Just why did Scandinavian Modern design become so popular in the mid-century and how did it turn from a revolutionary movement into just another style?  And was there a dark side to it?  Because lurking in the shadows was a Nordic project to change consumer taste and shape the model citizen using scientific experimentation and social engineering.

Picture: PH-Lamp (1958 version), Denmark

Published under the GNU Free Documentation License

Mediaeval parish churches are some of the oldest and most loved buildings in the British Isles.  However, relatively few of them have been archaeologically surveyed and many unverified stories have grown up around them.  This talk will look at some of the commonly repeated tales about the architecture of churches, which are widely assumed to be true, but which ultimately fall into the realm of folklore and myth.

Picture: All Saints Church, Snelland, Lincolnshire

The copyright on this image is owned by J. Hannan-Briggs and is licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.0 license.

Looking ahead to our seasonal celebrations which are just around the corner, musician and broadcaster Sandy Burnett is on hand to share his selection of much-loved Christmas tunes.  Expect an hour of the finest festive music from across the globe – his selections include sparkling moments from Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker, a heartwarming ballad from Mel Tormé, something from Soweto, a heavenly chorus from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Leipzig, an illustration of the English carol tradition at its finest - and something more cynical from Eartha Kitt…

Picture: The Nutcracker performed by the St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre at Chichester Festival Theatre 03 Nov 2007. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

This talk will explore the relationship between paint and photography, but from the unique perspective of how painting responds to photography.  Exploring how the two worlds and the rather unexpected response of paint to photography.

Picture: Pose and elusive expression of Princess Metternich from a photo by Disdéri, André Adolphe Eugène reappear in a Degas painting