On Tuesday 9 January, THE ARTS SOCIETY WOKING’S talk will be “Sixty Years On, Life in Britain as seen in 1960s Films”. There are four elements to this lecture, which will be given by Colin Schindler. The first is a look at the emergence of the North in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Room at the Top, A Taste of Honey, This Sporting Life etc. The second will explore Swinging Britain – Julie Christie in Darling, Michael Caine in Alfie, the Beatles in A Hard Day’s Night and the James Bond movies. The third will look at the last days of the Empire as seen in Tony Richardson’s Charge of the Light Brigade, Zulu and, comically, Carry On Up the Khyber. The final part will address the drastic change in the depiction of sex, from Dirk Bogarde in Victim (1961) to Alan Bates and Oliver Reed famously wrestling nude in Women in Love (1969). On Tuesday 13 February the talk, presented by James Lindow, is titled “Domenico Ghirlandaio — A Forgotten Renaissance Master”. Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449-1494) was one of the most successful artists of the fifteenth century. Born in Florence, Ghirlandaio established one of the leading studios producing works ranging from small devotional images to prestigious fresco cycles for churches in the city. Ghirlandaio’s success led him to Rome during the 1480s as part of a team of artists commissioned for the Sistine Chapel. Though a significant amount of his work remains in Florence, he is largely unappreciated today. To his contemporaries, however, Ghirlandaio’s style and organisational skills were greatly admired, leading the sixteenth century biographer Giorgio Vasari to claim he deserved to be “celebrated with extraordinary praise after his death”. Talks start promptly at 10.30 am but doors open 9.45 am for tea and coffee. The venue is Normandy Village Hall, Manor Fruit Farm, Glaziers Lane, Normandy, Guildford Surrey GU3 2DT. Members may bring a visitor, who may want to make a donation to the Society of £5. Visit www.wokingdfas.org.uk/talks-arts-society-woking-2024.htm.