Tracy Emin

David Dawson

Recorded during our exhibition Lucien Freud: The Self-portraits, Tracey Emin CBE RA and David Dawson(Lucien Freud's assistant and model) discuss their memories of the artist, as well as Emin and Freud’s shared ability to innovate, provoke and soul-search.

Tracy Emin and David Dawson In Conversation

Hugh Brody

Antony Gormley

Anthropologist and director of the documentary 'Inside Australia', Hugh Brody discusses how geology, anthropology and humankind’s connection with the land are represented in Gormley’s work.

Hugh Brody on his documentary 'Inside Australia' and the work of Antony Gormley

Theoretical astrophysicist, Priya Natarajan, joins Semiconductor, the artist duo Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt, to discuss how artists contribute to our understanding of the world around and the relationship between physics, cosmology and art.Part of 'Where language ends: Antony Gormley’s discourse series'.

Theoretical astrophysicist, Priya Natarajan, joins Semiconductor, the artist duo Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt, to discuss how artists contribute to our understanding of the world around and the relationship between physics, cosmology and art. Part of 'Where language ends: Antony Gormley’s discourse series'.

Understanding space through art

Anthony Gormley

Iwona Blazwick

Antony Gormley discusses his career spanning over 40 years and explores how his series of installations within the RA’s Main Galleries encouraged visitors to slow down and become aware of their own bodies and environment.Part of 'Where language ends: Antony Gormley’s discourse series'.

Antony Gormley discusses his career spanning over 40 years and explores how his series of installations within the RA’s Main Galleries encouraged visitors to slow down and become aware of their own bodies and environment. Part of 'Where language ends: Antony Gormley’s discourse series'.

Anthony Gormley in conversation with Director of the Whitechapel Gallery, Iwona Blazwick

Our panel, chaired by art critic, writer &amp; curator, Sacha Craddock, and including Alistair Hudson, Director of the Whitworth and Mariam Zulfiqar, Deputy Director and Chief Curator at UP Projects, questions where sculpture is best exhibited and what impact sculptures have on the spaces they are presented in. Do sculptures act as catalysts for social change and can people connect better with a place when it contains a work of art?Part of 'Where language ends: Antony Gormley’s discourse series'.

Our panel, chaired by art critic, writer &amp; curator, Sacha Craddock, and including Alistair Hudson, Director of the Whitworth and Mariam Zulfiqar, Deputy Director and Chief Curator at UP Projects, questions where sculpture is best exhibited and what impact sculptures have on the spaces they are presented in. Do sculptures act as catalysts for social change and can people connect better with a place when it contains a work of art? Part of 'Where language ends: Antony Gormley’s discourse series'.

What is sculpture good for?

Michael Stipe

Artist and singer/songwriter Michael Stipe talks about his life-long passion for photography and its potential to produce a defining image of our times.

Michael Stipe In Conversation

Paul Smith

World renowned designer Sir Paul Smith discusses his humble beginnings, what inspires him, and the lessons he's learnt throughout his career.

Paul Smith: finding inspiration in the everyday and the extraordinary

Marcus du Sautoy

Conrad Shawcross

As part of our 'When Science Meers Art' series Mathematician Professor Marcus du Sautoy OBE FRS, artist Conrad Shawcross RA and BBC presenter Samira Ahmed discuss how experimentation, curiosity and creative thinking are central to both science and sculpture. Download slides from this lecture: https://roy.ac/gh4d4

As part of our 'When Science Meers Art' series Mathematician Professor Marcus du Sautoy OBE FRS, artist Conrad Shawcross RA and BBC presenter Samira Ahmed discuss how experimentation, curiosity and creative thinking are central to both science and sculpture. Download slides from this lecture: <a href="https://roy.ac/gh4d4" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://roy.ac/gh4d4</a>

Marcus Du Sautoy & Conrad Shawcross RA in conversation

Catch up with this panel discussion featuring political satirist Steve Bell, artist Bedwyr Williams and artist duo John Wood and Paul Harrison as they explore humour and satire in art, discussing how it's impacted today’s contemporary art world.

Making a mockery: exploring humour and satire in art

Mali Morris

Martha Kapos

Mali Morris discusses her latest exhibition and display at the RA, as well as her career and practice, with author and poet Martha Kapos.Acclaimed artist Mali Morris RA focuses on the expressive possibilities of abstract painting. Her work draws on many sources but constantly explores how colour can structure light and space.

Mali Morris discusses her latest exhibition and display at the RA, as well as her career and practice, with author and poet Martha Kapos. Acclaimed artist Mali Morris RA focuses on the expressive possibilities of abstract painting. Her work draws on many sources but constantly explores how colour can structure light and space.

Mali Morris in conversation with Martha Kapos

Subscribe for art and ideas. We host conversations with artists, architects and other leading creatives – and we've just posted podcasts from recent Festival of Ideas. Enjoy.

Horrible sound design. 
Varing levels in volume for each person in the conversation. I am sure this is lovely in person, but ther audio is terrible. The most recent episode with Penelope Watson is nearly unlistenable with headphones.
The episode with Anselm Kiefer in conversation with David Chipperfield has some of the most horrific sound I&#39;ve ever heard on a podcast. In the podcast the announcer even mentions how bad the sound is. The entire first minute and a half of the episode is someone drinking and chewing. Disgusting. Overall cancels out the conversation with gross sound incompetence.

Horrible sound design

Royal Academy of Arts

Catch up with this talk from Dr Fiona Bradley, Director of The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, as she discusses one of Dalí’s most famous and best loved paintings in the context of the artist's iconography of Port Lligat (the landscape of his home), Gala (his wife) and above all – himself.

A closer look at Salvador Dalí's ‘Christ of Saint John of the Cross’

Gwendoline Christie

Sophie Ward is the winner of the RA and Pin Drop short story award: hear Ward's story, 'Sunbed', read aloud to a live audience by actress Gwendoline Christie.The RA and Pin Drop’s short story award offers a unique platform for emerging and established writers to showcase their short stories. The judging panel includes Pin Drop co-founders Elizabeth Day and Simon Oldfield, and the RA’s Artistic Director, Tim Marlow.

Sophie Ward is the winner of the RA and Pin Drop short story award: hear Ward's story, 'Sunbed', read aloud to a live audience by actress Gwendoline Christie. The RA and Pin Drop’s short story award offers a unique platform for emerging and established writers to showcase their short stories. The judging panel includes Pin Drop co-founders Elizabeth Day and Simon Oldfield, and the RA’s Artistic Director, Tim Marlow.

Pin Drop Short Story Award 2018 with Gwendoline Christie

James Ensor

Senior Curator Adrian Locke introduces the RA's exhibition ‘Intrigue: James Ensor by Luc Tuymans’ and examines the life and work of this truly original artist.Though largely unknown in the UK, James Ensor is celebrated as one of Belgium’s most innovative artists, an enigmatic figure who rejected the academic training of his youth to cultivate his own individual style in the face of considerable opposition and hostile criticism.

Senior Curator Adrian Locke introduces the RA's exhibition ‘Intrigue: James Ensor by Luc Tuymans’ and examines the life and work of this truly original artist. Though largely unknown in the UK, James Ensor is celebrated as one of Belgium’s most innovative artists, an enigmatic figure who rejected the academic training of his youth to cultivate his own individual style in the face of considerable opposition and hostile criticism.

An introduction to James Ensor

This panel event explored the current state and future potential of contemporary urban gardening. Chaired by journalist and horticulturist Alys Fowler, the subversive and exciting work of guerrilla gardener and author Richard Reynolds, forager John Rensten and artist Wendy Shillam are brought to the table.Image caption: video still of the dahlias in Emil Nolde's garden © Royal Academy of Arts

This panel event explored the current state and future potential of contemporary urban gardening. Chaired by journalist and horticulturist Alys Fowler, the subversive and exciting work of guerrilla gardener and author Richard Reynolds, forager John Rensten and artist Wendy Shillam are brought to the table. Image caption: video still of the dahlias in Emil Nolde's garden © Royal Academy of Arts

Contemporary Urban Gardening

Don McCullin

Celebrated photojournalist Don McCullin describes his experiences of war, poverty and suffering across the world during his 50-year career. Part of the Festival of Ideas programme, McCullin talks of sacrifices and consequences that have resulted from his commitment to the camera. Come to the next Festival of Ideas live in the RA's Benjamin West Lecture Theatre – line-up coming soon: https://roy.ac/FOI2019

Celebrated photojournalist Don McCullin describes his experiences of war, poverty and suffering across the world during his 50-year career. Part of the Festival of Ideas programme, McCullin talks of sacrifices and consequences that have resulted from his commitment to the camera. Come to the next Festival of Ideas live in the RA's Benjamin West Lecture Theatre – line-up coming soon: <a href="https://roy.ac/FOI2019" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://roy.ac/FOI2019</a>

Don McCullin on war and poverty seen through a camera lens

Monet and his fellow artist-gardeners applied their artistic eye to the composition of their gardens, using nature’s palette of flowers and foliage to create horticultural works of art. In this event, we consider how the artistic principles behind the use of colour and composition can be applied to planting and landscaping to transform garden design, creating harmony or contrast, and evoking different moods and a sense of space.Garden designers Dan Pearson, Tom Stuart-Smith and Sarah Price, and artist Stephen Chambers RA explore how colour is used in modern garden design, in a panel discussion led by critic and historian Tim Richardson.Image caption: video still of the dahlias in Emil Nolde's garden © Royal Academy of Arts

Monet and his fellow artist-gardeners applied their artistic eye to the composition of their gardens, using nature’s palette of flowers and foliage to create horticultural works of art. In this event, we consider how the artistic principles behind the use of colour and composition can be applied to planting and landscaping to transform garden design, creating harmony or contrast, and evoking different moods and a sense of space. Garden designers Dan Pearson, Tom Stuart-Smith and Sarah Price, and artist Stephen Chambers RA explore how colour is used in modern garden design, in a panel discussion led by critic and historian Tim Richardson. Image caption: video still of the dahlias in Emil Nolde's garden © Royal Academy of Arts

A Work of Art: Colour and the Garden

Thriller writer Nicci Gerrard talks about how everyday creativity can keep a person connected to the world around them. In conversation with academic Hannah Zeilig, Gerrard discusses how the arts can keep people well, aid recovery and support longer lives, better lived. Come to the next Festival of Ideas live in the RA's Benjamin West Lecture Theatre – line-up coming soon: https://roy.ac/FOI2019

Thriller writer Nicci Gerrard talks about how everyday creativity can keep a person connected to the world around them. In conversation with academic Hannah Zeilig, Gerrard discusses how the arts can keep people well, aid recovery and support longer lives, better lived. Come to the next Festival of Ideas live in the RA's Benjamin West Lecture Theatre – line-up coming soon: <a href="https://roy.ac/FOI2019" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://roy.ac/FOI2019</a>

Dementia and the power of art

In this talk, Professor Sarah Churchwell examines the social and cultural context that created this first truly American modernist movement and the beginning of New York City’s influence as the centre of the western art world.An unparalleled period in American art, the rise of Abstract Expressionism in America in the 1930s and 1940s reflected the broader cultural context of mid-20th-century America. Global economic, social and political developments impacted on the American, and in particular New York, art scene and led to the emergence of a movement that broke with conventions and brought American art to prominence worldwide.

In this talk, Professor Sarah Churchwell examines the social and cultural context that created this first truly American modernist movement and the beginning of New York City’s influence as the centre of the western art world. An unparalleled period in American art, the rise of Abstract Expressionism in America in the 1930s and 1940s reflected the broader cultural context of mid-20th-century America. Global economic, social and political developments impacted on the American, and in particular New York, art scene and led to the emergence of a movement that broke with conventions and brought American art to prominence worldwide.

Abstract Expressionism: an American art movement

Thomas Houseago

Catch up on this conversation with the artist behind this year’s Summer Exhibition courtyard installation, Thomas Houseago, and the show's curator Edith Devaney.Ranging from monumental to smaller-scale works, Houseago’s sculptures simultaneously convey states of power and vulnerability. He uses mediums traditionally associated with classical and modernist sculpture – including carved wood, clay, plaster and bronze – as well as less traditional materials like rebar (reinforcing steel bars) and hemp.

Catch up on this conversation with the artist behind this year’s Summer Exhibition courtyard installation, Thomas Houseago, and the show's curator Edith Devaney. Ranging from monumental to smaller-scale works, Houseago’s sculptures simultaneously convey states of power and vulnerability. He uses mediums traditionally associated with classical and modernist sculpture – including carved wood, clay, plaster and bronze – as well as less traditional materials like rebar (reinforcing steel bars) and hemp.

In conversation with Thomas Houseago

Exhibition curator Ann Dumas examines the different ways that artists ranging from Claude Monet to Henri Matisse painted the garden in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.Image caption: video still of the dahlias in Emil Nolde's garden © Royal Academy of Arts

Exhibition curator Ann Dumas examines the different ways that artists ranging from Claude Monet to Henri Matisse painted the garden in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Image caption: video still of the dahlias in Emil Nolde's garden © Royal Academy of Arts

An Introduction to Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse

Goldie sits down with broadcaster and journalist Nihal Arthanayake to discuss the story behind his passion for both music – and his place in the birth of drum ‘n’ bass – and visual art, with his success as a graffiti artist in the 1980s. Following a traumatic childhood, which he describes in his memoir 'All Things Remembered', Goldie believes creative expression saved his life. Look out for details of the next Festival of Ideas, coming soon: https://roy.ac/FOI2019

Goldie sits down with broadcaster and journalist Nihal Arthanayake to discuss the story behind his passion for both music – and his place in the birth of drum ‘n’ bass – and visual art, with his success as a graffiti artist in the 1980s. Following a traumatic childhood, which he describes in his memoir 'All Things Remembered', Goldie believes creative expression saved his life. Look out for details of the next Festival of Ideas, coming soon: <a href="https://roy.ac/FOI2019" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://roy.ac/FOI2019</a>

Goldie on how creativity saved his life

Chris Wilkinson

Architect Chris Wilkinson RA and painter Humphrey Ocean RA discuss what it is to draw, and why the process is central to their work.

Chris Wilkinson and Humphrey Ocean discuss drawing

Dr. Arturo Galansino, curator of 'Giovanni Battista Moroni', reveals the artistic qualities that separated Moroni from his contemporaries, and demonstrates why Moroni was the foremost portrait painter of his day.

An introduction to Giovanni Battista Moroni

Rowan Williams

Catch up on this event from the Benjamin West Lecture Theatre: Antony Gormley RA and the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, debate the rich and intriguing relationship between theology and contemporary visual art.

Antony Gormley RA and Rowan Williams in conversation

Luc Tuymans

Adrian Locke

Luc Tuymans discusses his distinguished career as a contemporary painter, as well as his curation of the James Ensor exhibition, with Senior Curator Adrian Locke.Since the late 1970s, Tuymans’s easily-recognisable, sparsely-coloured figurative canvases have redefined the traditional genres of the everyday and history painting. Drawing in part on influences which range from Flemish Old Master painting to the contemporary mass media, his works are almost always painted from pre-existing imagery and produced in distinct, thematic series.

Luc Tuymans discusses his distinguished career as a contemporary painter, as well as his curation of the James Ensor exhibition, with Senior Curator Adrian Locke. Since the late 1970s, Tuymans’s easily-recognisable, sparsely-coloured figurative canvases have redefined the traditional genres of the everyday and history painting. Drawing in part on influences which range from Flemish Old Master painting to the contemporary mass media, his works are almost always painted from pre-existing imagery and produced in distinct, thematic series.

Luc Tuymans in conversation with Adrian Locke

Jonathan Jones

Jonathan Jones of The Guardian explores the reasons why Giovanni Battista Moroni’s portrait ‘The Tailor’ is one of the greatest paintings in London.

Art critic Jonathan Jones discusses Moroni’s portrait ‘The Tailor’

Lisa Dwan

Catch up with critically acclaimed actress Lisa Dwan reading from ‘Foirades/Fizzles’ by Samuel Beckett, a unique collection of short prose published in collaboration with Jasper Johns in 1972.Please note that for copyright reasons, we have only included a short excerpt of Lisa Dwan's reading of ‘Foirades/Fizzles’.

Catch up with critically acclaimed actress Lisa Dwan reading from ‘Foirades/Fizzles’ by Samuel Beckett, a unique collection of short prose published in collaboration with Jasper Johns in 1972. Please note that for copyright reasons, we have only included a short excerpt of Lisa Dwan's reading of ‘Foirades/Fizzles’.

Short Stories with Pin Drop and Lisa Dwan

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