Rethinking Art and the Highlands – Tuesday 15th April 2014, 6pm

The Scottish Highlands have given rise to one of the great oral, literary and musical cultures of the world, but the visual aspect of that Gaelic culture has received relatively little attention, even William McTaggartthough it is known to be important. Consider, for example, the monks of Iona creating the Book of Kells at the beginning of the 9th century or the Gaelic speaking painter William McTaggart laying the foundations for modern Scottish art in the late 19th century. Seventeen pieces of McTaggart’s paintings are stored or on display in The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery and Museum collection.

The purpose of this talk is to explore research into that culture of Highland art both through art history and the art of today. From 2005 to 2011 a major collaboration between Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art at the University of Dundee and Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, the Gaelic College of the University of the Highlands and Islands made that research possible. It continues today.

Join us in the relaxed atmosphere of the McManus Café for a short talk followed by your chance to ask questions and discuss the topic.

Everyone is welcome. Free. Non-bookable. Please arrive early to avoid disappointment. This event is likely to last one hour.

Sketches from the Lives of Women in Nineteenth Century Scotland – Tuesday 4th March 2014

The demand for popular literature, magazines and newspapers greatly expanded in the nineteenth century, as levels of literacy rose and newspapers became cheaper. Women formed an important readership for this burgeoning literature. They also made their contribution as authors, whether as journalists, social commentators, or purveyors of advice and instruction. Esther Breitenbach

Dundee-based publishing played an important role in this process through titles such as the People’s Friend, and People’s Journal.

Drawing on the recent book Scottish Women: A Documentary History, 1780-1914, the talk will discuss what popular publications and newspapers tell us about the lives of nineteenth-century women in Dundee and other parts of Scotland, and ask whether established views of female behaviour corresponded to the reality of women’s lives

Join us in the relaxed atmosphere of the McManus Café for a short talk followed by your chance to ask questions and discuss the topic.
Everyone is welcome. Free. Non-bookable. Please arrive early to avoid disappointment. This event is likely to last one hour.

Missing Journeys: Exploring the Experiences of Being a ‘Missing Person’ – Tuesday 4th February 2014, 6pm

In the UK it is estimated that over 300,000 missing person’s incidents are recorded by the police each year which means that a person in the UK is recorded missing by the police approximately every two minutes and a typical police force can expect to respond to, at the very least, one new missing person report every day.

Up to 80% of all Dundee Arts Cafethose reported missing will return within 24 hours, often without direct police intervention.

Despite the large numbers of people involved, we know remarkably little about what happens when someone ‘goes missing’.   Where do they go and how do they travel? How do they use the environment to hide or find shelter? What emotions do they experience while missing?

Drawing on interviews with adults who were reported missing but subsequently returned, this talk will attempt to throw some light on the experiences of being a missing person.

Join us in the relaxed atmosphere of the McManus Café for a short talk followed by your chance to ask questions and discuss the topic.

Everyone is welcome. Free. Non-bookable. Please arrive early to avoid disappointment. This event is likely to last one hour.

Proving Your Identity: The Passports of the Future – Tuesday 3rd December 2013, 6pm

As more of our lives become digital, we use the internet increasingly for dealing with everything from applying for a driver’s license to shopping and social networking. Do you suffer from having too many passwords and pin codes that you can’t remember?  Do you find that the ways you share your identity for example travelling internationally, in the supermarket and with the bank are unpleasant and frustrating?

The research http://www.dreamstime.com/-image569051 being undertaken at the University of Dundee, and its partners, is developing new and more pleasurable ways of establishing that we are who we say we are; including jewellery that contains our emergency health information, and scarves that contain our basic ID info.

Come and hear about these new developments and try them out for yourself.

Join us in the relaxed atmosphere of the McManus Café for a short talk followed by your chance to ask questions and discuss the topic.

Everyone is welcome. Free. Non-bookable. Please arrive early to avoid disappointment. This event is likely to last one hour.

Mary Lily Walker: From Science to Society – Tuesday 5th November 2013, 6pm

Mary Lily Walker was one of the University of Dundee’s first graduates and was responsible for transforming lives across the city by introducing social and healthcare reform throughout late-Victorian Dundee.

Mary Lily was not only one of the first women in Scotland to be taught in the same classroom as men, winning prizes in Botany, Biology and Embryology, but was a pioneer for social reform in Dundee and beyond.

Mary Lily Walker book cover2

Join us as we commemorate the centenary of her death with author Eddie Small, whose latest book ‘Forgotten Visionary of Dundee’ explores how she collected evidence that brought about much needed improvements in the treatment and conditions of mothers, babies and toddlers.

Join us in the relaxed atmosphere of the McManus Café for a short talk followed by your chance to ask questions and discuss the topic.

Everyone is welcome. Free. Non-bookable. Please arrive early to avoid disappointment. This event is likely to last one hour.

The Art of Film Adaptation with Dr Brian Hoyle – Tuesday 1st October 2013, 6pm

Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr in the From Here to Eternity trailer

Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr in the From Here to Eternity trailer

This talk from Brian Hoyle (University of Dundee) will discuss the ways in which films are created and will lead you through through a comparison of several Oscar-winning directors, films and the novels and plays they were adapted from.

The talk will specifically focus on the work of two directors: David Lean and Fred Zinnemann, two directors who each won two academy awards for Best Director. Their film adaptations won many additional Oscars. David’s Lean’s adaptations include two novels Bridge Over the River Kwai (1957) and Doctor Zhivago (1965), and Zinnemann’s From Here to Eternity (1953) and A Man for All Seasons (1966) were both multiple Oscar and BAFTA winning adaptations.

Join us in the relaxed atmosphere of the McManus Café for a short talk followed by your chance to ask questions and discuss the topic.

Everyone is welcome. Free. Non-bookable. Please arrive early to avoid disappointment. This event is likely to last one hour.

Modern Masters: In Print – A Personal View – Tuesday 3rd September 2013 at 6pm

Modern Master In Print posterDundee Arts Café returns with a news series and kicks off with a personal reflection of the latest exhibition at The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery and Museum.

Modern Masters in Print: Works by Matisse, Dali and Warhol is an exhibition organised by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. It explores the printed work of four of the leading artists of the twentieth century and is part of the pre-opening programme of the V&A at Dundee.

Ronald Forbes, artist and former Head of Painting, at the University of Dundee’s Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, will share some reflections as a practising artist on this rich range of important works of art.

Join us in the relaxed atmosphere of the McManus Café for a short talk followed by your chance to ask questions and discuss the topic. This event will conclude with a gallery tour.

Everyone is welcome. Free. Non-bookable. Please arrive early to avoid disappointment. This event is likely to last one hour.

A Private View – Rescheduled for Tuesday 4th June at 6pm

A Gypsy Maid 2

This talk from Esther Reed and the Nethergate Writers was postponed from May due to an unfortunately timed power cut, we are sorry about the disappointment in this last minute cancellation but we have managed to reschedule this event.

Please join us on Tuesday 4th June at 6pm to hear readings from the authors of ‘A Private View’, and take a guided tour of the objects which inspired the authors from 5pm. Tours should last no longer than 15 minutes, with tours at 5pm, 5.15pm, and 5.30pm.

What factors draw us towards a piece of art or a particular exhibit in a museum’s collection?  The stories and poems in the anthology, ‘A Private View’, by Nethergate Writes, were all inspired by objects in the McManus’s collections. Hear them read from their work and see for yourself the art/artefacts they chose. In what way will the interaction between the two influence your own response to both?

Everyone is welcome to join us for this FREE event in the cafe at The McManus Galleries. Doors open at 5pm with talks starting at 6pm, please arrive early to avoid disappointment. The event is likely to last one hour. The cafe will be serving a selection of snacks, hot and cold drinks, including wine and beer.

Rethinking the Recession and our Role in its Making – 16th April 2013

A blogpost discussing the topics covered at this event and written by Kirsteen is now available at the Bright Green Scotland website.

In the brutality of the recession we have an opportunity to redesign our society for the better. In order to do so however, we must recognise the causes of the recession rooted in law and in our relations with each other, which are often shaped by law. Only then might we stop fuelling economic inequality and invest in a fairer and more sustainable future. This talk by Kirsteen Shields from the School of Law at the University of Dundee, offered a beginners guide to public power and how any individual may influence it.

 

An audience listening to a talk in a cafe in Dundee

Stories from the Past: Women working in Dundee – 5th March 2013

real rosie woman factory

This arts cafe talk by Laura Paterson used oral history recollections to explore aspects of women’s work in Dundee from 1945 to 1970. With the audience, Laura reminisced on Dundee’s past, particularly memories of homes, housing conditions, housework and the effect of labour saving devices.

“I’d a’ liked tae been a Teacher, But I never got the chance” – Mary Brooksbank.

A copy of the video of Laura’s talk will be available shortly.