Waikato Decorative & Fine Arts Society (Waikato DFAS)

Waikato DFAS meets at 7:30pm at The Centre for Performing Arts, Southwell School, Peachgrove Road, Hamilton. The evening starts with a welcoming glass of wine followed by a one-hour lecture. Members are invited to stay and enjoy light refreshments after the lecture.

In 2025, we are looking forward to seven accredited The Arts Society lecturers from the UK and one Australian-based lecturer. Most will be with us in person with just a couple by live broadcast, which also give the opportunity for members to view several additional topics from home. We hope for a successful year, but are always ready to adapt our programme arrangements if necessary.

Our 2025 programme can be downloaded here: Waikato Brochure 2025

Membership

New members: To join WaikatoDFAS, please download and complete the 2025 WaiDFAS New Members Form  Our annual subscription is $180 per person.

A half year membership is available for $90 for new members who join any time after June. This membership will cover the last four lectures for 2025. Please use the 2025 New Members Form on this page or contact the Membership Secretary.

Please scan or photograph the completed form and return to the Membership Secretary –  dfaswaikato@gmail.com.

For further information, or to notify changes of contact details, please advise Suzanne Britton, Treasurer, phone 027 226 1236 or Lyn Jones, Chairperson, 021 0610 716. Or email dfaswaikato@gmail.com.

Membership is non-transferable.

Returning members: For members renewing for 2025 whose contact details have changed, please download and complete the
2025 WaiDFAS Returning Members Form

Returning members are encouraged to pay their subscriptions online – note that the Returning Members Form does not need to be completed unless your contact details have changed.

Guests

Guests are welcome. Please advise our Membership Secretary, Jill Brown, (021 273 2161) or dfaswaikato@gmail.com of their attendance prior to the lecture. A $25 per lecture guest fee is payable on the night. The fee for other visiting DFAS members is $15.00.

Waikato 2025 Lecturer Biographies and Topics

Peter McPhee

Waikato Date : Thursday 27 February 2025 – 7.30pm

Peter McPhee was appointed to a Personal Chair in History at the University of Melbourne in 1993. He had previously taught at the Victoria University of Wellington in 1980-87. He has published widely on the history of modern France, most recently Liberty or Death: the French Revolution (2016); and An Environmental History of France: Making the Landscape 1770-2020 (2024). He was appointed as the University of Melbourne’s first Provost in 2007-09. He was awarded a Centenary Medal for services to education in 2003 and became a Member of the Order of Australia in 2012. He is currently the Chair of the History Council of Victoria, the state’s peak body for history.

PAINTING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

Historians of art commonly associate the French Revolution of 1789-99 with the great painters of the age, such as Jacques-Louis David and Jean-Baptiste Greuze. This lecture instead examines the work of a host of lesser, forgotten painters who tried to capture the exhilaration and uncertainty of a society undergoing revolutionary upheaval. In the process they painted not only on canvas but on an extraordinary array of objects. Their work varies greatly in quality but offers a rich insight into what it meant to be living in revolutionary times.

Christopher Garibaldi

Waikato Date : Thursday 3 April 2025 – 7.30pm

Christopher Garibaldi MA (Oxon), MBA, MPhil (Cantab), is an independent researcher and scholar. He recently completed an MPhil in the History of Art and Architecture at St John’s College, Cambridge where he is currently studying for his doctorate on aspects of the history of royal patronage.
2010–2019 Director of Palace House, Newmarket (National Heritage Centre for Horseracing and Sporting Art: 2008–2010 Co-Director of the Attingham Summer School for the Study of Historic Houses and Collections. 1998–2003 Senior Curator & Assistant Keeper of Art (Decorative Art) at Norwich Castle Museum: co-curator of Flower Power – The Meaning of Flowers in Art and Eat, Drink and Be Merry, the British at Table 1600 to 2000. 1994–1997 Catalogued the silver in the Royal Collection at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and other royal residences.

FASHION, FORM AND FUNCTION – A HISTORY OF ENGLISH SILVER

This is a general lecture which looks at the history of silver (particularly British) and examines the history of both hallmarks and goldsmiths. It examines the way in which the history of silver reflects the more general social history of England. It is a broad survey of the changing role of silver in society, as well as an examination of different fashions and styles. It focusses on some of the leading figures in the history of the silver trade as well as looking at the role of the Goldsmith’s Company in promoting and protecting the craft. It can serve as a separate lecture or form part of a study day with the lectures on Royal Silver and George Wickes.

Lars Tharp

Waikato Date : Thursday 8 May 2025 – Broadcast Live from the UK – 7.30pm 

Since my 1986 debut on the BBC Antiques Roadshow (and all series since), I have spoken widely, within and beyond the UK. With over 40 years of experience in ceramics and other areas, I aim to combine several compelling narratives with enthusiasm and humour. Born in Copenhagen, I studied Archaeology at Cambridge and joined Sothebys where, as a director and auctioneer (1977-1993), I specialized in Chinese and European ceramics. Today my consultancy devises and curates exhibitions, advises on the acquisition, care and disposal of ceramics and other fields. I also speak a lot: many of my most popular talks concern the vast universe of clay and ceramics as well as the world and works of William Hogarth

GREAT EXPECTATIONS – THE BBC ANTIQUES ROADSHOW AND BEYOND

Questions often asked: How is the programme made? how are objects selected? Do we have any warnings? Time to look things up beforehand? memorable pieces? How many countries has the Roadshow visited? The Roadshow format: did the BBC really sell it on a United States broadcaster for… “not very much”? How many people turn up on the day? How many objects do people bring in on average? How many specialists? Where from? Are surprises genuine? Do owners sell their treasures? How do owners turn up with big things? – furniture, a life-size bronze Buddha….? Other “spin-off” programmes, UK? Abroad? Oh (nearly forgot) what’s the most expensive object you’ve ever handled? – on the Show or beyond? My favourite piece….
Just some of the questions we’re frequently asked?
A personal discussion with Lars’ experiences over 36 years. And is there a post-roadshow?

Note: With his online speaking circuit, Lars will be delivering a variety of unique talks to all the NZ Societies so there is an opportunity to view additional topics from home. Details and links will be sent in advance.

Chris Aslan

Waikato Date : Thursday 12 June 2025 – 7.30pm

Chris Aslan was born in Turkey and spent his childhood there and in war-torn Beirut. After school, Chris spent two years at sea before studying Media and journalism at Leicester University. He then moved to Khiva, a desert oasis in Uzbekistan, establishing a UNESCO workshop reviving fifteenth century carpet designs and embroideries, and becoming the largest non-government employer in town. He was kicked out as part of an anti-Western purge and took a year in Cambridge to write A Carpet Ride to Khiva. Chris then spent several years in the Pamirs mountains of Tajikistan, training yak herders to comb their yaks for their cashmere-like down. Next came a couple more years in Kyrgyzstan living in the world’s largest natural walnut forest and establishing a wood-carving workshop. Since then, Chris has studied and rowed at Oxford, lived in Cambridge, but is now based in a mountain village overlooking the sea in North Cyprus. Chris writes fiction and non-fiction, and his most recent book is called Unravelling the Silk Road. Chris lectures for the Art Society during the first quarter of each year, and leads tours with Indus Experiences to Central Asia, having left a large chunk of his heart there.

COLOURING THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE: PROKUDIN-GORSKY, PIONEER OF COLOUR TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY

This lecture examines the rise of fall of Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky, and his pioneering use of digichromatography, creating stunning colour photographs decades before colour photography was supposedly invented. Dazzling Russian royalty with his photographs, he was commissioned by the Tsar to traverse the largest contiguous Empire in the world to document its land and peoples. The Tsar even gave him permits to travel into restricted areas and furnished him with a railway carriage, transformed into a dark room. He captured traditional ways of life from as far afield as Samarkand and the desert oases of the Turkmens and Tajiks, soon to be swept away by the Bolshevik revolution. Prokudin-Gorsky’s own fortunes would also change rapidly, as he planned a daring escape from the newly formed Soviet Union.

Alice Foster

Waikato Date : Thursday 17 July 2025 – 7.30pm

Alice has lectured for Oxford University, Department of Continuing Education since 1998. She lectures at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, and at the Oxfordshire Museum in Woodstock. Her busy freelance career also includes organising themed study days with colleagues, and regular weekly classes in Oxfordshire and Worcestershire. In 2004 Alice joined The Arts Society and has lectured in Great Britain and Europe. Formerly President of Northleach Arts Society, she is also President of Banbury Fine Arts Society. Since its inception in 2003 Alice has led study holidays with Learn Italy Ltd to Italy and other parts of Europe. In 2024 she joined the team at the Argyll Hotel, Isle of Iona, Scotland, and runs History of Art Study weeks, specialising in the work of Scottish artists.

THE GLASGOW BOYS

In the early 1880s this group represented the beginning of modernism in Scottish painting. Led by James Guthrie and John Lavery, they painted contemporary rural subjects rather than the academic topics preferred by established training academies. The group were inspired by the fresh realism of Dutch seventeenth century and French nineteenth century art, and also by the American J.A.M. Whistler. They were fortunate to have an art dealer who promoted their style to the wealthy industrialists in and around Glasgow at that time. These painters were instrumental in forging a modern art oeuvre in Scotland.

Pamela Campbell-Johnson

Waikato Date : Thursday 21 August 2025 – broadcast live from the UK – 7.30pm

With an MA Hons Art History, St Andrew’s University, Pamela has over 30 years of lecturing experience to undergraduates, adult groups, and to Friends and Patrons of the Royal Academy of Arts as part of the RA’s Adult Education Department. She has also conducted numerous guided tours, residential trips and focused gallery talks on individual works of art. Specialising in British Domestic Architecture and Modern British Art – Pamela has a particular love for the 1920s and 1930s. She’s had permanent career at Royal Academy of Arts for 12 years and work experience also undertaken at Bonhams, Art Loss Register and National Trust. Now a freelance art consultant and lecturer, she recently curated a collection for the Lansdowne Club.

AROUND THE WORLD: ICONIC ART DECO BUILDINGS

Following the 1925 Paris Expo, the influence of the Art Deco Movement on the style adopted for the design of many new buildings was immense. As a consequence, there are very few major cities in the world that don’t boast some examples of Art Deco Architecture. We explore iconic Art Deco buildings in New York, Miami, Vancouver, Napier, Mumbai, London, Lisbon and of course, where it all started, Paris. We learn about key architectural features and how architects embraced modern materials that were adopted in to eye-catching geometric patterns and shapes.

Note: With her online speaking circuit, Pamela will be delivering a variety of unique talks to all the NZ Societies so there is an opportunity to view additional topics from home. Details and links will be sent in advance.

Clare Blatherwick

Waikato Date : Thursday 2 October 2025 – 7.30pm

Clare Blatherwick is an independent jewellery consultant based in Scotland. She has over twenty-five years of experience in the jewellery business, ten of which were spent as Head of Jewellery for Bonhams in Scotland, a role which saw her travel internationally searching for wonderful jewels to be auctioned around the globe. She has a keen interest in the historical aspect of jewellery and has lectured extensively on her subject both in the UK and internationally, including Europe, South Africa and Australia. She has also appeared on various TV programmes in the UK and US as a jewellery expert. Clare is a member of The Society of Jewellery Historians.

THE NATURE OF JEWELS

A talk that looks at both the historical context of the use of botanical imagery in jewellery from ancient times to the modern era. It also looks at specific flowers and plants and their hidden and overt meanings and symbolism.

Anne Sebba

Waikato Date : Thursday 6 November 2025 – 7.30pm

Anne Sebba FRSL is the prize-winning author of ELEVEN books including the best-selling biography THAT WOMAN, a life of Wallis Simpson based on her discovery of 15 unpublished letters locked away in an attic trunk. Her next book was Les Parisiennes: How the Women of Paris Lived, Loved and Died in the 1940’s about a wide variety of women and how they behaved in wartime Paris published in the US, UK, China, France and the Czech Republic, winner of the Franco-British award. She has also written biographies of Jennie Churchill, Mother Teresa and Laura Ashley among others.
She makes regular television appearances and has presented programmes for BBC R3 and R4 including two about the pianists, Harriet Cohen and Joyce Hatto. She began her working career as a foreign correspondent for Reuters news agency, the first woman accepted on their graduate trainee scheme, and has also worked for the BBC world services in their Arabic department, although she does not speak a word of Arabic. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, a senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Historical Research, a Trustee of the National Archives Trust and a former chair of Britain’s 10,000 strong Society of Authors Management Committee.
Her most recent book is a life of Ethel Rosenberg, electrocuted in 1953 aged 37 for conspiracy to commit espionage following a trial with multiple miscarriages of justice, optioned by Miramax and shortlisted for the Wingate Prize. She is currently writing about the Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz, due for publication in March 2025, the 80TH anniversary of the liberation of the camps and also works as a reviewer, journalist, after dinner speaker and lecturer for the Arts Society as well as various other institutions and schools in the UK and US including the British Library, Royal Oak, English Speaking Union and the National Trust.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A PARISIENNE? A SLAVE TO FASHION, A COLLABORATOR WITH THE NAZIS, A RESISTOR OR A MIXTURE OF THEM ALL?

My talk about women in wartime Paris, Les Parisiennes, describes how they lived, loved and died under Nazi occupation. This is a story of resisters, collaborators, spies and couturiers. Some of whom slept with the German occupiers for romantic reasons others for food for their children and still others because they wanted the Germans to win. Some bought designer clothes and commissioned jewellery from Cartier or Van Cleef & Arpels while others made their own clothes if they could, determined to look as chic as possible as way of defying the occupiers. Some went to the theatre, opera and cinema where artists performed to the Wehrmacht. These performers were picked up at the Liberation and punished for supporting the enemy. But other women in Wartime Paris were tortured or starving, courageous women fighting for freedom to believe in equality for all people, many of whom ended up in the concentration camp of Ravensbrück.
The climax of the talk is Christian Dior’s new look in 1947. But his sister, Catherine Dior, was sent to Ravensbrück but never talked about her life as a resister because she was living in sin with a married man and fellow resister. Her story and the stories of many other women, will be revealed in this lecture, but why has it taken so long for the varied and complicated role played by women in Paris to be openly talked about? In this talk I shall discuss some of the many reasons for this long silence, only now being broken.