In The Studio

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

[LISTEN NOW]

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

[LISTEN NOW]

Adeju Thompson, the founder and creative director behind the Nigerian fashion label Lagos Space Programme, attempts to establish the label on the global fashion scene.

Lagos Space Programme blends Yoruba heritage (notably Adire dyeing) with queer and futurist aesthetics, taking inspiration from Lou Reed, traditional Ife sculptures, and the photography of Rotimi Fani-Kayode and Robert Mapplethorpe. Thompson talks about his dedication to slow fashion, gender-fluid creations, and detailed artisan craftsmanship, blending traditional techniques with contemporary designs.

Tayo Popoola follows Thompson to Paris where he unveils his collection, based on the idea of 'rock'n'roll consciousness'. We then join him at his studio in Surulere, Lagos where he discusses his new designs for 25/26.

In Ibadan, they visit a profound source of Adeju Thompson's inspiration. The Dominican Chapel, designed by the esteemed architect Demas Nwoko, is a testament to a powerful synthesis of African artistic traditions and modern architectural principles. Nwoko's vision for the chapel, integrating local materials and traditional building techniques with contemporary design, deeply resonates with Thompson's own artistic philosophy. Much like Nwoko in his architectural practise, Adeju strives to bridge the gap between historical African aesthetics and contemporary global fashion, creating a dialogue between the past and the present, the local and the universal.

Beyond the creative process, the programme also sheds light on the realities of an up-and-coming fashion label navigating the competitive landscape of international fashion weeks.

A Spiritland production for BBC World Service

(Image: Fashion designer Adeju Thompson, photographed at his studio in Lagos. Credit: Tayo Popoola)

Fashion designer Adeju Thompson prepares to take his label from Lagos to the world

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How fixed is the borderline between human music and the sounds of nature? That's a question that guides the work of Los Angeles-based composer Alexey Seliverstov. In this programme, Regan Morris follows Alexey's creative process from recording the dawn chorus in the Santa Monica mountains, through the ingenious transformations of the field recordings to the finished multi-channel and multi-sensory installation for the Shelemay Sound Lab at Harvard University.

There is more to Alexey's music than first meets the ear: some of the ‘birds' are actually the sounds of his own and his brother's voices recorded when they were children and altered beyond recognition by Alexey's sophisticated processing. Adding ear-prints of empty spaces to the sounds of chirping synthesisers, similar to the effect of repeated exposures on an old-fashioned camera film, draw us further into Alexey's imaginary landscapes. Are these soundscapes artificial or still mostly natural? How does mixing the sounds of nature and sounds that we associate with humans, such as pianos, alter our idea of what music can be?

Transforming mountain bird chirps into an interactive sound installation

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Amin Gulgee defies easy categorisation: he's a metal sculptor, a curator, and one of Pakistan's most innovative and cherished artists, the beating heart of his home city of Karachi's creative scene. His metalwork is as dramatic and eccentric as Amin is. He's in your face, uncompromising, a living and breathing performance piece.

Amin also comes from a prestigious family. His father, Ismail Gulgee, was one of Pakistan's most famous modernists, creating abstract paintings that have been exhibited across the globe, and even sketching heads of state like Reagan and Gaddafi. In 2007, both Ismail and Amin's mother Zaro were tragically murdered by their driver. It was Amin who found their bodies, in their house which adjoins his own studio and gallery. Much of Amin's work since has been an attempt to come to terms with and heal from this most tragic of events.

Harry Stott meets Amin on location in his Karachi studio-cum-gallery-cum-home, as he prepares to open a new museum of his father's work – the ‘most momentous' thing he has ever attempted. We listen in as Amin shows us the calligraphy adorned doors which he has created for the museum's entrance. We go inside his studio to hear about his creative process more widely. And we hear Amin come to terms with the tragedy of his parents' death and the solace that he finds in his workshop.

Amid the tumult of this momentous museum opening in the already tumultuous city of Karachi, this episode of In the Studio attempts to understand how Amin's two-year process of creation, curation and healing will change his creative process for the years to come.

Presenter and producer: Harry Stott

Co-producer and fixer: Adam Fahy-Majeed

Executive producer: Sandra Ferrari

Sound design and engineering: Alan Leer, Lizzy Andrews

A Message Heard production

Image: Amin Gulgee (Credit: Humayun Memon)

Amin Gulgee finds healing by curating a museum of his murdered father's work in Karachi

Sculptor Amin Gulgee finds healing by curating a museum of his murdered father's work in Karachi.

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The Ghanaian artist Amoako Boafo has attracted global fame for his bold and sensual portraits. He paints bodies and faces using his fingertips instead of a brush, capturing form through direct, tactile gestures.

When he went to art school in Vienna, he was struck by the extent to which Black subjects had been overlooked in global art. Determined to change the status quo, he drew inspiration from early 20th century Viennese artists like Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele and added his own techniques to invent a fresh new style of portraiture.

Lucy Ash follows his preparations for a major new show in London. It involves a transformation of the gallery space into a full-scale recreation of a Ghanaian courtyard – just like the shared space in which he was raised. Boafo resurrected his Accra childhood with the help of his collaborator, Glenn De Roché, an architect famous for community buildings which use reclaimed materials and with an artist friend who produced a set of playing cards, especially for the event.

The Ghanaian artist Amoako Boafo has attracted global fame for his bold portraits.

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

[LISTEN NOW]

The Ghanaian artist Amoako Boafo has attracted global fame for his bold and sensual portraits. He paints bodies and faces using his fingertips instead of a brush, capturing form through direct, tactile gestures.

When he went to art school in Vienna, he was struck by the extent to which Black subjects had been overlooked in global art. Determined to change the status quo, he drew inspiration from early 20th Century Viennese artists like Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele and added his own techniques to invent a fresh new style of portraiture.

Lucy Ash follows his preparations for a major new show at Gagosian in London. It involves a transformation of the gallery space into a full-scale recreation of a Ghanaian courtyard – just like the shared space in which he was raised. Boafo resurrected his Accra childhood with the help of his collaborator, Glenn De Roché, an architect famous for community buildings which use reclaimed materials and with an artist friend who produced a set of playing cards, especially for the event.

The Ghanaian artist Amoako Boafo has attracted global fame for his bold portraits

[LISTEN NOW]

For over 25 years Antonia Quirke has made programmes for the BBC about film. After a chance comment during an interview, she was offered a small part in a screen adaptation of Jim Crace's novel Harvest, directed by Athina Rachel Tsangari, one of the celebrated instigators of the surreal, unsettling cinema movement known as the Greek Weird Wave. Filmed over the course of one tempestuous summer on location in the remote Scottish Highlands, little did she know that she was to end up having to perform a particularly gruesome act of violence during a pivotal scene. And then watch that moment screened for the first time at the Venice Film Festival. Antonia reports from the set as she prepares for – and dreads - her moment in the spotlight.

This programme contains content that some listeners may find upsetting.

Film critic Antonia Quirke is cast in a small part in a folk horror movie.

Antonia Quirke finds out what it's like to be a film extra

For over 25 years Antonia Quirke has made programmes and written articles about film. After a chance comment during an interview, she was offered a small part in a screen adaptation of Jim Crace's novel Harvest, directed by Athina Rachel Tsangari, one of the celebrated instigators of the surreal, unsettling cinema movement known as the Greek Weird Wave. Filmed over the course of one tempestuous summer on location in the remote Scottish Highlands, little did she know that she was to end up having to perform a particularly gruesome act of violence during a pivotal scene. And then watch that moment screened for the first time at the Venice Film Festival. Antonia reports from the set as she prepares for – and dreads - her moment in the spotlight.

[LISTEN NOW]

Anchi has dedicated her research and creative work to exploring the Indigenous space of Temahahoi, a place where queer, gender non-conforming people lived and could communicate with bees, who were also their protection from approaching intruders.

Combining new technology, handmade ceramics and traditional bee chasing skills, Anchi Lin celebrates her Indigenous culture and identity in her work.

Anchi Lin talks in her studio to Lucy Collingwood, as she works on the performance elements of her video installation. Then from a forest deep in the Taiwan countryside, we follow Anchi as she learns the art of wild bee chasing from an Indigenous elder.

Lucy then joins Anchi Lin as she prepares to take part in an exhibition in Switzerland. Together they gather stones on the shores of Lake Zurich, traditionally used to protect bee hives, to stack as the final part of her installation.

Produced by Lucy Collingwood for the BBC World Service.

Executive Producer: Andrea Kidd

(Photo: Anchi Lin in her home studio)

Creating a multi-media installation inspired by an Indigenous story

(Photo: Anchi Lin (Ciwas Tahos). Credit: Julia Kingham)

Mango season in Venezuela is a time of abundance, when mango fruit is plentiful on the trees. During this time of economic crisis and food scarcity in the country, many people can now be seen roaming the streets looking for these fruits to feed themselves and their families.

Andrea doesn't want to just take photographs of the hungry, but to dignify the struggle, showing how people are helping to solve this situation and help create a bridge between the people in the photographs and the viewer.

Presenter: Francis Peña

Producer: Andrea Kidd

(Photo: Andrea Hernández. Credit: Courtesy of Juan Velásquez)

Documenting the political and economic crisis across the country

Andrea Hernández is a documentary photographer, whose project Mango Season, aims to dignify the poverty facing people in Venezuela.

Photographer Andrea Hernández has been travelling around her native Venezuela documenting people and nature for her ongoing project called Mango Season. Mango season in Venezuela is a time of abundance, when mango fruit is plentiful on the trees. During this time of economic crisis and food scarcity in the country, many people can now be seen roaming the streets looking for these fruits to feed themselves and their families. Andrea doesn't want to just take photographs of the hungry, but to dignify the struggle, showing how people are helping to solve this situation and help create a bridge between the people in the photographs and the viewer.

As well as following Andy as he writes Action Dude, the programme will follow Andy in the other part of the job - one that people who want to write a children's book don't really think (or even know) about. To develop and promote a book for children these days, authors now also have to perform. To children. Loads of them. At festivals and in schools. In Andy's case, he does what amounts to a semi-improvised hour-long stand up show with live drawing. It's always teetering on the edge of havoc, which makes head teachers very anxious.

So, the work begins. But what's the third one going to be about? Will  Action Dude be fighting a massive shark - or will he be doing something else entirely? How can this one be akin to the earlier books ... whilst also new and surprising? And how did Andy end up in this line of work, drawing explosions and spaceships at the age of 53 anyway?

(Photo: Andy Riley. Credit: Courtesy of Andy Riley)

Andy Riley, Emmy-winning scriptwriter and a million-selling author and cartoonist

Andy Riley is an Emmy-winning scriptwriter and million-selling author and cartoonist begins to write and draw the third book in his graphic novel series.

Contemporary classical music composer Anna Clyne is one of the most performed and in demand composers in the world.

For her next commission, she's working on a new concerto for the St Louis Symphony Orchestra in Missouri, USA. The piece is called PALETTE, and will feature seven movements related to seven colours: plum, amber, lava, ebony, teal, tangerine and emerald green.

Anna will be working with her Grammy-winning audio engineer, sound artist and designer husband Jody Elff on the composition, using their Augmented Orchestra to electronically manipulate the sound of the orchestra in real time during live performances. It's part of their challenge to expand the sound of the acoustic orchestral world while pushing the boundaries of contemporary classical music. Anna will also be painting seven pictures as part of the creative process, inspired by her music, to add to the audience's experience of the work.

Anna Bailey follows Anna and Jody on their sonic and visual journeys, from Anna's music studio in upstate New York to a workshop with the Juilliard School in Manhattan, before the world premiere in St Louis.

Presenter and producer: Anna Bailey

Executive producer: Andrea Kidd

Composer Anna Clyne and sound designer Jody Elff create a new piece inspired by colours

Composer Anna Clyne and her husband, sound designer Jody Elff, create a new piece inspired by seven different colours for an electronically augmented orchestra.

The contemporary classical music composer Anna Clyne is one of the most performed and in demand composers in the world.

For her next commission she's working on a new concerto for the St Louis Symphony Orchestra in Missouri, USA. The piece is called PALETTE and is influenced by the colours of an artist's palette and will feature seven movements related to seven colours including plum, amber, lava, ebony, teal, tangerine and emerald green.

Anna will be working with her US Grammy award-winning sound designer, artist and engineer husband Jody Elff on the composition with their Augmented Orchestra, to electronically manipulate the sound of the orchestra in real time during live performances. It's part of their challenge to expand the sound of the acoustic orchestral world while pushing the boundaries of contemporary classical music. Anna will also be painting seven pictures as part of the creative process, inspired by her own music, which will be displayed in the foyer of the concert hall.

Join Anna Bailey as she follows Anna and Jody on their sonic and visual journeys, creating the world premiere of PALLETE, A Concerto for Augmented Orchestra, from Anna's music studio in upstate New York, to a workshop with the Juilliard School in Manhattan before the world premiere in St Louis.

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

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From a quiet forest outside Stockholm to the world's most glamorous runways, Swedish designer Anna-Karin Karlsson has built one of fashion's most distinctive eyewear brands. Her bold, sculptural glasses and sunglasses are worn by Beyoncé, Snoop Dogg, Madonna and Elton John – yet their inspiration comes from a quiet life surrounded by trees and animals.

Cultural journalist Anna À...kerlund steps inside Karlsson's world. We discover how the designer blends fantasy with craftsmanship, and challenges the conventions of both global luxury brands and Swedish restraint. As Karlsson explains, she doesn't always follow seasonal fashion calendars; instead, she completes each collection only when it feels ready.

Across three encounters we follow Anna-Karin to her woodland home, her city studio where sketches become intricate frames, and finally to Paris as her latest creations go on display. Along the way, the designer reflects on her journey from a small town in Sweden to a global stage, her all-female team, and her work ethic.

This intimate portrait reveals a woman who sees glasses not as accessories, but as expressions of personality and power. Through her story, we explore how nature, creativity and grit have helped her reshape what it means to see – and be seen – wearing her iconic frames.

A Podlit AB Production.

The imaginative world of Swedish eyewear designer Anna-Karin Karlsson

We immerse ourselves in the imaginative world of Swedish eyewear designer Anna-Karin Karlsson, a visionary who has redefined the boundaries of fashion and function.

Her creations, which have become must-have accessories for stars like Rihanna, Lady Gaga, and Beyoncé, are not just about utility; they are expressions of art, identity, and rebellion against the ordinary.

Across studio, street and runway, we explore how her ideas travel from sketch to statement.

A Podlit production.

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Producer: Olivia Skinner

Image: Daniel Libeskind Credit: Stefan Ruiz

Creating a building to house Albert Einstein's legacy, work and research in Jerusalem

Architect Daniel Libeskind on creating a home in Jerusalem for the Albert Einstein collection, and his part in redesigning The World Trade Center Plaza in New York.

Nature and the environment are also an important part of their work and Ad surrounds themselves with wildlife, from growing plants to encourage butterflies and bees at their home, to helping to cultivate green spaces in Buenos Aires.

Ad is creating an installation for Un Été au Havre, A Summer in Le Havre festival in northern France and wants their artwork to be enjoyed not only by people, but be beneficial for nature as well. The BBC's Andrea Kidd joins them in their studio as they design their piece called Hôtel des Oiseaux, a bird hotel that will be a welcoming space for the birds that live in the hanging gardens of the city.

Producer: Andrea Kidd

Creating geometric works for both humans and nature

Argentinian artist Ad Minoliti is creating a work in France that can be enjoyed by people, but has also been designed to benefit birds and nature as well.

Nature is also an important part of their work and Ad surrounds themselves with wildlife, from growing plants to encourage butterflies and bees at their home, to helping to cultivate green spaces in Buenos Aires.

The BBC's Andrea Kidd joins Claudia in her apartment in the Argentinian capital Buenos Aires, as she works on her latest, as yet, untitled novel. It follows the story of two step-sisters, one a radio journalist, the other an escort, both unaware of the other's existence, until a dramatic incident brings their lives together. But was it an accident or something more sinister?

Claudia's been called the Queen of Suspense and Argentina's Queen of the Noir Novels and although her works often revolved around a crime or the dead, her books centre on relationships and capture the country's society.

She is also interested in what makes her characters tick, a trait she thinks that could stem from the Argentinian's love of psychoanalysis.

Claudia also explains how she starts her novels with an image and how her ill cat was the catalyst for this latest work.

Presented and produced by Andrea Kidd

Argentina's 'Queen of Suspense' on her latest novel.

Bestselling novelist Claudia Piñeiro talks about the inspiration behind her latest book and why Argentinian society remains an important character in her work.

Claudia Piñeiro is one of Argentina's bestselling and most translated crime and mystery writers.

As well as novels for both adults and children, she's also a screenwriter and has written for the theatre.

The BBC's Andrea Kidd joins Claudia in her apartment filled with books, as she works on her latest, as yet, untitled novel. It follows the story of two step-sisters, one a radio journalist, the other an escort, both unaware of the other's existence, until a dramatic incident brings their lives together. But was it an accident or something more sinister?

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

Artists Himali Singh Soin and David Soin Tappeser explore the complex weave of histories and myths around Britain's imperial salt monopoly in India.

Paul Waters joins them as they create an open-air installation at the Somerset House gallery in London, paired with a poignant indoor exhibition occupying spaces formerly used to administer Britain's colonial-era salt tax. The 80 metre long fabric installation is to replicate the Inland Customs Line, a monumental 2,500 mile long hedge across India, created by Britain in the 1800s, to enforce salt taxation. This reinterpretation draws on cotton printed with botanical dyes from the hedge's original plants, to highlight the human and ecological cost of colonial extraction.

Himali and David aren't just creating one exhibition in one location. They are also creating a parallel installation further along the river Thames, at the Tate Britain art gallery and we'll be following them as they work across both sites.

Exploring the histories and myths around Britain's salt monopoly in India.

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Brian D'Souza, aka Auntie Flo, is a Scottish musician, DJ and sound recordist who has played at some of the biggest festivals and clubs around the world. His compositions fuse field recordings from around the globe with cutting edge production techniques to transport the listener to different places and states.

He has spent the last few years trying to bring together the natural and electronic worlds, expanding his work as a field recordist and experimenting with a complex setup of sensors and synthesisers to create music from plants. Last year he released an EP called Mycorrhizal Funghi, that sampled the sounds of four different mushroom species, as well as a full-length album called In My Dreams (I'm A Bird and I'm Free), built from field recordings and genres from across the world.

Tom Raine follows Brian on a trip to Kenya and Goa to conduct field recordings and create plant music for a brand-new album, as well as a deep listening app he' is developing. It is also a personal journey, as he will be following in the footsteps of his great auntie Florinda who came from Goa, and from whom he takes his artist name, Auntie Flo.

Producer/presenter: Tom Raine

Brian D'Souza, aka Auntie Flo, is a Scottish musician and DJ creating music from plants

Brian D'Souza, aka Auntie Flo, is a Scottish musician, and DJ who creates music from plants. Tom Raine follows Brian as he conducts field recordings for a new album.

He's spent the last few years trying to bring together the natural and electronic worlds, expanding his work as a field recordist and experimenting with a complex setup of sensors and synthesisers to create music from plants. Last year he released an EP called ‘Mycorrhizal Funghi' that sampled the sounds of four different mushroom species, as well as a full-length album called ‘In My Dreams (I'm A Bird And I'm Free)', built from field recordings and genres from across the world.

Tom Raine follows Brian on a trip to Kenya and Goa to conduct field recordings and create plant music for a brand-new album, as well as a deep listening app he's developing. It's also a personal journey, as he will be following in the footsteps of his great auntie Florinda who came from Goa, and from whom he takes his artist name, Auntie Flo.

Presented and produced by Tom Raine

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Join fellow author Paul Waters as he watches Awais take a radical step to tackle this problem and try to finish his first draft. Along the way Paul meets other international authors who share how they cope when the words won't flow. But will Awais manage to finish his own story?

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

Presented and produced by Paul Waters.

Discovering Awais's radical solution to find the right words

Pakistani thriller author, Awais Khan, takes a radical step to overcome his writer's block as he works on his new book, His Sister's Secret.

Bárbara Sánchez-Kane is a Mexican fashion designer with eclectic influences: from quinceañera dresses to BDSM harnesses, Jesus's loincloth to lucha libre wrestlers in lingerie. Bárbara revels in the camp and complexity of everyday gender performance. Resisting traditional notions of masculine and feminine, Bárbara creates spaces of tension between these contrasting costumes.

We join Bárbara in Mexico City to follow the creation of her next line, from studio sketches to final fittings.

Producer: Alice McKee

(Photo credit: Fabián Martínez)

Mexican fashion designer B\u00e1rbara S\u00e1nchez-Kane disarms masculinity through menswear

A Mexican fashion designer disarms masculinity through menswear. We join Bárbara Sánchez-Kane in Mexico City, following the creation of her next line.

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(Photo: Baek Mi-kyoung. Credit: Story Phoenix)

Baek Mi-kyoung on creating the sequel to the hugely popular Strong Girl Bong-soon

Script writer Baek Mi-kyoung has pioneered female narratives on Korean television. So can she create a successful all-female superhero franchise - on a budget?

The Old Oak will be Ken Loach's last feature film and Sharuna Sagar was granted exclusive access behind the scenes of this landmark movie. She joins the 86-year-old director on his swansong as he brings together his loyal team for one last time. As with his previous two films, I, Daniel Blake and Sorry We Missed You, Ken returns to the North East of England, to tell the story of Syrian refugees who have been housed in an ex-mining village. With him are his long-standing partners, producer Rebecca O'Brien and writer Paul Laverty, and they reveal the secrets of Loach's success, with films like Kes, Cathy Come Home and The Wind That Shakes The Barley. Sharuna eavesdrops on rehearsals, casting sessions and a dog audition.

Behind the scenes of Ken Loach's new film, The Old Oak

The Old Oak will be Ken Loach's last feature film. Sharuna Sagar, joins the 86-year-old director on his swansong as he brings together his loyal team for one last time.

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Another chance to hear an award-winning edition of In The Studio.

The Old Oak was Ken Loach's last feature film and Sharuna Sagar was granted exclusive access behind the scenes of this landmark movie. She joins the 86 year old director on his swansong as he brings together his loyal team for one last time.

As with his previous two films, I, Daniel Blake and Sorry We Missed You, Ken returns to the North East of England, to tell the story of Syrian refugees who have been housed in an ex-mining village. With him are his long-standing partners, producer Rebecca O'Brien and writer Paul Laverty, and they reveal the secrets of Loach's success, with films like Kes, Cathy Come Home and The Wind That Shakes The Barley. Sharuna eavesdrops on rehearsals, casting sessions and a dog audition.

Behind the scenes of Ken Loach's last movie.

[LISTEN NOW]

We follow Australian competitor Rachael Gunn (b-girl Raygun) as she hits pause on her day-job as a university lecturer and prepares for her debut on the Olympics stage. In conversations across the final 100 days, as she practises at home in Sydney, tests out new moves in the UK, and gets settled in Paris, we hear about the challenges of training, experimenting, and honing her performance.

Breaking competitions aren't about crafting and replicating a routine: during one-minute, one-to-one battles, you have to respond creatively to what your opponent does and foster your own style. So what techniques can she use to prepare for the unknown? Can you practice personality? And where does sport end and art begin?

Image: Rachael 'Raygun' Gunn poses in the Sydney central business district in April 2024 (Credit: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Australia's top female breakdancer prepares for her debut at Paris 2024

Australia's top female breakdancer, university lecturer Rachael Gunn, prepares for the first-ever Olympic breaking competition.

Registered blind from birth, Bianca Raffaella is today an award-winning British visual artist. Winner of the 2025 Women in Art Award and a former resident of the Tracey Emin Artist Residency, her work has been widely exhibited and is increasingly sought after for its distinctive visual language.

Bianca's practice is shaped by the shifting limits of her sight. Working largely through touch, memory, and sensory recall, she builds paintings from blur, movement, and visual interference — images that appear to fragment, fade, and reform as layers of colour are applied and dissolved.

In the final weeks of her pregnancy, Bianca begins a new body of work for a major solo exhibition, documenting motherhood for the first time. With limited time and a body in flux, the unique way she paints comes into focus — offering a rare glimpse into what she calls her “layers of vision ?: how she perceives, interprets, and translates the visual world onto canvas.

Documentary maker Sahar Zand follows Bianca through the creation of a single painting, capturing a moment where vision, pregnancy, and time briefly align on the canvas — and where a life shaped by adversity becomes a powerful act of seeing.

This programme contains references to an eating disorder. If you are suffering distress or despair and need support, you could speak to a health professional, or an organisation that offers support.

Registered blind, painter Bianca Raffaella's practice is shaped by the limits of sight

Registered blind from birth, painter Bianca Raffaella's practice is shaped by the limits of her sight. Sahar Zand follows Bianca through the creation of a single painting.

Sahar Zand meets painter Bianca Raffaella

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Sahar Zand meets artist Bishwajit Goswami

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In Dhaka, Bangladesh, artist Bishwajit Goswami creates a powerful new installation that captures the spirit of his homeland's rivers; lifelines darkened by pollution, yet still full of energy, beauty, and memory.

Reporter Sahar Zand follows Bishwajit as he prepares for a major international exhibition in Paris. From his artist-led rooftop community space in a former tannery, to the crowded, chaotic riverbanks of Dhaka, Sahar traces the origins of a deeply personal artwork shaped by conversations, rituals, and found materials gathered along the river's edge.

Through black electricity cables, scraps of vibrant sarees, and whispered fragments of riverside life, Bishwajit's piece becomes a living, evolving map, reflecting not just Bangladesh's waterways, but the pulse of identity, ceremony, and change flowing through them.

Reporter/Producer: Sahar Zand

Artist Bishwajit Goswami creates a new installation celebrating Bangladesh's rivers

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Black girls performing in a parade on the streets of Chicago and playing in the surf at Martha's Vineyard offer a glimpse of what it's like, growing up in the United States today. Sisters Salamishah and Scheherazade Tillet are using photographs and words to capture the lives of girls from two very different communities.

Sisters Salamishah and Scheherazade Tillet's photos & words on the lives of Black girls.

Black girls performing in a parade on the streets of Chicago and playing in the surf at Martha's Vineyard offer a glimpse of what it's like, growing up in the United States today. Sisters Salamishah and Scheherezade Tillet are using photographs and words to capture the lives of girls from two very different communities.

Sisters Salamishah and Scheherezade Tillet's photos & words on the lives of Black girls.

[LISTEN NOW]

Vik Muniz likes to trap and fool his audience with trickery and illusion

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

[LISTEN NOW]

Legendary musician, composer and producer Brian Eno has turned his attention to the climate crisis. In 2021, he founded the ground-breaking organisation EarthPercent, a charity which aims to raise $100m by 2030. The money - from royalties of partner artists - is being used to reduce the environmental impact of the music industry, as well as restoring nature, advancing policy change and securing 'climate justice and fair environmental stewardship.' Among the musicians with whom he is currently collaborating are Coldplay, CHVRCHES, Nile Rogers, Anna Calvi, Louis VI and Michael Stipe.

Listeners are welcomed inside the hallowed soundproofed walls of his London studio to experience first-hand the recording methods of his latest project. An immersive experience, we are up close and personal to one of the most important artists and producers of the 20th and 21st century. An opportunity to understand Eno's creative processes when it comes to composing and recording new material, as well as revealing the innovative ways this music can be used for the good of the planet.

He also talks about his motivations for founding EarthPercent and why he thinks musicians have such an important role to play in the climate movement. Be it Nina Simone and James Brown for civil rights, or Buffalo Springfield for nuclear disarmament, musicians have long helped push social movements into the limelight. And as the impact of the climate crisis becomes ever more desperate, this documentary follows Brian Eno into the studio as he works in collaborative partnerships on new material that list Earth as co-writer.

Sound design: Rowan Bishop

Producer: Louise Orchard

Presenter: Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent

A 2 Degrees West Production for BBC World Service

Image: Brian Eno (Credit: Cecily Eno)

Musician, composer and producer Brian Eno on technique and inspiration in nature

Legendary musician, composer and producer Brian Eno on technique and inspiration in nature.

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Producer Jess Brownell takes us behind the scenes of Bridgerton. When the first series of Bridgerton premiered in 2020, it offered a welcome escape, inviting us into a world of high society romance, extravagant period dress, and violin pop covers. It also rewrote the rules of costume drama, with colourblind casting and a decidedly un-buttoned-up approach to sexuality.

As the fourth season hits our screens, lead writer Jess Brownell talks us through the process of crafting a love story that will be the talk of the Ton.

Producer/presenter: Alice McKee

(Image: Luke Thompson and Yerin Ha in a scene from Bridgerton. Credit: Shondaland)

Producer Jess Brownell takes us behind the scenes of Netflix's hit period drama Bridgerton, ahead of its fourth season premiere.

Showrunner Jess Brownell takes us behind the scenes of Bridgerton. When the first series of Bridgerton premiered in 2020, it offered a welcome escape, inviting us into a world of high society romance, extravagant period dress, and violin pop covers. It also rewrote the rules of costume drama, with colourblind casting and a decidedly un-buttoned-up approach to sexuality.

Producer and presenter: Alice McKee

Showrunner Jess Brownell takes us behind the scenes of Netflix's hit period drama Bridgerton, ahead of its fourth season premiere.

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In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

A new exhibition features the wardrobe of the late Queen Elizabeth II

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Carl Brandon Strehlke on his search for an artist's work.

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Her next movie is an adaptation of her autobiographical novel Seven Miles Out. It's about a teenage girl coming to terms with her father's suicide, and not one word of the book has made its way into the screenplay. Carol tells Stephen Hughes why she was surprised by how difficult it was to adapt her own work, and how it brought back thoughts and feelings she thought she'd learned to live with. Carol also reveals that selling a script is harder than writing one, as she waits patiently to hear back from film companies that she'd sent the screenplay to.

Produced and presented by Stephen Hughes

**This programme contains distressing content**

During this interview, Carol speaks frankly about the effect of her father's suicide upon her. If you need support following anything you've heard in this episode, there's information at BBC.com/actionline and help is also available at befrienders.org.

Image: Carol Morley (Credit: Paul Marc Mitchell)

An acclaimed film-maker on the art of writing and selling a screenplay

Acclaimed film-maker Carol Morley tells Stephen Hughes about the art of writing and selling a screenplay. Please note that this programme contains distressing content.

Chilean chef Rodolfo Guzman unlocks the potential of indigenous ingredients

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Summer menu of wild Chilean fruits

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Colm has explored the experiences of other novelists and creative thinkers in his writing. His recent title, The Magician, traced the life of German writer Thomas Mann, and his book The Master, an international literary sensation, told the story of the novelist Henry James.

Alongside the release of his debut collection of poems, Vinegar Hill, Colm gives fellow Irish writer Helen Cullen an insight into how he works, taking her through his writing process, how he gathers his ideas and his approach to refining his work.

They explore the differences and similarities in techniques of writing prose and poetry, and how influence can be drawn from outside the literary world. Helen discovers what it is like to immerse oneself in the creative of mind of figures such as Henry James, and how it shaped Colm as a writer.

Presenter: Helen Cullen

Readings: Matthew Durkan

Producer: Sam Peach

Executive producer: Rebecca Armstrong

Inside the creative world of the acclaimed author of Brooklyn

Inside the creative world of the acclaimed author of Brooklyn, The Magician and The Master.

Steve Reich has shaped the past century of Western music in a way few people can claim to match. A pioneer of minimalism in the 1960s – a style of music focused on repetition, pulses and shifting rhythms – his work applied radical experiments in composition and sampling to historical, religious and political subject matter. His career has not only helped define the latest era of classical music, but had a far-ranging influence on pop, rock and electronica, from Brian Eno to Radiohead.

This year marks 60 years since his first major piece, the 1965 tape-loop composition It's Gonna Rain, and 30 years since his 1995 masterpiece City Life, which applied similar ideas about sampling audio to capture the noise and bustle of his native New York. To mark these joint anniversaries, he takes Alastair Shuttleworth back to what he was up to in his studio in 1965 and 1995, discussing the process and stories behind these works, as well as some of his other most beloved pieces.

He reflects on his legacy, his greatest achievements, and what still inspires him to compose at the age of 88.

Image: Steve Reich (Credit: Michael Wilson)

Composer Steve Reich reflects on six decades of musical innovation

On the 60th anniversary of his first major piece, composer Steve Reich reflects on shaping the sound of the 20th Century.

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If you think of an artist's studio you might picture a room, bright with light and splattered with paint. You must forget that image when you visit the Argentinian artist Tomás Saraceno. His studio is two big and old industrial units, covered in graffiti, in what was East Berlin. This was where the company AGFA developed and made the chemicals that made colour photography possible. The ground is so polluted Saraceno's lease forbids him from growing any vegetables, and this matters to this environmentally concerned artist. But the industrial past of Studio Saracen is fitting as Tomás' work is highly technical. Here he has an architecture department, an arachnid research laboratory and an engineering works. He has about 40 people working on different projects.

Tomás talks to Julian May about some of his projects, including Aerocene - sculptural hot air balloons that ascend and fly without the use of any fossil fuels, by capturing the reflected heat of the sun. Tomás's ambition is to create a kind of slow aviation, in which his balloons will travel around the globe on predictable air currents.

Argentinian artist Tom\u00e1s Saraceno tells us about his hot air balloon creation, Aerocene

Argentinian artist Tomás Saraceno tells us about his hot air balloon creation, Aerocene

Producer: Julian May.

(Image: Argentinian artist Tomás Saraceno, with kind permission)

Argentinian artist Tomás Saraceno talks about his community project Aerocene, which is made up of sculptural solar balloons that ascend and fly without the use of fossil fuels.

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One of the many traditions in London at Christmas is to visit the capital's festive lights, which brighten up the dark winter nights. People travel from right across the world to enjoy the colourful and eye-catching Christmas window displays along Oxford Street, one of London's main shopping roads.

Andrea Kidd goes behind the glitter and tinsel with the teams at one of the flagship department stores, Selfridges, as they prepare to reveal their Christmas windows to the public for the first time. With the concept of More the Merrier this year, Bobbie Tree and her teams work alongside renowned artists Andrew Logan and Charles Jeffreys to create vibrant and flamboyant window displays for the 130,000 people who walk past them every day.

Behind the scenes with the teams designing the London store's festive windows.

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Now, the stage adaptation of The Promise, written by Galgut and director Sylvaine Strike, is being readied to premiere at the Star Theatre, at the Homecoming Centre in Cape Town.

But how does a text so praised for its formal inventiveness – the narrative voice shifting from third to first person, and inhabiting multiple interior lives, sometimes within a single paragraph – get translated for the theatre and brought to life?

Writer Bongani Kona goes behind the curtain to watch the rehearsal process unfold. We trace Galgut's journey from the play's conception, and follow the director and cast as they workshop scenes, experiment with sound and action, and navigate the unusual set design – all in the build-up to opening night.

The Promise on stage is directed by Sylvaine Strike with stage adaptation by Damon Galgut and Sylvaine Strike. Original music composition by Charl-Johan Lingenfelder.

Presenter: Bongani Kona

Produced by Catherine Boulle and Bongani Kona

A Falling Tree production for the BBC World Service

Image: Damon Galgut (Credit: Leonardo Cendamo/Getty Images) in front of a scene from the stage adaptation of The Promise (Credit: Claude Barnardo)

A Booker Prize-winning novel moves from the page to the stage

Damon Galgut's Booker Prize-winning novel, The Promise, moves from the page to the stage.

Mark Burman talks to film title designer Dan Perri.

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We go behind the scenes to eavesdrop on rehearsals and meet Danny and his creative team. We discover that unlike a film, where the director can have complete control, the creation of Free Your Mind is a collaborative effort. We hear from other members of the team including composer Michael ‘Mikey J' Asante MBE and choreographer Kenrick 'H2O' Sandy MBE, co-founders of hip-hop dance group Boy Blue who worked with Danny on the Olympics opening ceremony.

There is huge pressure on the team to deliver an opening event that will match the scale and ambition of the new venue, which is run by Factory International and cost £240m to build, the largest cultural investment in the UK since Tate Modern over 20 years ago.

Danny Boyle and his team's dance spectacular opens Manchester's breathtaking new venue

We go behind the scenes to eavesdrop on rehearsals and meet Danny and his creative team. We discover that unlike a film, where the director can have complete control, the creation of Free Your Mind is a collaborative effort. We hear from other members of the team including composer Michael ‘Mikey J' Asante MBE and choreographer Kenrick 'H2O' Sandy MBE, co-founders of hip-hop dance group Boy Blue, who worked with Danny on the Olympics opening ceremony.

There is huge pressure on the team to deliver an opening event that will match the scale and ambition of the new venue, which is run by Factory International and cost £240m to build, the largest cultural investment in the UK since Tate Modern over 20 years ago.

(Image: Danny Boyle. Credit: Tim P Whitby/Getty Images)

Creating a dance spectacular to launch Manchester's new venue

Danny Boyle returns to his home town of Manchester in the north west of England to direct a hip-hop dance spectacular to open a breathtaking new venue, Aviva Studios.

The documentary captures Wigan's creative process, from conceptualization to execution, as he embarks on the creation of a new piece

The miniature world of Willard Wigan

Dr Willard Wigan MBE creates the smallest handmade sculptures in the world. He uses high powered microscopes and custom-made tools formed from shards of diamond, hypodermic needles, and paintbrushes made from eyelashes.

What truly sets Willard apart is his unique use of his own heartbeat. By working between breaths, he uses his pulse as a jackhammer to chip away at material. The work requires extreme levels of concentration, and he frequently works through the night to avoid vibrations.

Willard's talent and determination propelled him to international acclaim. His work sells for six-figure sums, and he has exhibited internationally. However, his path to success has been far from easy. As a schoolboy, he struggled with reading and writing due to unrecognised autism, his teachers dismissed him, and he endured routine bullying and racism.

Willard's latest sculpture, a tribute to Charles Darwin, is crafted on the end of a pencil – a canvas rich in symbolism. For Darwin the pencil was crucial for sketching his revolutionary ideas on evolution that would forever change our understanding of life. For Willard, it holds personal significance. Despite struggling to read or write his new sculpture represents his triumph over adversity.

Dualtagh Herr steps into the minuscule universe of the acclaimed sculptor, where art meets the microscopic. He follows Willard's meticulous process as he pushes the boundaries of art, science and patience to craft a new piece that challenges our perception of scale.

The world-renowned micro-sculptor carves a tribute to Charles Darwin

World-renowned micro-sculptor Willard Wigan carves a tribute to Charles Darwin.

David Chipperfield is a world-renowned, Pritzker prize-winning architect with major buildings in cities across the globe from Berlin to Beijing. But with a long career behind him, he has changed the emphasis and ambition of his practice. Susan Marling joins him in Compostela in Galicia, northern Spain, as he opens a handsome new home for his foundation.

The Casa Ria, in a converted health sanitorium in the centre of town, is about looking at architecture differently. It's not about designing and building new buildings, but about improving people's quality of life. Working in a series of coastal and rural towns north of Compostela, David and the team address issues of town planning – to bring public space back into focus, to reconnect communities with the sea, and to deal with traffic that pollutes town centres and makes them dangerous. David believes that his holistic and sustainable approach can be scaled up and become a benchmark internationally.

Image: David Chipperfield (Credit: Fay Sweet)

World-renowned architect David Chipperfield embarks on an innovative new project

World-renowned architect David Chipperfield embarks on an innovative new project in Galicia, northern Spain.

David Chipperfield is a world renowned, Pritzker prize winning architect with major buildings in cities across the globe from Berlin to Beijing. But with a long career behind him he has changed the emphasis and ambition of his practice. For ‘In the Studio'. Susan Marling joins him in Compostela in Galicia , northern Spain as he opens a handsome new home for his foundation.

The Casa Ria, in a converted health sanitorium in the centre of town, is about looking at architecture differently . It's not about designing and building new buildings – rather it's about improving people's quality of life. Working in a series of coastal and rural towns north of Compostela David and the team address issues of town planning – to bring public space back onto focus, to re-connect communities with the sea and to deal with traffic that pollutes town centres and makes them dangerous. It looks like small beer after the huge international projects that are Chipperfield's signature to date but David believes that his holistic and sustainable approach – to unite the stakeholders to make better places - can be scaled up and become a benchmark internationally.

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The espionage television series Homeland brought David Harewood international fame – but he's also known as the first Black actor to play Othello at the UK's National Theatre when he was in his early 30s. Now, aged almost 60, he is again tackling the role of the Moor, 'declined/ Into the vale of years', in Shakespeare's tragedy.

The character of Othello is a skilful General, and the only person of colour in the Venetian army. He and Desdemona - the daughter of rich and prominent citizen - fall in love and marry, against her father's wishes. Iago, one of Othello's officers who believes he should have a higher rank, deviously works on Othello's insecurity, manipulating him into thinking that Desdemona is unfaithful, with fatal consequences.

This autumn's production at the Haymarket Theatre in London's West End is a major theatrical event. It is directed by Tom Morris, who co-created War Horse, which has been seen by more than 8 million people around the world. Caitlin Fitzgerald stars as Desdemona and Toby Jones as Iago, with music by P J Harvey.

Past productions of Othello have focused on issues around race which the play raises - but Morris and Harewood are concerned too with the attitudes of the male characters towards women, and how both of these issues are urgently pertinent to society today.

Julian May follows David Harewood, Tom Morris and the cast from the beginning of rehearsal to the opening night as they work together to bring to light the dark themes of power, rage and desire in Shakespeare's great play of duplicity, jealousy and deadly masculinity.

Homeland's David Harewood plays Othello, with the director of War Horse, Tom Morris

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Suzie Davies on designing Conclave.

Production designer Suzie Davies reveals the secrets behind her Oscar-nominated work on Conclave, which included recreating the Sistine Chapel in a film studio in Rome. She also explains why historical accuracy can't get in the way of good design.

(Image: Suzie Davies at the 97th Academy Awards, March 2025. Credit: Gregg DeGuire/Penske Media/Getty Images), and the Caserta Palace (supplied by Suzie Davies)

Production designer Suzie Davies on her Oscar-nominated work on Conclave

Production designer Suzie Davies reveals the secrets behind her Oscar-nominated work on Conclave, including how she recreated the Sistine Chapel in a film studio in Rome.

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Inspiration for Emilia Wickstead's luxury fashion brand comes from her childhood home in New Zealand, her adolescence in Italy's most fashionable city Milan – but also from her hard-working fashion designer mother. Her feminine silhouettes and creative use of colour and textiles have made her a popular choice among members of the British Royal Family and Hollywood celebrities. For In the Studio Belinda Naylor has had a sneak preview of how Emilia's Spring/Summer 2026 collection has taken shape – referencing the romance of bygone eras with a contemporary twist. Emilia explains the importance of teamwork, being a perfectionist and how she still gets a thrill from seeing women wear the designs from her own label, which she established in 2008.

Next spring's collection from New Zealand designer Emilia Wickstead

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Esben Holmboe Bang is a three Michelin-starred chef working in Norway.

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Erdem Moralıoğlu is one of the UK's most admired and creative fashion designers. Born in Canada to a Turkish father and British mother, he studied fashion at the Royal College of Art and went on to found his eponymous label in 2005. He has dressed the Princess of Wales, Michelle Obama and Nicole Kidman.

His Spring Summer 2024 collection was inspired by the the late Dowager Duchess of Devonshire, also known as Debo, one of the famous Mitford sisters: the ‘It' girls of the 1930s and 40s. The Duchess, along with her husband, Andrew Cavendish, the 11th Duke of Devonshire were instrumental in bringing to life Chatsworth House, an estate in Derbyshire that is one the UK's greatest stately homes and a huge tourist attraction.

This collection was based on the clothes and archive of the Dowager Duchess. Working closely with Susie Stokoe, Head of Textiles at Chatsworth, Erdem has drawn on his own designs and many of the Duchess' clothes and created an exhibition called Imaginary Conversations. The inspiration for this title was conceived because Erdem never met the late Duchess Debo and the result imagines a dialogue the two of them may have had about her clothes and objects that she loved.

Belinda Naylor goes to Erdem's studio in East London to discuss the inspirations around this collection and visits Chatsworth House to observe the installation of the exhibition. Erdem also reveals the muse behind his Spring Summer 2025 collection, along with the importance of textiles, tailoring and his other inspirations from art and literature.

Producer: Belinda Naylor

Executive Producer: Andrea Kidd

Photo: Erdem Moralıoğlu (Credit: Tom Mannion)

Designer Erdem on taking inspiration from powerful women in culture for his collections

Erdem Moralıoğlu is one of the UK's most admired and creative fashion designers. Born in Canada to a Turkish father and British mother, he studied fashion at the Royal College of Art and went on to found his eponymous label in 2005. He has dressed the Princess of Wales, actors Keira Knightly, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Clare Foy. His latest muse is the late Dowager Duchess of Devonshire, also known as Debo, one of the famous Mitford sisters; the ‘It' girls of the 1930's and 40's. The Duchess, along with her husband, Andrew Cavendish, the 11th Duke of Devonshire were instrumental in bringing to life Chatsworth House, an estate in Derbyshire that is one the UK's greatest stately homes and a huge tourist attraction.

Erdem's 2024 Spring Summer collection was based on the clothes and archive of the Dowager Duchess. Working closely with Susie Stokoe, Head of Textiles, Chatsworth, he has taken this collection and many of the Duchess's clothes and created an exhibition called Imaginary Conversations. The inspiration for this title was conceived because Erdem never met the late Duchess Debo and has created a collection based on a dialogue between herself and her clothes and objects that she loved.

Belinda Naylor goes to Erdem's studio in East London to discuss the inspirations around this collection and visits Chatsworth House to observe the installation of the exhibition. Erdem also reveals the inspiration behind his upcoming Spring Summer 2025 collection, along with the importance of textiles, tailoring and his other inspirations from art and literature.

[LISTEN NOW]

What if your next designer outfit was once part of someone else's wardrobe? Ghanaian fashion innovator Kwaku Bediako is redefining luxury with sustainability at its heart.

In this edition of In the Studio, we step inside his world as he transforms second-hand garments into bold, high-fashion pieces, worn by global stars such as Stevie Wonder and Ian Wright.

Kwaku is one of the Ghana's top designers, known for his fashion house Chocolate. It was when he noticed how much material was being thrown away, that he decided to create a new brand, Cacao, where discarded fabrics can become the material for garments worn to red carpet events across the world.

Kwaku has been commissioned by music producer GuiltyBeatz to make him a bespoke outfit ahead of this year's Grammy awards in LA and Daniel Dadzie goes with Kwaku as he hunts for second hand clothes at Kantamanto, Accra's largest thrift market. It's a place where the past fashions of Europe meet their future in Africa.

Then to the design studio where the ideas take shape, inspired by the waves along Accra's coastline.

Producer: Andrea Kidd

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

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As she celebrates 30 years in the fashion business, the BBC's Rachel Royce follows Maria as she creates her new collection for her autumn-winter season 2024. From design sketches and colour palettes, to draping fabric over mannequins, Maria then always tries the garments on herself and her team before finalising every piece.

Maria knew she wanted to be a fashion designer from the age of eight and her own teenage insecurities about her body has influenced her desire to make fashion that enhances the female form.

Presenter/producer: Rachel Royce

Executive producer: Andrea Kidd

(Photo: Maria Grachvogel. Credit: BBC)

Maria Grachvogel shares her passion for creating outfits and working with Victoria Beckham

British fashion designer Maria Grachvogel shares her passion for creating outfits, working with Spice Girl Victoria Beckham and how she is celebrating 30 years in the industry.

Presented and produced by Rachel Royce.

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol is the inspiration behind Gurinder Chadha's new film Christmas Karma. Scrooge becomes Mr Sood, a miserly businessman in contemporary London, with a loathing of the weak and the homeless. In a series of fantastical scenes he is confronted by the ghosts of past, present and future Christmas. With more than a hint of Bollywood, the film is shot as a vibrant musical. In the Studio follows Gurinder in the making of the film - from shooting on set, through the music making and the edit, to the final presentation of the movie.

Along the way, Gurinder explains her ways of working, her serious interest in some of the darker themes of the film, and why it was her children that made her persist in getting the film done.

Presented and produced by Susan Marling

A Just Radio production

Image: Gurinder Chadha, pictured in October 2024 (Credit: James Manning/PA Wire)

Film director Gurinder Chadha new film Christmas Karma puts a twist on A Christmas Carol

Behind the scenes with film director Gurinder Chadha as she puts a musical twist on A Christmas Carol.

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Iryna's husband, Artem Chekh, is a well-known novelist and journalist. He volunteered to join the army and found himself in Bakhmut, scene of some of the bloodiest fighting. For five days Iryna did not know if he was alive or dead. She is focusing on the anguish she felt over this period and using a series of flashbacks to illustrate their past lives in peacetime.

Iryna tells Lucy Ash that to give herself more artistic freedom she has decided on a radical new tool for her work: this film will be an animation. Making films in wartime is a challenge and animation is expensive but Iryna has foreign backers and is determined to tell her own story in her own way.

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

Iryna's husband, Artem Chekh, is a well-known novelist and journalist. He volunteered to join the army and found himself in Bakhmut, scene of some of the bloodiest fighting. For five days Iryna did not know if he was alive or dead. She is focusing on the anguish she felt over this period and using a series of flashbacks to illustrate their past lives in peacetime.

Iryna tells Lucy Ash that to give herself more artistic freedom she has decided on a radical new tool for her work: this film will be an animation. Making films in wartime is a challenge and animation is expensive but Iryna has foreign backers and is determined to tell her own story in her own way.

Presented and produced by Lucy Ash

Executive Producer: Andrea Kidd for the BBC World Service

(Photo: Iryna Tsilyk. Credit: Julia Weber)

How the war is transforming the work of this Ukrainian documentary maker

Iryna Tsilyk has won awards for her documentaries in east Ukraine. However after Russia's full-scale invasion she's decided to tell her own story in a new way - through animation.

Ghawgha's single of 2019 ‘I Kiss You Amid the Taliban' celebrated the hard-gained freedoms of the new generation in Afghanistan before the Taliban takeover in 2021 and Kawoon Khamoosh follows Ghawgha as she works on and records her new album called Qaf. Qaf refers to a mysterious mountain that exists in legends where the mythological bird Simurgh had her nest and Ghawgha has been working with both poets from Afghanistan, as well as writing her own lyrics.

Qaf is a very personal album, sung in Farsi, that depicts her own physically and emotionally difficult journey from Afghanistan to Europe, as well as reflecting others affected by war, discrimination and migration.

Presenter and reporter: Kawoon Khamoosh. Produced by Andrea Kidd for the BBC World Service.

Producer: Andrea Kidd

Ghawgha shares how her personal story has led her from Afghanistan to Europe

Ghawgha is a vocalist from Afghanistan who explores identity, displacement and the struggles of her people. For her new album she creates songs reflecting her own personal journey

Bright geometric shapes make the graffiti work of Kenyan artist Wise Two really stand out

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

[LISTEN NOW]

Gurinder Chadha, OBE is a British film director of Indian origin. She's best known for her film ‘Bend it Like Beckham' (soon to have a sequel) - but for In the Studio we are with her for the making of her new film ‘Christmas Karma' , which takes its inspiration from Charles Dickens' classic ‘A Christmas Carol' . Here the irrepressible GC authors a musical interpretation of the story set in a vibrant London where her version of Scrooge must learn a lesson that money isn't everything.

Gurinder Chadha is a film director best known for her film 'Bend it Like Beckham'.

[LISTEN NOW]

Following his time at CERN, Haroon Mirza has been creating a major installation based on his research there. The piece, made with his collaborator Jack Jelfs, is a sculptural art work which uses a circle of 8 speakers, a large screen and an octagonal chandelier sculpture of LEDs to compose light, sound and video. Combined with a careful manipulation of spatial acoustics, the viewer is cocooned in a truly immersive experience.

Oonagh Cousins joins Haroon in his studio as he and Jack work together on the installation, to discover the creative processes behind his art. What are the technical challenges in creating this kind of piece which has to be reassembled in different spaces – and will the final installation and rehearsals go according to plan?

Oonagh Cousins meets artist Haroon Mirza

Oonagh Cousins follows artist Haroon Mirza as he works with his collaborator Jack Jelfs, on a sculptural art work which uses sound and video.

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Antonia Quirke on the set of Harvest.

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In The Studio follows Helle as she faces her biggest challenge yet - designing one of America's largest natural playgrounds, at Colene Hoose School in Normal, Illinois.

Landscape architect Helle Nebelong designs one of America's largest natural playgrounds

In the Studio follows Helle as she faces her biggest challenge yet - designing one of America's largest natural playgrounds, at Colene Hoose School in Normal, Illinois.

Presenter: Poppy Sebag-Montefiore

Executive Producer: Stephen Hughes

(Image: Helle Nebelong. Credit: Courtesy of Helle Nebelong)

The Danish landscape architect takes on a major challenge in Illinois

Landscape architect Helle Nebelong designs one of America's largest natural playgrounds.

Performing the 24-song cycle that Franz Schubert wrote at the end of his short life, Die Winterreise, or the Winter's Journey, is considered the pinnacle of the recital repertoire, even for such accomplished musicians. The trust between singer and pianist must be absolute, because the two performers are, in Volle's words, “naked and pure on stage ?. Deutsch and Volle have a 20-year friendship and working partnership to build on, a musical connection that brings them together to perform this “summit ? of singing over and over again.

Yet their next performance will be something out of the ordinary. They are undertaking a staged performance at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, in Barcelona. The musicians will be joined by actresses on the stage, photographs accompanying the music, and newly developed poems interspersed between songs. How will the staging affect the relationship between singer and pianist, and how will it impact the music? Writer and journalist Lluís Amiguet joins rehearsals in Barcelona to find out.

Image: Helmut Deutsch (Credit: Kartal Karagedik) and Michael Volle (Credit: David Ruano)

An acclaimed pianist and baritone tackle Franz Schubert's song cycle

Pianist Helmut Deutsch and baritone Michael Volle prepare to stage Franz Schubert's song cycle Die Winterreise at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona.

Performing the 24-song cycle that Franz Schubert wrote at the end of his short life, Die Winterreise, or the Winter's Journey, is considered the pinnacle of the recital repertoire, even for such accomplished musicians. The trust between singer and pianist must be absolute, because the two performers are, in Volle's words, “naked and pure on stage ?. Deutsch and Volle have a 20-year friendship and working partnership to build on- a musical connection that brings them together to perform this “summit ? of singing over and over again.

Yet their next performance will be something out of the ordinary. They are undertaking a staged performance at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, in Barcelona. The musicians will be joined by actresses on the stage, photographs accompanying the music, and newly developed poems interspersed between songs. How will the staging affect the relationship between singer and pianist, and how will it impact the music? Writer and journalist Lluís Amiguet joins rehearsals in Barcelona to find out.

Journalist Llu\u00eds Amiguet joins Deutsch and Volle for rehearsals of Die Winterreise

Journalist Lluís Amiguet joins Deutsch and Volle for rehearsals of Die Winterreise at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, in Barcelona.

But why does a city need a chief design officer in the first place, and what can design do to boost wellbeing?

Erika Benke joins Hanna as she searches for new pioneering opportunities that have the potential to change people's lives. They visit a vast decommissioned power plant, inviting local people to share their views on how to give an industrial facility, that's served its purpose, a new lease of life.

They also go to an old playground that's about to undergo a big transformation, creating a new themed playground where children can learn about computing, algorithms and AI while crawling on their hands and knees, and without a single computer or smartphone screen in sight.

As Hanna travels across the city, we'll hear her plotting, planning and exploring ideas and infecting others with her passion for design, in order to improve the quality of life for Helsinki's communities.

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

But why does a city need a chief design officer in the first place, and what can design do to boost wellbeing?

Erika Benke joins Hanna as she searches for new pioneering opportunities that have the potential to change people's lives. They visit a vast decommissioned power plant, inviting local people to share their views on how to give an industrial facility, that's served its purpose, a new lease of life.

They also go to an old playground that's about to undergo a big transformation, creating a new themed playground where children can learn about computing, algorithms and AI while crawling on their hands and knees, and without a single computer or smartphone screen in sight.

As Hanna travels across the city, we'll hear her plotting, planning and exploring ideas and infecting others with her passion for design, in order to improve the quality of life for Helsinki's communities.

Presented and produced by Erika Benke for the BBC World Service.

(Photo: Hanna Harris. Credit: Teina Ryynänen)

How Helsinki's design boss creates a vibrant environment for a diversifying city

Hanna Harris, Helsinki's chief design officer, tells us about her role and takes us to an industrial site and an old playground to show what design can do to benefit the city.

For her latest series, Cressida explores teenage magic and Iron Age warriors. As she works on the illustrations for the second book in this new trilogy, The Wizards of Once: Twice Magic, she gives fellow children's author Michael Rosen an insight into how she creates these worlds.

From enchanted keys and philosophical giants to unlikely friends coming together to defeat evil witches, she explains what continues to inspire her about the legends and ancient sites of the British Isles, why creating maps of her imagined lands are vital to her writing and the importance of having a bed in her writing shed.

(Image of author Cressida Cowell)

Cressida Cowell explores the magical world of magic and Iron Age warriors

Ian Rankin has been called “the king of crime fiction ?. His Inspector Rebus books have sold more than 30 million copies worldwide, translated into 37 languages. And yet, as he embarks on writing the next in his series, he reveals that “sitting down and actually writing the books is hard - and it's not getting any easier. ? Where does he begin – and where might the series end?

For two episodes of In the Studio, recorded across Scotland over several months, we follow Ian Rankin as he gets his next novel into shape.

An Overcoat Media production.

Image: Ian Rankin (Credit: Steve Urquhart)

Crime novelist Ian Rankin begins writing his latest Inspector Rebus novel

Ian Rankin embarks on his latest Inspector Rebus crime novel, but reveals that “sitting down and actually writing the books is hard - and it's not getting any easier. ?

For two episodes of In the Studio, recorded across Scotland over several months, Writer Andy Martin follows Ian Rankin as he gets his next novel into shape.

Presenter: Andy Martin

Producer: Steve Urquhart

Executive producer: Steven Rajam

An Overcoat Media production for BBC World Service

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Ian Rankin is on a deadline to complete his next Inspector Rebus thriller. He's happy with the first draft – “at the moment, it is perfect! ? – but what will others make of it?

“I have notes, feedback, from my wife, my UK editor, my US editor and my agent. And I haven't looked at any of them -  ?

In the second of two episodes of In the Studio recorded across Scotland over several months, we follow the bestselling crime writer to the remote, coastal town of Cromarty. He comes here to escape reality, and to write without distraction. But on this occasion, there's a crime fiction festival taking place. Will he get any work done?

After 25 Rebus novels, Ian considers what might be next for his most enduring character - and for himself.

Presenter: Andy Martin

Image: Ian Rankin (Credit: Steve Urquhart)

Ian Rankin is on a deadline to complete his next Inspector Rebus thriller. How does a bestselling crime writer breathe new life into his most enduring character?

In the second of two programmes recorded across Scotland over several months, writer Andy Martin follows the bestselling crime writer to the remote, coastal town of Cromarty. He comes here to escape reality, and to write without distraction. But on this occasion, there is a crime fiction festival taking place. Will he get any work done?

Producer: Steve Urquhart

Executive Producer: Steven Rajam

An Overcoat Media production for BBC World Service

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And yet, as he embarks on writing the next in his series, he reveals that “sitting down and actually writing the books is hard - and it's not getting any easier. ?

Where does he begin – and where might the series end?

For two episodes of ‘In the Studio', recorded across Scotland over several months, we follow Ian Rankin – literally – as he beats his next novel into submission.

An Overcoat Media production.

We follow Ian Rankin as he embarks upon his next series of books

[LISTEN NOW]

Sir Ian Rankin is on a deadline to complete his next Inspector Rebus thriller. He's happy with the first draft – “at the moment, it is perfect! ? – but what will others make of it?

In this, the second of two episodes of ‘In the Studio' recorded across Scotland over several months, we follow the bestselling crime writer to the remote, coastal town of Cromarty.

He comes here to escape reality, and to write without distraction. But on this occasion, there's a crime fiction festival taking place. Will he get any work done?!

And, after twenty-five Rebus novels, Ian considers what might be next for his most enduring character - and for himself.

Presenter: Andy Martin

How does a bestselling crime writer breathe new life into his most enduring character?

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And what's more, the pair were also doing all this entirely off-shore! Aboard a steel barge moored on a stretch of London canal where Peter also lives.

Painstakingly, for months and then years, the narrow living space of Nightjar was reinvented as a studio, slowly bringing to life a story about an astronomer, who embarks on a fantastic voyage hurtling into the universe on his sailboat. In the process – keeping costs down and using all materials at their disposal - they became especially good at special effects. Crumbled toilet paper delivers a dust they use to create constellations, the junkshop antique parts of a watchmaker form a golden telescope, all in dreamlike landscapes assembled from Peter's delicately created artwork.

Finally the film is finished – and has won 7 international awards (and counting).

This edition of the In The Studio takes listeners on board ‘Studio Nightjar' to look at the multiplane at work. Using conversations, audio-diaries, and sounds of canal-life it's a frame-by-frame immersion in the crafting of an animation that became no less than an obsession to its makers, through record-breaking heatwaves and rainstorms.

Presenter/producer: Antonia Quirke

Executive producer: Stephen Hughes

(Photo: Peter Beatty. Credit: Oliver Twitchett)

Artist and film-maker Peter Beatty turns his barge into a film studio

Artist and film-maker Peter Beatty turns his barge into a film studio and builds his own multi-plane camera for his next music video.

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

After growing up with the ancient myths and folk tales of India, he studied Animation Film Design at India's National Institute of Design and began to create his own visual versions of Hindu mythology, including his graphic novels Purnam – Stories and Wisdom of the Feminine Divine, and Namaha – Stories from the Land of Gods and Goddesses. He was also the visual artist and co-creator for Deepak Chopra and Shekhar Kapur's Ramayana 3392 A.D, published by Virgin Comics and visual artist for Kali and Shiva in the India Authentic Series.

Abhishek has long included environmental themes in his work, but after travelling round the mountains and forests of India, and spending time with elephants in particular, he realised that most mythic tales concern kings and queens and battles, all about humans and human activity. He decided it was time to create a new non-human mythology for a change, one which centres on our vulnerable environment and the animals who live within it. He's calling it The Hymns of Medhini.

Paul Waters joins him in Delhi as he paints one of his pictures to include in his new graphic novel.

Presenter and producer: Paul Waters

Executive producer: Andrea Kidd

(Photo: Abhishek Singh. Credit: Abhishek Singh)

Abhishek Singh creates a new animal and environment-centred mythology

Indian artist and graphic novelist Abhishek Singh takes elephants as his inspiration for a new mythology centred on animals and nature.

Mark Reid visits a school in Bulgaria where they are teaching their pupils how to make movies. The school is in a small village called Dermantsi, which is 200 kilometres from the capital Sofia. Mark meets their inspirational teacher, Daniel Simeonov and film-maker Maria Dacheva. She is there to help the children make a short film for a project called Le Cinema Cent Ans De Jeunesse, which has been going for almost 30 years. Children from all around the world take part in this programme, from countries as disparate as Japan, Argentina, the United Kingdom and France. Thousands of films have been made by tens of thousands of students.

At the end of the school year, pupils from around the world gather to watch each other's films. And to comment upon them. This year they are meeting in Lisbon. The pupils from Dermantsi have to decide which of their films to show there: their film about the local tattoo parlour, the weekly market, the sewing factory, the school bus ride, or a short documentary about their local horse market, which features a dancing horse.

Presenter: Mark Reid

Producer: Stephen Hughes

Mark Reid visits a school in Bulgaria where they teach their pupils how to make movies.

Mark Reid reports on a ground-breaking scheme to teach pupils from all around the world how to make movies. And then gather to watch and comment on each other's work.

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Ishmael Reed is one of America's greatest and most prolific living writers - but aged 86 he is writing his first music.

Lindsay Johns travels to his home in Oakland, California, to join his first recording session, and find out what motivates him to keep writing.

Between his home, his local bookstore, the city's downtown, restaurants and historical waterfront, Lindsay understands how much this city, and the West Coast spirit continues to animate Reed's writing, and his literary activism.

Ishmael Reed, one of America's greatest living writers, writes his first music aged 86

Ishmael Reed is one of America's greatest and most prolific living writers. Now, aged 86, he is writing his first music. Lindsay Johns joins his first recording session.

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

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We follow comedian Ismo Leikola - known simply as Ismo - as he performs in both English and Finnish. We explore his distinctive brand of intellectual humour and how he enjoys creating theories about the world around him. Ismo was once named the funniest person in the world, and we gain a sense of his celebrity status, particularly in his hometown of Jyväskylä. He also reveals why he avoids politics and talks about his love life on stage.

Produced and presented by Olga Smirnova

Photograph credit: Fullstack Photos

We follow comedian Ismo Leikola as he performs in both English and Finnish

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

[LISTEN NOW]

(Photo: Ivo van Hove. Credit: Jan Versweyveld)

Inside the creative mind of one of the world's most celebrated theatre directors

Inside the creative mind of Ivo van Hove, one of the world's most celebrated theatre directors.

Ivo van Hove is the most sought after theatre director in the world. We join him in Paris and London and Amsterdam where he works on productions that are often 'maximal' - big musicals, operas and dramas such as 'The Damned' but where he also loves to create 'minimal' intimate dramas - The Glass Menagerie or A Little Life - that are beautifully observed. How does van Hove work? Why are actors of the calibre of James Norton and Isabel Huppert (who appear in the programme) so willing to work with him ? And what drives his relentless thirst to bring new experiences to the theatre audience?

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

Ivo van Hove is the most sought-after theatre director in the world. We join him in Paris, London and Amsterdam, where he works on productions that are often maximal - big musicals, operas and dramas such as The Damned - but where he also loves to stagte minimal intimate dramas, such as The Glass Menagerie or A Little Life. How does van Hove work? Why are actors of the calibre of James Norton and Isabel Huppert so willing to work with him? And what drives his relentless thirst to bring new experiences to the theatre audience?

Image: Ivo van Hove (Credit: Jan Versweyveld)

Jason Gilkison has for the past 10 years been the creative force behind the UK's top rating TV show, Strictly Come Dancing, better known around the world as Dancing with the Stars.

Jason is an 8-time World Choreographer nominee who has become internationally renowned for his work creating dance spectaculars for the small screen. Katie Derham talks to Jason about his journey from professional dancer to becoming one of the world's top – and most watched – choreographers.

TV director Nikki Parsons explains how she and Jason collaborate to translate dance on to the small screen and the particular challenges of choregraphing for the TV cameras. And costume designer Vicky Gill describes the importance of designing costumes that catch the eye. Plus, we go behind the scenes as Jason puts the dancers through their paces to create a showstopper for the final of Strictly Come Dancing 2025.

Image: Jason Gilkison (Credit: Christopher Mann)

Jason Gilkison has been the creative force behind Strictly Come Dancing for a decade

Jason Gilkison has been the creative force behind Strictly Come Dancing, better known around the world as Dancing with the Stars for the past 10 years.

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After a glittering career as a professional ballroom dancer, winning his first prizes at the age of 7, Jason Gilkison has for the past 10 years been the creative force behind the UK's top rating TV show, Strictly Come Dancing, better known around the world as Dancing with the Stars. Jason is an 8-time World Choreographer nominee; he has become internationally renowned for his work creating dance spectaculars for the small screen.

Katie Derham talks to Jason about his journey from professional dancer to becoming one of the world's top – and most watched – choreographers.

We learn why the professional dancers enjoy working with Jason and how he wants to push boundaries in dance. TV director Nikki Parsons explains how she and Jason collaborate to translate dance on to the small screen and the very particular challenges of choregraphing for the TV cameras. And Costume designer; Vicky Gill describes the importance of designing costumes that catch the eye. In the build up to the final, we go behind the scenes as Jason puts the dancers through their paces to create a showstopper for Strictly Come Dancing 2025.

Jason Gilkison: Top Choreographer for TV Talent Shows.

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Jenn is joined in her Taipei studio by Lucy Collingwood as she reaches the final stages of a collection that's been many months in the making. Surrounded by sewing machines and a snooker table repurposed into a large fabric cutting table. Jenn shares her influences and attention to detail – from the running order of her catwalk show, finalising the looks on mannequins, to adding handmade accessories made of recycled zips and ribbons and choosing which eye catching creation should kick start the show.

Jenn takes us to one of the places that informs her work, the Fu He Bridge Flea Market, where items from used bicycle chains to second hand motorbike jackets can end up as integral parts of her high end garments.

For the catwalks of fashion weeks, Jenn is also planning something a little unusual. As well as her striking garments made in bold colours and hand-dyed fabrics, she's also creating a digital version of her designs and collaborating on a game featuring characters who embody the themes behind her show.

We share Jenn's creative journey from Taipei to backstage at her London Fashion Week catwalk show as the audience reacts as her collection is finally revealed.

Producer: Lucy Collingwood

Exec Producer: Andrea Kidd

(Photo: Jen Lee. Credit: BBC)

Taking inspiration from the flea markets of Taipei to show on the catwalks of London

Jennifer Walshe is one of the world's most fêted contemporary classical composers. Strange objects and the mundane materials of life are central to Walshe's music, whether it's a recipe book, skateboarding, or food packaging. Walshe is now developing a major work for the Irish National Opera, which will be set on Mars.

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

[LISTEN NOW]

Dublin-born Jennifer Walshe is one of the world's most bold and imaginative contemporary classical composers, and holds the prestigious post of professor of composition at Oxford University. Whether it's Barbie dolls or recipe books, the mundane and strange materials of life are central to Walshe's work. Now, for the Irish National Opera, she's developing a major new work set on Mars.

Walshe's opera will respond to astrophysics data, Martian meteorites, trashy sci-fi, eco-anxiety in young people, and tech billionaires' obsession with conquering space. Broadcaster Katie Derham tracks Walshe as she launches into the project, with months of immersive intergalactic research. Derham then finds Walshe in her North London home studio, trying to turn Mars into music.

This creative journey is a long one. Expect some bumps on the ride.

Producer: Jude Shapiro

Executive producer: Jack Howson

A Peanut & Crumb production for BBC World Service

Image: Jennifer Walshe (Credit: Michèl Schiwôn)

Celebrated composer Jennifer Walshe creates a new opera set on Mars

Katie Derham follows Jennifer Walshe, one of the world's most fêted contemporary classical composers, as she creates a new opera set on Mars.

Jennifer Walshe is one of the world's most fêted contemporary classical composers. Strange objects and the mundane materials of life are central to Walshe's music, whether it's a recipe book, skateboarding, or food packaging. Walshe is now developing a major work for the Irish National Opera, which will be set on Mars.

Jennifer Walshe is one of the world's most f\u00eated contemporary classical composers.

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Sean Allsop goes behind the scenes inside the legendary Jim Henson's Creature Shop in New York, where fabric and materials bring life to characters beloved around the world.

Sean joins the team as they work on their famous franchise Fraggle Rock, a series which started in the mid-80s. They're currently creating human-size walk-about characters for a brand new live show. Creative supervisor Jason Weber and the team work through costume fitting, sculpting, and go through archives to make the perfect Fraggle down in Jim Henson's Creature Shop.

Presenter and producer: Sean Allsop

Executive producer: Becky Green

An Audio Always production

Image: The Jim Henson's Creature Shop team apply the finishing touches to Fraggle Rock character Travelling Matt (Credit: Jim Henson's Creature Shop)

The team at Jim Henson's Creature Shop prepare to take Fraggle Rock to the stage

At Jim Henson's Creature Shop in New York, creative supervisor Jason Weber and the team build new characters for a live show based on the beloved Fraggle Rock franchise.

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

[LISTEN NOW]

Behind the scenes with director Joachim Trier as he makes the follow-up to his international hit The Worst Person In The World. Producer Stephen Hughes gets exclusive access to the set of Sentimental Value, following the film from pre to post production. In a series of candid interviews, the writer-director reveals the anxiety he feels every time he has to make a movie, and how he is helped by his loyal team: screenwriter Eskil Vogt and producers Andrea Berentsen Ottmar, Maria Ekerhovd and Lars Thomas Skare. And it is a story with a happy ending, as Sentimental Value wins the prestigious Grand Prix at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

Producer/presenter: Stephen Hughes

(Image: Composite image of director Joachim Trier)

Behind the scenes with director Joachim Trier as makes his film Sentimental Value

Behind the scenes with director Joachim Trier as he makes Sentimental Value, the award-winning follow-up to his international hit The Worst Person In The World.

Behind the scenes with director Joachim Trier as makes the follow-up to his international hit The Worst Person In The World. Producer Stephen Hughes had exclusive access to the set of Sentimental Value, following the film from pre to post production. In a series of candid interviews, the writer/director reveals the anxiety he feels every time he has to make a movie, and how he is helped by his loyal team: screenwriter Eskil Vogt and producers Andrea Berentsen Ottmar, Maria Ekerhovd and Lars Thomas Skare.

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

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In part 2 of the documentary about the making of Joachim Trier's Sentimental Value, the director starts the painful process of editing the film and killing some darlings. During the process, however, he receives some good news: the movie has been selected for competition at the Cannes Film Festival. This is a double-edged sword, though, as this will be the first time that the film is reviewed. And he reveals to presenter Stephen Hughes that he never reads his reviews after one of his films was shown at Cannes to a mixed reception.

Director Joachim Trier begins the painful process of editing the film

Director Joachim Trier begins the painful process of editing the film and receives good news from Cannes Film Festival.

Part of 2 of this documentary about the making of Sentimental Value

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In Scotland, from 1949 to 1963, the artist Joan Eardley produced a cache of monumental seascapes, landscapes, and poignant portraits. When she died aged 42 of breast cancer, people were still trying to categorise her work - part abstract expressionist, part Scottish colourist, part social realist, part kitchen sink (her first solo exhibition was in a cinema). She worked with oil and pastels, but also used collage and plaster on her canvas, as well as gravel and sand and bits of plants (one gallerist scraped these bits off, confused.) She even used graffiti in her portraits of children living in tenements in Glasgow in 1949, decades before it became fashionable.

Antonia Quirke goes behind the scenes of a new exhibition dedicated to her work

Antonia Quirke tells the story of Scottish artist Joan Eardley whose work is being re-discovered thanks to a new exhibition

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The Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos is renowned for her large-scale sculptural pieces which have featured in galleries across the world. She has used materials such as fabric, plastic and even tampons to construct her works.

In June 2018 her exhibition called I'm Your Mirror opened at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. For this Joana made a series of new sculptures, including an enormous Venetian-style mask, made of overlapping mirrors. After being shown in Bilbao, the mask is now on display at the Museu de Serralves in Porto, Portugal with another version of it also on show in Venice at the Kempinski on San Clemente Island.

The construction of the huge mask was a process full of challenges as the enormous structure took shape in Joana's Lisbon studio. In this programme Anna McNamee follows Joana through the process of working with the mirrors and explores how the piece is designed, shaped and packed up ready to begin its journey to Bilbao.

Producers: Emma Kingsley and Anna McNamee

(Photo: Joana Vasconcelos. Credit: Kenton Thatcher/© Unidade Infinita Projectos)

Huge mask-like sculpture made from mirrors

Artist Joana Vasconcelos on creating a giant mask made of mirrors - and packing it up, ready for its journey across Portugal

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

[LISTEN NOW]

His artwork may last as little as ten minutes before the sea washes it away, but his sculptures are not meant to last; his art is a testament to the beauty found in the ephemeral moment.

Jon's work is not defined by meticulous planning, and he rarely has a fully formed idea in his head before he reaches the beach. He allows the environment on the day to guide his creative instincts.

From the ancient tools he uses to create his sculptures to the modern technology he employs to capture it; we follow Jon's creative process as he takes us to his favourite location to work - the pristine beach of Lindsway Bay on the Pembrokeshire coast, West Wales. Jon considers his work to be a collaboration with nature. However, it is nature itself which threatens to erase his work before it is even complete. With the tide fast approaching and mere minutes before the artwork is swept away, will he manage to complete the work in time? We listen to the artists race against natures clock.

Presented by Dualtagh Herr.

The creative process of Land Artist Jon Foreman as he makes new work in Pembrokeshire.

Land Artist Jon Foreman takes us behind the scenes of his new sculpture created on the pristine beach of Lindsway Bay on the Pembrokeshire coast, West Wales.

Jon Foreman is a Land Artist. He creates work in natural spaces using natural materials like stones, sand, leaves and driftwood. Known for his mesmerising sculptures that harmonise with nature, Jon's work has captured the imagination of art enthusiasts worldwide.

His artwork may last as little as ten minutes before the sea washes it away, but his sculptures are not meant to last; his art is a testament to the beauty found in the ephemeral moment.

Jon's work is not defined by meticulous planning, and he rarely has a fully formed idea in his head before he reaches the beach. He allows the environment on the day to guide his creative instincts.

From the ancient tools he uses to create his sculptures to the modern technology he employs to capture it; we follow Jon's creative process as he takes us to his favourite location to work - the pristine beach of Lindsway Bay on the Pembrokeshire coast, West Wales. Jon considers his work to be a collaboration with nature. However, it is nature itself which threatens to erase his work before it is even complete. With the tide fast approaching and mere minutes before the artwork is swept away, will he manage to complete the work in time? We listen to the artists race against natures clock.

Presented by Dualtagh Herr.

Land Artist Jon Foreman takes us behind the scenes of his new sculpture

Land Artist Jon Foreman takes us behind the scenes of his new sculpture created on the pristine beach of Lindsway Bay on the Pembrokeshire coast, West Wales.

Jon Foreman is a land artist. He creates work in natural spaces using natural materials like stones, sand, leaves and driftwood. Known for his mesmerising sculptures that harmonise with nature, Jon's work has captured the imagination of art enthusiasts worldwide. His artwork may last as little as 10 minutes before the sea washes it away, but his sculptures are not meant to last; his art is a testament to the beauty found in the ephemeral moment. From the ancient tools he uses to create his sculptures to the modern technology he employs to capture it, we follow Jon's creative process as he takes us to his favourite location to work - the pristine beach of Lindsway Bay on the Pembrokeshire coast, west Wales.

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

[LISTEN NOW]

Sports Banger is a fashion house, rave organisation, and London community centre run by Jonny Banger. The cornerstone of their work is bootleg T-shirts which mix satire and humour with a sportswear aesthetic.

One of Sports Banger's best-known t-shirts features two very different and well-known brands - the Nike and the UK's National Health Service. In 2020, this simple T-shirt became highly-coveted. Selling out in minutes on limited runs during the height of the UK's COVID lockdowns, Jonny Banger used the proceeds to set up a food bank in his neighbourhood, feeding 160 families every week for two years. Despite this blending of fashion and community action, Jonny doesn't refer to himself as an activist; he struggles to call himself an artist.

Poet Talia Randall meets Jonny in his studio - Maison de Bang Bang - at a turning point in his career. After a decade of DIY fashion shows, raves and viral T-shirts, Jonny is trying to figure out who he is, what to call himself and where he's going.

Producer/Presenter: Talia Randall

Executive producer: Kate Holland

A Storyglass production for BBC World Service

Jonny Banger is an artist who blurs the lines between fashion, music and activism

Jonny Banger is an opinionated and passionate artist who blurs the lines between fashion, music and activism - online and from his North London studio, Maison de Bang Bang.

Jonny Banger is an opinionated and passionate artist who blurs the lines between fashion, music and activism - online and from his North London studio, Maison de Bang Bang. In this edition of In the Studio, Jonny invites poet and presenter Talia Randall to follow him and his work. She discovers how Jonny Banger takes inspiration from rave culture, his love for bootlegging, and how he finds creativity amongst chaos and community.

Follow Jonny Banger as he blurs the line between fashion, music and activism

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The shooting starts on The Old Oak and Sharuna Sagar is there to witness Ken Loach's unique style of directing. Throughout his career from Kes to The Wind That Shakes The Barley to I, Daniel Blake, the 87-year-old film-maker does not like to tell the cast what is going to happen in the next scene. He explains his reasons, while star Dave Turner reveals what it is like to be surprised every day on set.

Presented by Sharuna Sagar.

Executive produced by Stephen Hughes.

(Photo: Ken Loach. Credit: Courtesy of Ken Loach)

On set with Ken Loach as the shooting starts on The Old Oak

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These are the ideas that set Kuma apart from his peers, and the reason why Time magazine named him the world's most influential architect in 2021. Kuma's mission has manifested in so many iconic buildings around the world, including China's Folk Art Museum, the V&A in Scotland, and Japan's National Stadium, built for the 2020 Olympics. Kuma's work also extends to “micro-architecture ?, encompassing pens and sustainable sneakers, among other things.

Broadcaster Nick Luscombe follows Kuma to Japan's oldest and largest lake, and to the ancient capital of Otsu, to observe an unusual project. Kuma is attempting to represent the history of the area not by constructing a new building, but by creating a monument to a legendary cow. Along the way we hear from Chief Priest Fuke of Mii-dera Temple, and philosopher/writer Seigo Matsuoka.

Nick Luscombe follows one of the world's finest architects as he plans an unusual monument

Time magazine named him the world's most influential architect in 2021. Kuma's mission has manifested in iconic buildings including China's Folk Art Museum, the V&A in Scotland, and Japan's National Stadium, built for the 2020 Olympics. His work also extends to “micro-architecture ?, encompassing pens and sustainable sneakers, among other things.

Broadcaster Nick Luscombe follows Kuma to Japan's oldest and largest lake, and to the ancient capital of Otsu, to observe an unusual project. Kuma is attempting to represent the history of the area not by constructing a new building, but by creating a monument to a legendary cow. Along the way we hear from Chief Priest Fuke of Mii-dera Temple, and philosopher/writer Seigo Matsuoka.

Presenter/producer: Nick Luscombe

Executive producer: Jack Howson

A Peanut & Crumb production for BBC World Service

(Image: Kengo Kuma. Credit: Jack Howson)

One of the world's finest architects plans an unusual monument

Nick Luscombe follows Kengo Kuma, one of the world's finest architects, as he plans an unusual monument.

Mika Obanda is a Kenyan artist who creates vibrant and personal mosaics using egg shells sourced from local hotels. Cleaning, drying and colouring them, before painstakingly placing each individual tiny piece onto his canvases.

Frenny Jowi visits him in his studio in the Nairobi slum of Mukuru as he works on his latest collection. It's a series called Trying to Blossom, in which he often places himself at the centre of his art works, showing not only his own journey as an artist and a person, but also as an activist, reflecting spirituality, love and the wider issues facing himself and his community.

Producer: Andrea Kidd

(Image: Mika Obanda. Credit: BBC)

Using egg shell mosaics to tell the story of their life and their community

[LISTEN NOW]

For this In The Studio, BBC arts journalist Anna Bailey follows Wangari as she creates her next immersive experience, a life-sized replica of her Nairobi studio where she invited 20 female domestic workers to a day of rest while also painting them for a new series of work which looks at the plight of female domestic workers in Kenya.

Wangari also invites listeners into her Chicago studio where she paints the next painting for the series. But as Anna finds out, rest is not only important to the workers but to Wangari herself.

Presenter and producer Anna Bailey

Executive producer Andrea Kidd.

Exploring the plight of female domestic workers in Kenya through art

For this In The Studio, arts journalist Anna Bailey follows Wangari as she creates her next immersive experience, a life-sized replica of her Nairobi studio, where she invited 20 female domestic workers to have a day of rest, while also painting them for a new series of work which looks at the plight of female domestic workers in Kenya.

Wangari also invites listeners into her Chicago studio, where she working on the next painting in the series. But as Anna finds out, rest is not only important to the workers but to Wangari herself.

We follow artist Wangari Mathenge as she paints a series of large portraits depicting female domestic workers in her native Kenya.

Originally from Cork, Ireland, Kieran now lives in Berlin where he plans and designs zoos across the globe. He lists milestone projects in countries including the UK, Denmark, South Korea, Uzbekistan, China, and Germany. From his studios in Berlin, we find Kieran overseeing multiple international projects including a major, and slightly mysterious, new zoo development in Gujarat, India, called simply 'Zoo India'.

Working with a multidisciplinary team including architects, landscape architects, interior designers and communication designers, it quickly becomes clear that design is just one element of a complex and fascinating process.

A Tandem production for BBC World Service

(Photo: Kieran Stanley. Credit: Dan Pearlman)

Behind the scenes with Zoo designer Kieran Stanley

Behind the scenes with Zoo designer Kieran Stanley who has created some of the world's most impressive spaces to care for animals, including a new zoo in Gujarat, India.

On a busy street in Kabul, a young artist steps into traffic wearing a steel sculpture she has shaped around her breasts and buttocks. She calls the piece Armour. Within minutes, a crowd gathers. Days later, death threats force her to flee the country.

Today, Afghan artist Kubra Khademi lives in exile in France, creating bold multidisciplinary works that confront patriarchy while reclaiming the female body as a site of power, sexuality and resistance. Drawing on personal history and the cultures she grew up in across Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan, her art blends performance, painting and symbolism to challenge deeply rooted taboos around women's bodies.

For her latest series, Origin of the Universe, Khademi paints surreal scenes of women giving birth to animals — images inspired by a story her grandmother once told her about strength and survival.

Following her creative process, Sahar Zand joins Khademi in her studio as she paints one of the works, revealing how memory, exile and defiance are transformed into art.

Sahar Zand meets artist Kubra Khademi.

[LISTEN NOW]

On a busy street in Kabul, a young artist steps into traffic wearing a steel sculpture she has shaped around her breasts and buttocks. She calls the piece Armour. Within minutes, a crowd gathers. Days later, death threats force her to flee the country.

Today, Afghan artist Kubra Khademi lives in exile in France, creating bold multidisciplinary works that confront patriarchy while reclaiming the female body as a site of power, sexuality and resistance. Drawing on personal history and the cultures she grew up in across Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan, her art blends performance, painting and symbolism to challenge deeply rooted taboos around women's bodies.

For her latest series, Origin of the Universe, Khademi paints surreal scenes of women giving birth to animals — images inspired by a story her grandmother once told her about strength and survival.

Following her creative process, Sahar Zand joins Khademi in her studio as she paints one of the works, revealing how memory, exile and defiance are transformed into art.

Afghan artist Kubra Khademi challenges deeply rooted taboos around women's bodies

Afghan artist Kubra Khademi blends performance, painting and symbolism to challenge deeply rooted taboos around women's bodies.

[LISTEN NOW]

Kwan is a visionary cinematographer whose work embodies a profound fusion of Eastern spirituality and artistic sensitivity. Unlike the stereotypical, technically driven cinematographers, Kwan approaches his craft as an energy-based practice deeply rooted in the philosophy - collaborating with nature itself. He believes that cinematography transcends technical precision, instead channeling the unconscious energy of a scene through intuitive openness.

Training in hypnosis has sharpened his understanding of the unconscious forces that move audiences. He emphasises the cinematographer's role as a conduit: by remaining receptive and protecting their energy, especially in challenging environments, they can translate raw emotional currents into compelling visuals. His collaborations with directors like Wong Ka Wai and Ann Hui, highlight his adaptability; with Wong, he navigates ambiguity, co-creating meaning through improvisation rather than rigid plans.

Kwan reimagines the role of cinematographer as one of quiet attunement, where the camera becomes a vehicle for the soul. His belief is that the most enduring images are born not from control, but from surrender to the moment's unspoken language.

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

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Shan Ng follows acclaimed Hong Kong and Taiwan cinematographer Kwan Pun Leung as he creates a new music video, Fragile Love. Known for his work on landmark films including In the Mood for Love and 2046, Kwan has built a reputation for crafting deeply poetic and emotionally resonant images.

Across a career spanning decades, Kwan has developed a distinctive creative philosophy that places intuition and responsiveness at the centre of cinematography. Rather than focusing solely on the technical, he views filmmaking as a collaborative process with actors, directors and the natural environment. Light, movement and atmosphere are not simply tools but his partners in shaping meaning.

As he films and edits the music video, Kwan reflects on how some of cinema's most memorable images emerge from relinquishing control. For him, cinematography is not simply about capturing reality, but allowing unexpected moments to shape the emotional language of the frame.

A Vaticinate Pictures production for BBC World Service

Acclaimed cinematographer Kwan Pun Leung creates a new music video

Known for his work on landmark films including In the Mood for Love and 2046, we follow the acclaimed cinematographer Kwan Pun Leung as he creates a new music video, Fragile Love.

[LISTEN NOW]

Arts journalist Melissa Gronlund follows Kurdish designer Lara Dizeyee as she prepares a couture collection for Milan Fashion Week. The programme charts the challenges faced by those outside the fashion establishment, from financial hurdles to logistics, as Dizeyee tries to bring her vision to one of fashion's most prestigious stages.

Dizeyee fled Iraqi Kurdistan as a child, grew up in the US, and later returned to Erbil. Her designs draw on traditional Kurdish dress - layered garments, capes, and ornate headpieces - reimagined as bold evening wear. Her work is celebrated in Kurdistan, across the diaspora, and in the Arabian Gulf. Yet despite her growing profile, she lacked the funds to stage a show on the scale Milan demands.

The programme follows her as she secures backing and races against time to source fabrics, sketch and sew designs, and collaborate with Kurdish artisans on jewellery and bespoke accessories. More than 30 outfits are completed and packed into suitcases carried by her extended family.

It all builds to the big day, as Dizeyee fits each model and navigates last-minute crises - models too short, earrings that won't fit, designs that misfire. But as the models walk out in her reimagined Kurdish looks, the emotion in the room is unmistakable. Many in the audience are Kurdish and fly in for the event. And in that final moment, as the Kurdish flag is symbolically recreated on the runway, Dizeyee presents her culture to the world.

Presenter: Melissa Gronlund

Producers: Melissa Gronlund and Ashley Byrne

A Made in Manchester production for the BBC World Service

Image: Lara Dizeyee and models wearing her couture at Milan Fashion Week (Credit: Andrea Zaniboni)

Kurdish designer Lara Dizeyee blends culture and couture at Milan Fashion Week

Kurdish designer Lara Dizeyee prepares a couture collection for Milan Fashion Week, and reveals the challenges faced by those outside the fashion establishment.

In the Studio follows the designer Lara Dizeyee as she designs and presents haute couture Kurdish dress at the prestigious Milan Fashion Week. Presented by Melissa Gronlund, the programme reveals how hard it is for outsiders to make it in the fashion world, and Dizeyee's tenacity as she refuses to give up. Her collection is inspired by the strength of Kurdish women and their fight – like Dizeyee's – to be seen.

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

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This is Laurie's first record in six years, and she tells the story of renowned female aviator Amelia Earhart's tragic last flight in 1937. Earhart's plane disappeared without trace over the Pacific as she attempted to circumnavigate the globe. The fate of Amelia and her navigator Fred Noonan became one of the most enduring mysteries of the last century.

This 22-track album has been almost 25 years in the making, and Laurie has come to Miraval Studios in southern France to work with Emmy-winning sound engineer Damien Quintard. We take a front-row seat as they collaborate on a complex mix, which includes the Filharmonie Brno orchestra, a string trio and other solo musicians including Laurie on electric viola, vocals by Laurie herself and avant-garde singer Anohni.

Miraval was a famous recording studio in the '70s, '80s and '90s where rock bands like Pink Floyd, AC/DC, The Cure and Muse all came to record their albums. Damien was head-hunted by owner Brad Pitt to take the helm ahead of the studios reopening in 2022.

Producer: Victoria Ferran

A Just Radio production for BBC World Service

Image: Laurie Anderson (Credit: Ebru Yildiz)

One of America's most daring artists records a new album inspired by Amelia Earhart

We join American artist Laurie Anderson during the recording of Amelia, a new album inspired by Amelia Earhart's tragic last flight, at Miraval Studios in southern France.

We join American artist Laurie Anderson during the recording of her new album Amelia

We join American artist Laurie Anderson during the recording of her new album Amelia at the famous Miraval Studios in southern France.

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

Behind the scenes with Laurie Anderson, the 2024 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, as she puts the finishing touches to her new album at the legendary Miraval studios in the south of France. This is her first new record in 6 years and is about the renowned female aviator Amelia Earhart's tragic last flight - it's been almost 25 years in the making. Working with her is Emmy-winning sound engineer Damien Quintard who was head-hunted by owner Brad Pitt to take the helm of the newly refurbished and redesigned studios.

Lenin first launched his career when his videos went viral on TikTok. Now, he is working on his second EP.

It is a sweltering day in bustling Lima, and presenter Martin Riepl heads up to the north of the city. Lenin's in his studio, wrestling with his new song, La Llaqta. Over the next five months, Martin follows this song's journey from initial concept to live performance. He visits Lenin at home, backstage, in a storyboarding meeting, and at a dance rehearsal, uncovering Lenin's process of fusing two very different musical styles.

(Image: Lenin Tamayo. Credit: Yolanda Pinares)

Peruvian singer Lenin Tamayo, creator of Quechua pop, works on his next EP

Lenin first launched his career when his videos went viral on TikTok. Now, he's working on his second EP.

It's a sweltering day in bustling Lima, and presenter Martin Riepl heads up to the North of the city. Lenin's in his studio, wrestling with his new song, ‘La Llaqta'. Over the next five months, Martin follows this song's journey from initial concept to live performance. He visits Lenin at home, backstage, in a storyboarding meeting, and at a dance rehearsal, uncovering Lenin's process of fusing two very different musical styles.

Presented by Martin Riepl

[LISTEN NOW]

Artist Lesia Khomenko left Kyiv with her daughter the day after Russia invaded Ukraine, leaving her husband and all of her artwork behind. She now lives in New York, documenting how the conflict has transformed Ukrainian society through her painting. Her first work after the invasion was a portrait of her husband, wearing jeans and a puffa jacket whilst holding a gun and saluting awkwardly. That piece, titled Max is in the Army, is part of a series of lawyers, engineers and musicians all finding themselves abruptly turned into soldiers. As the fighting continued she has used pixelation to blur the soldiers' faces – a reference to online misinformation about the conflict.

Lucy Ash has been to Kyiv to witness the creation of Khomenko's largest works to date, including one which mirrors Kyiv railway station's staircase, where it will be hung, crowded with figures, symbolising the nation defending its land, culture and democracy.

Lesia Khomenko returns to Ukraine to create new public artworks

Lesia Khomenko left Kyiv with her daughter the day after Russia invaded Ukraine, leaving her husband and all of her artwork behind. She now returns to create new public works.

Artist Lesia Khomenko left Kyiv with her daughter the day after the Russians invaded Ukraine – leaving her husband and all of her artwork behind. She now lives in New York, documenting how the conflict has transformed Ukrainian society through her painting. Her first work after the invasion was a portrait of her husband, wearing jeans and a puffa jacket whilst holding a gun and saluting awkwardly. “Max is in the Army ? is part of a series of lawyers, engineers and musicians – all finding themselves abruptly turned into soldiers. As the fighting continued she has used pixelation to blur the soldiers' faces – a reference to online misinformation about the conflict.

Kyiv railway station artwork by exiled artist

[LISTEN NOW]

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

Matthew Sweet on an exhibition about soldiers who sought refuge in Sweden

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Lindy Lee's Ouroboros is the most expensive single artwork commission in Australian history. A $14 million, three-tonne, 10-metre wide freestanding shell of mirror-polished stainless steel with 48,000 individually cut plasma-cut perforations: Lindy calls the Ouroboros “her ?.

Like many pieces of art, her creation is a story of planning, engineering, and technical execution as well as of ideas. Unlike most pieces of art, her creation is also the story of heavy haulage.

Mia Hull traces the Ouroboros' journey from knocking down a foundry wall and being stacked on a wide-bed truck taking up two-and-a-half lanes, to being driven, avoiding bridges and trees by millimetres, some 1200km south to her new home at the National Gallery of Art in Canberra.

Mia talks to artist Lindy Lee, NGA Director Nick Mitzevich, foundry director Eve Willems, haulage “megatrucker ? Jon Kelly and legendary pilot driver Nick.

Presented and produced by Mia Hull

Image: Lindy Lee's Ouroboros at the National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra (Credit: Martin Ollman/Lindy Lee)

The epic journey of Lindy Lee's $14 million, three-tonne, 10-metre wide artwork Ouroboros

The epic journey of Lindy Lee's $14 million, three-tonne, 10-metre wide artwork Ouroboros, from its creation to its installation at Australia's National Gallery of Art.

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

[LISTEN NOW]

Luke Jerram creates spectacular art installations all over the world. He reached millions of people with his work ‘Play Me, I'm Yours', inviting anyone to make music on the 2,000 pianos he'd placed on the streets of more than 70 cities. He's also created large sculptures of the moon, the planet Mars and the sun, which were suspended in spaces like cathedrals so that visitors could admire the celestial bodies up close.

For In the Studio Julian May follows the creation of the artist's latest work, made for Bradford, this year's UK City of Culture. “A Good Yarn ? plays on the double meaning of the word “yarn ? – both a length of thread and a story. It looks like a giant multi-coloured ball of wool, 3 metres high, which will be rolled through the city's streets.

During the Industrial Revolution Bradford became the centre of the woollen industry. By 1836 there were 73 mills in Bradford, creating 70,000 jobs, drawing people to work in the city first from Ireland and Germany and, in the 1960s, from Pakistan.

Luke Jerram is a collaborative artist and Bradford residents have worked together to create a kilometre-long rope, made from woollen fabric donated by the public or from second-hand shops. It's made up of all kinds of cloth – children's bedsheets, men's old shirts, saris, a ballet tutu – so the rope mirrors the intertwined lives of local people. As the work takes shape, the theatre company Bloomin' Buds gather the volunteers' textile-related memories, including from women who worked in the mills. Musicians The Broken Orchestra have been weaving these into a soundscape.

In the programme Julian May follows Luke Jerram from his initial idea through the winding of the rope into a huge ball and rolling it - accompanied by local musicians - through the streets where the people who contributed the fabric - and their stories - live.

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

[LISTEN NOW]

The professional actors are from the same country as their characters, while the community cast have volunteered to participate in the project, having experienced mental health challenges themselves. They're women from underrepresented sections of the community in the East End of London, which is where some of the performances will take place.

‘Mad Women' is fighting the stereotypes and stigma of what it has historically meant to be a woman with mental health conditions, in different countries, through sometimes brutal conversations about sexuality, motherhood, gender oppression and the role of women in the arts, as artists and muses.

Felicity Finch follows Constanza as she and her international creative team collaborate and face the challenges of working with the two casts: juggling rehearsals, coping with a very tight deadline, while making sure they are sensitive to the needs of the four women in the understandably vulnerable community cast.

Constanza is also making plans to take her play and this unique way of working to different communities of women internationally, including her native Chile.

If you need support following anything you've heard in this episode, there's information at BBC.com/actionline

Presenter and Producer: Felicity Finch

Exec producer: Andrea Kidd

(Photo: Professional Cast of Mad Women. Credit: Héctor Manchego)

Constanza Hola Chamy directs two casts for her play about female artists with bipolar

As a unique creative experiment, Chilean director and playwright Constanza Hola Chamy is directing in parallel both a professional cast and a community cast of her new play Mad Women. Inspired by the lives and deaths of three outstanding Latin American artists with bipolar disorder: the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, Chilean singer-songwriter and visual artist Violeta Parra and Columbian painter Judith Marquez, it weaves their struggles with mental health into three intertwined monologues.

The professional actors are from the same country as their characters, while the community cast have volunteered to participate in the project, having experienced mental health problems themselves. They're women from underrepresented sections of the community in the East End of London, which is where some of the performances will take place.

‘Mad Women' is fighting the stereotypes and stigma of what it has historically meant to be a woman with mental health issues, in different countries, through sometimes brutal conversations about sexuality, motherhood, gender oppression and the role of women in the arts, as artists and muses.

Kiran Gandhi, AKA Madame Gandhi, is an American artist, activist and producer who originally started out as a percussionist for popular British artist MIA, and American electronic music duo Thievery Corporation. She holds a masters degree in Music Science Technology at Stanford University and is on a mission to find innovative ways of using music to motivate and inspire people to care about climate change.

In 2022 she was invited to go to Antarctic to record the sounds of the icy continent with her own microphones, before going into the studio to create sounds from melting glaciers and loud gentoo penguins. The resulting project was a sample pack made in partnership with Sound MANA, as well as a track released called In Purpose, released with nature credited as an artist through Brian Eno's Earth Percent foundation, directing music royalties towards conservation efforts.

Tom Raine follows her journey recording brand new sounds, this time in the North Pole, where she'll hope to record everything from glaucous gulls, black-leg kittiwakes to common guillemots, as well as arctic foxes, seals and if we're lucky, some polar bears. We'll then return to her studio in London to see exactly how Kiran sculpts these sounds into hi-hats, kicks, snare drums, bass tones, and more - as well as hearing her thesis on how nature music can encourage people to care about climate change.

Image: Madame Gandhi (Credit: Lindsey Byrnes)

Musician, artist and activist Madame Gandhi makes music from the sounds of the Arctic.

[LISTEN NOW]

In 2020, the Canadian writer Madeleine Thien was working on her next novel, the follow-up to her prizewinning 2016 book Do Not Say We Have Nothing. But it was difficult to find the internal peace and privacy to begin again, especially after being catapulted into the public eye by the previous novel's success.

Paul Kobrak followed her over several months as she created different versions of the first draft of the new novel. It's a process which moves from Berlin to Brooklyn and finally to Portugal's capital city Lisbon, where she hoped to complete it. Five years later, the novel, called The Book of Records, is being published, and this programme looks back at the long process of its creation.

Author Madeleine Thien's long path to creating her novel The Book of Records

Madeleine Thien undertakes the complex process of writing her latest novel The Book of Records, published nine years after her breakthrough 2016 work Do Not Say We Have Nothing.

[LISTEN NOW]

In this episode of In The Studio, Paralympian gold medallist Ellie Simmonds, explores what it takes to design and build a swimming pool, and asks why they are so important in a post-pandemic era.

We join award-winning Dutch architects, VenhoevenCS, as they sign off their biggest project to date (The Aquatic Centre for Paris 2024) and begin planning and designing a brand-new public pool.

Their lead architects will talk us through their plans for the new pool, looking at sustainability, accessibility and safety. We'll visit the site of the build and the offices, to eavesdrop on their planning meetings.

We'll also hear from British architect, author and swimming advocate Chris Romer Lee about the importance of public pools, and why he thinks more of us should be getting in to water.

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

We join award-winning Dutch architects VenhoevenCS as they sign off their biggest project to date - the aquatic centre for Paris 2024 - and begin planning and designing a brand-new public pool. Their lead architects will talk us through their plans for the new pool, looking at sustainability, accessibility and safety. We'll visit the site of the build and the offices, to eavesdrop on their planning meetings.

We'll also hear from British architect, author and swimming advocate Chris Romer Lee about the importance of public pools, and why he thinks more of us should be getting into the water.

A Spiritland production

Image: Ellie Simmonds (Credit: Anthony Devlin/Getty Images for the National Lottery) and the Hofbad swimming pool in Den Haag, the Netherlands, designed by VenhoevenCS

The Paralympic gold medallist follows the construction of a new public swimming pool

Manal gives Melissa Gronlund a sense of the importance of storytelling and being a memory keeper in a changing society. She also talks about her early work challenging the restrictions on women in Saudi Arabia, such as I Am, which questioned the way women were only allowed to perform certain roles in Saudi society. Melissa hears how one of the country's most established artists is navigating Saudi Arabia's new cultural scene.

Producers: Ashley Byrne, Melissa Gronlund and Danielle Manning

A Made in Manchester production for BBC World Service

Image: Manal AlDowayan's participatory workshops in AlUla (2023), part of Oasis of Stories for Wadi AlFann (Courtesy of Royal Commission for AlUla)

How one of Saudi Arabia's most established artists navigates its changing society

Art journalist Melissa Gronlund gives an insight into the work of internationally renowned Saudi artist Manal AlDowayan.

Mark Burman follows artist Marcin Dudek as he works on his sound sculpture The Ground Harbours The Soul, which is made from the sounds of the crowd at Tottenham Hotspur stadium. Visitors get to experience all the highs and lows of fans watching a football game in real time.

The Ground Harbours the Soul is part of ReSilence, a S+T+ARTS project made possible with funding from HORIZON Europe.

Special thanks to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Marcin Dudek uses recordings of a Premier League football crowd to make a sonic sculpture

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

[LISTEN NOW]

Lockdown presents a number of challenges, expected ones like social distancing and sick crew members. And unexpected ones, like studios being too full and staff being in short supply because more movies were being made during the pandemic, rather than less.

Maria kept an audio diary during these unprecedented times for the British film industry, as she battles with crew shortages, schedule changes and a possible bout of Covid.

Producing and reporting by Antonia Quirke

Executive Producer: Stephen Hughes for BBC World Service

The secrets of the production designer

Architect Mariam Issoufou has always been very ambivalent about museums: 'Who decided that the only way to look at art is inside this intimidating, grand building, full of looted objects? For me, they are where history goes to die'. So she was sceptical about accepting the job of designing a new museum in the city of Tambacounda, Senegal. Will she succeed in creating a museum that breaks the mould?

With thanks to Mariam Issoufou and her team, Bassem and Wassim Shaaban, Professor Harriet Harriss PhD, Professor Lesley Lokko OBE, the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, and Nicholas Fox Weber

Producer: Olivia Humphreys

Executive producer: Leonie Thomas

Additional recording by Sally Herships

An Overcoat Media production

Architect Mariam Issoufou designs a new museum in Senegal

Architect Mariam Issoufou has always been very ambivalent about museums, but is now trying to design one that breaks the mould in the city of Tambacounda, Senegal.

[LISTEN NOW]

Bangladeshi architect Marina Tabassum won the commission to create the 25th Serpentine Pavilion – a temporary summer structure for London's Kensington Gardens. A meeting place in the Royal Parks, A Capsule in Time will also be used for literary and musical events. The arched wooden structure's translucent panels allow dappled light through, like the South Asian Shamiyana awnings which inspired Tabassum's design. The side panels move along tracks to change the shape of the space, and at its centre there is a gingko tree, which will be replanted at the end of summer. Marina talks to Erika Wright about how she wanted make a space for the diverse people who use the parks in the summer.

Memories of Bangladesh inspire Marina Tabassum's design for London's Serpentine Pavilion

Marina Tabassum's childhood memories of traditional tents at weddings in Bangladesh inspired her design for London's Serpentine Pavilion in the Royal Parks.

[LISTEN NOW]

Bottura is the leader of the culinary movement that sees food as edible art. His dishes are inspired by and dedicated to Andy Warhol and Ai Weiwei, among other artists. He has even had his own exhibition at Paris' Palais des Beaux-Arts.

Food journalist and cookbook author Emiko Davies spends a weekend in Modena with Bottura and his restauranteur wife Lara Gilmore. Davies goes behind the scenes of a working kitchen and gets behind the wheel of a sports car to discover how Bottura transforms his passion for art and design into novel ideas for unimaginable recipes.

Presenter: Emiko Davies

Producer: Jude Shapiro

Executive producer: Jack Howson

A Peanut & Crumb production for BBC World Service

Image: Massimo Bottura at Osteria Francescana (Credit: Giuseppe Cacace/AFP via Getty Images)

Go behind the scenes at one of the world's best and most creative restaurants

Massimo Bottura's Osteria Francescana, in the Italian town of Modena, has twice been named the world's best restaurant. Emiko Davies steps inside its kitchen.

Rising sea levels and a worldwide shortage of buildable land make the prospect of floating buildings and infrastructure more beneficial than ever. MAST is an architectural firm based in the southern harbour of Copenhagen in Denmark. Surrounded by shipbuilders and workshops, their studio devises and builds houses, community centres, saunas and whole neighbourhoods on water.

While many of their projects can be seen on the waters of Copenhagen, the team is inspired by the long tradition of waterborne dwellings across the world and are currently working on constructions in Thailand, the Maldives, the USA , India and Portugal.

Architecture critic and author Jonathan Glancey is invited to Copenhagen to see the studio in action, and to travel out by boat to look at some of the completed projects.

Presenter: Jonathan Glancey

Producer: Susan Marling

A Just Radio production

Image: MAST architects Marshall Blecher and Magnus Maarbjerg (Credit: Susan Marling)

Copenhagen architecture studio MAST specialises in building on water

Copenhagen architecture studio MAST devises and builds houses, community centres, saunas and whole neighbourhoods on water.

One of our most pressing global environmental problems is flooding and rising water levels. MAST, an innovative architecture practice based on the harbourside in Copenhagen, has devised ways of ‘building on water', making floating dwellings and whole linked communities that can happily rise and fall with water levels. The applications for this are huge - from tow-able classrooms for Denmark to solutions for the big flooding deltas of Asia. Jonathan Glancey is In the Studio to report on the work in progress.

The innovative floating dwellings that can happily rise and fall with water

[LISTEN NOW]

How do you imagine the future if you are a Ukrainian Science Fiction writer? How do you live in the present with your country at war in a world governed by absolute uncertainty? That's the challenge and dilemma for best selling author Max Kidruk.

Kidruk is nearing completion of Collapse, the 2nd volume of a 900 page, epic hard science fiction trilogy The New Dark Ages. The first volume, Colony, sold 30,000 copies in Ukraine. Set on a 222nd century Mars against a backdrop of ecological disaster on Earth, things can only get worse! An insidious extra-terrestrial invasion has caused a fertility crisis whilst the new Martian society is undergoing literal & metaphorical growing pains. Those born on the Red planet are physically changed & unable to return to their mother world. Ukrainians have become the key farmers on Mars, providing three quarters of all the colony's food.

In the real world, Kidruk has had to fight against his own biological frailty & the absolute uncertainty of the times he lives in. The presence of Russians in his fiction is an acknowledgement that the existential national threat will not disappear & could grow worse. Perhaps the greatest challenge of all for Kidruk has been to keep his plot relevant. His trilogy is intended as a warning on many levels but real world politics keep outstripping his wildest imaginings!

Mark Burman has been in conversation with Kidruk for the past 18 months as the war has continued to rage & his book nears completion.

Image: Max Kidruk (Credit: Kateryna Kosheleva)

In The Studio investigates the creative process of figures from across the creative world

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

Kidruk is nearing completion of Collapse, the 2nd volume of a 900 page, epic hard science fiction trilogy The New Dark Ages. The first volume, Colony, sold 30,000 copies in Ukraine- a startling amount. Set on a 222nd century Mars against a backdrop of ecological disaster on Earth, things can only get worse! An insidious extra terrestrial invasion has caused a fertility crisis whilst the new Martian society is undergoing literal & metaphorical growing pains. Those born on the Red planet are physically changed & unable to return to their mother world. Colonists from Earth used a ground breaking drug-Telemed- which offers a near endless lifespan and did I mention the Russians? Ukrainians have become the key farmers on Mars, providing three quarters of all the colony's food. The Russians both on Mars & on Earth are still hostile & war is coming. “They are scoundrels, not monsters' says Kidruk

In the real world, Kidruk has had to fight against his own biological frailty & the absolute uncertainty of the times he lives in. Together he & his wife run a successful, newly established, publishing house. Its printing presses are based in Kharkiv, under frequent Russian rocket attack. The presence of Russians in his fiction is an acknowledgementthat the existential national threat of the enemy will not disappear & could grow worse. Perhaps the greatest challenge of all for Kidruk has been to keep his plot relevant. His trilogy is intended as a warning on many levels but real world politics keep outstripping his wildest imaginings!

[LISTEN NOW]

The Los Angeles river has been a concrete channel since the 1930s, when the US Army Corps of Engineers decided to concrete over the original river for flood mitigation. Ever since then, the river has been regularly used as a symbol of dystopia and was the backdrop in a famous scene in The Terminator.

However, landscape architect and Studio-MLA founder Mia Lehrer (FALSA, Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects) wants to transform its reputation and revitalize the river, as it remains a waterway shared by millions. This will not be an easy task, however, as the river itself is still the property of the US Army Corps, and the river course crosses numerous bureaucratic boundaries at both the local and state level.

Presenter Alan Weedon meets Mia as she describes her vision to breathe new life into an American icon.

Presented and produced by Alan Weedon for the BBC World Service.

Mia Lehrer on the revitalisation of an American icon

However, landscape architect Mia Lehrer wants to transform its reputation and to revitalise the river, because it is still a waterway shared by millions. This will not be an easy task, however, as the river itself is still the property of the US Army Corps, and the river course crosses numerous bureaucratic boundaries at both the local and state level.

[LISTEN NOW]

There's a tradition among poets to write a poem to put inside the Christmas cards they send. So, the BBC World Service has commissioned one specially from the poet, dramatist and novelist Michael Symmons Roberts, whose Christian faith is important to his identity and work. But his art is not a direct expression of this, and instead he follows the poet Emily Dickinson's instruction to 'tell all the truth but tell it slant'.

Michael has just become a grandfather, so feels keenly the happiness of the arrival of a cherished child, creating a parallel between his own life and the Christmas story of the birth of Jesus. Julian May follows Michael's creative process as he grapples huge spiritual and personal themes – distilling them to a length which can fit on a Christmas card: a daunting but joyful task.

The programme begins on London's Oxford Street, where consumerism triggers preparations a full three months before Christmas, and ends with the sealing of the Christmas cards before they are popped into the post box.

Michael Symmons Roberts writes a poem to put inside a Christmas card

Poet, dramatist and novelist Michael Symmons Roberts writes a poem to put inside a Christmas card.

Michael has just become a grandfather, so feels keenly the happiness of the arrival of a cherished child, creating a parallel between his own life and the Christmas story of the birth of Jesus. For In the Studio Julian May follows Michael's creative process as he grapples huge spiritual and personal themes – distilling them to a length which can fit on a Christmas card: a daunting but joyful task.

The programme begins with London's Oxford Street, where consumerism triggers preparations a full three months before Christmas - and ends with the sealing of the Christmas cards before they are popped into the post box.

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

[LISTEN NOW]

In his studio, an old schoolroom in the Scottish Highlands, sculptor Michael Visocchi is working on Commensalis, a huge work that will be installed thousands of miles away, in Grytviken, an abandoned whaling station on the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia. From 1904 to 1966 thousands of whales were slaughtered and butchered here. Whaling ships brought rats, which predated the seabirds, driving species to near- extinction. But now, with whaling ended and the rats eradicated, whales are returning, seal and bird populations are recovering. South Georgia is an ecology in recovery.

Whaling ships and equipment were taken to Grytviken and harboured there. Now it looks like an industrial scrapyard; ships rust on the shore, huge tanks decay behind. Millions of leftover rivets remain.

Visocchi was struck by the similarity of shape of these rivets and the bumps of the barnacles on the bodies of living whales. The barnacles exist in a relationship between individuals of two species in which one obtains benefits from the other without either harming or benefiting the latter. This is known as commensalism, and gives Visocchi's installation its name. Commensalis will comprise large steel ‘tables' which echo the shape and rust colour of the

oil tanks. The tables, one for each species of whale that was taken, are dotted with patterns of polished rivets that represent the slaughtered whales.

We hear recordings Visocchi made on two visits to the remote island, the first for inspiration, the second to work out how to create and install the work among the seals and penguins. In his studio and a fabrication workshop so many miles away he talks to presenter Julian May as he works on this project which is challenging in so many ways – theoretically, technically, in time (three years so far) and even morally. South Georgia has no permanent population,

so is a public artwork appropriate? South Georgia has been sullied by people going there and leaving stuff behind. Isn't, actually, Visocchi doing the same?

Presenter and Producer: Julian May

Sculptor Michael Visocchi's memorial to and celebration of the whales of Antarctica

In his studio, an old schoolroom in the Scottish Highlands, sculptor Michael Visocchi is working on Commensalis, a huge work that will be installed thousands of miles away, in Grytviken, an abandoned whaling station on the Antarctic island of South Georgia. From 1904 to 1966 thousands of whales were slaughtered and butchered here. Whaling ships brought rats, which predated the penguins and other seabirds. But now, with whaling ended and the rats eradicated, whales are returning, seal and bird populations recovering. South Georgia is an ecology in recovery.

Whaling ships and equipment were taken Grytviken and assembled there. Now it is an industrial scrapyard; ships rust on the shore, huge tanks decay behind. Millions of left over rivets remain.

Commensalis will comprise large steel ‘tables' which echo the shape and rust colour of the oil tanks. The tables, one for each species of whale that was taken, are dotted with patterns of polished rivets that represent the slaughtered whales.

We hear recordings Visocchi made on two visits to the remote island, the first for inspiration, the second to work out how to create and install the work among the seals and penguins. In his studio and a fabrication workshop so many miles away he talks to presenter Julian May as he works on this project which is challenging in so many ways – theoretically, technically, in time (three years so far) and even morally. South Georgia has no permanent population, so is a public artwork appropriate? South Georgia has been sullied by people going there and leaving stuff behind. Isn't, actually, Visocchi doing the same?

Sculptor Michael Visocchi's memorial to and celebration of the whales of the Antarctica

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In the Studio takes us into the minds of leading figures from the creative world.

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

(Photo: Jodie McNee as Julia in The Minority Report. Credit: Marc Brenner)

Can a sci-fi classic become a success on stage?

Philip K. Dick's novella The Minority Report was adapted into a science fiction blockbuster by Steven Spielberg in 2002. More than 20 years later, it's coming to the stage.

The artist Mohammad Barrangi represented Iran as a Paralympic sprinter before moving to the United Kingdom. Earlier this year, he had a major show at an art gallery in Leeds. Sahar Zand followed his process as he prepared his work for the exhibition, and talked to Mohammad about his personal journey and how it's reflected in his art.

Mohammad Barrangi sprinted for Iran at the Paralympics, but is now an artist in the UK

The artist Mohammad Barrangi represented Iran as a Paralympic sprinter before moving to the United Kingdom. Earlier this year, he had a major show at an gallery in Leeds.

Mohammad Barangi on art, disability and migration

[LISTEN NOW]

Iranian-born artist and former Paralympian Mohammad Barrangi creates intricate, dreamlike worlds - Wonderlands - where myth and reality collide. His bold, layered works - spanning murals, prints, and 3D sculptures - fuse Persian aesthetics, ancient symbols, and surreal hybrid creatures, often blending women and animals into fantastical forms.

Born without the use of his left arm, Barrangi has developed a distinctive printmaking technique, working on the floor and stabilizing his materials with his feet. His art, exhibited in major international galleries - including the British Museum and the Royal Collection - explores themes of identity, exile, and disability.

For his latest project, The Last Rain in Wonderland, Barrangi shifts his focus to the global climate crisis, weaving the stories of displaced communities and endangered animals in southern Iran into his visually striking work.

Following his creative process, Sahar Zand documents Barrangi's journey as he prepares for a major exhibition at Nottingham Exchange. Through vivid imagery and intricate textures, his work becomes a powerful reflection on migration, memory, and the fragile landscapes we risk losing - a Wonderland that is both breathtaking and disappearing.

Mohammad Barrangi sprinted for Iran at the Paralympics, but is now an artist in the UK

The artist Mohammad Barrangi represented Iran as a Paralympic sprinter before moving to the United Kingdom. Earlier this year, he had a major show at a gallery in Leeds.

[LISTEN NOW]

He reveals how he managed to film on a smugglers' route between Iran and Afghanistan, and how he avoided the attentions of the Taliban. And he also reveals details of the documentary he is currently making about the return of the Taliban to Afghanistan.

Presented by Antonia Quirke

Produced by Stephen Hughes for BBC World Service

Mohsen Makhmalbaf on Kandahar

Mohsen Makhmalbaf takes us behind the scenes of the making of Kandahar which captured the world's attention when President Bush asked to see it after the attacks on 9/11

Art from the circle of friends, family and teachers of artist Mrinalini Mukherjee is now on show at London's Royal Academy - alongside her giant hemp sculptures. Sheetal Parmar hears about the planning behind transporting such delicate works and about the influences behind the creation of her natural forms.

(Image: Mrinalini Mukherjee with her work 'Earth Bloom', 'In the Garden' Exhibition, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi, 1997)

Sheetal Parmar on the work of Indian sculptor Mrinalini Mukherjee and her Circle

Sheetal Parmar on the delicate sculptures of artist Mrinalini Mukherjee along with works from her circle of friends, family and teachers who helped to shape Indian modernism.

Art from the circle of friends, family and teachers of artist Mrilanini Mukherjee is now on show at London's Royal Academy - alongside her giant hemp sculptures. Sheetal Parmer hears about the planning behind transporting such delicate works and about the influences behind the creation of her natural forms.

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

[LISTEN NOW]

The Norwegian artist Edvard Munch is best known for his expressionist painting The Scream. A pastel version of it fetched $ 120 million when it was last auctioned in 2012, making it the most expensive piece of art ever sold at an auction.

Unlike previous Munch exhibitions, which have revolved around his psychology and biography, this exhibition, for the first time, looks at his landscape paintings, revealing a very different side of artist and showing the vivid colours he used.

Presenting this exhibition on both sides of the Atlantic: In the US, then in Germany and Norway, makes this ground breaking show open up to a wider audience. But what does it take for an exhibition to go on a journey? How does it change when moving to another venue with a different size and layout and what adjustments are made for the audience in a different country?

The Museum Barberini in Potsdam, Germany grants the BBC exclusive access to witness what happens behind closed doors, when art works worth millions move across countries and are installed when security measures are yet to be put in place.

Susan speaks to curator Jill Lloyd and reveals the people who act away from the limelight, but are the movers and shakers when it comes to getting a painting to on the road: the registrars of each museum and the couriers, often highly qualified paintings conservators, who are responsible for the art works their museum has lent to the exhibition.

Producer: Sabine Schereck

Executive Producer: Andrea Kidd

What it takes for an art exhibition on Edvard Munch to travel across two continents.

Arts journalist Susan Stone goes behind the scenes of the art exhibition Edvard Munch: Trembling Earth to find out what it takes for this show to travel to three countries.

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

For multidisciplinary artist Nazanin Moradi, who was brought up in the Islamic Republic of Iran where women are, “second-class citizens in every sense, ? the answer is easy; she would start at the very beginning of “time ? to reverse the “unfair ? gender roles.

In her new project, the multidisciplinary artist challenges male domination and toxic masculinity, within a fragmented historical context where fantasy meets rebellion. She does this by changing the narrative of ancient Mesopotamian mythology, fixating on the legendary battle where the supremely powerful dragon goddess of oceans Tiamat, was killed by the storm god Marduk.

Over a period of six months, reporter Sahar Zand spends time with Nazanin at various locations in London to find out how she embarks on the ambitious project, and how it's affected by the protests in Iran, which take place as she nears the end of her work. Through the mediums of textile design, interpretive dance, digital editing, collage, painting and sculpture, Nazanin rebels against social conventions by using her own body through the creative process.

Sahar Zand meets artist Nazanin Moradi

Sahar Zand meets the multidisciplinary artist Nazanin Moradi as she challenges male domination, within a fragmented historical context where fantasy meets rebellion.

Neha Vyaso is one of the most successful intimacy co-ordinator's in Bollywood. She's worked with some of Bollywood's biggest names - actors Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone and Konkona Sen Sharma, and directors like Hansal Mehta. Having worked on over fifty projects for clients including Netflix, Amazon and Tinder, she's reshaping how sex and desire is shown on screen- and how it's filmed.

We join her in a workshop with two actors, who are getting comfortable with each other, their roles, and the techniques of consent and conversation that Neha is an advocate of. As they work on the choreography of their sex scene, Neha articulates how it's a fine balance between the demands of a script, a director's vision, a character's emotional arc, and what an actor can consent to. It is a constant, nuanced negotiation.

In Bollywood, there is much secrecy about upcoming projects but after a few false starts we finally join Neha on set. We get a glimpse at how she negotiates between the actors and the director to film a difficult scene of sexual violence. Will she succeed in creating an environment where everyone can do their work? And what does she hope her influence can have on the wider conversation about consent and intimacy in India?

Presenter: Chhavi Sachdev

Producer: Louise Morris

Executive Producer: Leonie Thomas

Sound Mix: Joel Cox

An Overcoat Media production for the BBC World Service

Bollywood's leading intimacy co-ordinator, Neha Vyaso, workshops consent on and off set.

[LISTEN NOW]

Prizewinning climbing video game

[LISTEN NOW]

Sydney has the most recognisable opera house in the world, but some of the most innovative opera-making is happening at the other end of town, in the building where they used to build train carriages.

Sydney Chamber Opera, led by composer Jack Symonds, is a young, experimental collective of opera makers, collaborating with the established national company Opera Australia for the first time to bring Jack's epic Gilgamesh to the stage. Directed by Kip Williams, it's a new opera based on a very old story of queer desire, environmentalism, and dancing scorpions.

Ce Benedict follows Gilgamesh from pianos falling through floorboards in rehearsals, to Opera Australia's Artistic Director unexpectedly stepping down, through to the literal glitter of opening night with an alliance of artists committed to making new work in an industry full of museum pieces.

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

[LISTEN NOW]

Jeff Lunden follows PAC NYC's artistic director Bill Rauch and his behind the scenes team, as they get the specially built, flexible theatres ready for their opening season.

We'll also be talking to some of the on stage creatives who've been commissioned to make works for this very special season, including theatre maker Bill T. Jones, whose piece Night Watch is about the shootings in a Black church in Charleston, South Carolina and a synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Choreographer Annie-B Parsons talks about how it feels as a New Yorker to create her commission The March.

For many New Yorkers and also for people from across the world, the site remains a sacred space and we'll be hearing from Paula Berry, who lost her husband in the 9/11 attacks about why for her this arts center is on sacred ground and is a place to celebrate life.

Presenter and Producer: Jeff Lunden

Exec Producer: Andrea Kidd

(Photo: The Perelman Performing Arts Center, NYC. Credit: The BBC)

The opening of The Perelman Performing Arts Center built on the site of NY's Twin Towers

Jeff Lunden goes behind the scenes of PAC NYC, the arts centre built on the site of the World Trade Center in New York, as it prepares to open its door for the first time.

Patti LuPone – three-time Tony and two-time Grammy Award winner – has long reigned as one of Broadway's most formidable leading ladies. In this edition of In The Studio, we join her in New York for a highly anticipated solo concert at Carnegie Hall.

Best known for defining roles in Evita, Les Miserables, Gypsy, and Sunset Boulevard, LuPone has also sustained a decades-long parallel life on the concert stage – a career she says began simply to “offset unemployment ? between Broadway runs. What started as late-night cabaret after Evita evolved into meticulously structured touring shows, each built around narrative, character and the power of lyrics. Her current programme, Matters of the Heart, weaves a tapestry of love stories – from romance and heartbreak to family and devotion – revealing her instinct to treat every song as theatre.

Patti describes her routine on the day of the concert: the soundcheck, the balancing of quartet and voice in a hall famed for its natural acoustics, and the quiet rituals that precede performance. LuPone reflects on nerves, storytelling and the audacity of standing alone before 2,800 expectant faces.

Alongside her collaborators, including musical director Joseph Thalken, she reveals the discipline and trust behind the scenes. This is a portrait of craft at the highest level – the artist, the venue and the alchemy of live performance.

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

[LISTEN NOW]

Fred D'Aguiar recovers and re-imagines his story, in several voices – including the horses. In this edition of In the Studio, Julian May meets D'Aguiar on the cusp. For The Unnamed is written and D'Aguiar explains how he is now preparing it for publication and his way of proof-reading. He is also feeling his way towards his next project, beginning a series of poetic studies of people he has known, people he has lost and people who inspire him. This is, tentatively, entitled Lives Studied.

D'Aguiar reveals his processes, how he begins, rising very early, taking his dog, Dexter, for a walk, drinking a coffee, then setting to. He speaks quickly, so writes always in longhand with a pen, to slow thought down, to consider. He speaks too of his reading and influences, for instance Robert Lowell and his collection ‘Life Studies'. For D'Aguiar the practice of writing is integral to his existence - writing is living.

Fred D'Aguiar on his collection For the Unnamed, inspired by a black jockey from 1852.

Presenter and Producer: Julian May

(Photo: Fred D'Aguiar. Credit: Courtesy of Fred D'Aguiar)

The poet Fred D'Aguiar explains how he finishes his book about an unnamed black jockey who wins a huge race, finds a new subject, a series of poetic portraits, and begins again.

Manal's early projects were set amid the backdrop of limitations being placed on women in her home country.

At her base in London, she tells Melissa about Esmi: My Name, her best known work where she collaborated with women to flout the convention against saying their names in public, asking each woman in her workshops to write their name on a prayer bead, which she then strings together and hangs from the ceiling in exhibitions

And Manal talks to Melissa about ‘I Am', where she wears the clothes of a traditional Bedouin female and holds up a blackboard stating her job, to signal the way that women were only allowed to perform certain roles in Saudi society

The discussion around these two projects will enable us to get a real understanding into the experiences of women in Saudi Arabia where there have been considerable restrictions on how they are allowed to live their lives over decades.

In following Manal's contemporary work, we will also get an understanding of the changes to the rights of women in Saudi. How far do they go? And how has her work changed as its context changes?

We will also hear about her role in the forthcoming Venice Biennale and reflect how Manal's work continues to change as her country and experiences of fellow women there continue to evolve.

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

Now studio head Dom Matthews and his team are working on the sequel, Senua's Saga: Hellblade II, which takes players to Viking-age Iceland. Melina returns as the embattled Senua, acting on a brand new, state-of-the-art performance capture stage. With a bigger budget and using cutting-edge software, Ninja Theory is developing a technically groundbreaking gaming experience. We join Dom, Melina and the rest of the team in Cambridge as they tell this next chapter of their story and prepare for the game's much-anticipated launch.

We follow the sequel to the award-winning Hellblade video game.

Now studio head Dominic Matthews and his team are working on the sequel, Senua's Saga: Hellblade II, which takes players to Viking-age Iceland. Melina returns as the embattled Senua, acting on a brand new, state-of-the-art performance capture stage. With a bigger budget and using cutting-edge software, Ninja Theory is developing a technically groundbreaking gaming experience. Nathan Jones joins Dominic, Melina and the rest of the team in Cambridge as they tell this next chapter of their story and prepare for the game's much-anticipated launch.

Produced by Andrea Kidd for the BBC World Service.

(Photo: Senua's Saga. Credit: Microsoft)

Video game Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, featuring its female lead character with psychosis, was a huge success. Now the Ninja Theory team develop their groundbreaking sequel

Luke Black is a Serbian singer-songwriter who represented his country at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2023, the world's largest live music event, with an audience of over 160 million.

Performing his song Samo Mi Se Spava, his set and choreography, with its special effect giant robot, were inspired by the video games he loves.

Now based in London, he is redeveloping those ideas from video games and hero films to create a new collection of songs. He tells the BBC's Andrea Kidd why he is going darker with these new songs and how the recent student protests in Serbia have inspired him to write an unusually lyrical ballad. He also talks about his experiences at the Eurovision Song Contest and readjusting to life and work afterwards.

Creating music inspired by video games, and life after Eurovision

Singer-songwriter Luke Black creates his new collection of songs inspired by video games and films, and shares the experience of being part of the world's largest live music event

Performing his song Samo Mi Se Spava, is set and choreography with its special effect giant robot, were inspired by the video games he loves.

Now based in London, he's redeveloping those ideas from video games and hero films to create a new collection of songs.

The BBC's Andrea Kidd follows Luke from his home studio to his recording studio, as he works on this body of work. He discusses why he's going darker with these new songs and how the recent student protests in Serbia have inspired him to write an unusually lyrical ballad. He also talks about his experiences at the Eurovision Song Contest and readjusting to life and work afterwards.

Luke Black is a Serbian singer songwriter, who represented his country at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2023, the world's largest live music event, with his song Samo Mi Se Spava. His set and choreography on that global stage, in front of an audience of over 160 million, with its special effect giant robot, were inspired by the video games he loves.

Now based in London, he's redeveloping the ideas from video games and hero films, along with his debut album, to create a new collection of songs.

The BBC's Andrea Kidd follows Luke from his home studio to his recording studio, as he works on this body of work. He discusses why he's going darker with these new songs, how the recent student protests in Serbia have inspired him to write an unusually lyrical ballad and about his experiences at the Eurovision Song Contest and readjusting to life and work afterwards.

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

[LISTEN NOW]

The film follows a year in the life of 61-year-old African American, Adrian Spears. He certainly stands out in the sleepy Californian town where he makes a living shining shoes: dancing around with his bowler hat, starched shirt and bright red uniform. The film opens as he folds up the cardboard sheets he sleeps on at night and makes his way to the storage unit where he keeps clothes and an iron. Everything he owns is immaculately pressed, and it was partly his quiet dignity which drew Leonard to Adrian, and which resonates throughout the movie.

Leonard had thought his days in the movies business were over: he gave up his Hollywood career 30 years ago to retrain as a family therapist and through Adrian's story he has reclaimed his passion.

The BBC Producer, Sue Mitchell, came across Leonard's film whilst recording with a homeless man living just a few miles away. She was intrigued and began exploring the background to the film and examining why it was proving so popular with audiences.

Presented and produced: Sue Mitchell

A new documentary about homelessness by filmmaker, Leonard Manzella

Sue Mitchell explores a new documentary about homelessness with filmmaker, Leonard Manzella.

After growing up in the north of England British milliner Stephen Jones went on to become a pioneering British hat maker working in Paris. He's been creating avant-garde designs for the last 45 years, inspired by Surrealist art, trailblazing fashions at New Romantic club nights, and cinema. He was friends with pop star Boy George who wore his hats – and he famously created a tweed crown for Vivienne Westwood. Rather than a mere accessory, he aims to transform a hat into a statement of identity, and has collaborated with designers like Jean Paul Gaultier and Dior, helping to revitalise fine hat-making skills inspired by looks from copies of Vogue from the 1940s, 50s and 60s.

The prestigious Palais Galliera fashion museum in Paris holds exhibitions every year, showcasing how fashion has evolved from the 18th century to the present day. Its focus is on the most iconic designers and Stephen Jones is one of only two hat makers ever to be included – a huge honour. Rosa Johnston-Flint joins Stephen in Paris as his retrospective is about to close – and visits his workshop as he prepares his Spring/Summer 2026 collection for London Fashion Week which nods to his past bold designs, creating “a party ? on top of the wearer's head.

Image: Stephen Jones, 2024

Credit: Koto Bolofo

From the new wave club scene to the catwalk: Stephen Jones on the enduring appeal of hats

From the new wave club scene to the catwalk: Milliner Stephen Jones on the enduring appeal of hats.

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

[LISTEN NOW]

Sydney has the most recognisable opera house in the world, but some of the most innovative opera-making is happening at the other end of town, in the building where they used to build train carriages.

Sydney Chamber Opera, led by composer Jack Symonds, is a young, experimental collective of opera makers, collaborating with the established national company Opera Australia for the first time to bring Jack's epic Gilgamesh to the stage. Directed by Kip Williams, it's a new opera based on a very old story of queer desire, environmentalism, and dancing scorpions.

Ce Benedict follows Gilgamesh from pianos falling through floorboards in rehearsals, to Opera Australia's Artistic Director unexpectedly stepping down, through to the literal glitter of opening night with an alliance of artists committed to making new work in an industry full of museum pieces.

(Photo: Jeremy Kleeman in Gilgamesh. Credit: Daniel Boud)

Ce Benedict follows Sydney Chamber Opera's reimagining of the world's oldest poem

Ce Benedict follows Sydney Chamber Opera's reimagining of the world's oldest poem, Gilgamesh.

[LISTEN NOW]

New Year's Eve in Sydney is more than the twelve o'clock show. It's an event that takes over an entire city. Fireworks are launched from the Sydney Harbour Bridge now over 90 years old and the Sydney Opera House. There are barges positioned across the harbour, there are rooftops around the city with pyrotechnics, as well as lighting projections on the boats on the harbour, Luna Park and the bridge pylons.

It's a year in the planning and one family has been designing the fireworks for this spectacular night for the last 26 years. Foti Fireworks is an award winning pyrotechnics family business originating in 1793 in Italy. They still have family members operating today, not only in Italy, but in Hong Kong and Sydney bringing joy and hope to people all over the world.

Regina Botros looks back at last year's fireworks and looks forward to this year's extravaganza

Regina Botros follows this year's Sydney Fireworks extravaganza

[LISTEN NOW]

Exploring the culinary artistry of Chef Yuji Yamaguchi, a visionary bridging Kyoto and Kampala. As co-founder of Cots Cots, an artistic Japanese landmark in Uganda, he crafts authentic Japanese cuisine with a unique twist - infusing local Ugandan ingredients to create a vibrant fusion of tradition, innovation, and cultural exchange.

After training at the renowned “Takeuchi ? in Kyoto, Chef Yuji founded “Yamasen ? in 2010 in Kyoto. In 2015, he made a bold move: closing his Kyoto restaurant and relocating to Uganda to open Cots Cots in Kampala, where he now serves as executive chef.

Behind the scenes, blending traditional Japanese techniques with Uganda's rich local ingredients, Chef Yuji says he creates a dining experience that celebrates both heritage and innovation.

The challenge: his commitment to sustainability. He runs a farm on the outskirts of Kampala, where restaurant waste is repurposed as animal feed, bringing the concept of “farm to table ? full circle. But how does this expensive project resonate with Ugandans? Eric Mugaju finds out how he mitigates the challenge of growing Japanese ingredients in a landlocked country like Uganda.

As a former chef, Eric has exclusive access to Chef Yuji at his flagship restaurant to uncover the artistry, culture, and philosophy behind his unique culinary journey.

Chef Yuji Yamaguchi bridges Kyoto and Kampala - Japanese cuisine with a Uganadan twist

Exploring the culinary artistry of chef Yoshifumi Yamaguchi , a visionary bridging Kyoto and Kampala. As co-founder of Cots Cots, an artistic Japanese landmark in Uganda, he crafts authentic Japanese cuisine with a unique twist - infusing local Ugandan ingredients to create a vibrant fusion of tradition, innovation, and cultural exchange.

Behind the scenes, blending traditional Japanese techniques with Uganda's rich local ingredients, Yamaguchi says he creates a dining experience that celebrates both heritage and innovation.

At his restaurant in Kampala, Yoshifumi Yamaguchi fuses the cultures of Japan and Uganda

At Cots Cots, his restaurant in Kampala, chef Yoshifumi Yamaguchi bridges the cultures of Japan and Uganda.

[LISTEN NOW]

The Delacorte Theater, home to New York's beloved free outdoor Shakespeare performances in Central Park, has undergone an $85 million refurbishment.

Now clad in redwood timber from disused water tanks from each of New York's boroughs, the structure has been made accessible for disabled audiences, actors and backstage workers. It's also been made water and raccoon-proof.

Presenter Jeff Lunden has been following its progress – from a hard-hat tour in freezing February to the summer previews of a new production of Twelfth Night, starring Oscar-winning 12 Years a Slave actor Lupita Nyong'o, Sandra Oh from Killing Eve, and Game of Thrones' Peter Dinklage.

Presenter and producer: Jeff Lunden

Executive producer: Paula McGrath

New York Central Park's open-air theatre gets a makeover

Reporter Jeff Lunden has been following its progress – from a hard-hat tour in freezing February to the summer previews of a new production of Twelfth Night, starring Oscar-winning 12 Years a Slave actor Lupita Nyong'o, Sandra Oh from Killing Eve, and Game of Thrones' Peter Dinklage.

Produced by Paula McGrath for the BBC World Service

[LISTEN NOW]

A vast herd of life-size puppet animals travel from the Congo Basin to the Arctic Circle, fleeing the effects of climate change.

Following their project The Walk with Little Amal, in which a 13-foot puppet visited 17 countries to draw attention to the vast numbers of children fleeing war, violence, and persecution, former artistic director of the Young Vic David Lan and celebrated Palestinian theatre director Amir Nizar Zuabi have created a new global project: The Herds. Concerned with raising awareness of climate change, it's inspired by the notion that animals are the first to sense environmental disaster and respond alarmingly.

International artists, arts organisations, and educational institutions united across Africa and Europe between April and August 2025 to present The Herds in cities in 18 countries. The animals, designed in Cape Town by the Ukwanda Puppet Collective and replicated by partners along the route, reflect the countries through which they passed. 

The 42 company puppeteers come from 19 countries, including Australia, Russia, France, the UK, Canada, Norway, Nigeria, Chile, Greece and China. In each city, local volunteers join The Herds for a few days and are trained as puppeteers. 

We catch up with The Herds on the streets of Venice, Paris, London and Manchester.

Location sound and post production by Giovanni Sipiano.

Original music by Kling Klang Klong and Co and Miiqo Studios, Berlin.

Presented and produced by Roger James Elsgood.

An Art and Adventure audio production.

Image: The Herds in Paris (Credit: David Levene)

Puppet animals travel from the Congo Basin to the Arctic Circle, fleeing climate change

Life-size puppet animals sweep into city centres from the Congo Basin to the Arctic Circle, on a 20,000 km journey fleeing climate change.

Travel with heds of life-size puppet animals, fleeing the effects of climate change

[LISTEN NOW]

Discover the artistry, the ambition, and the journey of Adeju Thompson as he pushes the boundaries of contemporary fashion, making Lagos Space Programme a name to watch.

Adeju Thompson: Lagos Space Programme and 'Rock and Roll Consciousness

We follow Adeju Thompson, the founder and creative director behind the Nigerian fashion label Lagos Space Programme as he attempts to establish the label on the global fashion scene.

Lagos Space Programme blends Yoruba heritage (notably Adire dyeing) with queer and futurist aesthetics, taking inspiration from Lou Reed, traditional Ife sculptures, or the photography of Rotimi Fani-Kayode and Robert Mapplethorpe

Thompson talks about his dedication to slow fashion, gender-fluid creations, and detailed artisan craftsmanship, blending traditional techniques with contemporary designs.

We follow him to Paris where he unveils his collection based on the idea of 'Rock and Roll Consciousness,' to discuss with him the diverse inspirations that fueled this collection. We then join him at his studio in Surulere, Lagos where he discusses his new designs for 25/26.

The journey continues from Lagos to Ibadan, where we visit a profound source of Adeju Thompson's inspiration: the Dominican Chapel, designed by the esteemed architect Demas Nwoko, is a testament to a powerful synthesis of African artistic traditions and modern architectural principles. Nwoko's vision for the chapel, integrating local materials and traditional building techniques with contemporary design, deeply resonates with Thompson's own artistic philosophy. Much like Nwoko in his architectural practice, Adeju strives to bridge the gap between historical African aesthetics and contemporary global fashion, creating a dialogue between the past and the present, the local and the universal. The chapel stands as a physical manifestation of the very principles Thompson seeks to embody in the textile, form, and philosophy of Lagos Space Programme.

Beyond the creative process, the programme also sheds light on the realities of an up-and-coming fashion label navigating the competitive landscape of international fashion weeks. Thompson shares his experiences, good and bad, and the inherent challenges of showcasing a collection internationally. From logistics and production to gaining visibility and securing recognition, the journey of bringing a distinctive African voice to the global stage is laid out first hand.

In Conversation with Tayo Popoola.

A Spiritland Production

Fashion designer Adeju Thompson prepares to take his label from Lagos to the world

Adeju Thompson, the founder and creative director behind the Nigerian fashion label Lagos Space Programme, attempts to establish the label on the global fashion scene.

Lagos Space Programme blends Yoruba heritage (notably Adire dyeing) with queer and futurist aesthetics, taking inspiration from Lou Reed, traditional Ife sculptures, and the photography of Rotimi Fani-Kayode and Robert Mapplethorpe. Thompson talks about his dedication to slow fashion, gender-fluid creations, and detailed artisan craftsmanship, blending traditional techniques with contemporary designs.

Tayo Popoola follows Thompson to Paris where he unveils his collection, based on the idea of 'rock and roll consciousness'. We then join him at his studio in Surulere, Lagos where he discusses his new designs for 25/26.

In Ibadan, they visit a profound source of Adeju Thompson's inspiration. The Dominican Chapel, designed by the esteemed architect Demas Nwoko, is a testament to a powerful synthesis of African artistic traditions and modern architectural principles. Nwoko's vision for the chapel, integrating local materials and traditional building techniques with contemporary design, deeply resonates with Thompson's own artistic philosophy. Much like Nwoko in his architectural practice, Adeju strives to bridge the gap between historical African aesthetics and contemporary global fashion, creating a dialogue between the past and the present, the local and the universal.

Image: Fashion designer Adeju Thompson, photographed at his studio in Lagos (Credit: Tayo Popoola)

[LISTEN NOW]

In our time of looming ecological disaster, radical minds are needed to rethink the way we live. In Saudia Arabia, NEOM are building a futuristic new city: The Line.

The Line will consist of two gigantic, unbroken rows of skyscrapers, with living space in-between. Nicknamed 'the groundscraper', The Line is planned to be taller than any building in Europe, Africa or Latin America - and ten times denser than Manhattan, with nine million people expected to live inside.

It's the most audacious innovation in urban planning in over a century - but the project isn't without controversy.

What will it take to build utopia? Is it even possible? And if it is - are the sacrifices worth it?

We meet the architects behind The Line, and take a journey to the city of the future.

Producer: Alice McKee

Welcome to the city of the future.

In our time of looming ecological disaster, radical minds are needed to rethink the way we live. In Saudi Arabia, NEOM are building a futuristic new city: The Line.

In Saudi Arabia, NEOM are building a futuristic new city: The Line. It will consist of two unbroken rows of skyscrapers, with nine million people expected to live inside.

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Peer support is an often overlooked but important tool that can reduce isolation, increase confidence and complement various health services. We take a look at a project in Ireland where older volunteers are paired with those in a similar age bracket to provide a weekly chat and health check-in in their homes. This provides a safe space where clients can share any concerns and flag up potential health issues before they get more serious.

Then we hear from Brazil an interactive game, co-designed by Brazilian teenagers in conjunction with Oxford and Brasilia Universities, helps students learn more about mental health and how they can help friends who are struggling.

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes from across the creative world.

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The Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, Our Lady of Paris, is one of France's most famous landmarks. It has stood on the Île de la Cité in the very heart of France's capital since the 12th century.

On 15th April 2019, it was engulfed by flames, but thanks to the bravery of hundreds of firefighters, Notre Dame remained standing. The devastation was, however, immense. The spire collapsed into the nave and the lead roof melted and evaporated. The lattice framework underneath it, made of a thousand oak beams known affectionately as The Forest, turned to charcoal and dust. Agnès Poirier has been given unique access behind the scenes, and she's been travelling around France, talking to some of the army of craftspeople from across the world, who have been painstakingly reconstructing and restoring Notre Dame to its former glory.

In part one, she travels to the Loire to see the work of two American carpenters Jackson du Bois and Michael Burrey, representatives of the U.S. Handshouse Studio: Notre Dame Project, who are helping to rebuild the spire. Agnès then visits Normandy where the famous bells are being restored to speak to Paul Bergamo and also where the iconic ornate cross, the only element on the roof to survive the fire, is being repaired by Vincent Combes and his team . Finally she comes face to face with a gargoyle, one of the stone creatures protecting the cathedral and finds out how to redesign the perfect beast.

Producer: Andrea Kidd

(Image: Notre Dame. Credit: Chesnot)

Following the craftspeople reconstructing this famous cathedral.

Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris was almost destroyed by fire in 2019. We follow the craftspeople from France and across the globe in their epic restoration of this iconic monument.

It's stood on the Île de la Cité in the very heart of France's capital since the 12th century.

On the 15th of April 2019, it was engulfed by flames, but thanks to the bravery of hundreds of firefighters, Notre-Dame remained standing. The devastation was, however, immense. The spire collapsed into the nave and the lead roof melted and evaporated. The lattice framework underneath it, made of a thousand oak beams known affectionately as The Forest, turned to charcoal and dust. Agnès Poirier has been given unique access behind the scenes, and she's been travelling around France, talking to some of the army of craftspeople from across the world, who have been painstakingly reconstructing and restoring Notre Dame to its former glory.

In part one, she travels to the Loire to see the work of two American carpenters Jackson du Bois and Michael Burrey who are helping to rebuild the spire. Agnès then visits Normandy where the famous bells are being restored to speak to Paul Bergamo and also where the iconic ornate cross, the only element on the roof to survive the fire, is being repaired by Vincent Combes and his team . Finally she comes face to face with a gargoyle, one of the stone creatures protecting the cathedral and finds out how to redesign the perfect beast.

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

[LISTEN NOW]

The Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, Our Lady of Paris, is one of France's most famous landmarks. On 15th April 2019, it was engulfed by flames, but thanks to the bravery of hundreds of firefighters, Notre Dame remained standing. The devastation was, however, immense. The spire collapsed into the nave and the lead roof melted and evaporated. The lattice framework underneath it, made of a thousand oak beams known affectionately as The Forest, turned to charcoal and dust.

Agnès Poirier has been given unique access behind the scenes, and in this second part, she's allowed inside Notre Dame while building work continues around her. She has access to the newly constructed roof and spire, the bells and into the nave, as careful restoration work takes place. Agnès hears from roofer William Blois about what it means to work on a cathedral like Notre Dame, to restorer of mural painters Diana Castillo, who is bringing some of the chapels back to life, resplendent with their blue ceilings and golden stars, and to sculptor Stéphane Krust, who explains why latex is the best way to clean the chimaera, the stone guardians of the cathedral.

Producer: Andrea Kidd

(Image: Notre Dame. Credit: Chesnot)

We go inside this famous cathedral as craftspeople reconstruct this gothic masterpiece.

Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris was almost destroyed by fire in 2019. Agnès Poirier gets special access to go inside and see the work of craftspeople during their epic restoration.

The Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, Our Lady of Paris, is one of France's most famous landmarks. On the 15th of April 2019, it was engulfed by flames, but thanks to the bravery of hundreds of firefighters, Notre-Dame remained standing. The devastation was, however, immense. The spire collapsed into the nave and the lead roof melted and evaporated. The lattice framework underneath it, made of a thousand oak beams known affectionately as The Forest, turned to charcoal and dust.

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

[LISTEN NOW]

Brenda and John Romero are towering figures in modern game development - creators whose work has shaped how millions of players experience digital worlds. From their base in Galway on Ireland's west coast, the couple continue to push their craft into new territory.

For In the Studio, presenter and long‑time gaming fan Kurt Brookes follows the Romeros as they embark on another major project - an ambitious game that brings together a large team of artists, designers and developers. Kurt gains rare access to the creative heartbeat of the studio, witnessing the intensity, imagination and unpredictability that come with building a game at scale.

What drives two industry legends to keep reinventing themselves after decades at the forefront of their field? And what does it take to steer a project through an ever‑shifting landscape?

An intimate, behind‑the‑scenes portrait of creativity, resilience and the relentless pull of making something new.

Presenter: Kurt Brookes

Producers: Ashley Byrne and Kurt Brookes

A Made in Manchester production for the BBC World Service

Game developers Brenda and John Romero embark on a major new project

Video game developers Brenda and John Romero embark on a major new project.

In the world of video game development, Brenda and John Romero are giants in their field. John was one of the lead developers on the iconic first-person-shooter Doom, which rocked the gaming industry on its release in the early 1990s, and Brenda is a multi-award winning developer, designer and ambassador for the industry.

They married in 2012 and in 2015 they founded their eponymous games studio, Romero Games, in Galway, in the West of the Republic of Ireland. After several releases, the Romeros and their staff started development on a game that would see John return to his roots in first-person-shooters, a genre that made him famous, and was arguably made famous because of him. This new game, backed by a multi-billion dollar publisher, allowed the company to expand to over 100 employers to make it a reality. The studio was deep into development on the unnamed project, and all was well until a fateful day in July 2025, when things took an unexpected turn for the worse that threatened to completely derail years of work.

With the gaming industry in a state of transition where mass layoffs and studio closures are sadly par for the course, presenter Kurt Brookes follows the Romeros and some of their fellow developers as they plot their next moves in the wake of being thrust into a position that no creative wants to find themselves in, and asks how, and why, they do what they do.

Game developers Brenda and John Romero face a setback that could derail a major project

Leading video game developers Brenda and John Romero face a major setback that could derail a project after years of work.

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How an Australian western made by Ealing studios in 1957 was adapted into a play

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The Shiralee is a 1955 novel by D'Arcy Niland, telling the story of a wandering swagman on a journey through the Australian outback, accompanied by his 10-year-old daughter. It was made into a 1957 film by Ealing Studios, starring Peter Finch, and now it is being brought to the stage of the Sydney Opera House by the Sydney Theatre Company.

Mark Burman talks to the show's cast and crew, including playwright Kate Mulvany, about this Australian classic's journey to the stage.

This episode contains a reference to suicide. If you are suffering distress or despair and need support, you could speak to a health professional, or an organisation that offers support. Details of help available in many countries can be found at Befrienders Worldwide: befrienders.org

(Image: Ziggy Resnick, Josh McConville and Kate Mulvany in rehearsals for the Shiralee. Credit: Prudence Upton)

Classic Australian western The Shiralee is brought to the stage in Sydney

Classic Australian western The Shiralee is brought to the stage by the Sydney Theatre Company.

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Presenter: Francine Stock

Producer: Stephen Hughes

(Photo: Thelma Schoonmaker at the Peeping Tom screening during the 67th BFI London Film Festival. Credit: John Phillips/Getty Images)

Thelma Schoonmaker reveals the secrets of the cutting room

Thelma Schoonmaker is arguably the world's most famous film editor. She tells Francine Stock some secrets of the cutting room.

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

Relocating to the UK, Shayan found a like-minded ally in bassist Sully, who had similarly left Syria after facing jail time for his Metal associations, and they teamed up with British drummer Matt Croton. Sahar Zand follows them as they work on their new single and video.

Sahar Zand meets Black Death Metal band Trivax

Formed by guitarist and vocalist Shayan, TRIVAX was formed in 2009, in the underground music scene of his home city, Tehran. The capital of a country where freedom of expression is severely restricted, resulting in tough censorship laws. The Iranian government tightly controls musical content, prohibiting lyrics or themes deemed critical of the regime, or inconsistent with Islamic values, and heavy metal tends to fall under this category. So, stepping out of these rigid lines can carry severe consequences.

Escaping to the UK, Shayan found a like-minded ally in bassist Sully, who had similarly left Syria after facing jail time for his metal associations, and they teamed up with British drummer Matt Croton.

Now, TRIVAX utilises the adversity of its members' roots, to produce its unique trademark sounds they call 'Eastern Death Magic ?; a combination of black metal with Middle Eastern influences and on a mission to fight against oppression and totalitarianism through music.

Sahar Zand follows them as they work on their latest track Against All Opposition. An emotionally charged track, made in response to Iran's nationwide protests, sparked by the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Jina Amini in 2022.

(Photo: Shayan, Trivax. Credit: Sahar Zand)

TRIVAX on their mission to fight against oppression and totalitarianism through music

TRIVAX on their mission to fight against oppression and totalitarianism through trademark sounds they call 'Eastern Death Magic ?.

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

Sahar Zand meets Trivax.

Brought together by guitarist and vocalist Shayan, Trivax was formed in 2009, in the underground music scene of his home city, Tehran. The capital of a country where freedom of expression is restricted, resulting in tough censorship laws. The Iranian government tightly controls musical content, prohibiting lyrics or themes deemed critical of the regime, or inconsistent with Islamic values, and heavy metal tends to fall under this category. So, stepping out of these rigid lines can carry severe consequences.

Moving to the UK, Shayan found a like-minded ally in bassist Sully, who had left Syria after facing jail time for his metal associations.

Trivax draw upon their experiences to produce a unique sound they call 'Eastern Death Magic ?; a combination of black metal with Middle Eastern influences.

Sahar Zand follows them as they work on their latest track ‘Against All Opposition'. It's an emotionally charged track, made in response to Iran's recent nationwide protests, sparked by the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Jina Amini in 2022.

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Here in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon, Tuan has become an artist of many mediums. Telling stories through film, sculpture and installations, his work often explores how memories haunt the present and the power of art to heal.

Reporter Eliza Lomas joins Tuan in his home studio and workshop, as he shares his process for creating an ongoing series of resonant mobile sculptures. Made from once highly explosive bomb material left over from the war, Tuan reflects on how beliefs in animism and reincarnation inform his work, and why he's drawn to transforming these objects of war, which are still excavated on a daily basis in Vietnam, into resonant sculptures of peace.

Image: Tuan Andrew Nguyen [Credit: Harry Vu]

Using film, sculpture and installations, Tuan explores how memories haunt the present

Tuan Andrew Nguyen is an artist of many mediums. Using film, sculpture and installations, his work explores how memories haunt the present and the power of art to heal.

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

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Wendy Sharpe is an multi-award winning Australian artist working on a new exhibition Spellbound for the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney.

In this exhibition she breaks all the rules, by painting directly onto walls, hanging works upside down or touching and installing not only her studio in this museum, but also herself, as she paints a mural directly on the wall in front of the public.

Whilst there are many hundreds of artworks on display, they all merge to make a complete artistic creation or gesamtkunstwerk (a German word meaning ‘total work of art').

Wendy won the Archibald Prize,a major event on the Australian arts calendar, being the first woman to take out the award with a self-portrait in 1996. In 1999, she became the first woman since the Second World War to be appointed an official war artist. She has had over 70 solo exhibitions.And along with her new exhibition there is a book being written about her influence as an Australian artist.

Regina Botros joins her as she works towards this immersive, labyrinth-like exhibition, where the lines between art and artist are blurred.

Guests: Wendy Sharpe - Artist

Natalie Wilson - Curator Art Gallery NSW

Elizabeth Fortescue - Art Writer

Anne Ryan - Curator Art Gallery NSW

Presenter/producer: Regina Botros for the BBC World Service

Executive producer: Stephen Hughes

(Photo: Wendy Sharpe. Credit: Nikki McLennan)

Wendy Sharpe breaks conventions with her new exhibition Spellbound

In a new exhibition Wendy Sharpe breaks conventions, painting on walls and installing herself in the gallery, becoming part of the art.

Regina Botros follows one of Australia's most acclaimed artists, Wendy Sharpe, as she works on a new exhibition called Spellbound. It's a journey into the nature of creativity, composed of drawings, sketchbooks, paintings, ceramics, and sculptural forms. And just for the exhibition, Wendy has re-created her own studio in the gallery, and will be working in it, while visitors view her art.

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

An exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the work of Pulitzer Prize-winning jazz trumpeter and bandleader Wynton Marsalis, one of America's greatest living musicians. How does a great artist pass on the lessons and traditions of their culture to the next generation? We follow Wynton and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra as they prepare for the international premiere of Wynton's Democracy! Suite.

Presenter: Leo Hornak

An Ictus Media production for BBC World Service

(Image: Wynton Marsalis. Credit: Jazz at Lincoln Center)

The creative process of Pulitzer Prize-winning trumpeter and bandleader Wynton Marsalis

A behind-the-scenes look at the work of Pulitzer Prize-winning jazz trumpeter and bandleader Wynton Marsalis, one of America's greatest living musicians.

In The Studio takes an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the creative process of Pulitzer Prize-winning trumpeter and bandleader Wynton Marsalis—one of America's greatest living musicians, whose work has inspired generations of jazz fans. We join Wynton and his band as they prepare for the international premiere of The Democracy! Suite—his musical response to the state of American politics.

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Yoko Nishina likes to use Japanese Sumi ink in her calligraphy work - because of the variety of colours, from blues through to browns. Craftsmen still use traditional methods to create the ink from vegetable oil lamps with wicks made of reeds. She creates both large and small works - and is collaborating with photographer Kenro Izue for an exhibition in Osaka - as well as preparing a special exhibition for her upcoming 60th birthday, which is considered a 're-birth' in Japanese culture.

The Tradition of Japanese Calligraphy.

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Yoko Nishina likes to use black Japanese Sumi ink in her calligraphy work because of the variety of colours , from blues through to browns. Craftsmen still use traditional methods to create the ink from vegetable oil lamps with wicks made of reeds. She creates both large and small works - and is collaborating with photographer Kenro Izue for an exhibition in Osaka - as well as preparing a special exhibition for her upcoming 60th birthday, an age which is considered a 're-birth' in Japanese culture.

Updating traditional Japanese calligraphy

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From their studio in central London, they've designed wayfinding systems for flagship museums and art galleries, sprawling office blocks, and maze-like hospitals. Comedian and writer Tony Hawks (author of Round Ireland with a Fridge) finds out how their work is a fascinating mix of liasing with architects, interior designers, and clients, and getting technical about things like what material a sign's made from, what colour it should be, and how exactly to construct it. Tony also discovers the many and subtle considerations Zoë and Patrick have to take into account when designing a wayfinding system that works for everyone.

If you've ever been lost in an airport, shopping centre or museum, or can't find your way to the toilets, this episode of In the Studio is for you.

Presenter: Tony Hawks

A Tandem production for BBC World Service

From massive signs to tiny icons, wayfinders shape the way we navigate spaces

Wayfinding experts Zoë Barrett and Patrick Eley have a unique way of thinking about space. Tony Hawks discovers how their designs guide people through buildings and environments.