Welcome to the banks of the River Seine, on the Island of La Grande Jatte. It's a Sunday afternoon in Paris during the 1880s, and the bustle of a city park is in full swing.

Georges Seurat became famous for painting in a style known as 'pointillism', using millions of tiny brushstrokes and dots to compose his scene giving an effect of shimmering light and motion. You can almost hear the leaves rustle and the birds caw!

Listen to the oars of the rowers, and look at how Seurat's pointillist technique makes the water sparkle in the sun and seem slightly rippled by the boats. There's a man standing alone in the shade...the park was a known meeting place for filles de joie!

The picture seems full of life. And sound! This man disturbs the peace by playing a brass instrument. The bell is pointed back at the man himself. How odd! Is Seurat making a joke at the expense of this middle class scene? At first they look so ordinary...

The prized pets of Paris scramble in the foreground. A dainty dog wears a bow. And a close look reveals a monkey on a leash! Beneath the veneer of this quite ordinary scene are the strange fashions of an increasingly modern Paris.

Even though the short brushstrokes mean that the people's faces are smudged and unclear, they have character, the suggestion of thought and interior life.

If you look into the eyes of this little girl the sounds of the park melt away. She's looking right at the viewer. What is she thinking? What is she inviting us to think?

Is she silently inviting us to judge and question the scene, to pause for a moment and reflect on the strangeness beneath the calm?

A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte is Georges Seurat's most famous painting. At first glance, it seems like an ordinary scene, but hopefully this audio tour has proved that there's more than meets the eye!

Want to explore some of the world's top contemporary art museums without leaving the house? Now you can with Street View!

Here's 8 museums to enjoy from New York to Bangkok...

1. National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gwacheon

When MMCA was first established in 1969 it was the only national art museum in Korea that had modern and contemporary art. The building was built to look like a traditional Korean fortress and also includes an outdoor sculpture park.

2. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York

An awe-inspiring Fifth Avenue landmark designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, the iconic corkscrew shape of the Guggenheim contains no carpeting or curtains to make sure visitors aren't distracted from the unbroken wave of art.

3. Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Bangkok

MOCA is home to the largest collection of modern painting and sculpture in Thailand. The building was specially designed with delicate jasmine patterns carved in the exterior to let in natural light.

4. Erarta, St. Petersburg

Erarta is the largest private museum of contemporary art in Russia. Its name combines the words 'era' and 'arta' which translates to mean 'the era of art'. The building it's housed in used to be a Soviet-era synthetic rubber research institute.

5. Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Bogotá, Colombia

The museum was founded after Father Rafael García-Herreros visited the house of a wealthy art collector and realized that the beautiful works were wasted, being limited to the sight of their owner. MAC now displays around 1,000 pieces of contemporary art for the public to enjoy.

6. Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Trento and Rovereto, Italy

This building was designed by architect Mario Botta and includes a large dome inspired by the Pantheon in Rome. A large part of MART's collection comprises of the Italian movement futurism.

7. The Grand Duke Jean Museum of Modern Art, Luxembourg City

Mudam is located at Fort Thungen and was designed by Pritzer Prize winning architect I. M. Pei. Its permanent collection includes work by Andy Warhol, Bruce Nauman, and Julian Schnabel.

Magic and art have a long and closely intertwined history, from the early-human drawings found in caves to medieval folk art to contemporary revival of occult forms and traditions.

Art has been thought to influence events, foretell the future, or cross the divide between the visible and invisible. More overt displays of magic have also been common throughout history, either as genuine ritual or for entertainment.

Join us as we take a closer look at some magical items found in museums around the world, highlighting the importance of magic and myth in almost every culture on the planet. 

This Batak book dates from the middle of the 19th century and comes from the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. The wisdom of nine generations of priests is stored within these pages. It is the only book to be decorated with the Naga Padoha, the mythical snake of the primordial waters that existed before the beginning of the world as we know it.

The book was originally collected by Herman Neubronner van der Tuuk, sent to the Batak regions by the Netherlands Bible Society to translate the bible into Batak. He started collecting objects in an effort to learn the language and discovered a world of magic and myth that still fascinates to this day. It currently resides in the Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

This carved stone mask is though to date back around 9,000 years BCE, making it one of the earliest masks in human history. Found in the Judean Desert, its exact purpose and origins are unknown, but its appearance seems other-worldly. 

It may have been used for decoration or could have been worn as part of as part of a magical ritual for divination or healing. It currently resides in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. 

These objects were created by Elizabethan mathematician, astrologer, and magician, John Dee (1527-1608/9), a court adviser to Elizabeth I. Upon his death Dee's creations were acquired by Sir Robert Cotton (1571-1631), whose collection was one of the founding collections that formed the British Museum in 1753.

The larger 'Seal of God' (Sigillum Dei) matches a drawing in Dee's manuscripts. It was used in conjunction with a 'shew-stones', a polished reflective disc for occult research. All three wax discs that Dee used are engraved with magical symbols and signs.  

During the French Revolution, Étienne Gaspard Robert, better known as Robertson, created a phantasmagorical show combining the novel and mystifying effects of electricity with more traditional magic lantern theatrics. Robertson's show featured ghosts that appeared to walk and specters that rose out of the grave. Spooky stuff.

The effects Robertson created were so realistic and frightening that many in the audience thought they were real. This translucent skull mask still spooks visitors to the Musée des arts et métiers, France.