Exploring the past, present and future of art on television
Posted on 22 May 2009
Broadcast in 1969, Civilisation, presented by Kenneth Clark, was the first documentary in colour shown on UK television and proved to be hugely popular. Its format of a single presenter travelling to different locations to illustrate their points became a template for documentary makers.
Presenters, producers, art gallery curators and academics will gather in York later this month to discuss how television’s coverage of art has evolved over the last four decades and consider how the commissioning of art programming will develop in the future.
The event, After ‘Civilisation’: The Past, Present and Future of Art on TV, is organised by the University of York’s Institute for the Public Understanding of the Past (IPUP).
This is a great opportunity for arts policy makers, academics and programme-makers to offer their different perspectives on television’s relationship with art
Professor Helen Weinstein
Professor Helen Weinstein, Director of IPUP, said: “This is a great opportunity for arts policy makers, academics and programme-makers to offer their different perspectives on television’s relationship with art in a rapidly changing media landscape.
“It is particularly timely in the light of the recent decision to bring the South Bank Show, ITV’s flagship arts programme, to an end next year which raises fundamental questions about the future of art on mainstream television.”
The speakers will include Dr Nigel Spivey, who presented the series How Art Made The World, and Matthew Collings, presenter of This is Civilisation. There will also be contributions from Jan Younghusband, head of arts and music at Channel 4 and Clare Bevan, producer of Simon Schama’s Power of Art series.
After ‘Civilisation’ has been organised with the support of the Department of History of Art, the York Museums Trust and The Linbury Trust. It will be held at The Hospitium on Wednesday 27 May.
It is a free event and designed so that participants can pop in and out during their working day.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- Registration for After ‘Civilisation’ is free. Places can be reserved at http://www.york.ac.uk/ipup/events/ or contact ipup-enquiries@york.ac.uk.
- The Institute for the Public Understanding of the Past explores the role of the past in every day life and promotes partnerships between museums, galleries, heritage, and the media.
- The Department of History of Art was among the top ten in the country in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise. More information about the department is available at http://www.york.ac.uk/depts/histart/.
- Twitter users can now keep up to date with news from the University of York at http://twitter.com/UniOfYork. A newsfeed is also available at http://www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/news-feeds/.