Orange & Districts

Wednesday 26 March 2025
SECRETS OF THE SERAIL: Behind The Scenes At The Ottoman Court
Presented by Sue Rollin
Time & Venue: 6pm for 6:30pm start, Holy Trinity Church Hall, corner of Anson and Byng St, Orange

A taste of the world of the Ottoman court within the palaces of Istanbul: the Topkapi Palace with its courts, pavilions, gardens and fountains, the Dolmabahce Palace, a 19C extravaganza, and other waterfront residences along the Bosphorus. We glimpse court life and ceremonial through the eyes of European writers and artists and as recorded by the Ottomans themselves: we study the costumes, jewels, ceramics and other treasures of the sultans and enter the harem, a palace within a palace, guarded by the black eunuchs, where the Sultan’s concubines were secluded from the world outside and the Queen Mother reigned supreme.

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 ADFAS lecture tours.

Wednesday 16 April 2025
KENNETH JACK: A Lost Master of Australian Landscape
Presented by Gavin Fry
Time & Venue: 6pm for 6:30pm start, Holy Trinity Church Hall, corner of Anson and Byng St, Orange

Kenneth Jack was one of the most admired and successful artists of the 1950s and 60s, yet today he has almost disappeared from the mainstream narrative on Australian art. Why do artists fall in and out of fashion, prominent to one generation, invisible to the next? This lecture looks at both the personal career of the artist and the big picture of developments in Australian art in the second half of the 20th Century.

Gavin Fry is an art historian, writer and artist with 50 years’ experience working in Australian museums, galleries and educational institutions. He is the author of 29 books on Australian art and history.

Wednesday 21 May 2025
THE SCOTTISH COLOURISTS
Presented by Alice Foster
Time & Venue: 6pm for 6:30pm start, Holy Trinity Church Hall, corner of Anson and Byng St, Orange

In the early twentieth century Samuel Peploe, J.D. Fergusson, F.C.B. Cadell and G. Leslie Hunter were never a cohesive movement but were united by their love of colour and light – and of Scotland and France. Trained professionally in Edinburgh, they rejected the dour atmosphere of that city for places such as the magical island of Iona on the west coast of Scotland; Paris, and the south of France. Their subjects were new and exciting, their brushwork freer than previously known in Edinburgh. Today they are applauded for fusing elements of Scottish heritage with aspects of the Parisian avant-garde.

Alice 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.

Wednesday 25 June 2025
MYTH AND LEGEND IN SHADOW THEATRE
Presented by Dr Sam Bowker
Time & Venue: 6pm for 6:30pm start, Holy Trinity Church Hall, corner of Anson and Byng St, Orange

The alleyways of Cairo were once inhabited by living shadows. The art of khayal al-zill has been translated as Arabic for shadow theatre, but it is more accurately the ‘theatre of the imagination’. Our experimental concert ‘Thief of Stars’ was developed as a reinvention of this heritage, asking “What if Aladdin and Faust were the same story?” This unique lecture introduces the craft and performance traditions of shadow puppetry across the world. From historic wayang kulit to the contemporary innovations of Manual Cinema, we will learn about the rarely-seen history of one of the world’s oldest and most mysterious art forms – the uncanny shadows that preceded both photography and television, which continue to dance today.

Dr Sam Bowker is the Senior Lecturer in Art History and Visual Culture at Charles Sturt University. Beyond developing Australia’s leading ‘Islamic art and design’ subject for university students, he has curated diverse international exhibitions and published widely on the history of khayamiya (Egyptian tentmaker applique).

Wednesday 23 July 2025
HOW TO GET DOWN FROM A YAK: Adventures in Central Asian Nomadic Textiles
Presented by Chris Aslan
Time & Venue: 6pm for 6:30pm start, Holy Trinity Church Hall, corner of Anson and Byng St, Orange

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”.

Wednesday 20 August 2025
THE GENIUS OF STRADIVARI
Presented by Toby Faber
Time & Venue: 6pm for 6:30pm start, Holy Trinity Church Hall, corner of Anson and Byng St, Orange

250 years after Antonio Stradivari’s death, his violins and cellos remain the world’s most highly-prized instruments. Loved by great musicians and capable of fetching fabulous sums when sold, their tone and beauty are legendary. Every subsequent violin-maker has tried to match them. Not one has succeeded. How can that be? This lecture explores that central mystery by following some of Stradivari’s instruments from his workshop to the present day. It is a story that travels from the salons of Vienna to the concert halls of New York, from the breakthroughs of Beethoven’s last quartets to the first phonographic recordings. (The lecture includes musical extracts.)

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.

Wednesday 17 September 2025
PAINTING THE MODERN GARDEN – From Monet to Matisse
Presented by Lydia Bauman
Time & Venue: 6pm for 6:30pm start, Holy Trinity Church Hall, corner of Anson and Byng St, Orange

Explore the connection between art and gardens in this lecture by Lydia Bauman, an accomplished art historian. From Monet to Matisse, artists have drawn inspiration from gardens, making them the subjects of their work. As the modern garden has evolved, through innovations like hybridization and glasshouses, new art movements have arisen and developed. From the 1860s onwards, Lydia will trace how changes in gardens have influenced art and offer fresh insights into how nature and creativity intersect.

Lydia was born in Poland and studied for her BA in Fine Art at University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne 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.

Wednesday 29 October 2025
HOW TO UNDERSTAND MODERN ART
Presented by Georgina Bexon
Time & Venue: 6pm for 6:30pm start, Holy Trinity Church Hall, corner of Anson and Byng St, Orange

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

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 is also presents at leading art institutions and international art conferences, most recently in New York, Paris and Lisbon. Georgina holds a BA in Art History from Southampton University, an MA in Arts Management and Policy from City, University of London and an MA in Art History from SOAS, University of London. Georgina is a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Arts Scholars and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and the Royal Asiatic Society.