Antony Gormley: How Art Began

Original version

BBC Two Scotland

BBC Four

Simulcast of network BBC Two in high definition.

BBC Two HD

BBC Two Northern Ireland

Until 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales (analogue) was known simply as BBC Two Wales. BBC Two Wales (digital) was BBC 2W. From 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales schedules on both analogue and digital became identical

BBC Two Wales

BBC Two England

England

Simulcast of BBC Two Wales in high definition

BBC Two Wales HD

Simulcast of BBC Two Northern Ireland in high definition

BBC Two Northern Ireland HD

BBC Four HD

Antony Gormley

Maxime Aubert

Adam Brumm

Adrian French

Michel Lorblanchet

Alistair Pike

Augustine Unghango

Morag Tinto

Laura Miller

Alistair Pegg

Christopher White

Tristan Lancey

Tom Dixon-Spain

Billie Shepherd

Blast! Films

Paul Bahn

Edmund Coulthard

Documentaries

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media: Arts

26/01/2019

BBC Two - Antony Gormley: How Art Began

Antony Gormley sets out on a journey to see for himself the very beginnings of art.

Britain's most celebrated sculptor Antony Gormley is setting out on a journey to see for himself the very beginnings of art.

Why do humans make art? When did we begin to make our mark on the world? And where? In this film, Britain's most celebrated sculptor Antony Gormley is setting out on a journey to see for himself the very beginnings of art.

Once we believed that art began with the cave paintings of Ice Age Europe, tens of thousands of years ago. But now, extraordinary new
discoveries around the world are overturning that idea. Antony is going to travel across the globe, and thousands of years back in time, to piece together a new story of how art began. He discovers beautiful, haunting and surprising works of art, deep inside caves across France, Spain and Indonesia, and in Australian rock shelters. He finds images created by hunter-gatherers that surprise him with their tenderness, and affinity with the natural world. He discovers the secrets behind the techniques used by our ancestors to create these paintings. And he meets experts making discoveries that are turning the clock back on when art first began.

Finally Antony asks what these images from millennia ago can tell us - about who we are. As he says, 'If we can look closely at the art of our ancestors, perhaps we will be able to reconnect with something vital that we have lost."'.

BBC Two

Knowledge, drama, comedy and the arts for a broad adult audience.

BBC Two is a lively channel of depth and substance, carrying a range of knowledge-building programming complemented by great drama, comedy and arts.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Antony Gormley: How Art Began

Contributors

Genres

Formats

BBC Two Scotland

About BBC Two