A snapshot of 2014

In this year at Warwick:

The University was named ' A powerhouse of teaching excellence' - Times & Sunday Times University of the Year 2014- 15
It was announced that Professor David Dabydeen had been appointed as the non-resident Ambassador to Japan.
It was announced that Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya (Chairman of WMG) had been made a Fellow of the Royal Society, along with Martin Hairer, Regius Professor of Mathematics.
The giant puppet of Lady Godiva visited campus to open the International Federation for Theatre Research.
In the week beginning 8th Sept 2014 the first students were inducted into the new WMG academy.
In October, the Warwick Prize for Writing 2015 launched. The theme is Instinct and on the judging panel will be A. L. Kennedy (author), Fiona Shaw, Tony Wheeler (Lonely Planet founder) and Gavin Francis (writer).
The first ever International Collaborative Moot took place with Law students from Warwick and Monash.

THE NATIONAL GALLERY MASTERPIECE TOUR

The Execution of Maximilian by Edouard Manet
and Other Histories

Edgardo Aragón, Zarina Bhimji, Omer Fast, Rabih Mroué, Santiago Sierra, Hito Steyerl, Luc Tuymans

The Execution of Maximilian depicts the fatal moment when the young Emperor Maximilian of Mexico, abandoned by the French colonial forces that had installed him there some three years earlier, was shot alongside two of his generals, Mejía and Miramón, on 19 June 1867. The left hand section of the canvas was lost during Manet’s lifetime. After his death it was cut into smaller fragments, some of which were sold off separately, eventually to be reassembled by Edgar Degas. The painting has been part of the National Gallery Collection since 1918.

This important painting – presented at the Mead Gallery as part of the National Gallery Masterpiece Tour – forms the centrepiece to a specially curated exhibition of works by some of today’s greatest artists from across the world. Together they speak of the way the past is represented to us, and of the personal stories at the heart of violent events which are either lost or – like the image of Maximilian’s hand clasping Miramón’s – can only be glimpsed

And in the world:

Germany won the World Cup. The 2014 Football World Cup first saw the usage of vanishing foam for free kicks and goal-line technology by match officials.
More than 3.6 million people turned out to answer the Scotland referendum question: “Should Scotland be an Independent County?” 55.3% of the vote were in favour of “NO,” whereas 44.7% voted in favour of “YES” in a turnout of nearly 85% of those eligible to vote.
Flight MH370 vanished in less than one hour after it took off from Kuala Lumpur on the morning of March 8 2014. It never reached its destination, Beijing nor did it leave behind any trace of its whereabouts.
There was an Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the most affected African countries are Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea.

2014

NG3294 Edouard Manet (1832–1883) The Execution of Maximilian about 1867–8 Oil on canvas 193 x 284 cm The National Gallery, London