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Making History

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L'autocromia: una vita a colori

The Lumière brothers not only invented the cinematograph: in 1903 they also succeeded in fixing colours on glass plates. Looking at those images, time flattens. These long-dead models staring back through a now non-existent lens seem vivid and alive. But thirty years later, colour had once again been drained out of the frame. Historian Adrien Genoudet explains what happened.

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Autochrome: Life in Colour

The oldest colour photography in the world distorts time: these long-dead models seem vivid and alive

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The first magnifying glasses or "reading stones" were used in monasteries in the Middle Ages. Reading glasses appeared in cities such as Florence in the 13th century and accompanied the invention of paper. Claire Angotti, historian who studies tools related to knowledge, tells us more.

The Invention of Eye Glasses

The first magnifying glasses or "reading stones" were used in monasteries in the Middle Ages

At what point does a cross stop being about the torture of the person upon it and becomes an abstract symbol? In the Middle Ages people didn't shy away from the terrible suffering inflicted upon Jesus. But over time, that suffering was sanitised.

The Crucifix: Purely Christian?

At what point does a cross stop being about the torture of the person upon it and becomes an abstract symbol?

A powerful symbol of justice meted out by the royal hand, the hand of justice played a prominent place in the coronation rituals of the Kings of France. The symbol first emerged in the 13th century to represent how kings of France delegated the management of the justice system to the courts.

The Hand of Justice

The hand of justice played a prominent place in coronation rituals in France

Symbol of the industrial revolution at the end of the 18th century, the extraction of coal catapulted the world into the modern era. It also galvanised the labour movement and continues to be burned to this day. But it will accelerate climate change.

Coal: The Poisonous Black Diamond

Symbol of the industrial revolution at the end of the 18th century, the extraction of coal catapulted the world into the modern era.

As a tattoo or worn as a pendant, the Hamsa or Hand of Fatima can symbolise many things. Originally from North Africa and the Middle East, its symbolism and religious significance varies widely.

The Hand of Fatima: A Universal Symbol?

As a tattoo or worn as a pendant, the Hamsa or Hand of Fatima can symbolise many things.

Peter Durand invented the tin can, a small but mighty innovation that changed the world. The method meant Western powers were able to feed entire armies all around the world as Europe wrestled for global dominance.

The Tin Can: Conserve and Survive

Peter Durand invented the tin can, a small but mighty innovation that changed the world

Mummies are not only from Ancient Egypt, the desire to preserve the dead runs throughout history. 19th century embalming practices, for example, revealed a new relationship to mourning and the afterlife. Historian Anne Carol takes us through our relationship to the body and death.

Mummies are not only from Ancient Egypt, the desire to preserve the dead runs throughout history.

The Mummy and its Metamorphosis

In the 18th century, patterned fabrics became fashionable and were used both in dresses and in bourgeois furniture upholstery. This trend was the result of the international cotton trade from India, an exchange that foreshadowed globalisation. Indiennes fabrics are considered the first specimen of "fast fashion", as we know it today.

Indienne Fabrics and the Birth of Fast Fashion

Indiennes fabric from the 17th century is considered the first specimen of "fast fashion"

While the shipping container is instantly recognisable in today's era of globalisation, its ancestor in Greco-Roman Antiquity looked very different: it was the amphora. Patrick Boucheron and the historian Sarah Rey reveal the secrets and meanings behind this "simple" terracotta object.

The Amphora

While the shipping container is instantly recognisable in today's era of globalisation, its ancestor in Greco-Roman Antiquity looked very different: it was the amphora

The heroicisation of athletes conflates their physical ability with personal economic success. The football shirt is at once a useful everyday object and the stuff of legend. It's the modern day, real life hero's cape.

The Football Shirt: The Modern Hero's Uniform

The football shirt is at once a useful everyday object and the stuff of legend

The ceremonial smoking pipe is Amerindian, but without a name from the Amerindian language. It was 'discovered' by French and British colonists who came into contact with the indigenous population in the 17th century. Amerindians then boarded French ships and took the pipe to the other side of the Atlantic, where it quickly became popular.

Ceremonial Smoking Pipes: Conflict and Resolution

 What was the original meaning of the 'peace pipe' used by Native Americans?

Around 4 billion postcards were sent in France during the First World War as soldiers on the front kept in touch with family and loved ones back home. But did these postcards accurately depict what life was like at war?

The Postard - War Hero

Around 4 billion postcards were sent in France during the First World War. But did these postcards accurately depict what life was like at war?

With the advent of the modern cemetery, came the coffin. Gone were the days of mass graves and ossuaries. The adoption of the coffin results in the development of a funeral market as discreet as it is profitable.

Coffins Gain Ground

How changing customs created a booming death industry

The political history of the microphone throughout the 20th century is also the story of how free speech became democratised. This advance in technology triggered major cultural shifts, as the voiceless suddenly found they could make themselves very, very loud.

The Microphone

The political history of the microphone throughout the 20th century is also the story of how free speech became democratised

The gilded frame appeared in the Middle Ages transforming a work of art into a picture that could be bought and sold. Historian Charlotte Guichard explains how the invention of the frame made the modern art market, and art collections, possible.

The Picture Frame - A Window on the Art World

In the tropical colonies, Europeans wore a white pith helmet to protect themselves from the sun. This humble piece of headwear came to symbolise colonial oppression and reinforced the separation between coloniser and colonised.

The Colonial Pith Helmet

The history of tax returns is also the story of how the state slowly became more centralised and more controlling. From historical documents, to the most contemporary and computerised forms, this is the history of income tax returns (and tax evasion).

A History of Taxes

This is the history of income tax returns (and tax evasion)

China, after having been for centuries at the heart of a world where the adoption of Chinese customs, included how they ate, was the main criterion of civilisation, was looked down upon by the West in the 19th century. Historian Clément Fabre traces the history of the humble chopstick through the ages.

How Chopsticks Made the Chinese

Historian Clément Fabre traces the history of the humble chopstick through the ages.

Paris, 12 May 1588: the so-called "day of the barricades" marked a high point in the Wars of Religion, pitting Catholics against Protestants in 16th century France and Europe. Prompted by the Catholic League, Parisians piled rubbish and barrels full of stones to block the way of King Henry III's troops.

The Barricade: Fortifying an Insurrection

Polished axes from the Neolithic period were the tools used for perhaps the biggest change that man has brought about on Earth: the clearing of the land for agriculture.

Stone Age Axes - Clearing the Land

Napoleon's gray frock coat was a way of conveying to Europe that though he was now a statesman, he was first and foremost a man of war. Even more than the legendary bicorne, the frock coat became a piece of visual propaganda, proof of the Emperor's power.

Napoleon: Snappy Dresser?

Napoleon's gray frock coat was a way of conveying to Europe that though he was now a statesman, he was first and foremost a man of war

The pirate flag flies high at most carnivals and fancy dress parties, but it's got a long and violent history behind it. The scull and crossbones once played an important role in the creation of nation states and the concept of national sovereignty.

The Pirate Flag

The pirate flag flies high at most carnivals and fancy dress parties, but it's got a long and violent history behind it

In 1912 a German archaeologist discovered the bust of Nefertiti, wife of the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten, when he uncovered the workshop of an ancient artist at Amarna. The discovery of this beautiful sculpture caused a sensation at the time and chimed with contemporary ideals of feminine beauty

The Nefertiti Bust: The Birth of an Icon

In 1912 a German archaeologist discovered the bust of Nefertiti, wife of the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten, when he uncovered the workshop of an ancient artist at Amarna. 

Looking at history through the prism of one object. In this episode, the intrauterine device (IDU) in plastic or copper brought birth control to the masses in the 20th century. But this form of contraception has not always been a force for women’s liberation.

Birth Control: Emancipation or Forced Sterilisation?

The history of the intrauterine device (IDU) , this plastic or copper contraption that brought birth control to the masses.

Patrick Boucheron brings history to life through objects. With the inventions of photography the Turin shroud, a relic venerated for centuries, found a new lease of life as the photographic negatives seemed to confirm its sacred status. A relic in the age of mechanical reproduction.

The Turin Shroud - A Relic for the 20th Century

The parasol or beach umbrella is synonymous with summer beach holidays but it has not always been so. Historian Elsa Devienne tells us the social and cultural history of an object that has appeared on and disappeared from our beaches as fashion, tanning practices and our attitudes to our bodies change.

The Parasol and Beach Culture

The parasol or beach umbrella is synonymous with summer beach holidays but it has not always been so.

Claire Judde de Larivière, a specialist in Renaissance Venice, analyses how the drawing of lots partly reduced corruption and constituted a ritual that united the community of patricians in the Venetian Republic. We also understand what links the ballot box and the lottery box, throughout history.

The Lottery Ball and the Politics of Chance

Ostracism is still commonly used in our contemporary political vocabulary to designate exclusion and has its origins in Ancient Greece. Paulin Ismard, a specialist in the political anthropology of ancient Greece, traces the genealogy of a ritual that founded Athenian democracy.

Ostraca: A Piece of Clay Means Exile

Paulin Ismard, a specialist in the political anthropology of ancient Greece, traces the genealogy of a ritual that founded Athenian democracy.

Is it possible to write a history of our own reflection? Historian Philippe Artières, reflects on the mirror as an object and the action of observing oneself that for ordinary citizens only dates back to the nineteenth century.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

Is it possible to write a history of our own reflection? Historian Philippe Artières, reflects on the mirror as an object.

How did meat become a commodity? By transforming beef into a syrupy, energetic material, the chemist Justus von Liebig revolutionised mass nutrition with his extract of meat.

When Food Meets Chemistry

The object seems recent: its international standardisation is barely a century old, and yet questions of identification and control have never ceased to haunt the history of societies. For the passport was invented to control populations considered dangerous: Vagrants, deserters, illegal immigrants.

The Passport - A Paper Border

The object seems recent: its international standardisation is barely a century old, and yet questions of identification and control have never ceased to haunt the history of societies.

The history of the suit and tie, from the end of the 19th century onwards, overlaps with the Americanisation of the industrial world. Manuel Charpy deciphers the suit's ideal of dynamism and modernity and the social distinctions of the clothes we wear.

The Suit: Uniform of the Modern Man

In 12th century Sicily King Roger II had a ceremonial cloak made to show his power and magnificence with beautiful Arabic inscriptions adorning its hems. Religious historian Valérie Theis explores the history of this mysterious mantle

The Mantle of Roger II of Sicily

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The Cistercians order is almost a thousand years old. This documentary explores various religious buildings in Germany, including Bad Doberan and Eberbach and examines the role played by Cistercians in local economic life.

This episode examines the role played by Cistercians in local economic life

The Cistercian Legacy in Germany

Behind his polite exterior lies a formidable leader with a ruthless character, ready to do anything to make China the world's leading power by the People’s Republic’s centenary in 2049. This well-documented portrait of the Chinese president gives an unprecedented insight into his politics and shows how Xi Jinping's personal journey has shaped his choices as he steers China towards world domination.

A portrait of the Chinese president giving an unprecedented insight into his politics and showing how Xi Jinping's personal journey has shaped his choices as he steers China towards world domination.

The New World of Xi Jinping

After two months of fighting, the Russian troops had their advance towards the West blocked by fierce Ukrainian resistance. Forced to leave the suburbs of Kyiv, the occupying army left behind mass graves and horrific accounts of rape and abuse in their wake. Russia is now turning its efforts to the Dobas and the coastline along the Sea of ​​Azov. In Kyiv, the return of spring is also the return of many residents who had fled.

 In Kyiv, the return of spring is also the return of many residents who had fled

Ukraine: Kyiv in Spring

The Maginot Line is a giant: Thousands of underground bunkers and concrete defences lining the French border, from Belgium to the Mediterranean. In its time it was celebrated as a technical masterpiece and thought to be impregnable, today it also stands for the trauma of the French defeat in 1940. The documentary looks at a military construction that is as fascinating as it is controversial.

France's Defensive Barrier

Thought to be impregnable, the French defensive barrier did not halt the German invasion in 1940.

The Maginot Line

The literary source for Richard Strauss’s opera immortalizing the degeneracy of Herodes Antipas, King of Judea, and his step-daughter Salome, was supplied by Oscar Wilde. It tells of Herodes, who is keeping the prophet Jochanaan captive inside a cistern. Salome tries to seduce him and on being rebuffed, forces her stepfather to serve her the prophet’s head on a silver platter.

Directed by Christof Loy in Helsinki

Rejected by the prophet Jochanaan, Salome forces her abusive stepfather to exact revenge.

Richard Strauss: Salome

Far away from the South Korean capital of Seoul is the Buddhist Gameunsa Temple. Three nuns live, pray and cook together here as they preserve the knowledge of centuries-old temple cuisine. The abbess of this small monastery is the charismatic Wookwan Sunim, revered in Asia as one of the best cooks in the world.

South Korea: Magic Temple Food

Far away from the South Korean metropolis of Seoul is the Buddhist Gameunsa Temple where three nuns live, pray and cook together 

Geo Reportage

Lockdowns, crop failures due to climate change and the war in Ukraine are all to blame for soaring prices around the world.

Geopolitics of Inflation

Mapping the World Essentials

ARTE Concert Festival welcomes a legend, Damon Albarn. He performs his new album live: The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows.

ARTE Concert Festival 2021

ARTE Concert Festival welcomes a legend, Damon Albarn

Damon Albarn

The Supreme Court is now made of a majority of ultra-conservative judges since President Trump's term in office. The court now looks set to overturn the Roe v Wade case which gave women the constitutional right to have an abortion if they so wish or need. This worrying step backwards for women's rights doesn't mean women won't have abortions. It means they'll die trying.

Abortion: A Threatened Right

This worrying step backwards doesn't mean women won't have abortions. It means they'll die trying

Mapping the World

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Three Japanese men have fallen under the charms of high school student Rinko, a character from the video game Love Plus. The game finally leads them to the seaside resort of Atami, where the virtual world and real life collides.

Three Japanese men have fallen under the charms of high school student Rinko, a character from the video game Love Plus

Petit ami parfait

In 2020, for the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth, Philippe Jordan and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra recreated the mythical evening of December 22 1808, when  the composer presented his Sixth Symphony, also known as his Pastoral.

Philippe Jordan recreates the evening of December 22, 1808, when Beethoven presented his Pastoral symphony

Philippe Jordan Conducts Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony

An investigation into a little-known story from the Second World War. Having planned and executed their mass murders, the Nazis meticulously eliminated traces of their crimes against humanity between 1942 and 1944: The so-called Operation 1005.

How the Nazis Covered up their Crimes

The Nazis meticulously eliminated traces of their crimes against humanity between 1942 and 1944: The so-called Operation 1005.

Operation 1005

Ordinary Ukrainian citizens are preparing to resist the Russian invader by joining the army and helping the resistance in any way they can.

Ukraine: Resisting the Agressor

ARTE Reportage

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has brought the people of Kyiv together like nothing else. Calling on the spirit of the Maidan Revolution of 2014, they are ready to resist.

Ukraine: Maïdan Spirit

A breakaway region of Moldova that is not recognised internationally, Transnistria is largely pro-Russian. The war in Ukraine has awakened fears that Russia will try to annex the region.

Moldova: Transnistria and Russia

On May 9, Russia celebrated its victory day without a victory in Ukraine. Instead, President Putin further pushed the narrative of Russian victimhood, despite the fact that Moscow, not Kyiv, is the agressor. As the battle continues to rage, we take a look at Ukraine before and after the conflict.

Ukraine, Before and After the War

As the battle continues to rage, we take a look at Ukraine before and after the conflict

The planet's jet streams are being affected by rising temperatures in the Arctic. These streams are part of a wind system that circulates at high altitude around the Earth, and they have an influence on extreme weather events. Changes in them are bad news for life on Earth.

How Climate Change Makes Storms Worse

Changing jet streams are bad news for life on Earth

Winds of Change

Thirty years after the end of apartheid, South Africa has still not overcome its many problems: Endemic violence, economic and racial inequalities, state corruption. However, the rainbow nation has a lot to offer: tourism, natural resources and a leadership role on the African continent.

South Africa and its Demons

Live from the Teatro Real in Madrid, an adaptation of Prokofiev’s flamboyant masterpiece by the ever-radical Calixto Bieito.

An adaptation of Sergei Prokofiev’s flamboyant masterpiece by radical director Calixto Bieito.

Prokofiev’s "The Fiery Angel" at the Teatro Real in Madrid

We will be able to upgrade our brains with a microchip, blurring the boundaries between man and machine in a way that we've never seen before. But what will happen to us when our computers become smarter than we are? Helen Fares is on a mission to test the limits of the human brain.

Homo Digitalis

Helen Fares is on a mission to test the limits of the human brain

The Upgraded Brain

Since its invention in the 19th century, the bicycle has allowed Western women to move around independently. Today, it is the turn of women in Arab countries to discover its power. Though at first glance innocuous and common, the bicycle is unexpectedly feminist.

The Freedom to Cycle

Though at first glance innocuous and common, the bicycle is unexpectedly feminist

Autochrome: Life in Colour

Making History

Making History

The Invention of Eye Glasses

Making History

The Crucifix: Purely Christian?

Making History

The Hand of Justice

Making History

Coal: The Poisonous Black Diamond

Making History

The Hand of Fatima: A Universal Symbol?

Making History

The Tin Can: Conserve and Survive

The Mummy and its Metamorphosis

Making History

Making History

Indienne Fabrics and the Birth of Fast Fashion

Making HistoryAutochrome: Life in Colour

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