How Art Made The World
- new Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ TWO series starting in May
Other arts programming on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Television
this summer
What links the Hello Boys! Wonderbra campaign, Michelangelo's David
and a 35,000 year old stone statuette?
The answer is a fascinating revelation about how and why human beings
create images.
This May on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ TWO, How Art Made The World tells the epic story of
how the images that we surround ourselves with today come from a world
that is thousands of years old.
Presented by archaeologist, art historian and classicist Dr
Nigel Spivey, the series investigates the far-reaching impact
ancient art has had on contemporary society.
Encompassing everything from cave paintings to ceramics, pyramids to
palaces, icons to artefacts, How Art Made The World ventures across
five continents and 100,000 years of history to unravel the mystery
of why humans have always made art.
Combining anthropology, archaeology and neuro-biology, the series,
and accompanying book, uncover universal truths about why images have
such a profound effect on us.
The five part series covers:
More Human Than Human.
One image dominates our contemporary world above all others: the human
body.
How Art Made The World travels from the modern world of advertising
to the temples of classical Greece and the tombs of ancient Egypt to
solve the mystery of why humans surround themselves with images of the
body that are so unrealistic.
The Day Pictures Were Born
The discovery of prehistoric cave paintings in the last century led
to the shocking realisation that humans have been creating art for over
30,000 years.
Episode two reveals how the very first pictures ever made were created,
and how images may have triggered the greatest change in human history.
The Art of Persuasion
The visual devices used by Tony Blair and George Bush to get themselves
elected and maintain power come not from modern times, but a world that
is thousands of years old.
How Art Made The World ventures back to the creation of Stonehenge
and the reign of Alexander the Great to reveal how imagery became an
indispensable weapon in every leader's political armoury.
Once Upon A Time
Each year over seven billion people across the world are drawn to see
the latest feature films in the cinema.
This episode reveals how the most powerful storytelling medium ever
created exploits visual techniques invented by artists in the ancient
world.
To Death And Back
Today in the 21st Century people see fewer real dead bodies than at
any time in history. Yet in the modern world we seem almost obsessed
with images of death.
In an investigation encompassing ancient Jericho, Aztec America and
classical Italy, How Art Made The World discovers what it is that has
compelled human beings to surround themselves with images of death for
thousands of years.
Other Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Television
arts programming April-August 2005:
A Picture Of Britain - Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ ONE, May/June
A Picture Of Britain is a celebration of the British landscape as seen
through the eyes of artists, writers and composers.
A unique collaboration between the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ and the Tate, the project comprises
an exhibition at Tate Britain and Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ programming, the centrepiece of
which is a landmark six-part Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ ONE series presented by David
Dimbleby.
A Digital Picture Of Britain
- Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ FOUR, May/June
This six-part companion series to A Picture Of Britain challenges several
of the country's most distinguished photographers to abandon their 35mm
film cameras and use the latest digital technologies.
Their ambition is to produce brand new compelling images of Britain's
urban, rural and industrial landscapes.
The World's Most Photographed -
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ TWO, June
This major new series and National Portrait Gallery exhibition developed
jointly by the two organisations, explores the way photography has been
used and manipulated to construct the image of 10 figures from history.
It looks at international stars - such as James Dean, Greta Garbo,
Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and Muhammad Ali - and
world leaders and politicians including Queen Victoria, Mahatma Gandhi
and John F Kennedy, and how photography was used for propaganda by Adolf
Hitler.
Imagine - Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ ONE, three part
special (May) and series five (June)
Whatever you call it, "skyscraper" or "high-rise",
the tall building has reached a milestone in its evolution - it can
be an iconic presence, a symbol of aspiration, a link between earth
and sky or a soulless instrument of financial speculation.
In this three-part Imagine special Alan Yentob talks
to leading architects and travels across the globe to chart the history
of the tall building.
Roald Dahl and Frida Kahlo are just two of the figures to be explored
in series five of Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ ONE's flagship arts strand, Imagine.
The Culture Show - Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ TWO, ongoing
Hot on the heels of interviews with arts legends such as David Hockney,
Al Pacino and Damian Hirst and major pieces on the Macclesfield Psalter,
MOMA and podcasting, Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ TWO's weekly arts magazine show runs until
mid June when it breaks for summer (returns in the autumn).
Forthcoming interviewees include Peter Maxwell Davies and Zaha Hadid.
Classical music:
Brand New Flashmob Opera - Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ
THREE, April
A second Flashmob event follows the overwhelming success of last year's
Flashmob - The Opera.
In an unusual location north of Birmingham, but south of Aberdeen,
Dr Sophie Faust is at the roulette wheel with a male chorus of gamblers.
Brilliant academic, published author, Olympic Gold medallist, rich
and ambitious, she has clawed her way to the top and without letting
anything stand in her way. But she finds out that her success comes
at a terrible price.
For this is the story of a woman who sold her soul to the devil. And
now the devil has come to collect.
Piazzolla: Tango Maestro -
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ FOUR, April
A documentary on the famous composer Astor Piazzolla, the programme
features new interviews shot in Argentina with Piazzolla's immediate
family, friends and musicians.
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Proms - Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ ONE, Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ TWO and
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ FOUR, July
The Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Proms, founded to bring the best of classical music to a wide
audience, is broadcast across Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ ONE, Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ TWO and Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ FOUR.
Broadcast from the Royal Albert Hall, the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Proms coverage on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ
Television culminates in the famous Last Night of the Proms on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ ONE.
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Singer Of The World - Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ
TWO/FOUR, June
One of the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's flagship musical events, Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Singer Of The World is
generally regarded as one of the world's greatest vocal contests.
The competition's five concert rounds will be shown on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ FOUR and
the final will be broadcast live on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ TWO.
Beethoven season - including Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3's
The Beethoven Experience
Beethoven - Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ TWO, June
Award-winning actor Paul Rhys stars as Beethoven
in a major new three-part drama-documentary series on the life and work
of Ludwig van Beethoven, presented by conductor Charles Hazlewood.
Beethoven Uncovered
- Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ FOUR, June
Three rehearsal/performance programmes taking some of Beethoven's
key works featured in the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ TWO series and analysing them in more
detail.
Charles Hazlewood conducts a period orchestra formed
especially for the series.
Each programme focuses on a different piece and in it he takes the
orchestra through a tight rehearsal period and then conducts a complete
performance of the work.
Within the rehearsal period Charles talks directly to the television
audience explaining the structure of the music and demystifying the
complex language of classical music.
Barenboim On Beethoven - Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ
FOUR
In January 2005, the great pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim
gave a series of masterclasses in front of cameras on Beethoven Piano
Sonatas in Symphony Hall, Chicago, USA.
He was coaching young professional soloists already with international
careers.
The exceptional pianists taking part in the programme are: Lang Lang,
David Kadouch, Shai Wosner and Jonathan Biss.
In the programme, Barenboim takes each player through their chosen
Sonata movement, illustrating the importance of structure and the relationships
between tempo, harmony and dynamics.
Beethoven's Hair - Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ TWO
Beethoven's Hair traces the unlikely journey of a lock of hair cut
from Beethoven's corpse and unravels the mystery of his tortured life
and death.
The film begins in modern times when a pair of Beethoven enthusiasts,
named Ira Brilliant and Che Guevara, purchase the hair at a Sotheby's
auction.
The story unfolds tracing the past generations of owners, culminating
in the futuristic science that reveals Beethoven's 'medical secret'.
Based on Russell Martin's best-selling book and set to a lush score,
this is the story of characters separated by time and place, whose only
connection is an unlikely relic that touched each of their lives - Beethoven's
hair.
Along the way, this film sheds new light upon the cause of Beethoven's
various maladies, including his deafness, as well as accounting for
his volatile personality and perhaps even the nature of his great art.
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