Last Monthly Meeting
May — Julia Weiner, Senior lecturer in art history, Regents University London
The image of the Jew in Medieval and Renaissance Art

Julia’s interesting and informative talk looked at the image of the Jew in art in Medieval and Renaissance Italy. Art was meant to instruct and edify the laity and images of the Jew reflected canon law where Jews were required to dress differently from Christians so that they could be easily identified. Jews were depicted with bird faces — was this the origin of the depiction in Nazi propaganda of Jews with large, hooked noses? They are shown wearing pointed hats, the required yellow distinguishing bands and various distinctive badges. The Nazis’ requirement that Jews should wear the yellow Star of David continued this theme. The turban- wearing Jewish women depicted in the art of this period are shown as sexually provocative.

As the centuries went by the figure of the Jew in Italian art becomes more and more ugly and evil. Michelangelo’s Moses has horns, reminiscent of the devil, “horns” almost certainly being a mistranslation of the Hebrew for rays of light in biblical texts. Fear and mistrust of such religious practices as circumcision are reflected in more and more horrific depictions in the art of the time. The belief that Jews murdered young children in order to obtain their blood for their unleavened bread took hold and influences such depictions. Uccello’s series of paintings of the Profanation of the Host starkly demonstrates the fear and loathing in which Jews were held, reinforcing anti-Semitic beliefs in those who beheld them. The examples Julia showed us were particularly sobering when we saw them alongside modern-day images of the Jew in right-wing extremist propaganda.
At the same time it should not be forgotten that the art of Venice at the time also reflected its position as a major trading port, looking towards the Middle East, with its depictions of Venetian and Ottoman fashions and architecture in the same painting. Carpaccio’s Sermon of St Stephen is a fine example of this. As well as the depictions of extreme prejudice in art, we must not forget that art can be a way of depicting the rich diversity and beauty of humankind. (Report: Julie Howell)

For notes of previous recent monthly meetings, see here.


Summer Party 2018
In June we held our annual Summer Party for all members. The venue was the Olden Gardens and it was looking its best. This tranquil haven is a glorious backdrop for our jolly party. All tickets were sold out with 100 coming on this beautiful sunny evening. The booze lasted to the end this year so all were happy, in fact the challenge was getting people to vacate the gardens at the end when our time was up. Much socialising and milling around had been possible — to chat to friends and make new friendships. Thanks to Lesley Delacourt for again bringing the bubbly back from France at a very low cost allowing us all to benefit by the low ticket price. Thanks also to Diane Austin and Sue Welsford for organising this event. But also to all our Volunteers who helped out on the day as well. 



Group Coordinators' Meeting
We recently held a 'thankyou' meeting for all our Group Coordinators. 36 attended, a good majority of the total we have. They were all thanked for the efforts they provided in running their groups. Our activity groups make up the majority of what we offer in iU3A, so we are highly dependent on these volunteers. At the meeting there were several subjects covered, one of which was an interactive session under our succession planning initiative of "It Depends On You". Coordinators worked in groups to develop their feedback on subjects including 'Why They Liked Being a Coordinator', 'Why They Volunteered', 'What Improvements Could iU3A Make?'. This will be fed into our general forward planning. Other subjects covered included a presentation on 'What GDPR meant to Group Coordinators' and discussion on the need for Coordinators to use Beacon for their group membership and waiting lists. With it being a hot day, all were glad of the refreshments and a chance to chat with fellow Coordinators. A big thanks to Sue Welsford for organising the event.

iU3A Outings
June — this month we had an enjoyable outing to two houses in Twickenham: full report with photos here.

May — Kempton Park Racecourse: the sun shone on the 18 members who embarked upon their researches into the mysteries of the "Sport of Kings". The travel arrangements from Waterloo were, so I'm told, seamless. This set the tone for the day. The Panorama Restaurant, which overlooked the winning post and provided a menu, appealed to all. The opportunity to stand by the Winning Post was taken by many and the excitement enjoyed by the winners was truly infectious. Those few who claimed to be ingenues had luck riding with them; those who claimed some knowledge were deserted by "her Ladyship." As the card ended around 4:30 the journey home was in reasonable comfort. Those who attended all asked for the event to become a regular fixture in the iU3A calendar.

In April iU3A held its first 'Outing': Eltham Palace has for centuries been a royal palace, and is now an unoccupied royal residence owned by the Crown Estate. Since 1995 it has been managed by English Heritage, who restored it in 1999 and opened it to the public. Internally, the Art Deco house is "a masterpiece of modern design". There is also a magnificent Great Hall, a survival from the mediaeval royal palace. There are 19 acres of beautiful gardens, with a rock garden, a moat crossed by London's oldest working bridge and a sunken rose garden. Full report and photos here. Thanks to Angela Treves and David McPhail for organising this one.

Boating Outing: in November 2017 eleven iU3A members enjoyed a narrowboat trip out of the Islington boat club. We were well looked after by our skipper, Amber, who steered us off in a Westerly direction. We very quickly negotiated our first lock and then headed directly to the Islington tunnel (more info here). 

Various members of the group took turns at steering the boat in a good straight line through the 960 yards of the tunnel. This was very much a highlight of the trip.

On reaching the Kings Cross side we performed a “u-turn” (a non-trivial exercise) and then went back through the tunnel to Islington. We then headed East for a while before returning to dry land at the boat club. Most of the group then enjoyed a drink at the Plaquemine Lock pub (more info here) where there was a live jazz band.

There was a lot of enthusiasm for an all-day trip, to include a picnic lunch, in the Spring. Watch the "What's On Page" for further info......

Pub Quiz
We held our annual pub quiz in January 2018 in the Angelic pub at the Angel. Although it was a blustery wet evening 50 members came for this enjoyable event. Our numbers seemed to overwhelm the staff at the beginning and service was frustratingly slow but no one was in a great hurry. Jez Worsnip with his professional standards was our Quizmaster for the evening. Jez designs the questions especially for iU3A and of course the judges' word is final! As always it's a great opportunity to test the grey matter and get to know other members.


Nine teams battled it out with mixed fortunes. Some of the early leaders from the first half slipped away in the second half and no tie break (or obscure football questions!) was necessary this year to provide a clear winner. The winning team to collect the 'delicious surprise' prize were the 'Inkspots'. So another successful event enjoyed by all — thanks to Julie and Isabel.



Theatre Visits
Computer/ Tablet/ Smartphone Sessions
We have now held over six of these popular drop-in help sessions. These sessions allow iU3A members with any query they have regarding their computers, tablets or smartphones to drop in and receive guidance from other iU3A members. The last session was held in June 2018 with  members requesting help with a variety of query areas. Again we had a wide range of queries and problems. Some simple ones (to some) were easy to give guidance on, others were harder to solve with much cross-learning and use of Google search. Again all the "clients" went away very contented and with increased confidence to try things for themselves.
Thanks again to all the volunteers who came along to share their knowledge with other iU3A members. A general tutorial on some points raised previously is available here.

See the 'What's On' page for details of the next of these sessions (if there is one scheduled). Or for any help with your computer, tablet or smartphone you could try our help line. Send your query with details to computerhelp.iu3a@gmail.com.

Open Day 2017
In October our Open Day was also our 4th birthday celebration. Again this proved very popular and enabled non-members to meet us and find out about all the things iU3A does. As in previous years there was an excellent turnout with 155 members and 75 non members attending. Out of the 75, 34 joined iU3A on the day and many others took away forms so we hope to hear from them again soon. The existing members who turned up used the chance to see if there were any other groups they might like to join. Everybody also enjoyed our delicious birthday cake and had a good natter. This year the 'star' to cut our 4th birthday cake was our latest volunteer, Liz Connell, who has volunteered to set up and run a 'Green Issues' group.

With over 50 interest groups on display there were many great displays. Visible and audible displays charmed the audience as they strolled around. All the existing Group Coordinators did an excellent job of explaining what their group did and hence encouraged many to sign up. Hopefully this exercise also encouraged more members to be brave enough to volunteer to be Coordinators.

A special thanks must go to the sub-committe that organised another successful day, particularly to Diane Austin and Sue Welsford for coordinating the whole event. The Open Day is our major showcase for members and to the public who might be interested in joining.
To see more photos of the day click here.

Previously: To see more of our previous events and outings look here.