Alongside david hockney, 60 years ago, but he never reached the same level of prominence and acclaim, despite being regarded as highly influential in his own right. He was born in guyana in south america, but moved to britain as a teenager. Now at the age of 85, his first major exhibition has opened at tate britain in london. Our arts editor, Will Gompertz has taken a look. These are Frank Bowlings early paintings, made when he was clearly influenced by francis bacons expressionism and swinging 60s pop culture. He was part of the scene, a young london based artist who had trained alongside david hockney. Both were highly rated, both left for america. Hockney went to la and became a star. Bowling went to new york and became a teacher. Spray adhesive on the stencil. And directly on the canvas. He continued to paint, of course, but to no great acclaim. Recognition had been a long time coming. How do you feel about the tate exhibition . Er, well, i waited for such a long time for it to happen, that when it was announced that it was going to happen, i was told that the exhibition would be an exhibition that i wanted, and i quickly found out that once more, the language between myself and people like the tate, i hear one thing and they think theyve said something else. Well, it turns out that its going to be the tates show, not mine. He wanted the show to focus purely on the nature of his work, which has been a 60 year investigation into the effects of light and colour. Not, as is the case, a broadly chronological exhibition tied to his life story and race. There was a new thing that was sprang on me about black and asian art in england. Well, i dont know what black and asian art is. I only know that art is art. He is still hard at work, but painting less nowadays. More directing his assistants with the aid of an infrared pointer. They gave me this thing so i can say, over here, and theyll follow what i say. But i wait for the area of paint to sort of sing, then im happy. It sums up his work in a way, which is all about being drawn to the light. Now on bbc news, the second of two special programmes on the efforts to rebuild the lives of communities devastated by war. Betta ny hughes travels to lebanon in paths to peace. 0ver seven years, 6 million refugees have fled the devastation in syria. Children make up more than one third of that number. Many have witnessed horrifying tragedies, but even in the grimmest of circumstances, there is hope. I have been invited to lebanon to meet some extraordinary Young Refugee musicians who are being given a once in a lifetime chance to perform in lebanons capital beirut. Music is the secret of life laughs . Where i am driving out has been described as one of the most beautiful places on earth, it was the breadbasket of the roman empire and it has been home to some of the world was my greatest civilisations. But over the past few years it has also seen the packers passage of overi million also seen the packers passage of over i million syrian also seen the packers passage of overi million syrian refugees, and half of those are children, and many of them are very, very traumatised. We are coming down to beqaa valley itself now, and there are some formal camps here, but there are over 3000 settlements in lebanon, just where refugees have come and tried to make a home. Is it ok for the lebanese . Because you have a lot of refugees here. Yeah, of course it is ok, no problem. They are your neighbours, i guess, so you have to welcome the men. Yeah. And we are very close to the border here. From here it is about 25 minutes. Really. Yeah, it is now. Gosh, gosh. As we get closer to the Syrian Border, towns become crowded with refugees. Lining the streets, desperate for work. I am just a few minutes from the Syrian Border here, and damascus is just beyond those mountains. This is just beyond those mountains. This isa is just beyond those mountains. This is a little Cultural Centre, the action for hope Cultural Centre where kids and young people will come from camps right across the country, every weekend, dylan music. To learn music. The music is by professional musicians as musicians as well as by volunteers. Most of them refugees themselves. Hi, iam bethany. Nice to see you hello hello thank you so much for letting me come here. Thank you, would you like to see the school . me come here. Thank you, would you like to see the school . I would love to. Thank you. I have seen some students, how many do you have here . 24. And they come every weekend . I can hear some 24. And they come every weekend . I can hearsome drumming. 24. And they come every weekend . I can hear some drumming. What else do you teach them . Saxophone, singing, bouzouk, the cello, violin. The kids here have had some tough times before they came, help them coming here, do you think . I think they are very happy here, all the children. The organisers believe that music is one of the most powerful tools in combating trauma in young people. And here is the school ensemble. Practising in the centres kitchen have a big performance in beirut. The groups drummer, heba, who wants to bea the groups drummer, heba, who wants to be a lawyer, never misses a beat. Hebas house is in fact a plastic heart. She lives here with her family, a short bus ride from the school. Here, since the outbreak of war, as were many children, a makeshift camp has become a permanent home. Thank you. Hello, hi. Hi lovely to meet you. Should i ta ke hi. Hi lovely to meet you. Should i take my shoes off . 0h it must be ha rd take my shoes off . 0h it must be hard knowing that your home is there, and you cant go back. Why did you have to leave damascus, because you lived in damascus in syria, didnt you . Because you lived in damascus in syria, didnt you . . . When you are living in syria, was music a big part of your life then . . Do you think music can help to bring lots of people together as a society, as a community . And what do you remember about damascus, what do you remember about syria . And are you looking forward to going back, do you want to go back . Education for these kids is the only thing between them and a life on the margins of society. Music mightjust help restore a sense of self worth and belonging, and introduce them to and belonging, and introduce them to a profession that could be of real practical benefit. These camps, spread across the valley, were supposed to be temporary, but as the yea rs have supposed to be temporary, but as the years have passed, the makeshift tents have become permanent homes. Thank you, by heba, see you goodbye. Well, what an extraordinary privilege to be welcomed into that home. But isnt itjust heartbreaking that the one thing that heba and her mum and her sister and her little siblings want to do is to go back home, and see their loved ones. And home isjust now, you can see it as just beyond the mountains, but they know they cant get back there safely. But at least they think that music is something that they have taken from this experience, one tiny, tiny fragment ofa experience, one tiny, tiny fragment of a silver lining. Iam going i am going back to the music school to listen more closely to what is being taught to the students, who attend music classes here every weekend. The children are from different places, most are syrians, some lebanese from areas of the beqaa, and some Palestinian Refugees from camps in beirut. What they have in common is their love for music. It is this which brings a sense of focus and unity, in what is otherwise a splintered existence. 0ne one of the phrases that psychologists used to describe really serious trauma is soul torture. You think, looking at classes like this, but this is a scheme which mens souls, but also actually allows souls to sing again. Mends souls. Saxophone plays. This is ebrahim, from aleppo in syria. He has been learning the accordion for two years, helping him to ove rco m e accordion for two years, helping him to overcome the trauma of losing close family relatives during the war. Hello, sorry to interrupts. This sounds fantastic, ebrahim, beautiful, amazing. Wow. Do you want to carry on playing the accordion when you return home . Do you think coming here and learning about the beauty of music, does that give you more hope . For the future . Well, thank you for bringing us the music. Its beautiful. It certainly makes us very happy. Ebrahim, thank you. Music has been used by humankind right across the centuries. The ancient chinese advocated art that appear to,000 500 yea rs before advocated art that appear to,000 500 years before the turks invented it. In this region hospital often use music as a balm for their patients, to heal trauma, weather it was physical or mental. What is really interesting is now science is catching up with the lived historical experience, so Cutting Edge Research tells us that listening to music increases neural pathways, but it can boost the immune system, and that it can even reduce pain levels. So it seems as though music is a potent prescription for harmony of all kinds. Music plays a huge part in abduls young life. For him, music is not only a reminder of home. It is not only a reminder of home. It is home. Abdul often plays with his father, iman, who wants him to remember that music from their homeland is some of the oldest in recorded history. Syrians have watched with pain the destruction of their physical heritage. But there music lives on. Iman graduated from the Higher Institute of music in damascus. I wa nted institute of music in damascus. I wanted to talk to him to understand how music helps bind his family together. Hello hello, how lovely. Thank you so much. How are you . I am very well, how are you . I am iman. Better mean, thank you. Hello again hi, how are you doing . You look really smart, you look fantastic stop for you, why was it the right time for you, why was it the right time for you to take your family out of syria . Do you think it helped your family as well, the fact that your family are all musicians to . Do you think it helped your son and your other children to survive the trauma of having to leave syria . And do you find, if you ever feel sad or stressed yourself, does it make you more happy as well, to play your music and to live in the world of music . Thats right i know, it is a very beautiful thing. 0na on a friday night back in beirut, it is time for the schools ensemble to showcase their skills in front of a live audience. The event is part of an arts festival, and our Young Musicians have been given a prime timeslot. For some, this promises to bea timeslot. For some, this promises to be a once in a lifetime opportunity to showcase their talents to the world. Applause. Well done, well done that was fantastic. That was quite something. So, youve got a bunch of kids a very long way from home performing in an abandoned factory in downtown beirut. A whole crowd that theyve never met before, giving them the time of their lives. If that doesnt tell you about the power of music, i dont know what does. That was so good, guys that was fantastic. Well done. It was brilliant. The audience couldnt stop clapping. And the dancing was great, too. And are you going to keep on playing music now, do you think . If you watched that room tonight, everybody was clapping and dancing and listening. Why do you think music brings people together . These children have endured one of the most brutal of laws. Wars. And witnessed things in their short lives but a few adults ever will. No one can know what their future holds, but at least now there is a chance that music will be a part of it. A little dose of summer on the way for some of us. You might guess it is going to be mostly across southern and central areas of the uk as well. Temperatures will probably reach 28 degrees on saturday. And the continent is warming up as well. In fact, the heat is going to be spreading into france, germany and eastern parts of europe in some areas. Temperatures in excess of 30 degrees. We are right on the edge of this area of warm weather. In fact, we are very close to low pressure as well so there is some rain in the forecast this weekend. It starts off fairly quiet first thing on saturday. Temperatures ranging from around 11 degrees in london to may be single figuresjust around 11 degrees in london to may be single figures just about across the north of the uk. So the High Pressure s across europe. We are closer to these, in fact, we are right in between the High Pressure and the low pressure and there is a weather front stuck in between, so that means rather a lot of cloud across North Western parts of the uk, and we are anticipating some rainfor uk, and we are anticipating some rain for parts of wales, maybe merseyside and may one or two spit sunspots around the lake district, and almost certainly some light rain in North Western scotland. A at least 26 in london, it will probably reach 28 in one or two spots. If you have any plans saturday evening it is looking dry across the majority of the country before this area of rain reaches us on sunday. Sunday, a different picture. But High Pressure slips away towards the east and the south. And we get the low pressure off the atlantic. With that, and increasing breeze as well. You can see quite heavy rain there across western scotland. Spells of rain elsewhere across western parts of the uk. The chance of one or two thunderstorms as well. And these quite fresh winds will load the warm weather towards eastern parts of the uk. So that does mean that still around, say, lincolnshire and east anglia and may be the southeast will hang onto that warmth, around the mid 20s. Really, for most of us, it will be the high teens to around 20 degrees. That sets the trend for next week. Low pressure is set to be in charge of the weather. You can see to the north, weather fronts also coming in from the south, the temperatures willdip from the south, the temperatures will dip away but still reaching around 20 at best in the south. Bye. This is bbc news. Im duncan golestani. Our top stories at least 11 people have been killed in a shooting at a Council Building in the us state virginia. 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