Episodes
| Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | The Man With The Ship On His Head | 20201012 | Opera singer Peter Brathwaite used lockdown creatively. Responding to the Getty Museum's social media challenge to reproduce a work of art using only household items, he embarked on an extraordinary project: to recreate as many artworks depicting black people as possible, posting the results on social media using the hashtag #BlackPortraiture. Over 80 artworks later, Peter's remarkable recreations of art spanning eight centuries have made a huge impression, particularly in their relevance to the Black Lives Matter movement. As part of Black History Month on BBC Radio 3, Peter explores five of his recreations in depth, digging deeper into the stories of the black people he has brought to life. He also shares discoveries he has made about himself, his Barbadian heritage and ancestry, through the processes of researching and recreating each portrait. In this first episode we meet Joseph Johnson, the maimed Georgian street performer and former sailor whose act involved wearing an enormous model of a ship on his head. Peter Brathwaite takes us into the world of his Rediscovering #BlackPortraiture project |
| 02 | The Boy With The Monkey On His Back | 20201013 | Opera singer Peter Brathwaite used lockdown creatively. Responding to the Getty Museum's social media challenge to reproduce a work of art using only household items, he embarked on an extraordinary project: to recreate as many artworks depicting black people as possible, posting the results on social media using the hashtag #BlackPortraiture. Over 80 artworks later, Peter's remarkable recreations of art spanning eight centuries have made a huge impression, particularly in their relevance to the Black Lives Matter movement. As part of Black History Month on BBC Radio 3, Peter explores five of his recreations in depth, digging deeper into the stories of the black people he has brought to life. He also shares discoveries he has made about himself, his Barbadian heritage and ancestry, through the processes of researching and recreating each portrait. In this second episode we meet the anonymous boy who appears in the extravagant 17th-century painting The Paston Treasure, a still life that documents a wealthy family's lavish collection of objects - including a human being. Peter Brathwaite takes us into the world of his Rediscovering #BlackPortraiture project |
| 03 | The Man With The French Horn | 20201014 | Opera singer Peter Brathwaite used lockdown creatively. Responding to the Getty Museum's social media challenge to reproduce a work of art using only household items, he embarked on an extraordinary project: to recreate as many artworks depicting black people as possible, posting the results on social media using the hashtag #BlackPortraiture. Over 80 artworks later, Peter's remarkable recreations of art spanning eight centuries have made a huge impression, particularly in their relevance to the Black Lives Matter movement. As part of Black History Month on BBC Radio 3, Peter explores five of his recreations in depth, digging deeper into the stories of the black people he has brought to life. He also shares discoveries he has made about himself, his Barbadian heritage and ancestry, through the processes of researching and recreating each portrait. In this third episode we meet Emmanuel Rio, horn player and gardener in the employ of Emperor Francis I of Austria, as depicted by Austrian artist Albert Schindler in 1836. Peter Brathwaite takes us into the world of his Rediscovering #BlackPortraiture project |
| 04 | The Man With The Pipe | 20201015 | Opera singer Peter Brathwaite used lockdown creatively. Responding to the Getty Museum's social media challenge to reproduce a work of art using only household items, he embarked on an extraordinary project: to recreate as many artworks depicting black people as possible, posting the results on social media using the hashtag #BlackPortraiture. Over 80 artworks later, Peter's remarkable recreations of art spanning eight centuries have made a huge impression, particularly in their relevance to the Black Lives Matter movement. As part of Black History Month on BBC Radio 3, Peter explores five of his recreations in depth, digging deeper into the stories of the black people he has brought to life. He also shares discoveries he has made about himself, his Barbadian heritage and ancestry, through the processes of researching and recreating each portrait. In this fourth episode we meet a formerly enslaved African who has just been granted his freedom following Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Emancipation Proclamation, as depicted by Scottish artist Thomas Stuart Smith in his portrait The Pipe of Freedom. Peter Brathwaite takes us into the world of his Rediscovering #BlackPortraiture project |
| 05 LAST | The Woman With The Spoon | 20201016 | Opera singer Peter Brathwaite used lockdown creatively. Responding to the Getty Museum's social media challenge to reproduce a work of art using only household items, he embarked on an extraordinary project: to recreate as many artworks depicting black people as possible, posting the results on social media using the hashtag #BlackPortraiture. Over 80 artworks later, Peter's remarkable recreations of art spanning eight centuries have made a huge impression, particularly in their relevance to the Black Lives Matter movement. As part of Black History Month on BBC Radio 3, Peter explores five of his recreations in depth, digging deeper into the stories of the black people he has brought to life. He also shares discoveries he has made about himself, his Barbadian heritage and ancestry, through the processes of researching and recreating each portrait. In this final episode we meet artist Sonia Boyce, whose 1982 self-portrait Rice n Peas celebrates her Black British identity through the medium of food. Peter Brathwaite takes us into the world of his Rediscovering #BlackPortraiture project. |