Efforts to restore historic buildings to their original splendour tell us as much about today’s tastes as they do about yesterday’s  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The FT’s arts writer finds that, for all the acquisitive buzz around art fairs, they still richly cater for people’s inquisitive side too  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Author Mohsin Hamid reads his short story 'Alien invasion in the G.L.A.C.', commissioned by the Financial Times for the new year.  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

An exhibition of Soviet-era sporting paintings shows how, even in a repressive political climate, artists still made work with real human insight  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As Miami’s sparkling new Perez Art Museum hosts a big retrospective of the Chinese artist’s work, the FT’s arts writer reflects on culture’s role in challenging oppression  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In a persuasive new book, the trend forecaster James Wallman says that our appetite for material possessions is giving way to a hunger for experiences. How will that shift be reflected in the arts?  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Businesses like buying contemporary art to show off their forward-thinking and investment savvy. Fair enough – but it still sits oddly with artists’ desire to provoke and subvert  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Christian Bale’s hairpiece in the Oscar-nominated movie caper epitomises the preposterousness of the 1970s – but the decade’s unabashed lack of polish looks increasingly appealing in our technology-dependent age  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As King’s College, London, devotes an exhibition to its charismatic alumnus, the FT’s arts writer reflects on the artist and film-maker’s earliest inspirations  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The death of the veteran folk singer prompted numerous tributes to his integrity and idealism. But it was his mythical spat with Bob Dylan that really defined his era’s cultural politics  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Forget Sartre. The Royal Opera’s new ‘Don Giovanni’ suggests that, in a hyper-connected world, hell is the absence of other people  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A militarist matchbox, a spoof banknote, a Lennon album. . . the FT’s arts writer presents a very personal history of the past half-century in 10 objects  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Tate Britain’s new show explores our fascination with ruins. But where yesterday’s aficionados looked to the remains of ancient civilisations, today’s ruinous visions are of the future  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Art and Mammon are uneasy bedfellows: witness the recent furore over the Sydney Biennale. The solution, says the FT’s arts writer, is for institutions to embrace debates over their funding, not run from them  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Driven by ubiquitous video technology, a new wave of films – such as the award-winning ‘Gaza: Chronicles of a Conflict’ – favours rawness and immediacy over explanation and context  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The BBC’s self-parodying show goes too far – in the direction of complacency, complicity and all-round smugness. But comedy can be a remarkable force for exposing the flaws of the society from which it springs  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Director of Cultural Partnerships at King's College London reflects on the growing appetite among artists and arts organisations for evidence about the impact and value of what they do  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In the 1980s and 1990s cinema audiences were in thrall to powerful women in erotic thrillers such as Body Heat and Basic Instinct. But whatever became of the genre and is it ripe for a comeback?  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A brush with institutional hauteur in Nice makes the FT’s arts writer long for the determinedly inclusive museums and galleries of the UK  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As St Paul’s Cathedral prepares to unveil a Bill Viola installation, the FT’s arts writer considers the potentially enriching relationship between sacred settings and contemporary art  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In a despatch from Hong Kong, the FT’s arts writer reflects on the city’s ‘Tate bricks’ moment, and what it tells us about the fast-changing status of contemporary art in China  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Though shortlisted for the prestigious photography award, Nigeria’s Abraham Oghobase has been refused a visa by the UK government. That’s a sorry state of affairs for a country that professes to be in the vanguard of cultural openness, says the FT’s arts writer. This week’s column is read by Alexander Gilmour.  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A developing theme in new music sees artists navigating the fine line between criticism and complicity - and revelling in the contradictions.  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As Sotheby’s prepares for a selling exhibition of the street artist’s work the FT’s arts writer reflects on shock culture – and the art market’s appetite for it.  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The UK’s culture secretary is a ‘Star Trek’ fan who wants the arts to be ‘accessible to everyone’ - while the filmmakers of the defiantly highbrow ‘Life May Be’ remind us that there are merits in other ambitions.  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

When David Cameron presented Li Keqiang with a ‘Downton Abbey’ shooting script recently, the gesture was fraught with subtext. But what should a post-imperial premier give to his rising-power counterpart? Peter Aspden has some suggestions. . .  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As Arts Council England announces its latest round of funding, FT arts editor Jan Dalley reflects on what the language of “investment” means for the art of our time.  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Peter Aspden visits the V&A’s ‘Disobedient Objects’ exhibition and reflects on the art of protest in the age of rapid digital dissemination.  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The FT’s arts writer meets one of street art’s biggest names and reflects on what is lost when underground culture becomes part of the commercial mainstream  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Dolly Parton, Judi Dench, Louise Bourgeois. . . in recent years, women in all branches of the arts have enjoyed major career successes in their 60s, 70s, 80s and beyond. But what’s behind this phenomenon? The FT’s arts editor has some suggestions.  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Film screenings are becoming ever more inventive, with fine dining, unusual venues and even hot tubs thrown in to lure audiences. But for Antonia Quirke, nothing can match the downbeat charm of a black-box cinema on a weekday afternoon  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The editor of arthistorynews.com welcomes the decision of the National Gallery in London to let visitors photograph works – and hits back at critics who say it will make people look at art in the ‘wrong’ way  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Courtauld Institute student and arts writer Aindrea Emelife reflects on the current neglect of Surrealism in the art world – and considers what significance the movement might still hold for today’s young rebels  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On holiday in Greece, the FT’s arts writer travels to some out-of-the-way ancient sites and wonders whether they still hold lessons for 21st-century visitors – or are just another aspect of vacation kitsch  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The singer’s New York sculpture show confirms that contemporary art has replaced music as the go-to means of expression for young people with attitude, says the FT’s arts writer  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The singer-songwriter is about to turn 80 – a rite of passage not only for him but also for rock music. Peter Aspden celebrates a musician with a rare talent for staying ahead of the times  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The received wisdom is that contemporary art is just what a regenerating city needs, a stimulant for minds and economies alike. But are the wilfully puzzling tropes of the avant-garde really what the public wants?  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As London's National Gallery prepares to open a blockbuster exhibition of the artist's late works, art historian Bendor Grosvenor looks at the chaotic world of Rembrandt connoisseurship.  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The FT’s arts writer enjoys the troupe’s dance extravaganza at the Barbican – and explains why the fusion of hip-hop and martial arts might just conquer the world  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Art may be essentially egalitarian as it illuminates the human condition – but that hasn't stopped members of the Porsche Travel Club getting special access to the Sistine Chapel. Should we worry if the wealthy corner the finest cultural experiences?  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As pop star Swift, 24, takes a stand against Spotify and dancer Guillem, 49, announces her retirement, Peter Aspden reflects on two very different divas  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

How a legal dispute over the use of a John Lennon song in a sneaker advert paved the way for today’s cultural mash-ups – and put paid to the notion of artists “selling out”  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

By focusing on the personal rather than the political, Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski created a quietly subversive masterpiece, Peter Aspden says  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Here today, washed-up tomorrow: that’s supposed to be the career trajectory for musicians in the pop age. But, as two recent projects show, great artists will always find ways to keep their signature work fresh and relevant  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In lending one of its Parthenon sculptures to Russia, the British Museum has provoked Greece and exposed the hollowness of so-called ‘cultural diplomacy’  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The London venue’s exhibition of Presley memorabilia is curious mix of the banal and the resplendent – and none the worse for that, says the FT’s arts writer  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

'Ambition', by the award-winning author Helen Simpson, is read by Christopher Villiers.  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Between 1962 and 1972, the magazine set new standards for its industry – and in doing so created the perfect collectible, says Peter Aspden  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Politicians love to keep things simple, at least in their public pronouncements. Artists, by contrast, embrace complication, nuance and imagination – so who better to tackle slippery questions of national identity as the UK prepares for a general election?  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Peter Aspden visits the basement treasure-house where recordings of Florence Nightingale, 1940s electronica and other rarities are stored alongside some equally exotic audio technology  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.