The third annual Warnborough College Conference of the Arts (WCCA) brought international participants to Canterbury last week. The event was officially opened by the Lord Mayor Councillor Sally Waters and her escort, Robert Waters on Tuesday, 14th July, at the Canterbury Baptist Church. She welcomed delegates to the city and took time to chat with the artists who had exhibited their works.
Events took place at the Baptist Church, Warnborough College and the Beaney House of Art and Knowledge. Speakers from different continents spoke on a variety of topics based around this year’s theme of “Art as Illusion” covering art history, the fine arts, film, theatre and writing.
Dr Jill Kiefer from New York spoke about the blurring lines between art and illusion in her opening plenary. Canterbury-based entomologist, Sonia Copeland Bloom, spoke on using art, animation, music and creative writing to engage children with nature from an early age. Kristiene Clarke challenged the audience to decide if documentaries were filmic representations or illusions of real life, and wowed with anecdotes about her current film with Eddie Redmayne.
Other countries represented at the conference included Australia, Canada, Germany, Ghana, India, Ireland, Nigeria and Switzerland. Many delegates had been to Canterbury before and relished the opportunity to return.
Minister for Defence (Reserves) and Canterbury Member of Parliament, Julian Brazier, ended the conference on a high note with his take on the art of war as illusion. The Conference was an all-round success and plans are now underfoot for 2016.
To see more, visit the CArtsCon website.
