Sunshine Coast

​Sunday 30 March 2025
BBC TV’s ANTIQUES ROADSHOW EXPERT PRESENTS: “The ArtsNational Sunshine Coast Roadshow”
Presented by Marc Allum
Time & Venue: 2.00-4.15pm, Lecture Theatre 1, K Block at the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) Sippy Downs

Session 1   2.00-3.00pm The Antiques Roadshow: Behind the Scenes and the Great Discoveries
A firsthand and fascinating insight behind the nation’s most popular antiques program.

Session 2   3.15-4.15pm Bring an Object
Based on the age-old Antiques Roadshow premise of people arriving with their personal objects and Marc spontaneously deciphering them to the audience.

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.

​Sunday 13 April 2025
SILVER IN MOTION: Gold & Silver Automatons of Supreme Craft & Beauty
Presented by Anne Harbers
Time & Venue: 3.00pm, Lecture Theatre 1, K Block at the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) Sippy Downs

Automatons – an area of decorative arts which is a combination of devices sought to explain the world to their collectors and makers. objects of silver and gold, as well as clock making. Automatons have for centuries been a symbol of aristocratic play and wealth, made to amuse and entertain. In this talk Anne will look at Galleons and stags as well as swans and peacocks, beautifully crafted and mechanically clever. These princely mechanical devices sought to explain the world to their collectors and makers.

Anne Harbers received her M. Art History from University of Sydney in 2014 and is currently living part-time in The Netherlands whilst working on her PhD on the 17th century Dutch painter, Abraham van Beyeren. She also holds an MBA & Masters research degree in science and worked for 30 years in medical research & international business. She currently works as a University lecturer within the Business faculty. Her current art history research interests lie in Dutch 17th century art, and 17th & 18th century European Art & Decorative Arts. She has published on collecting, art and science.

​Sunday 18 May 2025
WILD ABOUT OSCAR: Famous for being Famous and Infamous…
Presented by Simon Whitehouse
Time & Venue: 3.00pm, Lecture Theatre 1, K Block at the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) Sippy Downs

Simon Whitehouse examines the life and times of Oscar Wilde from his Irish roots to his days as a student at Oxford and his meteoric rise to the heights of celebrity. We travel with him to the United States and examine his starring role within the artistic & theatrical worlds of late 19th century London. We visit his home in bohemian Chelsea and some of his favourite West End haunts. Finally, we learn how ‘tired of being in the heights, he plunged into the depths’ and became famous for being infamous…

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.

​Sunday 15 June 2025
THE ART OF MAPS: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern
Presented by John Williamson
Time & Venue: 3.00pm, Lecture Theatre 1, K Block at the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) Sippy Downs

This lecture discusses the development of maps of the world and the gradual improvement of maps for shipping, maps of the world, the addition of longitude and latitude, what maps show and what they leave out. Maps record, define and change our world and the art in them is beautiful and Intriguing.

John is currently the Coordinator of Humanities and Senior Teacher, Fahan School. Until 2019 John was also Associate Lecturer Bachelor of Antarctic Studies Programme, IASOS, at the University of Tasmania. He has operated as a Historian / Guide for the Quark Expeditions, “The Wonders of the Ross Sea” Antarctic Voyage and Researcher and Tour Guide for “Hobart’s Waterways Tours”, Hobart City Council. John has also been an Antarctic History Researcher, ‘Antarctic Tasmania’, Department of Premier and Cabinet, Tasmanian Government. John has written numerous published articles on his areas of interest.

​Sunday 20 July 2025
THE INCA: Children of the Sun
Presented by Maria Chester
Time & Venue: 3.00pm, Lecture Theatre 1, K Block at the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) Sippy Downs

The Maya were one of the ancient world’s most fascinating, prolific and mysterious civilisations. The Maya occupied Central America, including the southern parts of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. The earliest evidence of this culture is found in the South of Guatemala. We know about Maya’s myth of Creation because it is described in written in two sacred books:  “PopolVuh” and “Chilam Balam  of Chumayel”. Maya language was written by using hieroglyphs.

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.

​Sunday 24 August 2025
THE RIJKSMUSEUM IN AMSTERDAM: Rembrandt’s Night Watch and Much, Much More
Presented by Sophie Oosterwijk
Time & Venue: 3.00pm, Lecture Theatre 1, K Block at the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) Sippy Downs

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.

​Sunday 21 September 2025
RUSSIAN ART AND REVOLUTION: Suprematism to Socialist Realism
Presented by Anna Moszynska
Time & Venue: 3.00pm, Lecture Theatre 1, K Block at the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) Sippy Downs

Anna explores Russian pioneer artists of the early 20th century (including Kasimir Malevich, El Lissitzky, Vladimir Tatlin, Aleksandr Rodchenko, Lyubov Popova and Varvara Stepanova). For a brief period before Soviet Socialist Realism took hold, Russian artists pursued an unprecedented degree of experimentation. Freely crossing between art, design, photography and film, they defined and celebrated the formation of a new society, their divergent art practices still inspiring artists today.   

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.

​Sunday 26 October 2025
FAKES AND FORTUNES: Or Have I found a Constable in My Attic?
Presented by Sarah Cove
Time & Venue: 3.00pm, Lecture Theatre 1, K Block at the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) Sippy Downs

Sarah Cove is regularly contacted by people that think they have a found a previously unknown Constable!! Some have, some have not, as you will see in this lecture. Stories will include, at opposite extremes, a hugely publicised oil sketch reputedly worth £250,000 that turned out to be a copy and the chance discovery of a fabulous, almost abstract, oil study of the 1830s that had formerly belonged to an American G.I

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 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. Her presentations are lively, enthusiastic and passionate about her work and research.  

​Sunday 23 November 2025
TWO AUSTRALIAN WOMEN TRAILBLAZERS: The artists Emily Kam Kngwarreye and Mavis Ngallametta
Presented by Sally Butler
Time & Venue: 3.00pm, Lecture Theatre 1, K Block at the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) Sippy Downs

The late artists, Emily Kam Kngwarreye (c1910-1996) and Mavis Ngallametta (1944-2019), are two of the great trailblazers in Australian art. They changed the shape of how Australians see the country’s central desert and northern wetlands, and how local and international audiences think about Aboriginal art. This lecture tracks the evolution of their artistic output and contextualises their inspiration within the unique characteristics of their spectacular homelands country and lives.

Sally Butler is Associate Professor of Art History at the University of Queensland and formerly a Senior Education Officer at the Queensland Art Gallery and an Associate Editor and feature writer for Art Collector magazine. She has published widely in Australian and international journals and several books. Sally is the author and curator of the 2007 publication and international touring exhibition titled Our Way, Contemporary Aboriginal Art from Lockhart River and is one of the editors of the Australia and New Zealand Journal of Art. She was editor of the book Fully Exploited Labour, Pat Hoffie, 2008 and author of a book chapter on the Arnhem Land artist John Mawurndjul.