In 1997 one exhibition radically changed the status of contemporary British art. This talk explains how a generation of young artists leaving art school in the 1980s radically transformed the status of British Art culminating in the controversial and popular 'Sensation' staged at the Royal Academy. The patronage of Charles Saatchi and the RA's chief curator, Norman Rosenthal, launched the careers of many successful British artists such as Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin. In what ways did Saatchi change the perception of contemporary art in Britain and the rest of the world?

The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was made up of seven precocious, talented and astonishingly forward-thinking young men who changed the face of 19th-century art and artistic society. They included in their number a Beethoven-style child genius; a romantic Italian obsessed with a long-dead medieval poet; a fervent traveller who spent years in obscure areas of the Middle East and whose fervour for painting by moonlight led his neighbours to believe him insane; and a young man who staked everything he had on the Australian goldrush. Their lives were as extraordinary as their art and the circle in which they moved makes for a truly exciting story.

This lecture will examine how the peculiar geniuses of these two very different men, W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, came together under the guiding hand of the impresario, Richard D’Oyly Carte, to create one of the most individual and enduring forms of theatrical entertainment. The Savoy operas, with their gentle satire, celebrate the quirks and foibles of the British nation, and are as alive today as in the 1880s. The lecture is fully illustrated with musical examples. 

At the beginning of the 20th century the Scandinavian countries emerged as leaders of progressive design.   Norway, Sweden, and Denmark looked to the British Arts and Crafts movement for design reform. Carl Larsson, for many the ‘father’ of IKEA, created a rural retreat that exemplifies the Good Life; in the spirit of William Morris, he hand-crafted much of his furniture.  Georg Jensen, Denmark’s premier silversmith, also drew heavily on the Arts and Crafts ethos.

From 18th century royal pleasure gardens to the most bio-diverse place on earth today, Cindy Polemis digs into the history of Kew Gardens. We’ll look at Kew’s early role as a beacon of historical landscape aesthetic, its crucial part in the advancement of science, colonialism and trade, and how today it drives international  efforts to combat the effects of climate change and the threats of  extinction in the natural world. Kew scientists have even collaborated  with police forensic investigations: thwarting illegal timber trades, solving  gruesome murders and identifying poisons are just some of the ways they have helped combat crime.

Today Kew holds the largest and most diverse collection of plants in the world: 30,000 living plants, some extinct in the wild, 14,000 trees, nearly 8 million dried specimens and more than 2.4 billion seeds -it is truly the world’s most important garden and one which has changed, and continues to change our world. 

The lecture will be in two parts-the first covering Kew’s history and the second part will look at the importance of Kew today. 

At a time when women were expected to be subjects, not creators, Lee Miller wielded her lens as a tool of power. Her surrealist sensibility and war reportage reshaped how the world saw women, war, and truth itself.

Celebrated for her beauty, Miller used her camera to expose brutal truths—from Paris studios to Nazi-occupied Europe. This lecture uncovers how she merged glamour with grit, transforming photography into both art and activism.