Back to School

Wow! It is quite something to sit and listen to someone give a lecture, make notes and concentrate from 10am until 5pm. Not something I am used to but last week found me sitting in Room 104 at the School of Oriental and African Studies, having a hugely enjoyable time finding out more about Oriental and Middle Eastern narrative art. Simply because I find myself irresistibly drawn to eastern art. I have a room full of it at home.

All the pictures seem to tell a story. They are not figments of the artist's imagination but legends, myths, tales of religious happenings or of travellers' adventures and they are all painted meticulously, with very fine brush strokes. Each one, to me, is a masterpiece and it obviously adds greatly to one's enjoyment to understand better what is going on in the picture.

It was hard work, not least going into town with commuters - during a week when it poured solidly, going to the SOAS canteen for lunch - enormous portions for student appetites - paying visits to the British Museum and Victoria & Albert in order to look at choice examples of the art we were studying, with curators explaining things in detail in rooms off the side.

How much I will remember is another matter! But it was great fun and, who knows, I might do it again.