The Empty Niche: Film Screening

Premiere film screening of The Empty Niche.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A from the director and producer of the film. Trent Burton and Dr Jim Walsh.

When Conway Hall was built in 1929, a niche was built into the very fabric of the building, right at the entry. This niche was designed to display a revered piece of artwork; a bronze bust of Dr Moncure Conway, celebrated writer, abolitionist and free thinker, for whom the building was named after.

The bust had been previously on display at the society’s old headquarters South Place Chapel, just down the road, on South Place in Finsbury, London EC2. And yet, for over 80 years, the bust had never been on display at Conway Hall. And there was no reference to it anywhere in the archives. No mention that it had been lost or broken or stolen.

So a short little film about a missing bust quickly became a complicated mystery about Moncure Conway himself and the search for a missing piece of art history that spanned two continents. We hope you enjoy The Empty Niche.