The Edgar Wind Society is the University’s only Art and Art History society, named after Oxford’s very first professor in the History of Art who taught here from 1955-1957. We were only formed two years ago but have been growing quite rapidly since. We aim to put on a wide range of events such as speakers, discussion panels, film screenings, exhibition tours and much more, open to all members of the University irrespective of what they study. The inevitable stress and hectic schedule that comes with Oxford life means that for many people, unfortunately, an interest in art can get left behind. We hope that by providing a range of diverse and interesting resources we will enable students to continue to enjoy and learn about art.
Notable past Speakers at the Edgar Wind have included Charles Saumerez Smith (chief executive of the Royal Academy and former director of the National Portrait Gallery) and Sam Thorne (Associate Editor of Frieze) to name but a few. We aim to invite speakers touching on all areas of visual culture. Artist Dominic Johnson, for example, gave a talk on performance art and body modification, and last term Neil Hadfield(former effects animator for Disney, Warner Brothers and the BBC) delivered a talk on the history of 20th century animation. One of our most recent speakers was Carol Jacobi, a Pre-Raphaelites expert who gave an exciting talk tailored to coincide with the Ashmolean’s exhibition. I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to tell you who my dream speaker would be as there are so many possibilities. For some reason Amy Childs from ‘The Only Way is Essex’ seems to spring to mind almost immediately, but I really don’t think she would make for great art historical discussion.
In Hilary we released the first issue of our new publication, The Edgar Wind Journal, which looked at at the topics of materiality and temporality, and we are now working on the Trinity issue which is themed ‘Art & Obsecnity’. We hope to work more with other art organizations in Oxford, such as Modern Art Oxford with whom we hosted our first event of the year and also a film screening as part of the OUFF Film Festival. In terms of speakers we will be looking to invite figures from different spectra of the arts industries (media figures, artists and curators) to give an insight into what a career in the arts might entail.
Naturally the Society extends from the History of Art department having been set up originally by its students, and we are actively supported by the Faculty. At the same time, there is no direct link between what we do as a Society and what the University teaches. Our primary aim is to put on events that people find interesting and enjoyable, aside from what they might be studying.
People would be surprised just how many subjects Art History feeds into and we really hope to encourage all University members to get involved with The Edgar Wind Society. To hear about events or get more involved you can sign up to our mailing list via GroupSpaces or by emailing us as [email protected]
Above all we hope to remain innovative, constantly coming up with new ideas for ways through which people’s experience of art and the history of art can be broadened. On the 2ndst of February, for example, we collaborated with the Oxford Art Movement and students from the Ruskin to put on an exhibition entitled ‘The Sublime & The Grotesque’. We’ve also recently set up The Edgar Wind Blog which features news, articles and reviews of Art events both inside and outside of Oxford.
