Civilizations
Type
Audio/Visual
Authors
Category
Cultural Documentary
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Publication Year
2018
Publisher
Duration
50 minutes
Subject
Egypt, Greece. Olmecs. Qin Dynasty. Petra. Quwwat-ul-Islam, Sankaklar Mosque, San Vitale, Islamic calligraphy. Angkor Wat, Vermeer, El Greco, Katsura Imperial Villa. Benin Bronzes, Artemisia Gentilleschi, Bichitr. Itimad-Ud-Daulah. Sanxingdui.
Tags
Abstract
Survey the history of art, from antiquity to the present, on a global scale. The nine-part series reveals the role art and creative imagination have played in forging humanity, and introduces viewers to works of beauty, ingenuity, and illumination across cultures. Narrated by Liev Schreiber.
Episode 1: The Second Moment of Creation
Examines the formative role of art and the creative imagination in the forging of humanity itself. Images and artifacts found in Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia and South America testify to the urge to develop civilizations. Looks at the first marks made 80,000 years ago, Petra - a city carved into rock – the masks of Sanxingdui in China, San Paintings, the Standard of Ur, among others.
Disc 1:
Episode 2: How Do We Look?
Explores images of the human body in ancient art. We travel from Mexico and Greece to Egypt and China, finishing in modern day New York, asking why human beings have always made art about themselves. What were these images for? And what does a ‘realistic’ image of the body really tell us about the society that made it? It looks at sculpture from Egypt, Greece, the Olmecs, and the Qin Dynasty, among others.
Episode 3: God and Art
Broaches the controversial and divisive topic of religion and art, from antiquity to the present day. Visits the world’s temples, churches, mosques and ancient and symbolic sites through religions including Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam. We look at the void that Christianity filled following the collapse of the Roman Empire and the growing skepticism about the older pagan gods, as we explore the role it played in changing the nature of religious art in the West and Near East. It looks at Quwwat-ul-Islam, Sankaklar Mosque, Hindu sculpture, San Vitale, Islamic calligraphy, and Angkor Wat, among others.
Disc 2
Episode 4: Encounters
In the late 1400s, technological advances in seafaring and a thirst for trade conspired to send human beings around the planet further and faster than they'd ever been before. The result was that distant and disparate cultures met for the very first time. From the magnificent Benin bronzes, recording a relationship of mutual respect and exchange to the Japanese Shogunate famously bringing down the shutters and cutting ties with the outside world for over 300 years, this episode explores the way that initial encounters can produce a unique array of art. Looks at Vermeer, El Greco, Katsura Imperial Villa, and the Benin Bronzes, among others.
Episode 5: Renaissances
In many European minds, the word Renaissance evokes ideas about the radical transformation in thought and art that took place in Italy starting in the 1400s. But in the 15th and 16th centuries the great Islamic empires experienced their own extraordinary cultural flowering and the two did not unfold in separate artistic universes. This episode visits Papal Rome, Mughal India and Ottoman Istanbul exploring these connections and rivalries. Looks at Artemisia Gentilleschi, Bichitr, Rembrandt, Velazquez, Caravaggio, St. Peter's Basillica, the Walled City of Lahore, Itimad-Ud-Daulah's Tomb, and the Hagia Sofia, among others.
Episode 1: The Second Moment of Creation
Examines the formative role of art and the creative imagination in the forging of humanity itself. Images and artifacts found in Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia and South America testify to the urge to develop civilizations. Looks at the first marks made 80,000 years ago, Petra - a city carved into rock – the masks of Sanxingdui in China, San Paintings, the Standard of Ur, among others.
Disc 1:
Episode 2: How Do We Look?
Explores images of the human body in ancient art. We travel from Mexico and Greece to Egypt and China, finishing in modern day New York, asking why human beings have always made art about themselves. What were these images for? And what does a ‘realistic’ image of the body really tell us about the society that made it? It looks at sculpture from Egypt, Greece, the Olmecs, and the Qin Dynasty, among others.
Episode 3: God and Art
Broaches the controversial and divisive topic of religion and art, from antiquity to the present day. Visits the world’s temples, churches, mosques and ancient and symbolic sites through religions including Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam. We look at the void that Christianity filled following the collapse of the Roman Empire and the growing skepticism about the older pagan gods, as we explore the role it played in changing the nature of religious art in the West and Near East. It looks at Quwwat-ul-Islam, Sankaklar Mosque, Hindu sculpture, San Vitale, Islamic calligraphy, and Angkor Wat, among others.
Disc 2
Episode 4: Encounters
In the late 1400s, technological advances in seafaring and a thirst for trade conspired to send human beings around the planet further and faster than they'd ever been before. The result was that distant and disparate cultures met for the very first time. From the magnificent Benin bronzes, recording a relationship of mutual respect and exchange to the Japanese Shogunate famously bringing down the shutters and cutting ties with the outside world for over 300 years, this episode explores the way that initial encounters can produce a unique array of art. Looks at Vermeer, El Greco, Katsura Imperial Villa, and the Benin Bronzes, among others.
Episode 5: Renaissances
In many European minds, the word Renaissance evokes ideas about the radical transformation in thought and art that took place in Italy starting in the 1400s. But in the 15th and 16th centuries the great Islamic empires experienced their own extraordinary cultural flowering and the two did not unfold in separate artistic universes. This episode visits Papal Rome, Mughal India and Ottoman Istanbul exploring these connections and rivalries. Looks at Artemisia Gentilleschi, Bichitr, Rembrandt, Velazquez, Caravaggio, St. Peter's Basillica, the Walled City of Lahore, Itimad-Ud-Daulah's Tomb, and the Hagia Sofia, among others.
Description
1 videodisc (approximately 160 min.): sound, color; 4 3/4 in. DVD; region 1, stereo. Audio in English, subtitled for the deaf and hard of hearing (SDH).
Biblio Notes
Academic Video Online:
https://video-alexanderstreet-com.swcproxy.swccd.edu/search?ff[]=seriesFilter%3Acivilisations-arts&sort=title_asc
https://video-alexanderstreet-com.swcproxy.swccd.edu/search?ff[]=seriesFilter%3Acivilisations-arts&sort=title_asc
Number of Copies
1
