Inside Culture: Down Under with Mary Beard

Television historian Mary Beard is joined by actor and producer Cate Blanchett, journalist Stan Grant and the 27th Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard AC, to investigate the creative connection and cultural exchange between Britain and Australia and asks what that relationship looks like today.

In the new episode of the BBC2 series, Inside Culture, Mary – Professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge – visits The Box in Plymouth, where the National Museum of Australia’s groundbreaking exhibition Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters has just been installed. Describing the exhibition as ‘devastatingly interesting,’ she speaks to the exhibition’s curator, Margo Neale, about how Songlines takes visitors on a journey across the Australian desert, telling the foundation stories of the country’s indigenous people through the work of their artists.

Mary also chats to musician and comedian Tim Minchin as he embarks on his new UK tour, and the episode plays out with a track from ex-Neighbours star Natalie Imbruglia’s new album.

The episode ties in with the UK/Australia Season, a major new cultural exchange between Australia and the UK that celebrates the diverse and innovative artist communities and cultural sectors of each nation. The Season is a joint initiative by the British Council and the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Watch the episode on BBC iPlayer here.

And don’t miss the Guardian review on the Songlines exhibition.