By Isle of Wight Observer
The Arts Society, Isle of Wight, will open the new year with the latest lecture in its season on Tuesday (January 6) at 2pm. This month’s talk will be delivered exclusively via Zoom, as the scheduled speaker is recovering from an operation but was keen for the event to go ahead.
The lecture, titled What Have the Huguenots Ever Done for Us? Mass Migration and the Arts, will be presented by respected art historian, curator and author Vivienne Lawes. Her talk will explore the extraordinary impact of the French Protestant Huguenots, who fled persecution in the 16th and 17th centuries and settled across Europe, including in the British Isles.
Their influence was far‑reaching, shaping baroque design, silk weaving, silverwork, ceramics, the military and even early financial systems. It is estimated that more than 50,000 Huguenots settled in Britain, and that as many as one in six people in the UK today may have Huguenot ancestry.
Vivienne brings more than 25 years of experience in the art world and teaches at several leading institutions, including Sotheby’s Institute of Art, the University of the Arts London, Imperial College, SOAS and City & Guilds of London Art School. In 2021 she received the Geoffrey Bond Bursary for Art, awarded to an “outstanding educator”.
Visitors are welcome at all lectures for £10 per person, with advance booking required via the society’s website.
Further details and the full programme can be found at iw.observer/iw-arts-society.
Maureen Sullivan