HGS U3A Monthly Talks
Our monthly talks are held at the HGS Free Church, North Square, London NW11 7AG. Doors open at 14:30, and the talk begins promptly at 15:00, concluding at 16:00. The venue is fully accessible, with disabled toilet facilities available. We look forward to welcoming you.
Group Activities
For information about regular group activities, please see the A-Z list of groups and groups listed by day.
Monthly Talk: The Great Exhibition of 1851
In London’s Hyde Park on 1st May 1851, a spectacular international exhibition was opened by Queen Victoria. It was the first World Trade Fair. The concept was extraordinarily ambitious—to bring together works from all over the world to display the great industrial and artistic achievements of mankind. Above all, it was intended to advance British manufacture and trading interests. It broke many records and lived on in the public imagination for decades. The talk charts the story of The Great Exhibition from its inception to its legacy.
Angela Cox is an art historian and independent lecturer. She was the first Head of Education at the National Portrait Gallery for ten years and a former Course Director of V&A Year Courses on the Fine and Decorative Arts. She specialises in British painting, most recently researching portraits of children painted in the 16th and 17th centuries. She has organised courses on aspects of British art at the V&A, the National Portrait Gallery, Birkbeck College and elsewhere.