What are Study Days?
Starting at 10:00am and finishing at 3:00pm, Study Days provide three one-hour lectures, linked to a chosen theme. Coffee is served between the morning sessions, and a three-course lunch before the afternoon session. Study Days are held in Oxford at Rewley House, 1 Wellington Square, OX1 2JA, the home of the Oxford University Department of Continuing Education. The lecture theatre has up-to-date audio/visual equipment, including a hearing loop, and there is lift access.
The next Study Day
We are very pleased to announce that our next Study Day will be held on Wednesday 7th May and will be titled Moorish Spain: history, architecture and material culture.
The speaker will be Ian Cockburn. Ian is an art historian with a BA in art history from Birkbeck College and an MA in mediaeval Spanish art history from the Courtauld Institute of Art. He is an expert in the nearly 800 years of Moorish occupation and Christian reconquest of mediaeval Iberia. As the founder and director of an art tours company, he specialises in guided cultural tours to Spain and other areas of Europe. He lectures for The Arts Society, with occasional lectures at institutions such as the V&A, SOAS, Christies Education and the London Art History Society. Formerly a Chartered Accountant and senior manager in multi-national IT companies, he has extensive public-speaking experience.
Lecture 1. Moorish Architecture: Legacy of a Vanished Kingdom. An overview of the almost 800 years of Moorish architecture and history. 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. 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.
Lecture 2. The silks, ivories, bronzes and ceramics of the Islamic Kingdom of Al-Andalus. Moorish material culture included exquisite silk textiles, elaborate carved ivory caskets, rare bronze sculptures and beautiful ceramics. These are less well known than its architecture and much more scattered around various cathedral treasuries, monasteries, museums, etc. The silks and ivories in particular are decorated in a fascinating figural iconography, which is well worth exploring.
Lecture 3. The Alhambra Palace-Fortress: Walls That Speak. The beauty of the Alhambra of Granada, built by the Nasrid dynasty in the 13th and 14th Centuries, speaks for itself – or does it? Many visitors, while stunned by the exquisite architecture, are unaware that the walls, covered in Kufic script, are talking directly to them. This lecture begins with an overview of the structure of the monument and the way in which it was used, as well as the broad decorative programme of the interior of the two principal remaining Nasrid palaces within the complex. It explains the hidden meanings in the complex geometry of the glazed tilework and the stalactite-like muqarnas plasterwork. It also takes a closer look at the inscriptions, some of them an endless repetition of the Nasrid dynastic motto, but many also consisting of Arabic poetry, with lines where the wall itself is boasting of its own beauty and metaphorical significance
Timetable
09:30-09:50 registration
10:00-11:00 lecture 1
11:00-11:30 break for coffee/tea and biscuits
11:30-12:30 lecture 2
12:30-14:00 break for lunch
14:00-15:00 lecture 3
Cost
£48 per person. This includes the three lectures, tea/coffee and biscuits in the common room and a three-course buffet lunch (vegetarian and other options available) in the dining room.
Buying a ticket
TASO is using TicketSource for the booking process. The tickets will be sold on a first-come first-served basis and paid for by card at the time of purchase. You will not need to print them at home as the organisers will have a list of participants. If you try and buy after all the tickets have been sold, you will be able to add your name at no charge to a waiting list via the TicketSource website. Booking will open at 10:00am on Tuesday 25 March and close at 10.00am on Monday 21 April. To buy tickets click here.
Cancelling
You can cancel by sending an email to tasoxford@gmail.com. Make sure you put Study Day in the subject line of the email. You will not receive a refund, but we will put you in touch with the next person on the waiting list (if there is one). You can then make your own arrangements. TicketSource provides its own insurance against cancellation if you choose to pay extra for it, but you are recommended to read the small print carefully.
Previous Study Days
To read about our previous study days click here
How do I contact the organisers?
If you would like any more general information about Study Days, please contact our organisers – Sue Hine, Bridget Watkins and Ann Bevan – at tasoxford@gmail.com. Make sure you put Study Day in the subject line of the email.
Wyvern Area Study Days
We are part of The Arts Society Wyvern Area and our members, and those on the waiting list, are welcome to take part in Wyvern area events. Further details click here