BLACKBURN'S RETROSPECTIVE. A retrospective of David Blackburn's work will be exhibited at the Djanogly Art Gallery, Nottingham, until October 1 (Monday to Friday 10am-6pm; Saturday 11am-6pm, Sundays 1pm-5pm). His works are described as visionary landscapes, more concerned with the substance and feeling of the land than its literal appearance. Blackburn demonstrates the subtlety and expressive power of pastels - from sonorous colour fields and heavy black lines to delicate colour transitions and wispy strokes as fine as cotton thread.
Information: University of Nottingham Arts Centre, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD. Tel: 0115 951 3192.
HEAVENS. An exhibition, "Earth and the Heavens", demonstrating the mapmaker's art will be held at The British Library until October 22 in the Exhibition Galleries, Great Russell Street, WC1 (opening hours Monday-Saturday 10am-5pm, Sundays 2.30pm-6pm). The exhibition contains more than 100 examples of maps, books and art from antiquity to the most up-to-date digital technology and includes unique treasures from the British Library's collections.
It will include: Ptolemy's World Map, c.150 AD; The Psalter Map, c.1250 AD; Dante Alighieri's Paradiso; Andreas Cellarius' Atlas Coelestis, 1660; and John Flamsteed's Atlas Coelestis, 1729.
DEPENDABLE SYSTEMS. A conference on "Mathematics of Dependable Systems", sponsored by the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications will be held September 4-6 at the University of York .
Information can be found on the WWW at URL: http://dcpul.cs.york.ac.uk.6666/seminars/MDS95/ or from: Pamela Bye, Institute of Mathematics, University of York, Catherine Richards House, 16 Nelson Street, Southend-on-Sea, SS1 1EF. Tel: +44 1904 4347.
SCOTTISH ALUMNI. The University of Manchester is organising its first event for graduates in Scotland a buffet supper on September 8 at 7 pm in the Assembly Rooms, George Street, Edinburgh. Speaker: David Robey, dean of the arts faculty and professor of Italian. Information: Jan Lancaster, Alumni Office, University of Manchester. Tel: 0161 5 2192 or 2195.
GHOSTS. A conference dedicated to ghosts and spectres as they figure in psychoanalysis, literature and history will be held on September 9 at the University of Leeds. Speakers include Ernesto Laclau, Clive Bloom and Mandy Merck. Information and forms: the Secretary, School of English, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT. Tel: 0113 233 4739.