As the summer holidays approach, Insiders/Outsiders is also about to take a break until the early autumn – but not before offering you two interconnected events on 8 July, and the promise of many interesting and thought-provoking new events later in the year…
On Thursday 8 July at 6pm, Dr. Imogen Wiltshire will give a talk about Rumanian-born Arthur Segal (1892-1944) an eminent modernist painter, printmaker and educator, who left Germany in 1933 and came to this country (via Mallorca) in 1936. Together with his wife Ernestine and daughter Marianne, he established an important art school here, underpinned by a pedagogic approach which pioneered an early form of art therapy in the UK. We are pleased to confirm that Imogen will be joined by Arthur’s grandson John Segal, son of architect Walter Segal – the subject of the session later the same evening.
To book, click here.
On Thursday 8 July at 8pm, John McKean and Alice Grahame, authors of a brand new book about Walter Segal (1907-85), will discuss the life and work of Arthur’s son, the influential German-born architect who settled in the UK in 1936. Including illustrations from Segal’s personal archive as well as new photography from Taran Wilkhu, they will reveal his unique approach to architectural practice and, through his invention of the so-called Segal system or method, his enduring impact on architecture and attitudes to housing across the world.
To book, click here.
A further programme of online events on themes related both directly and indirectly to Insiders/Outsiders will follow in late September/early October, details of which will be announced nearer the time.
But we can already confirm that on the mornings of 1 and 2 October, there will be a cluster of online events organised in partnership with Monash University, Melbourne relating to the 1930s refugees’ experiences in Australia, including the notorious HMT Dunera episode, the creative life in the internment camps there and the refugees’ longer-term contribution to Australian cultural life. Full details and booking link to follow.
Image: HMT Dunera, 6 September 1940
Enemy Aliens on the Isle of Man
And between 17 and 20 October, Insiders/Outsiders (in partnership with Jewish Renaissance magazine and the AJR) is organizing what promises to be a fascinating four-day trip to the Isle of Man, called ‘Enemy Aliens on the Isle of Man’. The trip, which will include lectures, guided walks and a concert, marks the eightieth anniversary of the British government’s internment of so-called ‘enemy aliens’ – most of them Jewish refugees from Nazism – and will coincide with the unveiling of an AJR blue plaque to commemorate this morally murky wartime episode. Spaces are limited, so register your interest here.
Image: Ernst Eisenmeyer, Internment Camp (detail), Douglas, 1940
On 1 and 2 December, Insiders/Outsiders, in partnership with the Research Centre for German and Austrian Exile Studies, University of London, is hosting a free online conference entitled ‘Innocence and Experience: Childhood and the 1930s Refugees’, which will cover a wide range of topics relating to child psychology, art education, toy design, children’s book illustration and much more. Full details will be available in the autumn.
You may wish to take advantage of the temporary lull in our events programme to catch up with or revisit recordings of previous online events on the Insiders/Outsiders YouTube channel. For convenience, and as they increase in number, we have divided them up into separate playlists: among them, Internment 1940-41, Second & Third Generation Voices, Fractured Worlds and Brave New Visions.
This might also be a good moment to catch up with the wide array of relevant publications that have come out recently.
We hope you have a good summer, and look forward to reconnecting with you in September!