The Arts Society Dukeries is back with another lecture on Wednesday 2nd November – ‘The Roaring Twenties: Art, Design and High Society’ by Joanna Banham. This was originally scheduled for October but had to be re-arranged.
Like its name, the Roaring Twenties was a loud and boisterous decade, marked by novelty, modernity and huge social, technological, and economic change. Following the dark days of the Great War, it spawned a generation of wealthy and privileged ‘Bright Young Things’ who were determined to shock and who broke with the conventions of the past to pursue a life of hedonism and promiscuity, fuelled by an endless round of champagne, cocaine, parties and jazz.
This lecture aims to conjure up the energy and originality of the decade and to explore the lives of its leading figures and examples of its most innovative art and design.
The last lecture of the year, on Wednesday 7th December, is ‘Frost Fairs on the Frozen Thames’ by Nicholas Reed.
There were four major Frost Fairs held on the Thames between 1621 and 1814. They were depicted by distinguished foreign and British artists, sketched in prints and drawings, and described in great detail. They are also depicted in a modern mural and described in a modern novel.
A wide variety of remarkable, enjoyable or scandalous activities went on at the Fairs. Various winter sports were arranged, after which one could eat or drink at coffee-houses or taverns set up on the ice. Bonfires were lit on the Thames to roast meat, souvenir leaflets were printed and a rich variety of Christmas food was on offer. Now that Somerset House holds skating events in the quadrangle every Christmas, a look at previous Frost Fairs gives an interesting glimpse of one of the most dramatic events witnessed by our ancestors.
As this is the last lecture meeting before Christmas, there will be mince pies and a Christmas raffle.
If you are interested in the arts in all forms go along to a lecture and find out more. Monthly lectures take place at the Civic Centre, Long Lane, Carlton-in-Lindrick S81 9AP. Tea and coffee are available from 10.00am, ready to start by 11.00am and lasting for approximately one hour. Free car parking is available. The cost of the lecture is £7.00, or an annual membership subscription is available.
Members of the Society also enjoy two extra Special Interest Days, newsletters, a national magazine, a coach holiday and days out to local places of interest. For further details on the 2022 lecture programme, special interest days or the Society in general, please phone Gill on 01909 540506 or email Gordon at gordonpmcdougall@gmail.com, or visit www.theartssociety.org/Dukeries.