When the BBC released Civilisations in 2018, it wasn’t just another art history documentary. It was an ambitious reimagining of one of television’s most influential series — Kenneth Clark’s Civilisation (1969) — updated for a global, interconnected 21st century audience. The original had traced the story of Western art and thought from the Dark Ages to the modern era, seen through the eyes of one man. The 2018 version broadened that vision dramatically. Presented by Simon Schama, Mary Beard, and David Olusoga, Civilisations became a sweeping exploration of human creativity across continents, cultures, and centuries.
It was not simply a sequel, but a response — a conversation across time between two ideas of “civilisation”: one rooted in Europe’s cultural legacy, the other open to the shared creativity of the entire world.
A Global Vision of Art
The first thing that distinguishes Civilisations (2018) from its predecessor is its scope. Where Kenneth Clark’s Civilisation focused primarily on European art — cathedrals, Renaissance masters, and the Enlightenment — the 2018 series expands the canvas to include the artistic traditions of Africa, Asia, the Americas, and the Pacific. The result is a far richer and more inclusive account of how humans, in every corner of the planet, have used creativity to understand themselves and their place in the world.
This global approach reflects a shift not only in art history but in our understanding of culture itself. No longer is civilisation defined by Western ideals of beauty, order, and progress. Instead, it becomes a conversation among many voices — sometimes harmonious, sometimes conflicting, but always human.
The presenters — each bringing their own expertise and sensibilities — embody this diversity of perspective. Simon Schama, a historian and storyteller known for his passion for visual art, brings a deeply emotional connection to painting, sculpture, and architecture. Mary Beard, a classicist, interrogates the very notion of civilisation, questioning who gets to define it and why. David Olusoga, a historian of empire and race, highlights the ways in which cultures have collided, exchanged, and sometimes exploited one another through art. Together, they weave a tapestry that is at once personal, political, and profoundly human.
Episode One: The Second Moment of Creation
The series opens with Schama standing before ancient cave paintings — some of the earliest expressions of human creativity. These works, created tens of thousands of years ago, are astonishing in their sophistication: powerful lines of bison and deer, flickering in the torchlight, rendered with a sense of motion and grace that still moves viewers today.
Schama asks what drove our ancestors to create these images. The answer, he suggests, lies in the human need to make sense of existence — to transform the world through imagination. The “second moment of creation” refers to the moment when humans, having mastered survival, began to create symbols, images, and stories. It’s this impulse, he argues, that defines civilisation.
By beginning here — in prehistory — the series situates art not as a luxury or an elite pursuit, but as a fundamental human need. It’s a powerful statement: creativity is not a byproduct of civilisation; it is civilisation.
Episode Two: How Do We Look?
Mary Beard’s episode turns the focus from artists to audiences. How do we look at art? How have different cultures understood the human image? And what can our reactions to art tell us about ourselves?
Beard explores ancient sculpture — from Greek statues of gods and athletes to the colossal Buddhas of Bamiyan — examining how the human body has been represented and revered. She challenges the assumption that beauty is universal, showing how ideas of perfection differ dramatically across time and culture.
In one striking sequence, Beard discusses how early Christians, Muslims, and Buddhists all grappled with the tension between the spiritual and the physical. Should the divine be depicted at all? If so, how? The answers varied — sometimes leading to magnificent religious art, and at other times to iconoclasm, where images were destroyed in the name of purity.
Her approach is both scholarly and approachable, inviting viewers to think critically about their own ways of seeing. In questioning how we look, she reminds us that art is never neutral — it reflects not only the artist’s vision but the viewer’s world.
Episode Three: God and Art
Schama returns in this episode to explore the relationship between faith and creativity. From the soaring architecture of Gothic cathedrals to the intricate calligraphy of the Islamic world, he shows how religion has inspired some of humanity’s greatest artistic achievements.
Yet, as Schama points out, religious art is also fraught with tension. The same faith that inspires beauty can also demand restraint, censorship, or destruction. The episode contrasts the transcendent beauty of Christian and Islamic art with moments of intolerance — such as the Reformation, when religious images were smashed as idols.
Through these examples, Civilisations presents art not as decoration but as a battleground of ideas. Every painting, every temple, every manuscript represents a struggle between revelation and restraint, freedom and control, faith and doubt.
Episode Four: The Eye of Faith
Mary Beard continues the discussion of religion by looking at how art connects believers to the divine. She travels from the Parthenon to Hindu temples, from Byzantine icons to modern spiritual art. Her central argument is that art gives tangible form to belief — it makes the invisible visible.
One of the most powerful sequences shows her in a Hindu temple surrounded by vivid sculptures of gods and goddesses. For the worshippers, these aren’t just representations; they are living presences. Beard explores how art can be both sacred and functional, serving as a bridge between worlds.
This episode captures one of Civilisations’ greatest strengths: its ability to move effortlessly between cultures and epochs while finding common threads — in this case, the universal desire to connect with something beyond ourselves.
Episode Five: The Triumph of Art
David Olusoga takes the viewer into the modern era, tracing the story of art through the rise of empires, trade, and colonial expansion. He explores how European powers used art to project dominance — filling museums with treasures taken from across the world — while also being transformed by the cultures they encountered.
Olusoga’s perspective brings a necessary critical edge to the series. He does not romanticize empire but confronts its legacy head-on. The story of civilisation, he argues, cannot be told without acknowledging the exploitation, slavery, and cultural theft that accompanied it.
Yet the episode is not simply an indictment; it’s also a story of resilience and exchange. Olusoga highlights how artists from colonized nations adapted and reinvented European traditions, using art to reclaim their identities. The result is a powerful narrative of resistance and renewal — showing that creativity can survive even in the face of oppression.
Episode Six: The Vital Spark
In the final episode, Schama returns to explore how artists since the Enlightenment have grappled with modernity. He examines how the Industrial Revolution, science, and political upheaval reshaped the role of art in society. From Turner’s turbulent seascapes to Picasso’s fractured modernism, art becomes a mirror of humanity’s restless energy and anxiety.
Schama argues that modern art’s fragmentation reflects a deeper truth about civilisation itself — that progress is never linear, and beauty can emerge from chaos. The “vital spark” of creativity, he suggests, continues to burn, even as old certainties collapse.
The series ends on a hopeful note: despite wars, revolutions, and technological disruption, the human urge to create endures.
The Power and Purpose of the Series
Civilisations (2018) is not merely a retelling of art history; it’s a meditation on what it means to be human. Its central thesis is that art is the most enduring expression of our shared humanity — the record of our hopes, fears, and dreams.
Visually, the series is stunning. High-definition cinematography captures the texture of paint, the play of light on marble, and the grandeur of landscapes. The camera lingers on details — a sculptor’s chisel marks, the shimmer of gold leaf, the gaze of a portrait — inviting viewers to see familiar masterpieces anew.
But what makes the series truly compelling is its conversation between past and present. It acknowledges that art is not timeless; it is shaped by history, politics, and perspective. By including voices from different backgrounds, Civilisations challenges the old idea of a single, universal narrative of progress. Instead, it offers a mosaic of civilisations — plural — each contributing to the collective story of humanity.
Why It Matters Today
In a time of cultural division and uncertainty, Civilisations feels especially relevant. It reminds us that while societies rise and fall, art remains — not as a relic, but as a living dialogue between people and time.
The series also invites viewers to rethink the meaning of civilisation itself. Is it about technological advancement, wealth, and power? Or is it about the ability to imagine, create, and empathize? By presenting art as a shared human inheritance rather than the property of any one culture, Civilisations promotes understanding in an increasingly fragmented world.
Conclusion
Civilisations (2018) is more than a television series — it’s an education in empathy and imagination. It invites us to step beyond familiar boundaries and see the world through the eyes of others. Whether it’s the handprint of a prehistoric painter, the marble of a Greek statue, or the brushstroke of a modern artist, each work tells a story about what it means to be human.
By blending scholarship with emotion, history with reflection, and global diversity with personal insight, Civilisations achieves something rare: it makes us feel the continuity of the creative spirit that binds all people across time and place.
In doing so, it redefines civilisation not as a single story of progress, but as an ongoing conversation — one that belongs to all of us.
