MURRAY RIVER (ALBURY / WODONGA)

Monday 10 February 2025
JOHN BRACK
Presented by Sasha Grishin
Venue: The Theatrette, Albury Convention Centre, 525 Swift Street, Albury.
Time: 6.00 pm for light refreshments, 6.30 pm lecture start time

A discussion of the work of one of Australia’s most challenging and important artists of the 20th century with whom I have worked over a number of decades and on whom I published a two-volume monograph with Oxford University Press.

Emeritus Professor Sasha Grishin AM, FAHA established the academic discipline of Art History at the Australian National University and until December 2013 was the Sir William Dobell Professor of Art History and Head of Art History at the ANU in Canberra. Professor Grishin studied art history at the universities of Melbourne, Moscow, London and Oxford and has served several terms as visiting scholar at Harvard University. He works internationally as an art historian, art critic and curator. In 2004 he was elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, in 2005 he was awarded the Order of Australia (AM) for services to Australian art and art history and in 2008 was awarded a Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning.

Monday 17 March 2025
FROM BISCUITS TO BLOUSES: The Art and Times of Garibaldi
Presented by Christoper Garibaldi
Venue: The Theatrette, Albury Convention Centre, 525 Swift Street, Albury.
Time: 6.00 pm for light refreshments, 6.30 pm lecture start time

Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807–1882) was a leading figure in the unification of Italy during the 19th century. He attracted almost fanatical devotion, capturing the imagination of Italians but also the British. Interest in Britain prompted a fashion for everything from Staffordshire figurines, biscuits and blouses to the red shirts symbolising the Risorgimento (the movement for unification). Garibaldi visited Britain in 1864 when over 500,000 Londoners turned out to see him in Trafalgar Square. This lecture looks at Garibaldi through the art of the Risorgimento, using paintings, newspaper accounts and popular cultural representations of him to explain his popularity.

Christopher is an independent researcher. He was Director of Palace House, Newmarket (National Heritage Centre for Horseracing and Sporting Art) from 2010 to 2019 and previously Co-Director of the Attingham Summer School for the Study of Historic Houses and Collections, and Senior Curator and Assistant Keeper of Art (Decorative Art) at Norwich Castle. He catalogued the silver in the Royal Collection at Buckingham Palace and other royal residences from 1994 to 1997.

Monday 14 April 2025
INSPIRATION FROM THE LAND
Presented by Dianne Firth
Venue: The Theatrette, Albury Convention Centre, 525 Swift Street, Albury.
Time: 6.00 pm for light refreshments, 6.30 pm lecture start time

Making quilts for warmth, comfort and beauty has a long tradition in Australia. More recently, in line with similar movements overseas, the art quilt movement where quilts are appreciated as art has developed into a strong and vital artform. In this presentation Dianne provides an overview of contemporary quiltmaking in Australia, traces the development of the art quilt movement, and shows how inspiration from the land and patterns of nature inform both her and other Australian quilters’ art making.

Dianne is Adjunct Associate Professor in the Faculty of Arts and Design at the University of Canberra, Deputy Chairperson of the ACT Heritage Council, Fellow of the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects; accredited member of Craft ACT; member of ACT Quilters, the Quilters Guild of NSW and Ozquilt Network Inc. Dianne advises the ACT Government on issues related to landscape heritage, trees and urban design. She was awarded an Order of Australian Medal for her services to Landscape Architecture and to Education in 2017. She is recognized nationally and internationally for her textile art. Her works have been selected for major juried international and national exhibitions, publications for public and private collections including the Museum of Art and Design in New York, the National Gallery of Australian and Canberra Museum and Gallery.

Monday 19 May 2025
THE HISTORY OF MUSICALS
Presented by Jamie Hayes
Venue: The Theatrette, Albury Convention Centre, 525 Swift Street, Albury.
Time: 6.00 pm for light refreshments, 6.30 pm lecture start time

A talk which examines the journey of the musical, from its almost accidental beginnings of 150 years ago through to the modern phenomenon which is Hamilton. This illustrated talk will highlight the great musical productions which have graced London’s West End and Broadway. Every great musical has its own story from page to stage- enjoy the great music, the great story and the dynamic theatricality of their finest moments. 

Jamie graduated through RADA as a Stage Manager and worked for Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Bristol Old Vic and the BBC. He became an Assistant Director with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Kent Opera and English National Opera and subsequently directed productions in the UK and overseas, including in Melbourne. Jamie was Associate Director on the original production of Miss Saigon in the West End and on Broadway. Jamie was also Director of Productions for British Youth Opera.

Monday 21 July 2025
PEASANT PASTIMES: THE ART OF PIETER BRUEGEL THE ELDER 
Presented by Sophie Oosterwijk
Venue: The Theatrette, Albury Convention Centre, 525 Swift Street, Albury.
Time: 6.00 pm for light refreshments, 6.30 pm lecture start time

Pieter Bruegel the Elder (d. 1569) is probably best known for his colourful depictions of peasants making merry or toiling in the fields. He also painted religious scenes in the Netherlandish countryside. Although these works lent him the epithet, ‘Peasant Brueghel’, his work was more than just charmingly naïve. He was very much a townsman with a good eye for landscape, who painted for discerning collectors. He also lived in a time of religious and political turmoil that is evident in some of his ‘darker’ works. This lecture will show that there is more to Bruegel than peasant paintings.

Born in Gouda , Sophie has an MA and PhD in English Literature (Leiden), an MA in Medieval Studies (York) and a PhD in Art History (Leicester). She has taught at the universities of St Andrews, Leicester and Manchester, Sotheby’s Institute of Art, National Trust, V&A, U3A, WEA, and organised many talks and tours. Sophie is also a regular lecturer for Cambridge University ,travel companies and is Vice President of the Church Monuments Society. Sophie has published three books and numerous articles.

Monday 18 August 2025
HOW TO GET DOWN FROM A YAK: Adventures in Central Asian Nomadic Textiles
Presented by Chris Aslan
Venue: The Theatrette, Albury Convention Centre, 525 Swift Street, Albury.
Time: 6.00 pm for light refreshments, 6.30 pm lecture start time

Houses made from wool that warm in the depths of winter, carpets that tell stories, woven bands that appease ancestors, embroideries that ward off evil, and kilims that store kitchenware, with everything ready to be packed and carried on a yak or camel at a moment’s notice. The little-known nomadic textile cultures of the Kyrgyz, Turkoman and Karakalpak are explored in this lecture, along with the rise and fall of nomadism and where it fits within the modern world. Chris also shares his own experience of working with nomadic yak herders in the High Pamirs for 3 years.

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 his book “A Carpet Ride to Khiva”.

SPECIAL HALF INTEREST DAY

Sunday 21 September 2024
WHO DONE IT? ALFRED HITCHCOCK
Presented by John Francis
Venue: Albury Library Museum, corner Kiewa and Swift Streets, Albury.
Time: 10.30am – 2pm
Cost: $55

British film director Alfred Hitchcock is often referred to as the ‘master of darkness’. He made over fifty feature films where we often see innocent people were caught up in circumstances beyond their control. His catholic upbringing and uneasy relationship with femininity will be discussed in his early work of the Silent era. London based dramas, Blackmail (1929) and Dial M for Murder (1954) will be closely analysed. Dial M for Murder shows Hitchcock at his obsessive best with his blonde idee fixe, Grace Kelly, under Hitchcock’s powerful male gaze.

John is an inspirational speaker who has delivered lecturers and workshops in the US, Beijing, Malaysia and the UK. Initially trained as a painter, John was awarded the Max Beckmann Memorial Scholarship in painting in Brooklyn, New York and went on to be artist in residence for the state of Texas. Later in his career John produced and directed several short films and animations. He has taught film, art and pedagogy at the University of Exeter, Arts University Bournemouth, University Sains Malaysia, Southwestern College, California, Brunel University, London and Kingston University.

Monday 22 September 2025
I GOT THE DUST BOWL BLUES: Texas and Oklahoma Photography, Art and Music 
Presented by John Francis
Venue: The Theatrette, Albury Convention Centre, 525 Swift Street, Albury.
Time: 6.00 pm for light refreshments, 6.30 pm lecture start time

The Wall Street crash in 1929 led to a questioning of the success of the American dream. President Roosevelt stepped in with the WPA (Works Progress Administration) and the New Deal. The government initiative meant employment for over eight million largely unskilled Americans and importantly 5,300 artists. Murals, painting, photography, graphic design all flourished. In this lecture we will explore some of the key artists at this era. Jackson Pollock will be evaluated along with the social realism of Dorothea Lange and Ben Shahn. The soundtrack of the era is provided by Woody Guthrie and Jimmie Rogers. 

John is an inspirational speaker who has delivered lecturers and workshops in the US, Beijing, Malaysia and the UK. Initially trained as a painter, John was awarded the Max Beckmann Memorial Scholarship in painting in Brooklyn, New York and went on to be artist in residence for the state of Texas. Later in his career John produced and directed several short films and animations. He has taught film, art and pedagogy at the University of Exeter, Arts University Bournemouth, University Sains Malaysia, Southwestern College, California, Brunel University, London and Kingston University.

Monday 20 October 2025
MYSTICAL SIGNS AND SYSTEMS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD
Presented by Eileen Goulding
Venue: The Theatrette, Albury Convention Centre, 525 Swift Street, Albury.
Time: 6.00 pm for light refreshments, 6.30 pm lecture start time

Since the dawn of civilisation, mankind has tried to understand and control the unseen powers of the sky, the earth, the seas and life itself. Ancient peoples left clues to their belief systems in all corners of the world in symbols, inscriptions, monuments and artefacts from the Aztec Calendar Stone and the Spear of Destiny to magic circles and Navaho sand paintings. I will examine in detail the mysteries of these ancient symbols of our ancestors and their desire to control the Universe.

Eileen has an MA from the Department of Archaeology at the University of London, is a published author and an authority on the ancient cultures of the world. She specialises in the History and Culture of the ancient worlds of the Mediterranean, South America and Australasia and spends her time doing further research and giving lectures to The Arts Society, on cruise ships and to various local organisations. Her first book “What Did the Poor Take with Them? “is an academic treatise on Ancient Egyptian funerary goods, while her second book “Understanding Ancient Egypt” is a more accessible introduction to the subject.

Monday 17 November 2025
READING THE LANDSCAPE 
Presented by Trisha Dixon
Venue: The Theatrette, Albury Convention Centre, 525 Swift Street, Albury.
Time: 6.00 pm for light refreshments, 6.30 pm lecture start time

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. 

Trisha is a writer and a photographer with a passion for landscape, literature, music, art and history. She has written, co-authored, edited and photographed a number of books, has edited journals and contributed as a columnist to various publications, lectured widely, sits on the Official Establishments Trust, and Winifred West Schools Company. Trisha’s latest book Adagio is a meditative look at living an environmentally attuned life, bringing her wide-ranging interests in philosophy, music, art, photography, nature, and the environment.