THE LIGHT OF FRANCE
Paris, Autun, Vézelay, Chartres, Cahors, Bourges and Toulouse with Terrence Maloon

BOOKED OUT

30 MAY - 16 JUNE 2008
18 days / 17 nights
From $8,700 PP (land only plus air travel)

The turn of the last millennium brought immense benefits to the material well-being of Medieval France. A new economic and political stability began to take hold and a building boom ‘covered the land with a white mantle of churches’, the monk Raoul Glaber famously noted.

The new churches grew ever more daring and splendid as masons, sculptors and painters increased in number, rose in social status and vied with one another in virtuosity.
This tour examines some of the greatest achievements of Romanesque and Gothic architecture and sculpture (Saint-Denis, Autun, Vézelay, Chartres, Cahors, Bourges and Toulouse) and surviving frescoes.

In the royal palaces in Paris and Fontainebleau, and in splendidly planned 17th century housing developments in Paris, we also take note of the ‘second’ Renaissance which drew the Middle Ages to a close and ushered in the modern era in France.

Tour leader Terence Maloon  DipAD, BA (Hons), MA
Terence is senior curator of Special Exhibitions at the Art Gallery of NSW. His recent exhibitions were Classic Cézanne, Picasso - The Last Decades, Pissarro - The First Impressionist and (with Peter Raissis) Drawing the Figure - from Michelangelo to Matisse. A passionate Francophile and Italophile, Terence has led many successful Art Gallery tours to Europe over the past 15 years.

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ART CITIES OF CENTRAL ITALY
Montefalco, Assisi, Spello, Perugino, Perugia, Orvieto and Arezzo with Neil Moore

3 - 17 SEPTEMBER 2008
15 days / 14 nights
Estimated from $6,650 PP (land only plus air travel)

Tour leader: Neil Moore BA (Hons)
Neil is a painter and etcher of exceptional ability and has lived for the last twelve years in the Umbrian countryside. He exhibits regularly in Europe and Australia and has an extensive knowledge and love of the history, art and society of Umbria.

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JEWELS OF THE ADRIATIC
Venice, Ljubljana, Split and Dubrovnik with Liz Gibson

16 SEPTEMBER - 2 OCTOBER 2008 17 days / 16 nights
From $8,800 (land only plus air travel)

BOOKED OUT

This tour begins in the city of Venice, world renowned for its maze of canals, open air piazzas, distinctive art and architecture. Our journey takes us from Venice through north eastern Italy, the Istrian Peninsula of Croatia and inland to Slovenia, a country rich in history and unspoilt beauty. We travel through central Croatia before reaching the breathtaking Adriatic Coast and the Dalmatian cities, Split and Dubrovnik, where you will discover the unique culture and style of this proudly independent country. During the tour we visit many places of art and architectural interest and discover the towns we visit at a leisurely pace, to ensure you soak up the local atmosphere and truly enjoy your travel adventure. This captivating tour of the eastern Adriatic discovers a rich diversity of art and architecture, culture, history and spectacular natural scenery.

Tour leader: Liz Gibson BA, DipArtEd, MA (Art Admin)
Former senior coordinator of public programs, Liz lectures on broad ranging aspects of art history, art appreciation and art education. She has led Art Gallery tours to Italy, Russia, Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary and the Baltic Countries. Liz’s tours cater for different levels of knowledge and interest, with insights into art and architecture balanced with local culture, food, wine, music and fun.

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ISLAMIC MOROCCO AND ANDALUCIA
Rabat, Fes, Meknes, Marrakech, Granada and Seville with Christopher Hartney

16 NOVEMBER - 5 DECEMBER 2008

BOOKED OUT

20 days / 19 nights
From $7,950 (land only plus air travel)

The Islamic invasion of Spain, launched from Morocco in the early 700s AD, was arguably the single most important event in the history of modern Europe. The Berber and Arab cultures that settled in Spain brought Europe technology and learning unprecedented in scale and magnificence. In the wake of the invasion a multi-faith Muslim-led Spanish society passed its learning to a Europe still recovering from the fall of the classical world. Just as in 700, we will start this mind-expanding tour in Morocco investigating the delicious complexities of Islamic and Berber culture across the Maghreb. We will then cross to Spain and tour the great cities of the south, exploring at every stop the sophisticated world the Muslims built in Europe's dark quaking shadow. This tour will give you a profound experience of those places where Islam met the West, where Spanish history was turned upside down and where the modern world was born.

Tour Leader: Christopher Hartney BA, PhD
Chris is a lecturer in comparative religion. He made his first in-depth studies of Moroccan culture in 1996 and since then has been fascinated by the history of Morocco and the Islamic empire in Spain. Most recently he has presented his Civilisation series at the Art Gallery of NSW where he unveiled the enormity of Europe’s debt to Islam.

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A PASSAGE THROUGH CENTRAL INDIA
Mumbai, Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Indore, Udaipur and Agra with Jim Masselos

1 - 21 NOVEMBER 2008
21 days / 20 nights

Per person, twin share $10,500
Single supplement $2,750
Prices include return economy class airfares on Singapore Airlines

This tour offers a panorama of the glories of the cultural heritage of western and central India and features superb examples of the great creativity and diversity of India’s cultural achievements. Beginning in Mumbai the tour takes us north into Gujarat (to Vadodara and Ahmedabad) and across to central India, to Indore, Bhopal, Gwalior, and finally on to Agra and Delhi. Among the places we visit will be Bhimbetka and its heritage listed stone age tribal cave paintings; Lothal, one of the important sites of the Indian subcontinent’s first civilisation; the great stupas of Sanchi; Mumbai’s Buddhist and Hindu cave temples; Gujarat’s Hindu temples and extraordinary underground stepwells; pilgrimage sites outside Indore; deserted early Muslim cities at Champaner and Mandu; princely palaces and forts in Madhya Pradesh. The tour concludes with the Taj Mahal in Agra and sites in Delhi.

Tour Leader: Jim Masselos BA, PhD
Jim, an Honorary Reader at the University of Sydney, lectured in Indian history at the University until his retirement. He studied at the University of Bombay for a doctorate in Indian history and since then has visited India frequently. He has published a number of books and many articles, edited and co-edited various collections of essays and is the co-author of Beato’s Delhi: 1857,1997. He has also curated and co-curated many exhibitions.

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NEW YEAR IN NEW YORK New York & Philadelphia with Brian Ladd

27 DECEMBER 2008 - 5 JANUARY 2009
10 days / 9 nights

From $5,950 per person
(land only plus air travel)

Celebrate New Year in the Big Apple!  New York is perhaps the most dynamic and exciting metropolis in the world, bursting with energy and exuberance, and one of the world’s great art destinations.

Over ten days, enjoy leisurely visits to the dazzling art collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Frick Collection, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the recently refurbished Brooklyn Museum and the city’s newest museum, Neue Galerie New York.  Enjoy an overnight excursion to Philadelphia to visit two equally impressive collections: the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Barnes Foundation.

The itinerary is paced to allow ample time for tour members to indulge in diverse musical and theatrical performances, as well as dining, shopping and taking in the street life, all part of the New Year in New York experience.

Tour leader Brian Ladd
DipFA (Sculpture), DipEd

Brian Ladd is head of the Public Programs Department at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. A specialist in European and Australian sculpture, he brings enthusiasm and a broad knowledge to the study of art.  Brian has travelled extensively and led successful Art Gallery tours to Italy, France and Spain.

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