ArtsNational Narrabri

Presented by Ian Swanke. If you think of St Pancras International or New York’s Grand Central Station, you imagine long romantic journeys. You know they are special places promising excitement and adventure, and there are dozens of other glorious stations all over the world. This talk explores some of the most evocative and splendid railway …

During Napoleon III’s reign, Paris underwent an extraordinary transformation. Medieval neighbourhoods were cleared making way for wide boulevards, elegant apartment blocks, parks, and monumental public buildings that reshaped the landscape and social fabric. Theatres, cafés, and entertainment venues flourished. The dynamics inspired the Impressionists, who were keen to capture the fleeting sensations of the modern …

Presented by Steven Miller. The story of Australian art is incomplete without its wonderful canine stars. Learn their names and the stories heralded by artists since early colonial times. The deep connections Indigenous Australians have with the dingo, illustrated in cave paintings, on barks and ceremonial objects, is where it all began. Australians love their …

Presented by Mary Sharp. When Lucy ventures through the wardrobe into Narnia, when Harry Potter opens his acceptance letter, and when Neo takes the red pill from Morpheus, they all discover that the worlds they thought they knew are only part of the truth. From Plato onwards, writers and artists have been inspired to push …

Presented by Mark Cottle. On Ernest Shackleton’s third Antarctic expedition in 1914, his ship the Endurance was trapped, eventually crushed in pack ice. Shackleton sailed with five companions over 800 miles to South Georgia, returning over three months later to rescue his stranded crew. Australian Frank Hurley was the expedition’s official photographer. His images capture …

Presented by Marie CONTE-HELM. This talk traces the story of the intrepid Isabella Bird, who set out to see the world and brought glimpses of it back to her readership at home. Isabella Bird’s fascinating written accounts of her globetrotting adventures from the 1850s offer insights into some of the challenges faced by women travellers …

Presented by Antony PENROSE. Lee Miller is thought to have been the only woman combat photographer with the allied infantry in Europe during the second World War. This lecture presents her war photojournalism from shortly after D Day in Normandy, through the Siege of St Malo, the liberation of Paris, fighting across Germany, the liberation …