BBC plans culture festival to air alongside new art series in 2018
by Tom Anstey | 31 Jul 2017
Civilisations will be presented by David Olusoga, Mary Beard and Simon Schama / BBC Worldwide
The BBC is seeking out museums, art galleries and libraries across the UK to run a series of cultural events alongside Civilisations – a new 10-part television series telling the story of art.
Airing next year on BBC 2, the series is inspired by Civilisation, a series presented by art historian Kenneth Clark which was first broadcast in 1969 and looked at western art, architecture and philosophy.
The Civilisations Festival, which runs between 2-11 March next year, will showcase ideas related to the programme, with cultural institutions being called upon to develop new events or link existing shows and exhibitions to the festival.
“We are inviting museums, galleries and libraries to schedule events to spark debate, broaden understanding and share ideas about what is meant by the term civilisation,” said the BBC in a statement.
“The content of the events is up to your organisation. It could be a debate or a keynote speech, a performance or a hands-on workshop using an item from your collection as the starting point.”
In addition to the series of events, the BBC says that it is developing an augmented reality (AR) app which would allow audiences to explore collections virtually. The BBC’s research and development arm will also offer a number a digital opportunities to participants, including interactive 360 video tools, live video broadcasting and personalised content linked to the festival partnership. These will be available from a Toolkit which will be available to participating institutions in September.
“Civilisations will explore the visual culture of societies from around the globe, revealing alongside the magnificent objects made in the West the wealth of treasures created by other cultures, from the landscape scrolls of classical China and the sculpture of the Olmecs to African bronzes, Japanese prints and Mughal miniatures,” said the BBC.
“It is being shot around the globe, filming in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. We are now looking to commission a further episode of Civilisations which would be editorially shaped by the museum sector in Britain, and featuring material from the collections here in the UK. The project is currently under development.”
An application deadline of 30 September has been set. Interested organisations should contact [email protected].
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The BBC is seeking out museums, art galleries and libraries across the UK to run a series of cultural events alongside Civilisations – a new 10-part television series telling the story of art. Airing next year on BBC 2, the series is inspired by Civilisation, a series presented by art historian Kenneth Clark which was first broadcast in 1969 and looked at western art, architecture and philosophy. The Civilisations Festival,
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