4-week online course

Tuesdays, 3, 10, 17 & 24th May

6:30-9:30pm Taught via Zoom by Karen Bachmann

PLEASE NOTE: This class requires supplies, a full list will be emailed upon registration.

In this four week class, students will learn about the history of–and create their own piece of– Victorian Hairwork.

We will explore–via readings, lectures, and making–the ways in which hairwork functions as a “secular relic,” and how this relates to the Catholic tradition of human relics as well as what has been called “the Victorian Cult of Mourning.” We will examine the genesis of Speaking Reliquaries, or Redende Reliquaire, and the transformation of human remains into objects of veneration, power, and sentiment. We will trace this idea to the 18th and 19th centuries, when the fascination with preserving human hair became popular as a means of keeping a physical relic or memento of a loved one—living or deceased—near. We will also examine how this developed in the context of Queen Victoria and the cult of mourning she inspired.

Oct 4, 11, 18 & 25th 2022 6:30 pm - 9:30 pm

These are extraordinary times and the plague has hit some harder than others, tickets are by donation –
if you possibly can £140 is much appreciated, but £100 is also very welcome.
Thank you for your support