MARY BEARD’S
FORBIDDEN ART BBC2, 9pm
Classicist Professor Mary Beard certainly knows how to grab our attention. Here she is, immediately talking about porn.
As this investigation into controversial and forbidden works of art kicks off, Mary reveals how a wealthy doctor turned banker donated 400 objects to the British Museum in 1865.
“He said they were symbols of early worship of mankind,” says Mary. “They looked more like what we’d call a collection of soft porn.”
It was all very awkward for the museum’s management and they hid the collection from public display.
Mary says: “Some art has always been off limits to someone. I want to explore how what is and is not forbidden has changed.”
We’re into tricky territory here, tackling sex, death, violence and more.
Mary meets renowned portraitist Daphne Todd, as well as artists Tracey Emin and Martin Creed to discuss works they’ve produced that feature usually private bodily acts or experiences that for some have deemed to “go too far”.