A new exhibition, radio series and book will look at the nature of belief and how it has been important to all human societies as part of a new project by the British Museum and BBC Radio 4. To quote from the press release:
From 23 October, Radio 4 and the British Museum embark on the fourth major project coming out of their public service partnership.
Exploring the role and expression of shared beliefs in lives and communities through time and around the world, Neil MacGregor, former Director of the British Museum, returns to Radio 4 to present this landmark 30-part series.
The British Museum also presents a major exhibition on this theme, opening on 2 November 2017.
Throughout the radio series Neil draws upon objects and curatorial insights from the British Museum and beyond, with a focus on two or three objects in each programme. As with his last Radio 4 series, the multi-award winning Germany: Memories Of A Nation, Neil also travels to key locations – from the winter solstice in the ancient passage tomb at Newgrange in County Meath, Ireland, to the waters of the Ganges in India; from Jerusalem to a cave in southern Germany.
Across the series, the focus moves from daily and weekly practices, festivals, pilgrimages and sacrifices, to power struggles and political battles between beliefs, and between faiths and states.
