Monday 17 March 2014

Viking Art: TV Documentary and Museum Exhibition

BBC Two's The Culture Show aired a documentary on Viking art over the weekend. It was tied in with the exhibition now on at the British Museum called Vikings: Life and Legend.

In the TV programme, presenter Andrew Graham-Dixon looked at some wonderful examples of of Viking art, which is defined by intricate patterns showing stylised animals and mythological scenes.

Despite the intro being a bit patronising and derogatory about pagan Vikings - "Rape and pillage, followed by more rape and pillage" being one quote I recall - when it came to discussing the art and how the styles had been influenced by other cultures, the programme was interesting and informative. It certainly made me more keen than ever to visit the exhibition at the British Museum, which I hope to do later this week.

Viking Art: A Culture Show Special is on BBC iPlayer at the moment: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03ymlbw/The_Culture_Show_Viking_Art_A_Culture_Show_Special/

The exhibition Vikings: Life and Legend is on until 22 June at the British Museum, Great Russell Street, London, WC1B 3DG. Full details at http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/vikings.aspx

There is also a book out that you can order in hardback or paperback: Vikings: Life and Legend

1 comment:

Icy Sedgwick said...

I'm hoping to see the exhibition too so I'll have to catch the show on iPlayer!