Art That Made Us

The turbulent era that followed the Roman occupation of Britain was once known as the 'dark' ages. But in reality, it was a time of glittering art and extraordinary cultural fusions. Celtic, Anglo-Saxon and Norse peoples fought for supremacy, leaving behind mysterious fragments of art that still haunt our landscapes and imagination, from strange sculptural forms to epic poems.

Contemporary artists, performers and historians, reveal how a century of creative renewal emerged from the chaos of plague, as survivors found their voice, questioning authority and challenging status and class. A literary tradition was established with works including Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, the satire The Vision of Piers Plowman and breakthrough works by visionary women like Margery Kempe.

In the 16th century, the British Isles experienced a religious revolution, as the kingdoms of England and then Scotland, turned Protestant. Contemporary artists and experts reveal how, during the reign of Elizabeth I, Protestants and Catholics used art, language and new technology to wage a battle for power in Britain, creating surprising and often radical works.

A splintering of politics and religion in the British Isles under the Stuart kings led to more questioning art, new science and architecture. The battle between royalist and parliamentary forces brought bloodshed but also inspired work such as John Milton's daring Paradise Lost. But it is in the rise of a more scientific mindset that creativity would find its greatest expression.

During the 18th century, Britain saw an explosion of creativity, with enough money, from trade and conquest, to pay for it. But the money had a dark side, with much of this cultural explosion funded by the slave trade. This age of exploitation was also stirring up a growing social conscience, with artistic works expressing protest and the inventing forms such as the biting political cartoon.

The 19th century saw a decisive shift in power from the countryside to the cities. With the industrial revolution transforming the British Isles, a divide opened up between the urban and the rural, forcing artists to respond to the upheaval of lives and landscape. Some artists attempted to capture the poverty and squalor caused by the rapid urbanization around them, creating unforgettable works.

Art went to war during the first half of the 20th century. This wasn't simply a response to the horrors of two world wars, but a war with the old imperial order, a war with convention and even a war with the very idea of what it means to be human. This is the story of artists grappling with destruction and slaughter, fighting back and transforming the culture of the British Isles.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the generation of artists who recorded the shocks of global war gave way to an explosion of new voices from across the British Isles, reinventing the arts and creating a richer, more diverse culture. Young artists rebelled against the old establishment, kicking against the confines of class, sex, nation and race. Soon a new British identity swept the globe.