New events in Emma Festival!
With our Emma Festival just over a month away, many of the ticketed events are fully booked - however we are delighted to announce two new events that are now on sale! Zack Pinsent presents a unique dressing demonstration on 19 July, whilst Janine Barchas presents a free talk going behind the scenes of our current exhibition 'The Art of Cassandra'.Dressing Mr Knightley – 19 July
A unique dressing demonstration presented by Zack Pinsent of Pinsent Tailoring – a Bespoke Period Tailor specialising in the construction and fashion history of the 18th and 19th Century.
On the evening of 19 July – our annual Dress Up Day – Zack will create a pop up salon in which he transports you to Mr Knightley’s Dressing Room and guides you through the layers of a gentleman’s ensemble as well as the social and historical contexts of a gentleman of means in the Regency Period.
You will also have the chance to look at and examine original pieces of clothing and accessories from the period and discover the hidden details of a gentleman’s breeches.
Cassandra’s Drawings and Drawing Cassandra – 14 July
Award-winning scholar Janine Barchas, curator of our current exhibition ‘The Art of Cassandra’ and author of new graphic biography of Jane Austen, focusing on the relationship between the Austen sisters: The Novel Life of Jane Austen, presents a fascinating talk introducing Cassandra’s artworks – including previously-unseen examples of her copywork, along with some of her lesser-known family portraits.
She will take us behind the scenes of the exhibition, sharing stories of the artworks and her own tales of tracking down them down and uncovering the original prints that they were based on. She will also reveal Cassandra’s unusual artistic habits, her artistic legacy, how her artworks were regarded by the Austen family and how we should consider them today.
Moving from exhibition tour to celebratory book event, Janine will also walk us through the creative process behind her beautiful, moving and triumphant graphic biography of Jane Austen, created with and best-selling graphic novelist Isabel Greenberg. She will relive the process from initial ideas and painstaking-research to favourite scenes, moments and illustrations, to final joyful publication!