Cornwall Campus hosts creative festival

Robinson will discuss his experience of discovering an Iron Age Settlement in Cornwall and his career in comedy as Baldrick from the TV series Blackadder. Other speakers include visual artist Alan Cotton, who will talk about painting the world’s highest mountain on a recent trip to Everest.

The festival forms part of the Daphne du Maurier Festival which runs through most of May.  Professor Helen Taylor, the University’s Arts and Culture Fellow co-programmed the Daphne du Maurier Festival and developed the University cultural festival which forms the last day of the main literary festival.  Professor Taylor said: “The University has contributed speakers and programming to the Du Maurier Festival since its inception 15 years ago, and we are delighted to extend the Festival’s profile to our Cornwall campus. 15 University of Exeter academics are speaking at both festivals, and in the Tremough Culture Festival we will present distinguished speakers and cutting-edge talks of general interest to our community in the Falmouth and Penryn area.”

Academics from the University of Exeter will lead sessions entitled ‘Healthcare and Well being – Can the ancient world help us?’ and ‘Heritage, Innovation, Place and Creativity in Cornwall’. Julia Twomlow (Director of the Leach Pottery, St Ives) and Michael Bird (Art Historian and author of St Ives Artists: a Biography of Place and Time) will join University of Exeter geographers Dr Nicola Thomas and Dr David Harvey to explore the heritage of the arts and crafts in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.  Dr Thomas said: “It is an exciting time to have a conversation about the relationship between past and present creativity. Cornwall has a rich art, design and craft heritage and continues to support contemporary artists and designer-makers today. In our conversations we are going to explore how past and present creativity is negotiated, and hope that the audience will join in the discussion.”

Carleen Kelemen, Director of the Convergence Partnership Office for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, said, “I once read that understanding our roots and our heritage gives us a greater understanding of our values and our potential. I'm looking forward to looking back through the eyes of the speakers to celebrate our heritage and creativity. How appropriate that the festival is hosted at the Cornwall Campus wherein sleeps an ancient bronze settlement."

The festival also highlights the centenary year of the legendary American folk singer Woody Guthrie whose songs about the 1930s Great Depression in America resonate with today’s current financial crisis.  Songs about the challenging conditions of working class people in the Dust Bowl will be performed in an illustrated talk about Guthrie’s life and politics.

Running between 10.15am and 6.00pm, the Tremough Campus Culture Festival is a collaboration between the University of Exeter and University College Falmouth who share and jointly manage the Cornwall Campus. 

Tickets for the one-day festival are priced at £19 (standard full day), £10 (standard half day, AM/PM) and £5 (students).  All tickets include refreshments.

For full programme details and to book tickets, please contact the Daphne du Maurier Festival Box Office on 01726 879500.