Art Critic Martin Gayford’s new book Spring Cannot be Cancelled is an uplifting manifesto that affirms art’s capacity to divert and inspire. It is based on a wealth of new conversations and correspondence between the artist David Hockney and Martin Gayford, who are long-time friends and collaborators. Their exchanges are illustrated by a selection of Hockney’s new Normandy drawings and paintings, many previously unpublished, alongside works by van Gogh, Monet, Bruegel, and others.

Join us for an online conversation exploring the life and work of Alfred Wallis, inspired by our current exhibition Alfred Wallis Rediscovered.

Alfred Wallis spent most of his life as a seaman and fisherman in Cornwall, only turning to painting at the age of seventy. Although he painted from memory, his evocative images of ships, fishing vessels and the Cornish landscape were based on a lifetime of direct experience.

Our bodies are enveloped by the organ of touch, the skin. Touch receptors connected to our nervous system are everywhere, but most densely clustered in our fingertips. Their sensitivity allows us to read tactile writing systems like Braille, and our fingerprints, fully formed at birth, are unique to each individual.

In this online talk Dr Amy Tobin, curator of Exhibitions, Research and Events at Kettle’s Yard explores gender, art making, performance and desire in the works by three women artists featured in The Human Touch exhibition: Alexis Hunter, Ketty La Rocca and Geta Bratescu.

This event is linked to our exhibition The Human Touch.

Join the Friends of Kettle’s Yard and Phil Neale, one of our Visitor Assistants and Chair of the T.E. Lawrence Society, for an online talk on the friendship and correspondence between Jim Ede and T.E. Lawrence, ‘Lawrence of Arabia’, and their mutual interest in art and literature, as well as their memories of India.

Join us for a three-way online conversation with specialists in Manuscripts and Printed Books as they reflect on the importance of touch in the making and conserving of medieval manuscripts, and how medieval readers themselves left traces – devout and destructive - of their touch.

Speakers: Suzanne Reynolds, Sara Oberg Stradal and Edward Cheese.

This online talk is linked to our upcoming exhibition: The Human Touch.

This series of online events, Grassroots: Artmaking and Political Struggle, explores relationships between art, activism and political organising in Britain during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Across six panels over three days, speakers will take a number of different approaches to thinking about how art works and visual culture both interrelate with, and have acted as, catalysts for social change.

About the talk

The talk will look at the often-overlooked furniture in the Kettle’s Yard House and the hidden or unnoticed way Jim Ede related art and objects. You will learn about the history of various pieces of furniture, how Jim acquired them and how the furniture in the House complements the space.

Take your hand sewing skills further with this traditional Dresden plate ‘chrysanthemum’ block. In the first class you will learn to use English paper piecing and applique to create the flower shape of the block. You will also be taught how to use a hand applique technique to apply the plate to the top of the placemat. You will be asked to complete this as ‘homework’ before the next session. The tutor will be available by email during the week to provide support if needed.

This virtual workshop will introduce you to the weird and wonderful world of spices.  We’ll take you on a journey to far flung places to find out where our familiar and not so familiar spices come from.  We’ll explore the different plants and plant families they come from and learn a bit about their history.  What’s the difference between herbs and spices?  How do spices pack such a punch of flavour?  What’s the best way to use and store your spices at home?  Which spices are easy to grow for yourself?  Find out these answers and more during this fun and interactive session.  Participants w