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Consumers and Conscience

Art That Made Us Series 1
Episode 5 of 8

In the 18th century, trade and conquest funds an explosion of creativity, and art stirs a growing social conscience.

This episode traces the story of Britain during the 18th century, a period that saw an explosion of creativity and a country with enough money, from trade and conquest, to pay for it. But the money had a dark side: sculptor Thomas J Price visits Harewood House to see the elaborate Robert Adam-designed interiors, Joshua Reynolds portraits and Thomas Chippendale furniture that were paid for by the slave trade.

This was also the great age of mockery, and artist Lubaina Himid reflects on William Hogarth鈥檚 scabrous exposure of upper-class hypocrisies, while comedian Stewart Lee analyses the cutting humour of A Modest Proposal, Jonathan Swift鈥檚 bitter satire about the treatment of the Irish poor, with passages performed by actor Jason Isaacs.

An age of exploitation was stirring up a growing social conscience. Emma Bridgewater examines how potter Josiah Wedgwood fought a campaign against slavery with teapots and porcelain medallions, while Martin Rowson analyses his hero James Gillray鈥檚 invention of the biting political cartoon, poking fun at all sides. The Georgian era was also a great age of writing, from Olaudah Equiano鈥檚 searing account of enslavement to Jane Austen鈥檚 classic novels. Sculptor Douglas Gordon explores what Robert Burns, with his distinctive dialect and poems of ordinary life, still means to Scots today.

Available now

59 minutes

Last on

Tue 21 Nov 2023 03:00
鲍鱼tv Four

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Rise of the CitiesSeries 1

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Clip

Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • 00:02

    Giuseppe Verdi

    Nabucco- Va Pensiero

  • 00:10

    James Blake, Electro Shock

    Retrograde

  • 00:12

    The Swingle Singers

    Prelude Et Fugue Pour Orgue Bwv 541, En Sol Majeur

  • 00:14

    Dirty Three

    Alice Wading

  • 00:16

    Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

    Abattoir Blues

  • 00:20

    Agnes Obel

    Fivefold

  • 00:56

    Leftfield

    Melt

Credits

Narrator David Threlfall
Director Sam Anthony
Producer Helena Hunt
Series Producer Melanie Fall
Executive Producer Russell Barnes
Executive Producer Denys Blakeway
Production Company ClearStory Ltd

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