Ancient Rome. We travel back 2,000 years to find the seeds of fabulous stories of our gardens today.
After graduating in Latin and Ancient History from Exeter University, Gillian Hovell is an award-winning freelance author, international public speaker & broadcaster, specialising in archaeology, prehistory and the Greek and Roman eras. She lectures at York University and has spoken at the British Museum. Having led and supported community archaeology projects in a hands-on way, Gillian now actively digs at major sites, including Orkney’s prehistoric Ness of Brodgar to Roman Pompeii and Vindolanda.
Thursday 16 November 2023 – AGM MEETING
“I DON’T SOUND LIKE NOBODY, MA’AM”
Lecturer: Lauren Ellis (Australian – Bendigo Art Gallery)
Venue & time: The Armidale School, Hoskins Centre, 6pm
Elvis Presley was the perfect talent for the perfect moment. In 1956, the skinny boy from rural Mississippi burst onto the national stage just as televisions became ubiquitous in American homes and the largest generation ever born – the ‘Baby Boomers’ – were growing up. Almost half a century on from his early death, Elvis remains an iconic figure in our cultural landscape, referenced and remixed constantly in art, design and media. Lauren Ellis will recount some of Elvis’s thrilling career, constant reinvention and rollercoaster personal life, sharing insights from her curation of Bendigo Art Gallery’s 2022 blockbuster exhibition, Elvis: Direct From Graceland.
Lauren Ellis has been Curatorial Manager at Bendigo Art Gallery since 2020, leading the development of the exhibition program and collection of art. She previously held curatorial and exhibitions roles at the University of Melbourne and Museums Victoria. She was the curator of Elvis: Direct From Graceland, an original exhibition developed exclusively for Bendigo in collaboration with the Graceland Archives, the Bendigo Art Gallery’s most successful exhibition to date.
Christmas Function and 2023 Season Launch
Details will be announced to members and guests later in 2023.
VENUE AND TIME OF LECTURES
Our lectures are held at 6pm at The Michael Hoskins Centre at The Armidale School (TAS), followed by a light supper. The Armidale School provides ADFAS Armidale the TAS Michael Hoskins Centre as a venue for lectures, with related technical support. ADFAS Armidale is indebted to the School for its ongoing support to our Society.
MEMBERSHIP
Our annual membership subscription is $140 per person for the year’s season of ten lectures.
Gift Vouchers are available for membership subscriptions.
MEMBERSHIP ENQUIRIES
Tom O’Connor / Trish Rasmussen
Ph: 0460 649 700 / 0458 303 101
Email: adfasarmidale@outlook.com
VISITORS – LIVE LECTURES (Check Try Booking for details once known)
Guests are welcome – a $25 fee applies per lecture.
Full Time Students (over 18 years of age) guest fee $5 per lecture.
Secondary Students (in uniform) Free
There is no fee for visiting ADFAS members.
Gift Vouchers can be provided for Guest Tickets.
Our 2023 lecture season will be subject to any relevant and evolving requirements of government and of our venue providers in relation to Covid safety. Details will be provided to members by email in advance of lectures each month, as required. In the event of further lockdowns, travel restrictions for lecturers, venue closures or other circumstances beyond our control, we will aim to provide the programmed or alternative lecture content in digital format, online.