ART & CULTURE - LEVEL

Step into a World of Words: Poetry Reading Night with Matthew Peter-Carter!

Join us for an unforgettable evening where literature comes to life! Amazing actor Matthew Peter-Carter will bring some of the most powerful and thought-provoking poems to life, immersing us in the beauty of language and emotion.

June theme is ‘Care and Compassion‘
Through the selection of poems we will explore what care and compassion mean and how they’re expressed, understood, and valued and will discuss the following pieces:

• Alice Fell, or Poverty – William Wordsworth
• Home – Warson Shire
• Kindness – Naomi Shihab Nye
• Kindness – Sylvia Plath
• Jesus at the Gay Bar – Jay Hulme

No preparation is needed—just bring your curiosity and let the words transport you. We’ll not only listen to these masterpieces read aloud by a professional actor and literature scholar, but also take time to discuss and reflect on how their ideas and emotions are shaped by the power of language.

Please, note:

The history of quilts is a history of love, resistance and freedom. Typically stitched from scrap cloth into elaborate designs through meticulous hand-stitching, quilt making is the act of transforming the discarded into a treasured textile. It is an art with a history of hardship, innovation and eventual freedom. In the history of the United States, quilts were the art of enslaved Black people who sourced off-cuts from their enslavers or from any fabric they could find to keep their families warm. Quilts were used as fund and awareness raisers by abolitionist Quakers and, in the Suffragette movement, quilts were used to declare the power of ‘women’s work.’ Quilts also contained political messages and stories shared by those who held them. This lecture will give a foundational history of quilt making in the US and Britain from the 19th century onwards, ending with a few contemporary artists who use quilt making to connect our present to a complicated history of racism and women’s liberation.

Image: Freedom Seekers by Precious Lovell

Please, note:

This is a series of workshops designed by Azumi Uchitani to explore Japanese culture through the art of calligraphy and language. We will meet bi-weekly, slowly moving from season to season and uncovering new characters, rituals, concepts and beliefs deeply rooted in Japanese lifestyle. Each event we will centre around a new symbol: we will learn its meaning, discuss a poem about it, meditate and experience the power of the concept through calligraphy practice.

### Compassion, mercy: 慈悲 (jihi)

In our next Japanese Calligraphy session, we will explore the beautiful and profound kanji 慈悲 (jihi)—a word that combines 慈 (ji), meaning loving-kindness or benevolence, and 悲 (hi), meaning sorrow or empathy for suffering. Together, they form one of the most meaningful expressions of compassion and mercy in Japanese and Buddhist culture.
In Japan, jihi goes far beyond a feeling—it represents an ethical and spiritual practice. It is the active willingness to feel another’s pain and respond with warmth, care, and humility. Mercy (hi) is not seen as pity but as a shared human connection, recognizing the fragility of life. Compassion (ji) is a quiet force, often expressed in small, everyday acts of kindness and respect that preserve harmony and dignity.
Through the slow, meditative art of shodō (Japanese calligraphy), we will reflect on this concept not just intellectually, but physically—feeling the balance, flow, and energy of each stroke. Whether you’re new to calligraphy or returning, this session offers a chance to engage deeply with the spirit of jihi, and to experience how writing can be both a personal and cultural exploration of care.

Please, note:

Often overlooked in the grand narratives of medical history, the nurse has been both a silent witness and active agent in the evolution of healthcare. From medieval monastic infirmaries to the battlefields of Crimea, from Victorian asylums to the wards of the COVID-19 pandemic, the role of the nurse has shifted, expanded, and been fiercely contested.

This lecture traces the complex and often contradictory history of nursing. We will explore how nurses have been seen as angels, servants, moral guardians, activists, and professionals—sometimes all at once. Along the way, we’ll meet figures such as Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole, but also the countless anonymous nurses whose care, courage, and labor shaped the survival of patients and the reputation of hospitals.

We will also examine how the nurse’s role reflects larger social anxieties about class, gender, and power, and how nursing continues to challenge and redefine the boundaries of medicine, compassion, and advocacy today. Join us for a journey into the heart—and the hard realities—of nursing through the ages.

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