Technical Insights Into The Australian Impressionism Movement
2026-02-19 17:30 - 18:30 (Australia/Sydney)
The Australian Impressionist movement was spearheaded by a band of Melbourne artists including Tom Roberts, Frederick McCubbin and Arthur Streeton. Through the field of technical art history, we can combine scientific and archival research to explore the context and method of the creation of these paintings to better define the artistic intention of the individual artist.
Dates and Locations
Thursday 19 February 2026 Melbourne (VIC)
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Florence On Foot: Walking the Renaissance City in Time of Plague
2026-02-19 14:00 - 15:00 (Australia/Sydney)
With pestilence approaching in August 1630, Florence’s health officials commissioned a society of aristocratic lay brothers to search the city’s streets and alleys for signs of disease. This lecture is a journey like no other!
Dates and Locations
Thursday 19 February 2026 Molonglo Plains (ACT)
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The Many Faces Of Margaret Olley: Artist, Sitter and Patron
2026-02-19 08:00 - 17:00 (Australia/Sydney)
We’ll explore the art and legacy of one of Australia’s most significant still-life and interior painters, Margaret Olley (7923- 2011). Known for her vibrant, colourful works, she held over ninety solo exhibitions in her lifetime, and was a significant philanthropist to art galleries across Australia. Her Paddington studio home has been re-created as the Margaret Olley Art Centre at the Tweed Regional Gallery in Murwillumbah.
Dates and Locations
Thursday 19 February 2026 Armidale (NSW)
Thursday 16 April 2026 Melbourne (VIC)
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Battle Lines: Australian Artists At War
2026-02-17 18:30 - 19:30 (Australia/Sydney)
For more than a century, as Australians have served in wars, artists have been there with them, not with guns in hand, but with brushes and pencils. Australians have seen themselves at war, thanks to our artists. In this lecture, as well as learning about the history of Australian war art, we find out what it is like to be an artist at war, how the experience has changed their art, and how it has changed them as human beings. And we learn that what these artists have experienced, and what they have caught with paints and pencils, helps all of us to better understand ourselves, and to see more clearly the impact – and the cost – of war.
Scott Bevan is an award-winning journalist and author known for his meticulous research and storytelling. He has reported for news and current affairs television, worked as a radio broadcaster, feature writer, and arts reviewer. Bevan’s work reflects his diverse career and his passion for storytelling, which is evident in his work on “Battle Lines: Australian Artists at War.” His book is a testament to his commitment to uncovering the stories behind the art and the impact of war on artists and society.
Date and Location
Tuesday 17 February 2026, Scone (NSW)

I Will Lift Mine Eyes
2026-02-17 18:00 - 19:00 (Australia/Sydney)
In ‘I Will Lift Mine Eyes’, John traces the spread of Christianity from the Mediterranean to Britain. He covers Augustine’s mission, early Saxon churches, the Norman transition, and the peak of cathedral building in England and Wales. He discusses architectural breakthroughs, construction challenges (including tower collapses, fires, and lightning), and how church and royal power influenced the design of these significant medieval structures
Dates and Locations
Tuesday 17 February 2026 Hunter (NSW)
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Women And War
2026-02-16 18:30 - 19:30 (Australia/Sydney)
Just three women worked as Official War Artists during World War Two – Nora Heysen, Stella Bowen and Sybil Craig. They each made a significant body of work, bringing a fresh vision to the official expression of Australia at War.
Dates and Locations
Monday 16 February 2026 Murray River (NSW/VIC)
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Cutting Rythms, Shaping Stories: How Film Editing Works
2026-02-16 18:30 - 19:30, 2026-02-10 17:00 - 18:00 (Australia/Sydney)
Few aspects of creative filmmaking are as shrouded in mystery as the work of the film editor. What do they do? How does it work? Film editors will usually say their art is intuitive – magic, instinctive, inexpressible. But this lecture explodes the myth that good editing is invisible, and reveals what goes on in the edit suite to save movies, tell stories and make thousands of bits of footage into coherent and compelling films. Drawing on her first-hand experience as an editor and her many years as a professional dancer, Karen Pearlman puts forward the idea that editing is a form of choreography. She shows how editors shape movement – movement of story, movement of emotion, and movement of image and sound, into moving experiences for an audience. Clips from Pearlman’s Australian Screen Editors Guild award winning films, and quotes from her internationally distributed book on film editing, ‘Cutting Rhythms’, are woven into this talk.
Dates and Locations
Tuesday 10 February 2026 Bowral (NSW)
Monday 16 February Newcastle (NSW)
Monday 23 November Hobart (TAS)
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The V&A Photography Collection: The World's First
2026-02-12 18:30 - 19:30 (Australia/Sydney)
Join John Swainston for a captivating exploration of the V&A’s pioneering role in photography. Founded when the medium was just eleven years old, the V&A today holds the world’s oldest and one of its most comprehensive photography collections. Discover how artistic, technical, and social changes have shaped this remarkable archive over 175 years, as Swainston – an expert with over forty years’ experience – brings its images, stories, and innovators vividly to life.
Dates and Locations
Thursday 12 February 2026 Shoalhaven (NSW)
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Conservation Of The Australian Copy Of The Magna Carta
2026-02-10 18:00 - 19:00 (Australia/Sydney)
This presentation will discuss the highlights and complexities of the nearly 10-year project to analyse and conserve the 1297 inspeximus issue of the Magna Carta in the collection of the Parliament of Australia. It will explore the Magna Carta’s journey to Australia during Robert Menzies’ government, the innovative production of the 1961 anoxic display case by the CSIRO, and its removal from this case in 2016. Libby will outline the new insights into the Magna Carta that analysis of the materials has provided and discuss the science behind its display in the Members’ Hall of Parliament House.
Date and Location
Tuesday 10 February 2026 Canberra (ACT)
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Grant Fetherson: Design For Life
2026-02-04 18:00 - 19:00 (Australia/Sydney)
This is the story of the great furniture designer who was born in Geelong. He is famous for his furniture designs, especially the ‘Contour Chair R160’ chair and his chairs became icons of the atomic age.
Dates and Locations
Wednesday 4 February 2026 Geelong (VIC)
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Mirka And Georges: A Culinary Affair
2026-02-04 10:30 (Australia/Sydney)
The extraordinary story of Mirka and Georges Mora, with their classic French recipes, photographs and studio images. Kendrah Morgan is Senior Curator at Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne.
Dates and Locations
Wednesday 4 February 2026 Geelong (VIC)
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Auguste Escoffler – Chef, Author and Restaurateur
2026-01-30 13:30 - 15:00 (Australia/Sydney)
Auguste Escoffler revolutionised French Cuisine, gettng rid of heavy sauces, simplifying and codifying recipes. In this lecture Susannah will talk about his recipes (many named for famous people of the day), his innovations, his relationship with César Ritz, his role on the Titanic, his hatred of afternoon teas, and discover how this French trailblazer altered dining habits for ever.
Dates and Locations
Friday 30 January 2026 Blue Mountains (NSW)
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Well Heeled: Shoes Through Time
2025-12-12 08:00 - 17:00 (Australia/Sydney)
No matter how many pairs you have, there’s always room for another pair of shoes. Throughout history shoes have been seen as symbols of power or status in society. High heels were worn by aristocrats and nobility. Thongs started out in Ancient Egypt and made their way to Bondi. Sometimes we suffer for the love of our shoes. They don’t call them “killer heels” for nothing. Join Claudia Chan Shaw for an intriguing look at our fascination with shoes and the stories behind them – from flats and stilettos, to trainers, Crocs and the catwalk. Just think of Cinderella or the Wizard of Oz – it’s all about the shoes in the end.
Dates and Locations
Wednesday 24 June 2026 Adelaide (SA)
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Reading the Landscape
2025-11-17 18:00 - 19:00 (Australia/Sydney)
This lecture celebrates the wealth of literature, sculpture and art whose wellspring is in the country. The Australian landscape has inspired great thinkers, authors, poets, sculptors and their work embodies the country. Trisha links many of our well loved as well as our not so well known creative thinkers to the landscape, properties, homes or gardens that inspired them. Trisha’s illustrated lecture looks at a number of artists and sculptors whose work embodies the landscape that nurtured the talent.
Date and Location:
Monday 17 November 2025, Albury Wodonga (NSW/VIC)

Goddess of the Sky: The Art of Everest and the Himalayas
2025-11-13 18:00 - 19:00 (Australia/Sydney)
This lecture examines the development of the British Great Trigonometrical Survey of India and the art of both the early efforts to ascend Mt. Everest as well as the art of modern climbing on the world’s highest mountain.
John Williamson has been a lecturer for 18 years, a teacher for 36 years and a tour guide. He has studied and taught about the Antarctic.
Date and Location
Thursday 13 November 2025 Armidale (NSW)

The 10 Great Houses of the Arts and Craft Movement
2025-11-12 18:00 - 19:00 (Australia/Sydney)
The Arts and Crafts movement began in Britain in the mid 19th Century through the philosophies of William Morris and John Ruskin. The lecture begins with Morris’s own house, Red House in Kent, designed by Philip Webb, and continues to examine some of the world’s most beautiful architectural masterpieces.
David Cole is a practising architect who has designed projects throughout Australia, Japan, Thailand, China, United Arab Emirates and New Zealand. David has had a long-term interest in the architecture of the English Arts and Crafts movement.
Date and Location
Wednesday 12 November 2025, Geelong (VIC)

Glory is Fleeting: Napoleon Bonaparte and the Fine Art of Propaganda
2025-11-07 17:30 - 18:30 (Australia/Sydney)
Napoleon Bonaparte, the brilliant military general and nemesis of the Duke of Wellington, knew image was crucial to his power. Accomplished artists of the day were told exactly how to portray him and to depict defeats as resounding victories. This lecture will dig beneath the counter propaganda so skillfully established by the English.
Dates and Locations
Friday 7 November 2025, Mornington Peninsula (VIC)

Art and Architecture of Romania
2025-11-06 20:00 - 21:00 (Australia/Sydney)
This lecture introduces you to the art and architecture of Romania from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. It begins with folk traditions, such as wood carving and the painted glass icons of Transylvania, before turning to the emergence of a distinct style of painting that draws on eastern and western traditions at the painted monasteries of Bucovina. We then look at the creation of a unique architectural style in the early 1600s by Constantijn Brancoveanu, a style which unites an eclectic range of influences from traditional rural architecture to Byzantine, Ottoman and the classicism of the Renaissance and Baroque.
Date and Location:
Thursday 6 November 2025 Melbourne (VIC)

The True Story Behind the World's Biggest Art Heist
2025-11-06 12:00 - 13:00, 2025-11-04 18:30 - 19:30 (Australia/Melbourne)
On 18 March 1990, the ‘impossible’ happened – thirteen works of art, valued at a total of $500 million, were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Museum officials, police and security experts were completely baffled as to how this had happened. These great masterpieces have never been recovered; a devastating loss to the museum and its public. This talk relates the story of the fascinating police investigation into the missing paintings by Vermeer, Rembrandt, Degas and Manet; resulting in knowledge of how, why and by whom the robbery was committed but leaving the crime officially ‘unsolved’.
Dates and Locations
Monday 13 October 2025 Hunter (NSW)
Wednesday​ 15 October 2025 Tamworth (NSW)
​Tuesday 4 November 2025 Scone (NSW)
Thursday 6 November 2025 Paddington, Sydney (NSW) Lectures at 12:30pm and 6:00pm
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Koh-I-Noor - The Most Famous Diamond in the World
2025-11-03 19:00 - 20:00 (Australia/Melbourne)
From an Indian riverbed thousands of years ago to the Tower of London – this is the fascinating story of the Koh-I-Noor, the ‘Mountain of Light’. The story of this celebrated diamond is not only intriguing but also full of surprises. It has been the subject of desire, jealousy, intrigue, passion and political chicanery. This talk follows the journey of this fabulous diamond from the depths of early Indian history, throughout the bloody history of the Mughals, to the power and politics of the British Empire.
Dates and Locations
Thursday 23 October 2025 Shoalhaven (NSW)
Monday 3 November 2025 Narrabri (NSW)
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The Knights Crusaders
2025-11-01 15:00 - 16:00 (Australia/Melbourne)
The Orders of knights who helped keep the Kingdom of Jerusalem safe for Christians settled and prospered on islands in the Mediterranean such as Rhodes. Learn of the exploits of the Hospitallers and Templars, their legacies and the notorious Assassins.
Dates and Locations
Sunday 12 October 2025 Cairns (QLD)
Wednesday 15 October 2025 Geelong (VIC)
Thursday 23 October 2025 Molonglo Plains (NSW / ACT)
Saturday 1 November 2025 Perth (WA)
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Aztec and Maya Cilvilisatons of Mexico
2025-11-01 13:00 - 14:30 (Australia/Melbourne)
Human hearts, blood and children’s tears were all necessary to quench the hunger of the bloodthirsty gods of Mexico. If their needs were not satisfied the consequences for the nation would be catastrophic. Discover some of their ancient gods and learn about the religious rites designed to appease them.
Dates and Locations
Wednesday 15 October 2025 Geelong (VIC)
Thursday 16 October 2025 Melbourne (VIC)
Saturday 1 November 2025 Perth (WA)
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How Constable’s Late Paintings Changed the Face of Modern Art
2025-11-01 10:00 - 11:00 (Australia/Melbourne)
Would you recognise John Constable R.A.’s ‘late’ oil studies? Constable’s exuberant, almost abstract, brush and palette-knife work shocked audiences for a full 50 years before Impressionism. In fact, the handling is so avant-garde that it is impossible to tell what these paint strokes depict! Constable only sold 20 or so paintings in England during his lifetime, as their rough and ‘specky’ surfaces horrified audiences. By contrast, he sold many to forward-looking French art dealers and collectors. Consequently, his radical ‘late’ works influenced generations of French painters, making Constable a Forefather of Modern Painting. Sarah Cove’s work reveals a ‘Jackson Pollock of the 1830s’.
Dates and Locations
Monday 13 October 2025 Hobart (TAS)
Tuesday 14 October 2025 Launceston (TAS)
Monday 20 October 2025 Northern Rivers (NSW)
Wednesday 22 & Thursday 23 October Brisbane (QLD)
Friday 24 October 2025 Brisbane River (QLD)
Saturday 1 November 2025 Rockhampton (QLD)
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The Elegance of the Ocean Liner
2025-10-31 14:00 - 15:00 (Australia/Melbourne)
Experience the glitz and glamour of the ocean liner, from its 1920s heyday to modern times. Early ship design and décor was often utilised to resemble a British stately home or an Italian palazzo and intended to imbue passengers with a sense of high comfort, status and luxury. Designers embraced different artistic styles, from neoclassical and baroque to art nouveau and art deco to create ever more impressive and beautiful interiors. The talk will showcase exquisite gilded ballrooms, grand balustraded staircases and sumptuous panelled smoking rooms, whilst examining the fascinating social and design history of these ‘floating palaces’.
Dates and Locations
Tuesday 21 October 2025 Bowral (NSW)
Friday 31 October 2025 Blue Mountains (NSW)
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How to Understand Modern Art
2025-10-29 18:30 - 20:00 (Australia/Sydney)
How well do you know your Surrealism or Cubism? Abstract Expressionism or Pop Art? This is a simple and user-friendly reminder of some of the key movements of modern art and the intriguing historical, social and artistic triggers that brought them into being. These art worlds were populated by some larger-than-life personalities whom this talk will examine, illustrated throughout with many iconic works of the 20th century.
Dates and Locations
Wednesday 29 October 2025 Orange (NSW)
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A Day in the Life of a Picture Restorer
2025-10-29 18:00 - 19:00 (Australia/Melbourne)
We discuss the nature of oil painting materials, and common problems associated with the ageing and deterioration of, and damage to, easel paintings. These can be on canvas, panel, board or paper in a range of mediums: oil, acrylic, egg tempera, or mixed media. Problems can involve natural deterioration and neglect, accidental damage, vandalism and even war! Modern approaches to conservation and restoration will be illustrated with slides ranging from early Italian religious paintings via rapid oil sketches on paper to 20th century British paintings and modern abstract works. Hints and advice on the care of paintings is given liberally throughout!
Dates and Locations
Thursday 9 October 2025 Yarra (VIC). Lectures at 10am and 1:30pm
Friday 10 October 2025 Mornington Peninsula (VIC)
Saturday 18 October 2025 Gold Coast (QLD)
Friday 24 October 2025 Brisbane River (QLD)
Wednesday 29 October 2025 Toowoomba (QLD)
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The Tomb Builders of Ancient Egypt
2025-10-29 10:00 - 20:30 (Australia/Melbourne)
This lecture takes you on a voyage of discovery about the crème de la crème of the Ancient Egyptian workforce who created the Pharaohs’ tombs in the Valley of the Kings. It looks at their homes, families and village life in Deir el Medina as well as the skills, methods and materials they employed to accomplish such commendable work. Examples of their interpretation of the Afterlife in the tombs of the kings and their own burial places will demonstrate their skill and artistry.
Date and Location
Wednesday 29 October 2025 Adelaide (SA) Lectures 10:30am and 7:30pm
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Land of the Monkey God– The Art an Architecture of Sri Lanka
2025-10-27 18:00 - 19:00 (Australia/Melbourne)
Shrines, stupas, cave temples, colonial grandeur and modernist architecture – a look at the history of this beautiful island through its intriguing art and culture. For much of Sri Lanka’s past, Buddhist and Hindu have lived alongside each other peaceably and much of the nation’s culture is evidence of this spirit of tolerance and generosity. This talk examines the fascinating story of Sri Lankan art and the original minds, talents and spirits that created this unique visual world.
Dates and Locations
Friday 10 October 2025 Mudgee (NSW)
Monday 27 October 2025 Coffs Harbour (NSW)
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