The Festival of Ideas at The Fitzwilliam Museum

An exciting programme of talks by experts, workshops for all ages and special evening events is coming to the Fitzwilliam in association with the University of Cambridge’s first-ever ‘Festival of Ideas’. The Festival, which celebrates art, history, literature, languages, drama and more throughout the University, is taking place from 22 October to 2 November, and a wide variety of events are on offer at the Museum.

Visitors to the Museum can enjoy a special series of free lunchtime talks by members of the University’s History of Art Department. These entertaining and informative talks will range over subjects as diverse as the architecture of The Fitzwilliam Museum, the artistic interchange between Renaissance Italy and Islam, and the Museum’s collection of Titians, as well as curators’ introductions to the Picasso and Whistler exhibitions currently showing at the Fitzwilliam. Acclaimed author Penelope Lively will also speak about her 40 years as a writer as part of the Writing Lives talk series, while a special evening lecture discusses the relationship between mental health and the arts, in conjunction with the New Art from Old exhibition on display in the Museum Courtyard throughout the Festival.

Children and families can explore the Museum’s Egyptian galleries by torchlight after-hours as part of the free ‘Egypt at Twilight’ event, or drop into a drawing workshop to get tips and ideas from Museum staff. Free creative workshops for adults are also available during the Festival, with all materials provided.

The Museum’s Festival programme closes with the chance for visitors to see an free exclusive preview of the exhibition "I turned it into a palace": Sir Sydney Cockerell and The Fitzwilliam Museum before its official opening. This major new exhibition brings together the Museum's most spectacular treasures for the first time - including the 14-century Macclesfield Psalter - in celebration of one of the most dynamic periods in the Fitzwilliam's history: the Directorship of Sir Sydney Cockerell from 1908 to 1937.

For full details of the Museum’s Festival of Ideas programme click here.

Cambridge University Festival of Ideas official website.

20 October 2008