Scone

ADFAS Scone welcomes you. 

ADFAS Scone has been running successfully for over 30 years. Our longevity is testament to our dedicated and hard-working members many who have been there since our inception.  We are a small society, but our enthusiasm and commitment are large, with members come from wide and far. We endeavour to provide an interesting and informative lecture hosted by lecturers who excel in their subject matter.

A light supper or morning tea and drinks follow every lecture giving a chance to socialise in a welcoming and friendly environment. Our lectures are held in the beautifully restored Arts & Crafts Hall in the centre of town, a fitting venue to absorb both beauty and knowledge. As our founding chairman said, “However obscure the topic, we aim to send members and guests home richer in knowledge, refreshed in body and uplifted in spirit!” Come and discover what we offer.

Lectures:

Venue:
ADFAS Scone lectures are held at the beautifully restored old Catholic church that is now the Scone Arts and Crafts Centre, 63 Kingdon Street where adequate street parking is available. 

Time:
Our lectures commence in the evening at 6:30pm

Membership:
Annual membership – $150
To join email: scone@adfas.org.au

Guests welcome:
$30 per lecture

Contact:
For all enquiries please email: scone@adfas.org.au
Postal Address: PO Box 112 Scone NSW, 2337
ABN: 39 468 761 041

Committee
Chair: Sandy Payne   Ph: 0412 979 000
Treasurer: Kerry Cooke
Secretary: Hilary Nicol

2025 PROGRAM

Tuesday 11 March 2025
ANTARTICA
Presented by Dr Wej Paradice AM
Time & Venue: 6.30pm, Scone Arts & Crafts Hall

Wej will share stories about the fascinating history, stunning scenery, and the future challenges of Antarctica, a magical place at the bottom of the world. A capable sailor Wej has sailed from Punta Arenas, Chile, through the Straits of Magellan and the Beagle Channel to Cape Horn, then on to Antarctica, South Georgia Island, and finally to Cape Town, South Africa via Tristan da Cunha. A highlight was retracing Shackleton’s journey across the Scotia Sea from Elephant Island and then part of his hike across South Georgia Island to the now abandoned whaling station at Stromness. Wej returned to Antarctica on a Russian Icebreaker ‘Akademik Sergey Vavilov’ as part of a World Wildlife Fund (WWF) voyage. While this voyage included some familiar locations in the South Shetland Islands they also spent more time on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsular in the Lemaire Channel including camping out on Kerr Point on Ronge Island.

Wej was born and bred in Scone and spent 30 years as CEO and Director of Research at the Hunter Valley Research Foundation. He was also a Trustee of the Hunter Catchment Management Trust and the Chair of the Hunter Central Rivers Catchment Management Authority as well as involvement in numerous other committees and organisations.

BOOK HERE: scone@adfas.org.au

​Tuesday 1 April 2025
GLORIOUS DOMES: From the Pantheon to the Taj Mahal
Presented by Sue Rollin
Time & Venue: 6.30pm, Scone Arts & Crafts Hall

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.

BOOK HERE: scone@adfas.org.au

​Tuesday 29 April 2025
REGENERATIVE FARMING
Presented by Kylie Woodham
Time & Venue: 6.30pm, Scone Arts & Crafts Hall

The connection between soil health, gut health and mental health is paramount to all humans. Magners Farm formed in 2017 produces pasture raised eggs, vegetables, heritage Oxford Sandy and Black pigs, cattle, and sheep to enhance and invigorate soil health. The aim is for nutritionally dense organic produce with high welfare and a positive impact environmentally and socially. Michelin Star restaurants are about great food by great chefs that starts from great produce.

From a horse racing and breeding start to PR for that industry, to a regenerative farm that leads the world in economic, environmental, and social measures Kylie has worked her way through it to her current life in Scone as a mother and speaker and social media, advertising, and event manager.

BOOK HERE: scone@adfas.org.au

​Tuesday 27 May 2025
THE COLOURS OF VENICE
Presented by Alice Foster
Time & Venue: 6.30pm, Scone Arts & Crafts Hall

Discover the unique character of Venetian art, shaped by the city’s geography and atmospheric light, with the respected art historian Alice Foster. This lecture explores how Venetian masters like Bellini and Titian used colour and texture to create vivid masterpieces and favoured elsewhere in Italy during the Renaissance. From the mosaics of San Marco by unknown craftsmen, to the comedic narratives of Carpaccio and Longhi, discover the rich tradition of Venetian painting with Alice.

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.

BOOK HERE: scone@adfas.org.au

​Tuesday 29 July 2025
HOW TO GET DOWN FROM A YAK: Adventures in Central Asian Nomadic Textiles
Presented by Chris Aslan
Time & Venue: 6.30pm, Scone Arts & Crafts Hall

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”.

BOOK HERE: scone@adfas.org.au

​Tuesday 26 August 2025
THE GENIUS OF STRADIVARI
Presented by Toby Faber
Time & Venue: 6.30pm, Scone Arts & Crafts Hall

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 violinmaker 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 auditoriums around the world.

After investment banking, management consulting and five years as managing director of the publishing company founded by his grandfather, Toby remains on the board of Faber and Faber, is non-executive Chairman of its sister company, Faber Music, and a director of Liverpool University Press.

BOOK HERE: scone@adfas.org.au

​Tuesday 23 September 2025
PAINTING THE MODERN GARDEN – From Monet to Matisse
Presented by Lydia Bauman
Time & Venue: 6.30pm, Scone Arts & Crafts Hall

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.

BOOK HERE: scone@adfas.org.au

​Tuesday 4 November 2025
THE TRUE STORY BEHIND THE WORLD’S BIGGEST ART HEIST
Presented by Georgina Bexon
Time & Venue: 6.30pm, Scone Arts & Crafts Hall

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’.

Georgina Bexon is an international art historian, a Consultant Art Historian at the Oriental Club in London and a tour guide at Tate Modern. Georgina holds 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.

BOOK HERE: scone@adfas.org.au

​Tuesday 25 November 2025
Time & Venue: 6.30pm, Scone Arts & Crafts Hall
AGM

Please join us for our AGM. 

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