The Arts Society Salisbury is delighted to welcome back Marc Allum to present its March lecture. Marc Allum has appeared regularly since 1998 on The Antiques Roadshow. On March 14, he will give a lecture entitled Brave New World – The Festival of Britain.

This meeting is just one of the 10 lectures booked for the 2023 programme, covering different aspects of the arts and all presented by lecturers who are experts in their field.
The 1951 Festival of Britain was an inspiring event that had been designed to put Britain back on its feet after the ravages of the Second World War. Marc will look at the festival’s legacy and its effect on post-war Britain through the development of design, architecture and art.
With over 10 million paid visitors to the South Bank attraction and a further 8.5 million visitors to the Battersea Pleasure Gardens, the festival was an unparalleled success which, to this very day, has left a lasting legacy.
Funded mostly by the government, with a budget of £12 million, the festival’s aim was to give the British people a feeling of successful recovery from the war’s devastation, as well as promoting British science, technology, industrial design, architecture and the arts. In addition to the exhibition on the South Bank, related events took place in other cities.

An original poster for The Festival of Britain

Marc Allum is a freelance art and antiques journalist, writer and broadcaster based in Wiltshire. He has been a miscellaneous specialist on the BBC Antiques Roadshow since 1998 and has appeared on numerous television and radio programmes.
He derives his ideas, style and taste from a broad and diverse range of sources that make up his varied collections of antiques and collectables. He has his own unique style with interests ranging from prehistory to modern design and is a self-confessed collectaholic.
Marc has a passion and reputation for divining the unusual; ‘a desire to connect with history through the interpretation and pursuit of objects and their origins’.

Lectures start at 1.55 pm at St Francis Church, Beatrice Road, Salisbury, SP1 3PN. There is always a raffle ahead of the meeting – this month’s will include a copy signed by Marc Allum of his and Paul Atterbury’s book, Antiques Roadshow – 40 years of Great Finds. Tea and coffee is served after the meeting.
For those coming to this meeting as a guest, the cost is just £7 and we would ask that people are in their seats by 1.50pm.

The Arts Society Salisbury can be found on Facebook or via its website:
theartssocietysalisbury.org.uk.