British Museum Presents Live Broadcast from DEFINING BEAUTY Exhibition Today

At 6.30pm today 28 May, the British Museum will present a live 30 minute broadcast from its current blockbuster exhibition, Defining beauty: the body in ancient Greek art, sponsored by Julius Baer. This unique broadcast will be live-streamed using the hugely popular Periscope app to share the secrets of these remarkable works of Ancient Greek art.

Viewers will be treated to an exclusive live guided tour of the exhibition by TV historian Dan Snow. The broadcast will be entitled 'Discover the naked truth behind Greek art with Dan Snow in this exclusive live tour' and will begin as the British Museum closes to the public. Dan will invite all those watching to join in with his journey around the exhibition, getting up close to iconic white marble statues, exquisite works in terracotta and beautiful bronzes and fascinating vases. As the tour progresses, viewers will be able to submit their questions via Twitter and the Periscope app and these will be put to exhibition curator Ian Jenkins in a one-off interactive Q & A hosted live by Dan Snow.

Periscope is the recently-launched app from Twitter which streams video direct from a smartphone or tablet to a global audience online. Released in March 2015, the app has been downloaded millions of times. Periscope enables users to stream live whatever is visible to their smartphone or tablet camera and anyone watching can leave comments or share the link to the video via their Twitter account.
Chris Michaels, Head of Digital & Publishing at the British Museum said:

"As a museum of the world for the world, we are always looking to experiment with new ways to share our exhibitions with the world, both the huge audiences who do visit us, and the audiences that cannot. Mobile technology and social media offer incredible ways to do that, and Periscope is a brilliant new innovation. The immediacy and intimacy of this way of broadcasting can help bring the wonder of Greek sculpture to a new audience."

Dan Snow, presenter of the live broadcast said:

"This is an exciting opportunity to go behind the scenes at the British Museum and to share this experience with a global audience. The British Museum is placing itself at the cutting-edge of new technology by using Periscope to broadcast live to a potential reach of millions. This event comes very early in the life of Periscope as users experiment with ways to instantly stream and record unique moments. I hope everyone watching will share in my enjoyment as I explore the British Museum after-hours and show them the exhibition Defining beauty in a way that no other visitor has had the chance to view it."

Discover the naked truth behind Greek art with Dan Snow

6.30pm, Thursday 28 May

The live link will be shared from the BM's Twitter feed (@britishmuseum #DefiningBeauty), along with a series of exclusive content.

The broadcast can be watched live within the Periscope app, and a replay version will be available on the app for 24 hours afterwards.

The broadcast can also be watched live on desktop computers but will no longer be viewable on this site once the broadcast ends.

A recording will be available to view the next day on the British Museum's Facebook page and Youtube channel, as well the British Museum's webpage.

Defining beauty: the body in ancient Greek art

26 March - 5 July 2015

The Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery

For over two thousand years the Greeks experimented with representing the human body. From the prehistoric simplicity of Cycladic

figurines to the realism of the Hellenistic age, Greek craftsmen gave form to thought in a rich harvest of artworks through which the human condition was explored and interpreted.

This exhibition examines Greek interest in human character as well as sexual and social identity. In

athletics, the male body was displayed as if it were a living sculpture, and victors were commemorated by actual statues. In art, not only were mortal men and women represented, but also the gods and other beings of myth and the supernatural world. They were either conceived in the image of humankind or in monstrous combinations of human and animal form.

Sponsored by Julius Baer

Additional support

In memory of Melvin R Seiden

Mrs Jayne Wrightsman, OBE