Civilisations 

Nine-part series telling the story of art from the dawn of human history to the present day, for the first time on a global scale. It is now nearly half a century since Kenneth Clark's ... See full summary »

Stars:

Liev Schreiber, Simon Schama, David Olusoga

Cast

Series cast summary:
Liev Schreiber	...	Narrator 9 episodes, 2018
Simon Schama	...	Himself - Presenter 5 episodes, 2018

Storyline

Nine-part series telling the story of art from the dawn of human history to the present day, for the first time on a global scale. It is now nearly half a century since Kenneth Clark's series Civilisation thrilled audiences with its authoritative interpretation of the glories of Western art. Inspired by that groundbreaking program, this new series of Civilisations introduces a new generation to the great masterworks of beauty, ingenuity and illumination created across the continents. It explores 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. Told by three presenters, each bringing their own skills and perspectives to the series - Simon Schama, Mary Beard and David Olusoga.

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Genres:

Documentary | History

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 March 2018 (UK)

Also Known As:

Civilisationens rötter

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting (BBC), Nutopia

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in Good Morning Britain: Episode dated 27 April 2018 (2018)

User Reviews

Civilisation, in spite of YouTube

I've often imagined I'd like the chance of offering up my personal version of history on television; what a history of art? Art is not so simply to reduce to a straightforward narrative, so this is a bold project for co-presenters Simon Schama, Mary Beard and David Olusoga. And it's very heartening to see that the BBC hasn't tried to dumb down their commentary. In other BBC programmes I've seen Beard idiotically reciting Caesar's speaches in modern day Rome, and Schama presenting a fairly convetional wisdom; but here we get their true intellectual insights, and if in places the series is pretentious it's also hard to watch without genuinely learning something. 'Civilisations' has been contrasted to Kenneth Clark's famous series with almost the same title from 60 years previously, but without the latter's Euro-centric bias: to it's credit, though, it never feels to be taking cheap pot-shots at Europe, but rather puts Europe's acheivements (and failures) quite properly in their global context. This is the sort of programme that almost no-one but the BBC could make, and that even the BBC barely makes any more. In the age of YouTube, watch it while you can.