Collar the Lot! Artists, Aliens and Aspects of Internment in Britain c.1940

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Time: 5.30pm
Venue: Ben Uri at 12 Star Gallery, Europe House, 32 Smith Square, London
Price: free

This evening of four linked short talks is part of a special lecture series, 'Art - Exit: 1939 A Very Different Europe' which flow from the recent exhibition by the Ben Uri Research Unit, marking the contribution to art in Britain by the so-called 'Hitler emigres' on the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War. The talks will present different aspects of the often overlooked  British internment crisis of 1940.

Charmian Brinson discusses how cultural activities managed to flourish behind barbed wire, particularly in two very different Isle of Man camps: Rushen women's camp and Hutchinson men's camp (the latter often known as the 'Artists' Camp) its internees including renowned German artists Kurt Schwitters and Ludwig Meidner. Julia Winckler focusses on the creative output of another Hutchinson internee, the German painter/writer Fred Uhlman; Fran Lloyd on young Austrian refugee Ernst Eisenmayer, while Rachel Pistol provides a fascinating account of the reactions of the British press and other contemporary views on this extraordinary moment in Britian's wartime history.

The talks will be preceded by refreshments and followed by an audience Q&A.

For further information about this event:

Contact: Professor Fran Lloyd, Co-Director Visual & Material Culture Research Centre
Tel: +44 (0) 8417 9000
Email: F.Lloyd@kingston.ac.uk