Coffs Coast

Monday 18 November 2024
10 NOVELS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
Presented by Susannah Fullerton
Time: 6:00pm
Venue: St John Paul College Theatre, 421 Hogbin Drive, Coffs Harbour, NSW, 2450

Literature has always had the power to change – just think of the impact of the King James Bible, Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, Dr Johnson’s Dictionary, Freud’s The Interpretation of Dreams, Marx’s The Communist Manifesto and Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique. And yet fiction too has the power to change – to evoke sympathy, to make us take on different opinions, and even to bring about political and legal change. This talk examines ten novels which altered our world, when it came to race relations, charity, the shape of literature, and the plight of the poor and the different. Discover which novels have had universal impact and be encouraged to think about which books you would select as having in some way brought about enormous change.

Susannah brings to life the lives and writings of great writers in her fascinating lectures. Having built a stellar career as a lecturer, giving talks about famous writers. Immensely entertaining, yet truly informative, you’ll love listening to her talk about her favourite writers. Susannah is President of the Jane Austen Society of Australia, Patron of the Kipling Society of Australia and Lady Patroness of the International Heyer Society.

Monday 17 February 2025
PARIAH TO POPULAR: How the MCA-Australia became the most visited Museum of Contemporary Art in the World
Presented by Elizabeth Ann Macgregor OBE
Time: 6:00pm
Venue: St John Paul College Theatre, 421 Hogbin Drive, Coffs Harbour, NSW, 2450

After two transformational decades at the helm of The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA), Elizabeth Ann Macgregor OBE, ended her tenure as Director October 2021. When Elizabeth Ann Macgregor left the MCA Australia in October 2021, MCA Chairman, Lorraine Tarabay, said Ms Macgregor left an enormous legacy. “Liz Ann is a visionary who has expertly steered the Museum from the brink of insolvency when she arrived to the vibrant, thriving organisation The Art Newspaper has declared the most visited contemporary art museum in the world,” she said. “During her tenure, the MCA expanded to include the National Centre for Creative Learning (NCCL) and increased its audience more than tenfold. The Museum is renowned globally for its curatorial excellence, putting artists at the centre of all it does.

Monday 24 March 2025
GLORIOUS DOMES: From the Pantheon to the Taj Mahal
Presented by Sue Rollin
Time: 6:00pm
Venue: St John Paul College Theatre, 421 Hogbin Drive, Coffs Harbour, NSW, 2450

Stories of impressive domes: Hadrian’s Pantheon in Rome boasts the world’s largest concrete dome, while the brick dome of St. Sophia in Constantinople, commissioned by 6C emperor Justinian, is a Byzantine masterpiece. A thousand years later Ottoman architect Sinan strove to emulate its genius in the mosques he designed for his sultanic masters. In Samarkand, a brilliant blue ribbed double dome rises over the 15C mausoleum of Tamerlane, the precursor to the domes of the Mughals, including the Taj Mahal in Agra, clad in marble and resembling a large pearl, a fitting crown to a magnificent monument to earthly love.

Sue Rollin lives in London and holds degrees in Near Eastern archaeology, South Asian studies and conference interpreting. She has tutored and lectured at London and Cambridge Universities, been a staff interpreter at the European Commission, and currently works as a freelance interpreter, lecturer and tour guide. Sue has travelled widely for work and pleasure and has led cultural tours in Spain, Sicily, Morocco, the Middle East, Central Asia and India. She has co-authored travel guides on Jordan and on Istanbul. In the UK, Sue lectures for the Arts Society and the V&A and she has done four previous ArtsNational lecture tours.

Monday 21 April 2025
HIRODHIGE’S WOODWORK MASTERPIECE AND THE JAPANESE SENSIBILITY FOR SNOW
Presented by Kathleen Olive
Time: 6:00pm
Venue: St John Paul College Theatre, 421 Hogbin Drive, Coffs Harbour, NSW, 2450

While in recent years we’ve become more familiar with the work of Japanese woodblock artist Katsushika Hokusai, the 19th-century prints of Utagawa Hiroshige remain less known. From conventional portraits of beautiful women and actors to series of landscapes, birds and flowers, Hiroshige’s career was distinguished by an unerring sense of line and the power of composition. Propelled by popular demand and enlivened by the subtle tweaks made possible by reprints, his prints demonstrate the refinement of Japanese tastes and the tradition of collaboration. With seasonality as our key, we focus on Hiroshige’s wintry scenes, exploring their appeal in the context of national aesthetics and geographies.

Kathleen’s PhD was a study of artisanal culture in Renaissance Florence, through the lens of a goldsmith’s commonplace book known as the Codex Rustici. She lived and studied in Italy for a number of years, and then taught Italian language, literature and history at the University of Sydney. Kathleen now works with Academy Travel, leading tours to Europe and, particularly, Italy.

Monday 19 May 2025
WOMEN AT WORK
Presented by Alice Foster
Time: 6:00pm
Venue: St John Paul College Theatre, 421 Hogbin Drive, Coffs Harbour, NSW, 2450

What occupies a woman’s day? From depictions of farm workers and hearth keepers in the Middle Ages, to picture restorers in the 21st century, Alice’s lecture explores the responsibilities of women at work. Women participated in brewing, baking and textile weaving. During World War 2 they made armaments; were researchers in science and the arts and eventually were allowed to become priests. All these jobs were depicted, sometimes by famous artists such as Edouard Manet and Laura Knight, sometimes by less well-known artists. Some women became artists themselves, facing challenges of work in what was considered a man’s world.

Alice Foster has lectured for Oxford University Department of Continuing Education since 1998. She lectures regularly at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, and at the Oxfordshire Museum in Woodstock. Her busy freelance career includes organising History of Art study days with colleagues, and regular weekly classes in Oxfordshire and Worcestershire. In 2004 Alice joined The Arts Society and has lectured in Britain and in Europe.

Monday 16 June 2025
SEEING MUSIC, HEARING ART
Presented by David Banney
Time: 6:00pm
Venue: St John Paul College Theatre, 421 Hogbin Drive, Coffs Harbour, NSW, 2450

Leonardo and Palestrina, Picasso and Stravinsky, Debussy and Matisse – Art and Music are never produced in a vacuum, and the histories of art and music have run similar courses, with music always a little way behind. This lecture traces the major historical movements of the last 1000 years, exploring the parallels between sound and visual images. How can we “hear” perspective? How can we “see“ sonata form? What does Rothko sound like, and what does Philip Glass look like? Why does music take longer to catch up?

Described by pianist Roger Woodward a ‘quite simply one of the best conductors in the country’. David is one of Australia’s most highly regarded musicians, with success as a conductor, composer, string player and educator. A past winner of the ABC Young Conductor’s Award, David is Artistic Director of the Christ Church Camerata and the Newcastle Music Festival. He is Interim Music Director of Christ Church Cathedral Newcastle. David has worked with many of Australia’s leading orchestras and soloists, including the Queensland, Adelaide and West Australian Symphony Orchestras, and Opera Queensland.

Monday 21 July 2025
THE GOLDEN ROAD TO SAMARKAND: The Architecture, Art and Textiles of Uzbekistan
Presented by Chris Aslan
Time: 6:00pm
Venue: St John Paul College Theatre, 421 Hogbin Drive, Coffs Harbour, NSW, 2450

Uzbekistan boasts glittering mosques, madrassahs and minarets in the Silk Road cities of Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva, contrasting with the brutalist Soviet buildings in Tashkent, Urgench and Nukus. This lecture provides a primer for anyone thinking of visiting the country. We explore the Russian Avante Garde art collection of the Savitsky Museum in Nukus, assembled when these styles were banned by the state. We consider the revival of Islamic miniature painting in Bukhara and the resurgence of handicrafts that ceased during the 1930s, with the Soviet drive to industrialisation. Finally, we consider how tourism is affecting production of high-quality handicrafts.

Chris spent his childhood in Turkey and in war-torn Beirut and is currently based in Cambridge. His career extended from the sea, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Oxford. He established a UNESCO workshop reviving fifteenth century carpet designs and embroideries which became the largest nongovernment employer in town. He was kicked out as part of an anti-Western purge and recorded his experiences in “A Carpet Ride to Khiva”.

Monday 18 August 2025
T S ELIOT AND ART
Presented by Toby Faber
Time: 6:00pm
Venue: St John Paul College Theatre, 421 Hogbin Drive, Coffs Harbour, NSW, 2450

As a pioneer of literary modernism, T S Eliot inevitably influenced his counterparts in the visual arts. He was friends with several artists. Edward McKnight Kauffer and David Jones illustrated his work: Patrick Heron and Wyndham Lewls painted him; Jacob Epstein sculpted him. There are paintings inspired by his poems. And the reverse is also true; ‘The Waste Land’ famously employs techniques borrowed from modern art. This lecture will explore some of sketches connections, while also taking the chance to display some of Eliot’s own artistic creations: the jokey little sketches he included in letters to children.

An experienced lecturer, Toby Faber began his career with Natural Sciences at Cambridge, followed by investment banking, management consulting and five years as managing director of the publishing company founded by his grandfather, Faber and Faber. Toby is also non-executive Chairman of its sister company, Faber Music.

Monday 15 September 2025
VERMEER AND MUSIC – ART OF LOVE AND LEISURE
Presented by Lydia Bauman
Time: 6:00pm
Venue: St John Paul College Theatre, 421 Hogbin Drive, Coffs Harbour, NSW, 2450

About a third of 17th century Dutch paintings feature musical instruments or scenes of music-making. Music was celebrated as a means of social or familial bonding and as an expression of love, while also feared for its seductive, immoral connotations. A strict etiquette surrounded the act of performing music by men and women and the middle and lower classes. This talk includes musical excerpts played on original period instruments, illustrating particular instruments shown in paintings.

Lydia was born in Poland and studied for her BA in Fine Art at University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (John Christie Scholarship and the Hatton Award), and an MA in History of Art from the Courtauld Institute of Art, London. She has since divided her time between painting and exhibiting as well as lecturing widely to adult audiences. She has taught at London’s National Gallery for more than 35 years, and intermittently at London’s Tate Gallery and National Portrait Gallery.

Monday 27 October 2025
LAND OF THE MONKEY GOD–THE ART AND ARCHITECTURE OF SRI LANKA
Presented by Georgina Buxton
Time: 6:00pm
Venue: St John Paul College Theatre, 421 Hogbin Drive, Coffs Harbour, NSW, 2450

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.

Georgina Bexon is an international art historian who has lived and worked in the UK, Europe, USA and Singapore. Her practice includes lecturing, writing, consulting and collecting and she has developed a network of gallery and artist connections in Europe, the USA and India, which she visits regularly. Consultant Art Historian at the Oriental Club in London and an official tour guide at Tate Modern, Georgina also presents at leading art institutions and international art conferences in New York Paris London.

Monday 17 November 2025
ABORIGINAL ART FROM ROCK ART TO TODAY
Presented by Sally Butler
Time: 6:00pm
Venue: St John Paul College Theatre, 421 Hogbin Drive, Coffs Harbour, NSW, 2450

This lecture explains how the modern Aboriginal art movement developed since the 1970s and how it maintains its connection to visual traditions going back to rock art created many thousands of years ago. The lecture focuses on how cultural traditions are reinvented and reinvigorated through innovative art of today. Examples include Indigenous art from the Central Desert, North Queensland, the Kimberleys and Arnhem Land.

Sally Butler is Associate Professor of Art History at the University of Queensland and formerly a Senior Education Officer at the Queensland Art Gallery and an Associate Editor and feature writer for Art Collector magazine. She has published widely in Australian and international journals and several books.