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Divine Designs: Material Culture and Christianity
Short course
+44 (0)20 7942 2000
Discover the architecture and design of 2000 years of the global church. From the mysteries of Byzantium to the transparent rationalism of The Christ Pavilion at EXPO 2000, explore the ways in which Christianity has visually reinvented and translated itself across ages and nations. With a particular focus on the role of craft in context, you will chart the relationship of tradition and the cutting-edge as expressed through glass, textile, metal, wood and stone.
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Course Leader
Joe Watson
Joe Watson is London Creative Director of the National Trust, where he has worked for six years. Prior to this he held roles at the V&A and The Courtauld Institute of Art. He studied the history of design at the University of Oxford and has published widely on the subject. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
I have taken many Short Courses at the V&A and I come away each week feeling inspired, stimulated by the facts, and wishing to know even more. 2015/2016 Short Course Student
Course overview
Please note that this course will combine lectures at the V&A and regular off-site visits. Where possible, these will be within London Travel Zones 1 and 2. For more information about this, please enquire at courses@vam.ac.uk
Taking a different material as its focus each week, this course will cast the net beyond Western Europe as it considers the productive tensions of tradition and innovation, nationalism and globalism, sumptuous display and spartan restraint. Closer to home, a visit to three contrasting college chapels in Oxford gives you the opportunity to examine masterpieces of craft in situ, while a visit to the Prince’s School of Traditional Arts brings these skills to life for the present day. Lectures will explore contributions to church design from famed and named craftsmen and architects such as John Piper, the founders of Watts & Co., Jean Tijou, Grinling Gibbons and Auguste Perret, as well as from the anonymous makers whose skills have been handed down over centuries.
Further information
• This course has a Half Term break on 22 October • Refreshments served • Price reductions available for Seniors (60+), jobseekers (ES40 holders) and registered disabled people
Enrol now
Short course: Divine Designs: Material Culture and Christianity
24 September 2018 - 3 December 2018
£380.00 - £472.00
Call to book +44 (0)20 7942 2000
Need help enrolling? Talk to the admissions team:
+44 (0)20 7942 2000
Open 10.00 - 13.00, Monday to Sunday (closed 24-26 December)
