Artsnight Returns For Fifth Series On BBC Two

BBC Two has announces that topical arts magazine show Artsnight will return to Friday nights on BBC Two for a fifth series, with curators including comedian David Baddiel, Sir Nicholas Serota, director of Tate art museums and galleries, Welsh singer-songwriter Charlotte Church, writer and broadcaster Paul Mason and novelists Lionel Shriver, Meg Rosoff and Val McDermid.

The series will also feature an in-depth interview-based profile of rock band Mumford & Sons from award-winning journalist Lynn Barber.

The first episode of Artsnight on Friday 6 May is curated by David Baddiel and sees the comedian and novelist travel to New York to discover whether the myth of the Great Man, as embodied by huge priapic figures such as Picasso, Saul Bellow, Norman Mailer and Jackson Pollock, has become untenable.

"I loved John Updike and David Bowie, and find it unbearable that, in my opinion, we will never see their like again. But the old art forms are dying as the great purveyors of them die, and the new art forms are small. Great now can only be spelt with a small g," Baddiel said.

In other episodes, Sir Nicholas Serota asks why does contemporary art matter, Paul Mason curates his pick from the international roster of writers and thinkers at this year's Hay Festival and Charlotte Church investigates the creative possibilities of the voice.

Mark Bell, Head of Arts Commissioning TV, said: "I am delighted to announce Artsnight's return for a fifth series on Friday nights on BBC Two. This series again offers the best of topical arts with thought-provoking curators from across the cultural world, from novelist Val McDermid and singer Charlotte Church to Sir Nicholas Serota, Director of Tate Art Museums and Galleries and an interview with Mumford and Sons from award-winning journalist Lynn Barber, hopefully we will be offering something for everyone."

Artsnight piloted in February 2015 with four episodes, followed by a second series in June 2015 for six episodes, a third series of twelve episodes in September 2015 and a fourth series of seven episodes in January 2016. The series editor is Janet Lee and it was commissioned by Mark Bell, Head of Arts Commissioning.

Programme Information (please note all TX information is subject to change):
David Baddiel on The Myth Of The Great Man (tx 6 May)
In the 19th Century, Thomas Carlyle came up with the Great Man theory: a view that history is formed by the impact of certain charismatic and powerful men. For Artsnight, David Baddiel travels to New York to see if there are any Great Men left, and whether the idea, embodied by huge priapic figures like Picasso, Saul Bellow or Norman Mailer, is untenable now.

He talks to writers Martin Amis, Nick Laird, Katie Roiphe and Meg Wolitzer, to ask whether anyone can be called 'Great' in a culture where so many voices and opinions exist, when anyone with a claim on greatness is easily shot down. Even those who might be considered Great, he argues, can't be that absurdly masculine anymore, so can only achieve greatness with an ironic nod and a wink. So what has been gained and lost by the death of the Great Man idea?

Sir Nicholas Serota On Contemporary Art (tx 13 May)
Sir Nicholas Serota, director of the Tate, makes a personal journey to one of the most economically deprived areas of the UK, as he dares to ask why contemporary art matters. In the former steel town of Middlesbrough Serota encounters a radical experiment by the Middlesbrough Institute Of Modern Art, as it creatively redefines its mission to better serve the community of Teesside, including its large population of asylum seekers.

In New York, Serota meets artist Mark Bradford, who will representative the US at the Venice Biennale next year. Bradford, an abstract painter, is determined to use his success in the art world to help foster teenagers in the deprived neighbourhood of Los Angeles where he grew up. In London, Serota meets international artist Mona Hatoum, whose diverse body of work has long explored the interface between the personal and the political, and between self-expression and social conscience.

Lionel Shriver On Art & Money (tx 20 May)
The latest novel from Lionel Shriver, best-selling author of We Need to Talk about Kevin, is The Mandibles. It is a dystopian picture of future financial catastrophe and 'fiscal warfare', but also it's about personal relationships - inheritance, possessions and families - and asks how does the world of macroeconomics relate to us as human beings.

Money isn't an emotion in itself, but it is the subject of a great deal of emotion, in the arts and in real life. It has certainly been a near-obsessive non-fiction topic since 2008, so for her edition of Artsnight Lionel will explore how economics - and money - are represented and reflected upon in the arts. She will speak to film-makers, authors, actors and artists who have mined this rich seam in film, tv, literature and theatre since the 2008 financial crash. This episode is also part of BBC Four's Art And Money season.

Charlotte Church On Singing (tx 27 May)
Charlotte Church is a Welsh Singer-Songwriter who has sold millions of records around the world. For her episode of Artsnight Charlotte will explore the power and pleasure of singing. Charlotte passionately believes that singing is a fundamental aspect of human culture sadly lost to some sections of western society.

She will advocate the power of song for social and cultural cohesion. On the eve of the Cardiff international Festival Of Voice, Charlotte will meet some of the international roster of artists who will be performing in the city, and look at some of the specially commissioned pieces, including performances from the National Welsh Opera, National Theatre Wales and Dementia Choirs of Wales.

Paul Mason at Hay Festival (tx 3 June)
With the global order fragmenting, Europe facing the biggest population movement since 1945 and the Republican frontrunner determined to build a wall between Mexico and the USA, can the west survive? Can mature secular democracies of Europe and North America adapt their culture and institutions - or will they be eclipsed by chaos, despotism and religious zealotry? Paul Mason, former Economics Editor for BBC Newsnight and Channel 4 News, examines the past, present and future of the west at the Hay Festival 2016, speaking to thinkers and writers grappling with the issues.

Val McDermid on Truth & Fiction (tx 22 July)
Award-winning crime writer Val McDermid asks: Is making stuff up the best way to tell the truth? For her episode of Artnsight, Val McDermid will unearth how science-fiction can act as a Trojan horse to explore complex political issues. She will explore the evolving relationship between gaming and writing fiction.

How far are today's games influenced by literature – and for authors who are also gamers, how does gaming influence their writing? How are difficult topics like conflict and disease discussed in these new forms of fiction. And she looks at the new wave of true crime - from Serial to Making A Murderer - and argues that fiction is a more truthful, less unethical way to tell the stories of the lives of others.

Meg Rosoff on 'Throughness' (tx 5 August)
Meg Rosoff is the multi-award winning novelist of How I live Now, Just in Case and Jonathan Unleashed. Meg is also a keen horse-rider and for her episode of Artsnight she looks at 'throughness' - a dressage term that describes the perfect communication of intent between rider and horse - and the fact that it is equally applicable to the perfect connection between writer and reader. In seeking to understand how art comes straight from the subconscious, Meg speaks to actors, writers, musicians, psychiatrists and world-class classical dressage riders.

bbc.co.uk

(MH)