1. Through the Wonderglass: Alice in Science and Medicine, in the Victorian Age and Beyond
On line via Zoom, 12 August 2023, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm EDT (11AM Pacific/ 2PM Eastern/ 7PM UK)
This talk will take you on a journey through the scientific cultural history of the Alice books. Re-examining Carroll’s own engagement with science, from his childhood reading to his engagement with microscopy, alongside his literary writing, one will cast a fresh light on the other. The whistle-stop tour will spotlight tea-parties and their role within the Victorian history of psychiatry, the presence of microscopes, magic lanterns and photography in Carroll’s works through Victorian optical culture, in education and childhood culture. And it will explain the perhaps surprising connections between the centrality of ecology and entomology in Through the Looking-Glass, and Victorian theories on the science and theology of acting, in the light of Alice’s stage adaptations
2. Flower Fairies: Enchanting illustrations by Cicely Mary Barker
Lady Lever Art Gallery, Liverpool, 15 April 2023—05 November 2023
To mark the 100 year anniversary of her first book, Flower Fairies of the Spring, this exhibition will feature around 45 original illustrations, with digital projections and costumes inspired by the fairies, designed by Vin Burnham.
Explore the inspirations behind Barker’s paintings, as well as the flora and fauna featured in the work through National Museum Liverpool’s botanical collections.
First published in 1923, there were originally 170 drawings – accurate depictions of flowering plants and trees, into which are incorporated, caricature figures of fairies, designed to accompany the species drawn. The Fairies were often based on real children, from Barker’s sister’s nursery.
