From the cabinets of curiosities created in Italy during the 16th century to the prestigious cultural institutions of today, a history of museums that analyzes the social and political changes that have taken place over the centuries.
Marina BehnkeSelf - Narrator (voice)Dominique PoulotSelf - Art HistorianAndrea MeyerSelf - Art HistorianVeronika SandbichlerSelf - Art HistorianPablo von FrankenbergSelf - Museum CuratorWolfgang M. HecklSelf - Deutsches Museum DirectorVirginie Picon-LefèbvreSelf - ArchitectChiara ParisiSelf - Centre Pompidou-Metz Director
Emperor Wilhelm II of GermanySelf (archive footage)Oskar von MillerSelf - Deutsches Museum Founder (archive footage)
One of the most significant cases in European archaeology is the grave of the shaman woman of Bad Dürrenberg, a key finding of the last hunter-gatherer groups. From a time when there were no written records, this site was first researched by the Nazis, who saw a physically strong male warrior from an ‘original Aryan race’ in the buried person. It was, in fact, the most powerful woman of her time. The latest research shows that she was dark-skinned, had physical deformities, and was a spiritual leader. The documentary – using high-end CGI and motion capture – compares the researchers of the Nazi era, who misrepresented and instrumentalised their findings, to today’s researchers, who meticulously compile findings and evidence, and use cross- disciplinary methods to examine and evaluate them. It also substantiates the theory of the powerful roles women played in prehistoric times. The story of this woman, buried with a baby in her arms, still fascinates us 9,000 years after her death.
Both a visit to a very peculiar exhibition at the Bundeswehr Military History Museum in Dresden, Germany, as well as an unprejudiced look at the artistic depiction of violence throughout history and the ways in which that depiction has been gendered.
The passionate story of the femme fatale, seductive and dangerous, a myth and a fantasy, through her representation in art.
How can structures, which take up defined, rigid portions of space, make us feel transcendence? How can chapels turn into places of introspection? How can walls grant boundless freedom? Driven by intense childhood impressions, director Christoph Schaub visits extraordinary churches, both ancient and futuristic, and discovers works of art that take him up to the skies and all the way down to the bottom of the ocean. With the help of architects Peter Zumthor, Peter Märkli, and Álvaro Siza Vieira, artists James Turrell and Cristina Iglesias, and drummer Sergé “Jojo” Mayer, he tries to make sense of the world and decipher our spiritual experiences using the seemingly abstract concepts of light, time, rhythm, sound, and shape. The superb cinematography turns this contemplative search into a multi-sensory experience.
Linguistics Ph.D. student Julie Walters can speak almost every language you can imagine. Things turn upside down for Julie when handsome Dan, the curator at the museum she dreams to work at, contacts her to get some French classes, and is all about doing it the fun way!
The Richardson Olmsted Campus, a former psychiatric center and National Historic Landmark, is seeing new life as it undergoes restoration and adaptation to a modern use.
Documentary which follows the construction of a trailblazing 36,000-tonne steel structure to entomb the ruins of the nuclear power plant destroyed in the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
A daughter is constantly overshadowed by her famous father, but she is determined to make her own mark in the world.
Paleolithic: a mysterious and enigmatic period. Hard to grasp from today's point of view. How did people live then, how did their communities function? What does the statue of the Venus of Willendorf tell us about them? ... The Venus of Willendorf, an ingeniously crafted 29,000-year-old statue of a woman, is a naked and sensual witness to the early Stone Age. Who does he represent? Is it a real depiction of a woman or an ideal? Is it a tribute to women mothers? Analysis of the famous statue and other archaeological finds from Austria and the Czech Republic shows that Paleolithic life was more diverse than previously thought, including the role of women, who very likely performed the same activities as men. They were hunters of big game and guardians of ancient knowledge. Take us back 29,000 years to people who were a lot more like us than we think.
Are the manned moon landings of Apollo one of the greatest hoaxes ever devised - perhaps even the greatest government conspiracy of all time? Were the moon walks filmed in a secret studio? Do you believe in the Moon Landing Hoax? The evidence will surprise you!
Director Agnès Varda and photographer/muralist JR journey through rural France and form an unlikely friendship.
In 1919 an art school opened in Germany that would change the world forever. It was called the Bauhaus. A century later, its radical thinking still shapes our lives today. Bauhaus 100 is the story of Walter Gropius, architect and founder of the Bauhaus, and the teachers and students he gathered to form this influential school. Traumatised by his experiences during the Great War, and determined that technology should never again be used for destruction, Gropius decided to reinvent the way art and design were taught. At the Bauhaus, all the disciplines would come together to create the buildings of the future, and define a new way of living in the modern world.
The coronation of King Håkon (Haakon VII) of Norway in 1905.
The Victorian era is often cited for its lack of sexuality, but as this documentary reveals, the period's artists created a strong tradition surrounding the classical nude figure, which spread from the fine arts to more common forms of expression. The film explains how 19th-century artists were inspired by ancient Greek and Roman works to highlight the naked form, and how that was reflected in the evolving cultural attitudes toward sex.