Season 6 of the Peabody Award-winning series, Art in the Twenty-First Century, premieres nationally tonight, April 13, at 9:00 p.m. ET on PBS (check your local listings).
The first episode of the season, Change, features artists Catherine Opie, El Anatsui, and Ai Weiwei.
How do artists respond to a world in flux? In what ways do artists act as agents of change, and what kinds of aesthetic choices do they make to express it? This episode features artists who bear witness, through their work, to transformation–cultural, material, and aesthetic–and actively engage communities as collaborators and subjects.
Ask El Anatsui a Question
After watching Change, viewers are invited to leave a question for El Anatsui. The artist will respond to select questions, which will be posted online in the coming weeks.
Preview Videos and Images from the New Season
Explore materials from the entire season on Art21.org. Watch preview videos from each artist’s segment and browse through image slideshows of production stills and artwork surveys.
Screenings are taking place in communities worldwide as part of Access ’12. Find a screening in your community.
Resources for Educators
The Season 6 Educators’ Guide and Screening Guide are available to download now as PDFs.
Educators’ Guides support the use of contemporary art in classroom and community settings by empowering educators to explore the artists, ideas, and themes being explored in art today, and encouraging them to interpret these ideas for individual student needs. Guides include additional information about each of the artists, as well as Before Viewing, During Viewing, and After Viewing questions and suggestions for hands-on activities.
Screening Guides are designed to create dynamic public screening events, engage new audiences, and deepen appreciation and understanding of contemporary art and ideas. Each screening guide includes: tips on getting started, episode synopses, artist biographies, discussion questions, group activities, and links to additional resources.
Find these and other resources in the Materials for Teaching area of our website.
Support Art21: The Power of Six
The Power of Six campaign celebrates six seasons of Art in the Twenty-First Century. Since its premiere in 2001, Art in the Twenty-First Century has given audiences across the globe unprecedented access to contemporary artists: 6 seasons; 24 hours of programming.
Join the Power of Six campaign to help Art21 continue to reach artists, educators, students, and art viewers across the world. Supporters will receive DVDs, books, and more. Please consider a contribution to Art21 today.