Study Group Noticeboard
This page is for news and notices about U3A Wellington City Study Groups. It is intended to assist communication between members of the Groups and to provide information about current Group activities.
Art History Group:
This year the group has been very well attended and, given the size of the room and the number of interested members, we would find it very difficult to take on any new people. We still share responsibilities and enjoy working together. We began by studying masterpieces familiar to most of us and discussing their history, their influence on later art and artists, and as icons how many of them have been re-worked in advertising, cartoons and films, and even in graffiti. Many stories behind these paintings and statues can add to our enjoyment and fascination and led us to some lively discussions. Then we studied four paintings from the National Gallery in London to understand how they were seen in their own time and how they demonstrate some of their beliefs in religion, mythology, the expanding world and the new science, and how they can illustrate the way of life of the artists and the original patrons. We are now looking at one part of the collection in the Louvre, the Department of European Paintings, and learning the history of the way the collection was set up, how it was acquired and how it is shown to the public. We live in a world of visual communication and we are bombarded on all sides by images but these paintings divided by tradition, region, school and style still have meaning for us and for artists painting today. Close study of some of the masterpieces can add to our awareness of the huge numbers of art treasures around the world and how we can enjoy them, even if only in reproduction.
Contact: Janice Huddleston, phone 972 0404.
Book Group 1
Our membership for 2011 has remained unchanged, standing at 11. We continue to meet at the same venue, the old Sharella in Glenmore Street, where the charge of $5.00 per person for rental and morning coffee (and muffin) also remains unchanged, although we continue to hold our breath on this score.
Our December meeting will be held at Raumati in the home of one of our members, where a festive lunch will follow the final book discussion and business for the year. This we find is more convivial than dining out as it gives us the opportunity to mingle on a personal basis. Our monthly meetings do not always offer this opportunity.
Books for the year have been varied, ranging from Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie; the rather savage The people's act of love by James Meek, the non fiction, Things I didn't know by Robert Hughes and The Elegance of the hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. Breath, by Tim Winton, took us into the world of surfing. So the range of reading has been eclectic.
We have tried to move away from reportage, review style of participation, which can be repetitive, to a more questioning approach. We continue to work on the best method of fruitful discussion.
We have finalized our choices for 2012, but not yet allocated the months. I think it is safe to say that the year's reading has been both interesting and profitable for all.
Jan Watchman, Convener Sharella Book Group
Book Group 2
Book group 2 continues to meet on Thursday mornings, in each other’s houses. We have ten members but as one is leaving at the end of this year there will be a vacancy for a new person to join us next year. In 2011 we decided to read works by some of the writers who talked at Writers and Readers Week in 2010, trying to keep a balance of fiction and non-fiction. We began with Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie, followed by The American Future: a history, by Simon Schama. The Outlander by Gil Adamson was our April book, followed by The Collector of Worlds by Iliya Trojanov, I Sweep the Sun off Rooftops: stories, by Hanan Al-Shaykh, The Ethics of What We Eat by Peter Singer and Jim Mason and A Handful of Honey : away to the palm groves of Morocco and Algeria by Annie Hawes. In September we had a poetry session, for which our two poets assembled a collection of poetry that provided a historical overview of poetry, from early English, The Wanderer, to a poem by our own Jenny Bornholdt. In October we read The Legacy: an elder's vision for our sustainable future by David Suzuki. Having found the books on the Middle East interesting, we diverged from our original plan and read A Scandalous Life : a biography of Jane Digby el Mezrab by Mary Lovell. In our final meeting we will each discuss a book we have read and found interesting, and have a pot-luck lunch. In 2012 we shall read books related to the Barbary Coast and Eastern Mediterranean.
Dianne Hill, Convener.
Film Group 2
Film Group 2 meets on first Saturday of the month. Apart from January, we met every month except for November when there was not a suitable film, but we do intend to meet in December. Ideally the chosen film should start no earlier than 1pm and not later than 2.30pm. This allows us an opportunity to meet afterwards as a group to discuss it over a cup of coffee. Also it is important to choose a film which has not been running for a long time or some members may have already seen it. We tend to go to the Penthouse because of the type of film shown there. However that does pose problems for some of our members who do not drive. But then, the venues in town also are not easy for parking, although I remind members to use the buses and their gold cards.
I do have some members whose attendance has been poor and I intend to ask them if they are really interested in continuing. I have been using email to contact those with it, usually letting them know about the film two or three days beforehand, then ringing the others. We have room for others to join this group and would welcome them
Christabel Gibson, Convener
Current Issues Group
The U3A Current Issues Discussion Group meets almost every Second Thursday at our house, 75 Silverstream Road, Crofton Downs.
We have discussed the following topics in 2011:
February: Human Rights. March: Revolution. April: Transport Policy. May: State of the Nation.
June: Arthur Alan Thomas Case. July: Miscellaneous. October: Visit to Cuba.
November: World Crisis and the Election.
The membership has been rather small. We welcome anybody interested in discussing current issues which are difficult to fit in an annual programme and topics which are not treated much elsewhere or which are particular personal concerns.
Vincent Gray: Convener.
Literary Group
The Literary Group, now reduced to three, continues its monthly meetings on the last Friday of the month. We prepare a novel for discussion and assessment and comparison with other recent publications. Mostly we choose recent works but this year we included George Eliot's Middlemarch - a return to the great days of literary achievement. Most recently, we read The Conductor by Sarah Quigly, a New Zealand writer, and earlier in the year, we read Lloyd Jones' recent Hand me down world. Of particular interest to us, are the works of Julian Barnes, the latest Man Booker winner.
Jenny Lane: Convener
Poetry Group
The poetry group met for five sessions this year when we discussed war poets, the metaphysical poets, poetry on the theme of music and poetry about New Zealand. Unfortunately our numbers are now very small. We would like to increase this next year. With only two regular members and one whose attendance is a little infrequent we have not continued as a group for the last three months. Hopefully, more members may join us next year.
Joan Jarden: Convener
Music Group
The Music Group has had a change of convener this year with Dilys Jones taking over from Bruce Garton who has made a major contribution to the success of this group over many years.
The group meets on alternate Thursdays at St Ninian's Lounge Karori. Members are invited to give a presentation on anything musical that they enjoy and want to share with others, eg Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition with sound and sight of the art works, or the story behind Elgar's Enigma Variations. New member are always welcome to listen or participate.
Dilys Jones: Convener, phone 4783 275
Writing Group
This new group has gone very well, with some quite remarkable writing coming out of it, reports the tutor, John Bonallack. John is willing to continue the group next year and, depending on the number of current members who wish to continue, will accept up to six new people for 2012. Three of these places have already been taken, so anyone wishing to join should contact Committee member, Gaynor Stewart gaynorstewart@hotmail.com or phone 494 0102 for details. The group meets in John's home in Johnsonville on Thursday afternoons.
Play reading Group
This year we changed our meeting day to the first Wednesday of each month. We meet at 1.30 at Margaret Bowater’s house. As usual we have read a wide variety of plays. Notable were The Disorderly Women by John Bowen; The Philanthropist by Christopher Hampton; Ghosts by Ibsen ; Translations by Brian Friel.
Several new members, male and female, joined the group. I have to congratulate everyone on the standard of their reading. It has been a very enjoyable year.
Margaret Bowater: Convener
Shakespeare Group
Thanks to the hospitality of Shirley and Fergus Fergusson the Shakespeare Group has been able to meet this year in comfort and with plenty of room for its eleven members. The group has been meeting for a number of years and we are now returning to the History plays once again having read all the Works and all the major poems and a selection of the sonnets. We started the year with Henry IV part 1 and are now in the depths of the bloody War of the Roses in Henry VI part2. The readings are occasionally augmented with sequences of favourite scenes or scenes that need visual or aural clarification taken from DVDs or CD recordings. The emphasis, however, is on our reading the plays.
The group meets every other Wednesday and next year we will be looking for a new venue.
Laurie Atkinson, convener.
