Many artists depict the scenes around them and look at their surroundings for inspiration. However, other artists create their own worlds entirely from their imagination, while others are drawn to existing stories from mythology or fables. Join us in this session, to look at how imagination has shaped the works by some key contemporary artists, including Takashi Murakami and Paula Rego.
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Dreaming Before Nature: the art of the symbolists
This lecture looks at the art of some of the prominent members of the symbolist movement: Odilon Redon, Paul Serusier and Gustav Moreau.
Documents of Memory: South African photography in the 1980s
Documentary photography has retrospectively been associated with a progressive and liberal cause in South Africa. This photographic genre is inscribed within the 1980s and early 1990s, a moment in time when photography is widely considered as a ‘truth telling’ genre and an important source of documents articulated against the violence of the apartheid regime.
Imagination and Creativity in Japan: from erotic art (shunga) to anime
Shunga offered unashamed, non-violent, liberating and sometimes humorous approach to sexual pleasure. Despite technological advances, the popularity of the original Shunga artworks has never changed. In fact, this genre has had a significant impact on Japanese video games and especially inspired anime and manga.
Glimpses of Utopia in Contemporary Conspiracy Theories
In this talk, we will examine how the conspiracy theory narrative provides us with a platform to explore notions of freedom and power, but often ultimately ends up in reinforcing the very power structures it claims to critique.
Sex in the City: Jeanne Mammen and Otto Dix’s 1920s Berlin
This lecture looks at the work of two artists who explored these ‘new’ sexual expressions, Jeanne Mammen and Otto Dix, alongside the work of sociologist and activist Magnus Hirschfeld, founder of the Institute of Sexology.
Ancestral Trauma in Caribbean Culture
Join Samantha Allen to understand what ancestral trauma means for the British Caribbean community and how we can help to create spaces of safety and liberation in the workplace.
Biology of Images: Empathy, Collective Memory & Neurophysiology
We will talk about the universality of the expression of emotions and movements, the concept of empathy, the phenomenon of collective memory, and the engram and offer a fresh perspective on these views in light of recent research on neurophysiology and experimental aesthetics.
Collective Memory: honouring deceased in Japan
Every summer Japan celebrates a festival, Obon, to commemorate ancestors, whose spirits are believed to temporarily return to this world in order to visit their relatives. Join Azumi Uchitani’s talk to dive into the traditions of Obon and explore its spiritual meaning.
An Interview with Art Historian Bojana Popovic
Enjoy the recorded version of our informal conversation with an art historian - Bojana Popovic.