Sunshine Coast

​Sunday 15 March 2026
ALBRECHT DÜRER: LIFE, EGO AND AFTERLIFE
Presented by Albert Godetzky
Time & Venue: 3.00pm, Lecture Theatre 1, K Block at the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) Sippy Downs

In his day, Albrecht Dürer was a larger-than-life figure. Through the high quality of his woodcutting, and the facility with which printed culture could be disseminated, Dürer became an international success. Not a stranger to a mode of self-fashioning that would sit comfortably in today’s social media channels, Dürer crafted a lasting legacy for his art through his prints, paintings, and copious writing. This lecture traces the artist’s origins in his goldsmith father’s workshop in Nuremberg, his ambitious travels in Italy and subsequent patronage by the Habsburgs

Albert Godetzky received his PhD on Haarlem Mannerism from the Courtauld Institute where he was Associate Lecturer in Early Modern Art until 2025. He has worked at several European institutions including the National Gallery, London, as the Harry M. Weinrebe Curatorial Fellow. He is currently a lead researcher for a private collection in the Netherlands and is preparing a book length biography of the Dutch artist Hendrick Goltzius for Reaktion Press.

​Sunday 19 April 2026
DRESSING SYDNEY: THE JEWISH FASHION STORY
Presented by Peter McNeil
Time & Venue: 3.00pm, Lecture Theatre 1, K Block at the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) Sippy Downs

Thousands of Jewish migrants fled Nazism and many arrived in Australia in the 1930s and ‘40s. A large number proceeded to work in the clothing and appearance industries, also known as the
‘rag trade’. The focus is Sydney and the subplot is ‘Dressing Sydney: The Jewish Fashion Story’. Learn how a whole working-class district – Surry Hills – was remade between the wars, then transformed again in the 1980s as our economy was restructured.

Dr Peter McNeil FAHA, is a Distinguished Professor of Design History, and a leading international scholar in the fields of design history, fashion studies and material culture. He was Foundation Professor of Fashion Studies in Sweden, and Academy of Finland Distinguished Professor, Helsinki. He has published widely, including Pretty Gentlemen on the 18th century’s Macaroni Men, and has worked with communities and museums around the world.

​Sunday 24 May 2026
AUGUST RODIN AND 19TH CENTURY SCULPTURE
Presented by David Worthington
Time & Venue: 3.00pm, Lecture Theatre 1, K Block at the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) Sippy Downs

Rodin is one of the heroic figures of 19th century art history and was internationally celebrated during his lifetime. But after his death his reputation slipped and there were questions about his use of the female image. Now that is very much being reassessed and he is seen as having in one career taken sculpture on a revolutionary path equivalent to what the Realists, Impressionists and Post Impressionists did with many careers. This lecture surveys his work showing why he is one of the greatest sculptors ever, looking at his work in relationship to 19th century sculpture as well assessing his continuing relevance.

David Worthington has been drawn to abstract sculpture since seeing a Barbara Hepworth in a school
history book aged 10. He graduated from Oxford University in 1984 with a degree in Philosophy and Theology, then studied Fine Art in London, Barcelona and New York. David is a Fellow of The Royal Society of Sculptors and was Vice President in 2010-13. He has carried out public commissions in the UK, America and Japan.

​Sunday 28 June 2026
ON THE WILD SIDE: Filming Creatures Great and Small
Presented by Pieter de Vries
Time & Venue: 3.00pm, Lecture Theatre 1, K Block at the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) Sippy Downs

“In this lecture, I’ll share my techniques for capturing extraordinary images for Sir David Attenborough and National Geographic. From playful Macaque monkeys in China to majestic Cassowaries in Northern Australia, I’ll illustrate my presentation with segments from my nature documentaries.”

Sydney filmmaker Pieter de Vries is one of the leading documentary cinematographers in the world, travelling six months of the year to every imaginable location. His career has seen him filming the Red Army in China, rats in the sewers of New York, and the wreck of the Titanic with director James Cameron. Pieter has contributed to programs hosted by Sir David Attenborough and was Director of Photography for Darwin’s Lost Paradise. His numerous awards have included Cinematographer of the Year, and an Emmy nomination. His work has featured on NBC, BBC, History, Discovery and National Geographic Channels, as well as on ABC Television.

​Sunday 19 July 2026
PAINTBRUSHES AT DAWN: The World’s Greatest Artistic Feuds, Rows and Quarrels
Presented by Barry Venning
Time & Venue: 3.00pm, Lecture Theatre 1, K Block at the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) Sippy Downs

The celebrated controversialist, Christopher Hitchens, once wrote that a first rate bust up requires
one of at least two things: a clash of strong personalities, and a conflict of principles. The history of
art is peppered with first rate bust ups: between the Renaissance artists, Brunelleschi and Ghiberti,
between Constable and Turner in the early 1830s, between Salvador Dali and the Surrealist leader,
Andre Breton in the 1930s and, most recently, between the graffiti artists Banksy and ‘King’ Robbo,
who painted over each other’s works. There are many more. They are highly entertaining, but they
also highlight key issues in art history.

Barry Venning is an art historian whose interests and teaching range from the art of late medieval Europe to global contemporary art. He has published books, articles and exhibition catalogue essays on Turner, Constable and European landscape painting, but also has an ongoing research interest in postcolonial art and British visual satire. He works as a consultant and associate lecturer for the Open University. His media work includes two BBC TV documentaries, radio appearances for BBC local radio and ABC Australia, and a DVD on Turner for the Tate.

​Sunday 16 August 2026
PERSEPOLIS: Art, Architecture and Ideology of the Persian Empire
Presented by James Renshaw
Time & Venue: 3.00pm, Lecture Theatre 1, K Block at the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) Sippy Downs

The Persian empire exploded into life during the middle of the 6th century BC and was the largest empire in the world for the next two centuries. In around 515, its third Great King, Darius I, commissioned the building of a new city, Persepolis, with his palace at its centre. We know a great deal about this palace, and one of its central features, the Apadana Staircase, can be seen in replica in the British Museum. What can this palace and its art tell us about the ideology of this extraordinary, influential empire?

Following a degree in Classics from Oxford University, James has taught Classics at secondary school level since 1998, including early in his career at Sydney Grammar School. He currently teaches at Godolphin and Latymer in London; here he runs the school’s Ancient World Breakfast Club, which has an ethos similar to that of The Arts Society. Since 1998, James has published a number of textbooks related to the classical world, including In Search of the Greeks and In Search of the Romans. James has also lectured for the V&A Academy, most recently on their Classical World and its Afterlife and Classicism from the Ancients to the Renaissance courses. James is a keen traveller and photographer of ancient sites.

​Sunday 20 September 2026
THE WORLD OF PEARLS
Presented by Claire Blatherwick
Time & Venue: 3.00pm, Lecture Theatre 1, K Block at the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) Sippy Downs

The allure of pearls has been documented from ancient times and there is evidence of the use of pearls in the Arabian Gulf region dating back to 4000BC. In ancient Rome, according to legend, Venus herself was born of the sea like a pearl. The Romans thought pearls were formed from the teardrops of the gods, or perhaps as a result of clams capturing dewdrops in the moonlight. This talk looks at the amazing variety of types of pearls, from those produced by oysters to marine snails, how they are found and some of the most famous pearls in the world, including those that belonged to Mary Queen of Scots.

Clare Blatherwick is an independent jewellery consultant based in Scotland. She has over twenty years of experience in the jewellery business, ten of which were spent as Head of Jewellery for Bonhams in Scotland, a role which saw her travel internationally searching for wonderful jewels to be auctioned around the globe. She has a keen interest in the historical aspect of jewellery and has lectured and appeared on various TV programmes in the UK and US as a jewellery expert.

​Sunday 25 October 2026
THE JAPANESE GARDEN IN THE WEST: 100 Years of Eastern Influence
Presented by Amanda Herries
Time & Venue: 3.00pm, Lecture Theatre 1, K Block at the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) Sippy Downs

The serenity, asymmetry and control of a Japanese garden is a seductive contrast to Western symmetry, form and free growth. Even at the time of Japan’s self-imposed isolation, 1639-1854, information reached the West about trees, plants, flowers and designs through illustrations on imported porcelain, lacquer and screens. Once Japan opened up, travellers and plant-hunters were able to bring back information about the gardens, and the plants themselves. Japanese garden styles became highly fashionable into the 20th century, with several still identifiable. Tracing the origins of garden styles, the plants used and the surviving Western examples we can ask; is it possible to create a ‘Japanese’ garden outside Japan, or do we merely give it a Japanese voice?

Amanda Herries read Archaeology & Anthropology at Cambridge. 1978-1988 she was Curator at Museum of London specialising in the decorative arts 1714 to present day, exhibitions, lectures, booklets, broadcasts. 1988-1995 Amanda moved with family to Japan, lecturing and writing on Oriental / Western cross-cultural and artistic influences. 1995 she returned to UK, fundraising for arts companies, writing, lecturing and guiding tours to Japan and curating exhibitions. Most recent publications on Japanese plant and garden influences in the West and the life of Henry Raeburn, Scotland’s foremost portrait painter.

​Sunday 15 November 2026
RECONSIDERING ‘VERNACULAR’ ROADSIDE ART:A Global History of Big Things
Presented by Dr Amy Clarke
Time & Venue: 3.00pm, Lecture Theatre 1, K Block at the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) Sippy Downs

Derided as low-brow ‘kitsch’, ‘Big Things’ have long been ignored by architectural and art historians. Supersized roadside statues exist in almost every country, with substantial numbers in Indonesia, France, Tunisia, Brazil, Malaysia, Türkiye, Israel, Belgium, and more.This arts talk will demonstrate that there are distinct regional trends and typologies that can be ‘read’ as indicators of the socio-cultural traits or qualities that peoples in these places value most.

Dr Amy Clarke is the Associate Dean (Learning & Teaching) of the School of Law and Society at the University of the Sunshine Coast. She is an internationally-recognised architectural historian of Big Things, and has had her research featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Guardian, as well as on Australia’s popular ABC Radio program ‘Conversations’. Dr Clarke specialises in heritage (particularly architectural), identity politics, and Scottish and Australian socio-cultural histories. She is an elected Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries Scotland and a Full International member of ICOMOS, and appears regularly on Australian radio as a cultural history and heritage commentator.