Local Man, Global Presence: Ian Grant’s Culture Quest

For the very last 3 decades, Ian Grant has channeled his backgrounds in history and art heritage to explore cultures about the planet. His résumé is broad, to say the least, and Grant has worn several hats, from Persian rug purveyor to operator of a retail store–turned–custom home furniture business, Björling and Grant. He even landed a television gig in 2009, exactly where he trotted the globe in search of attention-grabbing objects and furnishings in his Journey Channel collection, The Relic Hunter with Ian Grant.

Rapid-forward 12 decades, and Grant’s ready for his next near-up. His new sequence, Lifestyle Quest, is slated to premiere on countrywide general public television this thirty day period. By means of the six-episode pilot season, Grant and his suitable-hand person (and shooter), Ian Levasseur, carry us into a entire world of wanderlust as they stop by locations they’ve by no means been to knowledge community daily life by the lens of the artists, artisans, and keepers of lifestyle. “It’s all about getting out what existence is like out there,” says Grant.

In one episode, he follows in the footsteps of Kazakh nomads of Western Mongolia, who hunt making use of golden eagles. In other people, he’s spearfishing off a distant island in East Timor or shadowing the procedures of Ghanaian artists. “I’m being quite generous to us, but Society Quest feels Bourdain-esque,” suggests Grant. “But instead of utilizing foods, we’re applying art, craftsmanship, and cultural events as a window into what is going on.” Comparatively, Grant describes The Relic Hunter (which acquired him an Emmy in 2010) as the cotton candy version of what he’s produced with Tradition Quest. Assume: much less frills, no script, and additional flexibility to do what he wishes.

You could ponder: A demonstrate rooted in unique vacation amid a world-wide pandemic? Fortunate for Grant and Levasseur, they wrapped filming the ultimate episode in the nick of time (early March 2020), just times ahead of the shutdown and vacation ban went into outcome. Catch the series on PBS commencing this month.