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Handshake Computer Training.
Past Lectures
8 January 2025
Anne Haworth
The Ming Dynasty – Power, Craftsmanship and Tea in China’s Empire of Brightness
The Ming Dynasty came to power in 1368. Ming translates as bright and the first emperors
of this new dynasty were regarded as semi-divine and blessed by the 'Mandate of Heaven'.
China's new capital city, Beijing, had massive fortified walls which protected the Imperial
Palace - the Forbidden City.
Fine craftsmanship developed under the patronage of the emperors including the making of
glittering gold vessels which reflected the brightness of the new dynasty, brilliantly coloured
red lacquer, jade sculptures and porcelain vessels including the legendary 'Ming Vases'.
Lustrous silk was made into robes and tiny embroidered shoes for ladies with bound 'golden
lotus' feet.
4 December 2024
Anna Bianco
Decoding the Saints – Medieval Saints and their Symbols
Can you ever remember which saint is which? Who carries the wheel? And which John is
the one with the lamb and which is the one with chalice and snake? This lecture is designed
to give members the edge when travelling around the churches, galleries and museums of
UK and Europe – helping them to ‘decode’ the saints.
The lecture explores the visual splendours that were created to glorify saints, martyrs and
important Christian figures. Drawing from paintings, metal work, sculpture and manuscripts
the lecture explores ancient saints such as St Stephen (the first Christian martyr) to historic
saints such as St Thomas Becket and St Louis IX King of France.
6 November 2024
Sally Dormer
Mosaics and Marbles in 5th & 6th Century Ravenna
The modest city of Ravenna, situated near the Adriatic coast in north-eastern Italy, hides an
illustrious past filled with glittering treasures.
In 402 A.D. Honorius, the Roman Emperor, moved the capital of the Western Roman empire
from Milan to Ravenna, and furnished the city with churches clad in glistening mosaics and
coloured marbles.
Ravenna flourished after the demise of the Western Roman Empire under King Theodoric as
capital of the Ostrogothic kingdom, who enriched it with further splendid mosaic-filled
monuments.
Study Day
Wednesday 16th October 2024 at Grange Hall
Ian Cockburn
Moorish Architecture: The Legacy of a Vanished Kingdom
The Alhambra of Granada, the Great Mosque of Cordoba and the Alcazar of Seville
are the three most impressive monuments to the architectural creativity of the
Moors in Spain, but there are many other examples worthy of mention too. The
classical origins that influenced the Moorish style are less well-known, but
fascinating to explore, as too is the unique interior decorative style developed by
the Moors, which gives their architecture its beauty and exotic appeal – an
appeal so strong that the Christians sometimes copied it, even as they slowly
reconquered the territory from its Islamic rulers.
This lecture provides a comprehensive introduction to the peninsula’s Moorish
architecture.
2 October 2024
Jennifer Toynbee-Holmes
The Ballet Russe – when Art danced with Music
When Diaghilev created ballet in the west in the early twentieth century, he brought
extraordinary revolutionary energy from Russia.
3/7/24
Susan Kay-Williams
History of the Royal School of Needlework
In 2022 the Royal School of Needlework (RSN) will celebrate its 150th anniversary. It was
founded to keep hand embroidery alive and to offer suitable occupation to educated women
who would otherwise have been destitute. Today it is a thriving centre of hand embroidery
education to the highest level.
This lecture, goes behind the scenes to tell the story of the last 150 years and the School’s
changing fortunes including: being part of the ‘Kensington set’; the links with the Arts and
Crafts and Aestheticism movements; the connection with the SAS; the move to Hampton
Court Palace and the variety of commissions the RSN has undertaken from wedding
dresses to Oscar gowns and from runway garments to ecclesiastical vestments.
5/6/24
Ian Swankie
Thomas Heatherwick – A Modern Leonardo?
The past decade has seen the meteoric rise of this extraordinarily versatile British designer
with his acclaimed Olympic cauldron, the iconic new London bus and designs for a
spectacular new HQ building for Google. Over the last twenty years the Heatherwick Studio
has used an intriguing combination of curiosity and experimentation to produce a vast range
of solutions to design challenges around the world.
This talk looks at the problems presented, and the wonderfully creative ways in which
Heatherwick and his team have responded.
Visit to Ely Cathedral
Tuesday, May 21st. 2024
Meet at TOMKINS butchers to board the coach at 9.00am in Radcliffe on
Trent or at 9.10am at the WHITE LION on the main street in Bingham.
The coach will drop us at the entrance to the Cathedral, where a guided
tour is booked for 11.30am. An optional extra at the Cathedral is a visit to
the wonderful Stained Glass Museum, which is accessed by 47 steps.
There is No LIFT.
Lunch is available in the Almonry, but this is NOT included in the price for
the visit. There are also many excellent places in Ely, which you might
like to explore.
The coach will depart from the Cathedral for home at 4.00pm.
The prices for the day are:
Travel and Cathedral Guided Tour: £34.50
Travel, Cathedral Guided Tour and Stained Glass Museum £40.50
1/5/24
Julia Marwood
Introducing the Scottish Colourists
The Scottish Colourists are now acknowledged as one of the most talented, experimental
and distinctive groups in twentieth century British art. Their love of Paris in the Belle Époque
gave them an early understanding of developments in French modern art, from Manet and
the Impressionists to Matisse and the Fauves. Their simple, vibrant and engaging works
combine avant-garde influences with an art for art’s sake joie de vivre.
This lecture introduces the lives of S J Peploe, J D Fergusson, G L Hunter and F C B Cadell
and provides a taste of their joyful and uplifting work.
3/4/24
Dr Paul Roberts
Palmyra – Bride of the Desert
In this talk we look at one of the most beautiful cities of the ancient world, the fabled city of
Palmyra, in the Syrian desert. Palmyra arose on a trade route that brought silk, spices and
other luxuries across the desert from the east. Her wealth and power are displayed in
gorgeous monuments, while her people, wealthy, sophisticated and cosmopolitan, are
preserved in their hauntingly beautiful funeral portraits.
Palmyra became so powerful during the Roman empire that its warrior queen Zenobia
challenged Rome itself. We’ll see Palmyra’s meteoric rise and its dramatic fall, its
rediscovery by English lords, its influence on art and architecture, and then its desecration
by Isis. But we finish with the hope that beautiful Palmyra will rise again…
6/3/24
Lois Oliver
Boris Anrep and the National Gallery Mosaics
Visitors to the National Gallery are often surprised to find at their feet mosaics featuring a
host of famous characters, including Winston Churchill, Virginia Woolf, and Greta Garbo,
even Lewis Carroll’s Alice and a Christmas pudding. This exuberant mosaic cycle was
created by the Russian artist Boris Anrep between 1926 and 1952. A larger-than-life
character, Boris Anrep was an intimate of the Bloomsbury Group and a close friend of
Augustus John and Anna Akhmatova. His exploits included deeds of derring-do in occupied
France, competing in the men’s doubles at Wimbledon, and a colourful love-life.
This is an account of an extraordinary man and his work, by the author of Boris Anrep: The
National Gallery mosaics.
7/2/24
Nicholas Merchant
Linley – The Continuing Tradition of English Cabinet Making
David Linley has established himself as one of the leading furniture designers of our day. His
furniture is inspired by the past, re-interpreted for the 21st century. Fortunately he is not
alone and the craft of the cabinet maker flourishes in this age of mediocrity. In this fully-
illustrated talk, prepared in conjunction with Linley, we examine his work, his style, his
inspiration and how his work relates to the history of cabinet-making in Britain. In making this
lecture it is interesting to discover that many of the parameters that governed the life of say,
an 18th century cabinet maker still hold good to-day.
The search for patrons, the marketing of the finished article, the construction of the furniture
and the financing of the business all raise their heads just as they did 250 years ago.
3/1/24
Clare Ford-Willie
Rubens – The Master and his Workshop
Rubens was one of the greatest artists of the 17th century, with prestigious commissions
from the rulers of Spain, England, Italy and France. His oil sketches are extraordinary and
his subject matter from altarpieces and portraits to landscape and paintings of everyday life
so wide-ranging.
Above all his technique in his liquid and spontaneous oil sketches was influential upon
artists to the present day. Many artists worked for him, including Anthony van Dyck, and he
was one of the most remarkable and efficient organisers of his large workshop, from his
beautiful house in Antwerp, still existing today.