Hattie Hair

For June 10th. The birth date of Hattie McDaniel, the first African American to win an Academy Award.

Be a Starman

Tomorrow, from 10.30 to 16.30, we will be running a workshop at Victoria and Albert Museum during the Bowie Weekender. You will have the chance to wear one of these incredible space helmets, craft your own accessorises in the style of Ziggy Stardust, and be immortalised in a memorable picture. Come one come all!

April 22nd

April 22nd, the birthday of Vladimir Lenin and the date of  Robin Knox-Johnston completing the first solo non-stop circumnavigation of the world.

8th April

As the 8th of April is the date for two important art history facts, I've decided to combine them into one image.
Firstly, in 1820, the Venus De Milo (Aphrodite of Milos) was discovered by a peasant named Yorgos Kentrotas on the island of Milos in the Aegean Sea.
And secondly, in 1973, the master of Cubism, Pablo Picasso, died at the ripe old age of 91.

Despite the pale stone we recognise the Venus De Milo was originally painted to look more life like (the Greeks did this to most of their statues). She still looks a bit shocked at being Picasso'd though.

Staatliches Bauhaus School

On 1st April 1919, Walter Gropius founded the famous Staatliches Bauhaus School, in Germany. The concept behind the school was to combined applied arts and fine arts in the aim of making craftsmen rather than artists, as Walter Gropius proclaimed his goal was"to create a new guild of craftsmen, without the class distinctions which raise an arrogant barrier between craftsman and artist." *
Part of the The Bauhaus 'manifesto' was the use of very simplified forms and the fact that mass-production and the individual artist expression were reconciled to create something functional and rational. 
The school was a success back in time and is still very influential nowadays in disciplines such as 'architecture, graphic design, interior design, industrial design and typography'. * 

For more information about the school's history, have a look here!

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauhaus
http://bauhaus-online.de/en/atlas/personen/walter-gropius

On this day, 18th March 1834, six farm labourers from the small town of Tolpuddle in Dorset were sentenced to be transported to Australia after forming the friendly society of agricultural labourers to protest against the gradual decrease in wages. The society had many of the features of a trade union and swearing an oath of that sort was considered illegal. 2 years later 5 of the 6 men were allowed back home after 800,000 signatures petitioned for their release

An annual festival is held in Tolpuddle to this day organised by the Trade Unions Congress, featuring a march through the town with many trade unions banners sported for the event. 

There's an exhibition, alert the media!

So, about that announcement that was so alluringly alluded to last week. here's the news, Hurdy Gurdy member, Matt's been busily preparing for an exhibition of his MA project at the Bill Douglas Centre for the  history of cinema and popular culture at the University of Exeter. The exhibition features a selection of work from Matt's MA project about the films of Austro-British actor Anton Walbrook, star of Powell & Pressburger's classic film of art and obsession, "The Red Shoes". Alongside the existing illustrations on display are seven new illustrations created specifically for this exhibition which exapnd on Walbrooks' early career in Germany and Great Britain in the 1930s as well as a selection of Walbrook-related artefacts, including original programmes, cigarette cards and a costume from one of Walbrook's "Queen Victoria" films, where he played the role of Royal Consort, Prince Albert. The exhibition's running until June, admission is free. Make sure you see it!

The Bill Douglas Centre's website