January 1st 2021
Letter from the OASA President to the Associates
To find myself as President of the Oxford Art Society Associates is totally unexpected and a considerable honour. I am well aware that following Jon Whiteley is a formidable challenge. Jon’s personal and academic qualities will be well-known to members of the Associates, and I recall with huge gratitude his integrity and support in all matters that lead to the creation of the undergraduate degree in the History of Art. As a poacher turned gamekeeper (having spoken to the Associates), I will strive to do what I can in his succession.
After an extraordinarily testing year, we may now look forward with some optimism and indeed learn from the positive aspects of how individuals and organisations have maintained their activities and programmes, often in new and creative ways. Above all this has been achieved with internet presence via Zoom, Skype, Teams, FaceTime… At times I have felt zombied by Zoom. I am convinced that face-to-face contacts – talks, events and performances – will always be at the core of communication in the arts, but we have discovered that we can reach out to audiences throughout the world. I recently spoke at the Mumbai Literary Festival from my office at home. There are big audiences out there, and our programme is of the quality to attract a wide following. An ambition in 20021 is to speak in person in India about my new book on Dante and divine light in painting (Lund Humphries). We will have to see what is possible.
Another area we can look to enhance our reach is locally. It would be good to build on (or create) relationships with Modern Art Oxford, the Ruskin School, the Picture Gallery at Christ Church, the Museum of History of Science, the Department of the History for Art, the student Edgar Wind Society. We might look to share some events. There is no town in Britain (other than unmanageable London) that can offer more fulsome riches in the visual arts than are available in Oxford.
An item of business: you will find that your membership card is enclosed.
And an advertisement: I am due to talk on the David Hockney shows I am co-curating in Cambridge as a kind of presidential inaugural on 8 November, by which time we hope to be back to something like normal. At least the visuals will be extraordinarily vivid and varied.
It will be a privilege to be directly involved with the Associates.
With the best wishes to everyone for 2021.
Martin Kemp
Prior to each lecture, links will be provided to all OASA members who have provided the committee with their email addresses.
If you have query about membership please contact the Membership Secretary. Details of the Officers of the OASA are given below.
Oxford Art Society Associates Programme 2021
Background to the 2021 series of OASA Zoom lectures
Those of you who are members of the OASA will already have received details of our very exciting programme for 2021. Friends and other visitors to our web pages can see these details here on the OASA Lectures page.
We are very fortunate that three of our lecturers whose talks were cancelled last year have agreed to speak this year and in addition, we have been able to secure the services of three further, outstanding, speakers to complete the programme. This includes our illustrious new President, Prof. Martin Kemp, who will deliver his inaugural lecture about David Hockney to us, at the end of the year.
All lectures this year will be given on Zoom, the web-based videoconferencing facility. As you know, this technology has allowed people to keep in touch on a face-to-face basis during the pandemic and for the OASA it offers us the opportunity attend lectures from the comfort of our own homes while we are confined to barracks.
One of the enjoyable aspects of past programmes has been the opportunity to engage in discussion with the lecturer at the end of each talk and this possibility will retained with our Zoom lectures, which will allow us to send in questions via the ‘chat’ facility or ask questions directly at the end of the talks.
Because we are using Zoom, we will of course be able to accommodate a much larger audience than was possible in the past and we shall be looking to attract the interest of students and of members of other art societies to join us
It will be necessary to register on a web page to attend each lecture and we will be letting you know how to do this in a week or so, posting information on this OASA web page and also by email if we have your address.
If you are an OASA member and haven’t received your new membership card, please let Sarah Thorn, our membership secretary know, via The Ashmolean.
We are looking forward to welcoming you to our new series of lecture and hope to see you there.
Sincerely,
Tony Bron
Chairman of the OASA On behalf of the OASA Committee
OFFICERS of the OXFORD ART SOCIETY ASSOCIATES
President: Prof Martin Kemp
Chair: Prof Anthony Bron
Acting Hon. Secretary: Ms Sarah Thorn
Hon. Membership Secretary: Ms Sarah Thorn – contact via The Ashmolean
Hon. Treasurer: Judith Brown
Committee Members: Lucy Stopford – lucystopford@btinternet.com
Linda Whitely
Martin Smith