Mornington Peninsula

Friday 21 February 2025
CLASSICAL SNOBBERY TO WIDE APPRECIATION OF MUSICAL GENRES
Presented by Richard Vaudrey
Venue & Time: Balcombe Grammar School, 5.30pm start

After an extensive musical education in classical music that led to the height of classical cello playing in Australia and the United States, Richard Vaudrey subsequently learned that great music exists in all genres. Discover the musical aspects that exist in great music across different genres, allowing the listener to expand their musical tastes.

Originally from Melbourne, Richard was a scholarship holder at the Australian National Academy of Music before heading to the United States, where he completed Doctoral study in classical cello performance and contemporary improvisation at SUNY Stony Brook, studying with Colin Carr and Ray Anderson whilst acting as Teaching Assistant to the Emerson String Quartet. Richard has had a prolific background in chamber music and performs regularly both as a soloist and collaborator across a multitude of genres including classical, new music, jazz, folk and pop in venues including Carnegie Hall, 92Y Tribecca, SubCulture, The Stone, Alice Tully Hall and the Harvey Theatre, BAM.

Friday 14 March 2025
THE GRAND TOUR: The History of the Great Collections
Presented by Marc Allum
Venue & Time: Balcombe Grammar School, 5.30pm start

A fascinating time-line talk of the Grand Tour focuses on how a predilection for collecting has evolved throughout history. The talk will be illustrated with examples from the great historical collectors and illuminated with objects from Marc’s own eclectic collection. And the influence of the Grand Tour on our museums, fashion and design over the last 400 years.

Marc Allum is a freelance art and antiques journalist, writer and broadcaster based in Wiltshire, UK. He has been a specialist on the BBC Antiques Roadshow for over 25 years. Marc regularly writes for mainstream magazines and is an author, antiques consultant and lecturer. He also runs a fine art valuation and consultancy service. Marc’s interests range from pre-history to modern design, and he is a self-confessed ‘collectaholic.’ Marc has lectured widely to organisations in both the public and charity sector, including travel companies, The National Trust and at literary festivals including Cheltenham, Bath and Wells. Marc is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.

Friday 2 May 2025
WHO DUNIT? Dame Agatha Christie
Presented by Simon Whitehouse
Venue & Time: Balcombe Grammar School, 5.30pm start

Become armchair detectives and follow clues to discover the “Queen of Crime’s” London life.  Although associated with Torquay, Devon, Dame Agatha Christie also left clues to follow all over London. Living in various London properties during her long life; she penned 16 of 66 novels from one address. At University College London, Agatha researched her preferred method of murder: poison. Examine the London links to her novels, including a hotel that inspired a Miss Marple novel and the Mesopotamian galleries at the British Museum.  We conclude with Agatha’s devotion to the theatre and The Mousetrap: the world’s longest running theatrical production.

Simon is a (recovering) actor, presenter, Alexander Technique and voice teacher, and award-winning London Blue Badge guide. He has worked as a guide in-house at Shakespeare’s Globe, the Royal Opera House, the BBC and the National Gallery guiding both public and private tours. He is on the faculty of Ithaca College and lectures for the Blue Badge Guide training course on the performing arts and English literature. Simon’s specialisms and passions are theatre, literature, fashion, and art history but whatever the subject, Simon will weave a wonderful story from it. 

Friday 13 June 2025
ALCHEMY, NATURAL PHILOSOPHY AND THE CREATION OF EUROPEAN PORCELAIN
Presented by Matthew Martin
Venue & Time: Balcombe Grammar School, 5.30pm start

The discovery of a method to recreate Chinese kaolinic porcelain in Dresden in 1708 was one of the major technical accomplishments of the European eighteenth century. What is intriguing about this discovery is that it was not potters or ceramicists who were responsible for the breakthrough, but alchemists and natural philosophers. This lecture explores the strange history of the making of European porcelain.

Matthew Martin is an art historian and curator with a particular interest in the luxury arts of the European long eighteenth century. From 2006 to 2019 he was a curator in the department of International Decorative Arts in the National Gallery of Victoria. His research interests include: Eighteenth-century European Decorative arts; the historiography of the decorative arts and their display in museums; the cultural aesthetics of eighteenth-century European porcelain and the medium’s connections to the European alchemical tradition.

Friday 4 July 2025
THE AZTEC CULTURE IN MEXICO
Presented by Maria Chester
Venue & Time: Balcombe Grammar School, 5.30pm start

By the fifteenth century, the Aztec had developed an intricate social, political, religious, and commercial federation that brought many of the region’s city-states under their control. In 1521, the Spanish, led by Hernan Cortes, overthrew the Aztec, ending Mesoamerica’s last great civilisation.

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, multilingual Maria Chester studied Fine Arts and Art History and is a Professor of Pre-Columbian Art. She taught in several South American universities and at private institutions. She is a Senior Lecturer and tutor on Art History for BEA – Berwick Educational Association in the Scottish Borders, where she lives. She also works for Berwick Visual Arts delivering conferences linked to art exhibitions complemented with guided tours. In May 2018, she was made a Visiting Research Fellow at CAUA Research Centre for International Elderly Education, Shanghai, China. She became an Accredited Lecturer for The Arts Society in 2018.

Friday 8 August 2025
THE RIJKSMUSEUM: Rembrandt’s Night Watch and Much, Much More
Presented by Sophie Oosterwijk
Venue & Time: Balcombe Grammar School, 5.30pm start

This lecture offers an introduction to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam: the collection, the building, its history and the 10-year renovation (2003-13) that brought back the splendour of architect Pierre Cuypers’ original neo-gothic decorations. The collection of the Rijksmuseum includes works by Hals, Rembrandt, Vermeer and Van Gogh as well as medieval art, jewellery, musical instruments, Asian art and even an FK 23 Bantam plane from 1918. It also has Rembrandt’s famous Night Watch – but only on loan! All this and much more will be revealed about the most famous museum in the Netherlands.

Born in Gouda (Netherlands). Sophie has an MA in Medieval Studies (York) and a PhD in Art History (Leicester), as well as an MA and PhD in English Literature (Leiden). Sophie has taught at the universities of St Andrews, Leicester and Manchester, Sotheby’s Institute of Art, National Trust, V&A, U3A, WEA and other organisations, and organised many study days, tours and visits. She is also a regular lecturer for Cambridge University and travel companies, and Vice President of the Church Monuments Society, and has numerous publications to her name.

Friday 5 September 2025
CONTEMPORARY FEMALE ARTISTS FROM THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA
Presented by Anna Moszynska
Venue & Time: Balcombe Grammar School, 5.30pm start

The talk considers the fascinating range of women artists who have emerged from the Middle East, those still working in the region and those who now live elsewhere. Reacting against the exoticized depiction of women as seen in the West though 19th-century Orientalism, female artists from the region have, since the end of the last century, re-examined visual notions of the gaze; engaged with contemporary society, religion and politics, and offered fresh insights into contemporary issues. Artists under discussion include Mona Hatoum, Shirin Neshat, Huda Lutfi, Zenib Sedira, Monir Farmanfarmaian and Shirazeh Houshiary.

Anna is a London-based lecturer and writer specialising in contemporary art. During the 1990s, Anna oversaw the development of the first British Master’s Degree in the subject at Sotheby’s Institute. She has also taught at institutions including The City Lit, the Royal Academy and Tate London, as well as lecturing globally from Dubai to New York. Anna currently teaches in London and continues to write on art. Her books include Abstract Art and Sculpture Now. Anna enjoys introducing art to audiences in a lively and approachable way to make modern and contemporary art both accessible and interesting.

Friday 10 October 2025
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A PICTURE RESTORER: Conservation and Restoration
Presented by Sarah Cove
Venue & Time: Balcombe Grammar School, 5.30pm start

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!

Sarah Cove ACR is an accredited paintings conservator-restorer, technical art historian and lecturer with several decades of experience working on paintings for the heritage and private sectors. She is London and Falmouth based and is a specialist in British portraits, 19th-20th century British landscapes and oil sketches on paper and board. She founded the Constable Research Project and is the leading authority on Constable’s materials and techniques. She has lectured for The Arts Society since 2003 and lectures independently at major public and gallery venues across the UK, USA, Australia and New Zealand. Her presentations are lively, enthusiastic and passionate about her work and research.  

Friday 7 November 2025
GLORY IS FLEETING: Napoleon Bonaparte and the Fine Art of Propaganda
Presented by Sylvia Sagona
Venue & Time: Balcombe Grammar School, 5.30pm start

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 skilfully established by the English.

Sylvia Sagona is an internationally recognised specialist on 19^th century French society.   She completed her post graduate studies of a Maitrise ès Lettres at the University of Aix en Provence where she lived and lectured at the university of Aix-Marseilles before taking up a lectureship in the Department of French and Italian studies at the University of Melbourne. She has taught in Paris on 19th century art and literature in partnership with the French Centre d’ Etudes pédagogiques de Sèvres, and in Rome with the Università Roma 2 on how the Popes used the city layout for Christian propaganda.  She retired from the French Department at The University of Melbourne to work on historical documentaries for French and Australian television.