For episode two, ballerina Francesca Hayward connects with artist Allison Katz. Hayward’s rapid ascent to Principal Dancer of The Royal Ballet is testament to her exceptional talent and stage presence. Katz has also gained international recognition—her work explores memory across cultures and centuries and is held in the collection of Tate Modern in London, Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, among many others. Together, they discuss the parallels between dance and painting and the importance of staying true to your vision.

Academy Award-winning actor and House ambassador Lupita Nyong’o connects with Emanuele Coccia, esteemed professor and author of ‘Philosophy of the Home’. The two explore different ideas of home: Coccia has moved over 40 times, while Nyong’o shares how her relationship to place was shaped in Kenya, Mexico and the US, and together they discuss how ‘home’ is redefined in the digital age. The conversation unfolds in the drawing room of Gabrielle Chanel’s beloved Riviera home—La Pausa.

For Season 5, listeners are transported to La Pausa, Gabrielle Chanel’s "ideal Mediterranean villa" on the French Riviera. The new season features changemakers across disciplines: Academy Award-winning actor Lupita Nyong’o, Emanuele Coccia – philosopher and professor, Francesca Hayward of The Royal Ballet, artist Allison Katz, performance art duo Gerard & Kelly, Lauren Collins – writer at The New Yorker, artist Matthew Lutz-Kinoy, Michelin-starred chef Mauro Colagreco, and American artist Adam Pendleton.

Episodes will be released weekly from July 16.

Season Four of CHANEL Connects, the flagship arts and culture podcast, concludes with Adriano Pedrosa, curator of the 60th edition of the Venice Biennale and the Artistic Director of the São Paulo Museum of Art. In conversation with Yana Peel, Global Head of Arts & Culture at CHANEL, Pedrosa discusses the theme for this year’s Biennale: Stranieri Ovunque—Foreigners Everywhere, and how an exhibition can "reinforce what truly matters."

At the Palazzo Persico, the world-famous designers Michael Rock and Irma Boom reflect on Venice’s pivotal role in the history of book publishing – and its influence on generations of contemporary artists. Michael is the co-founder of 2x4, while Boom has designed more than 300 books across her career. Together, they explore how, more than 500 years ago, Venice revolutionised art, a legacy that continues to this day.

This episode connects two artists from countries uniquely impacted by climate change. Representing Iceland and Hong Kong, Hildigunnur Birgisdóttir and Trevor Yeung are navigating this year’s Venice Biennale and Venice as a city, much the way they treat their island homes. At the Conservatorio di Musica, looking out onto the Italian canals, they discuss how art can inspire action in the natural world.

What makes a great curator, and what brings them to the Venice Biennale, without fail, for the past two decades? In this episode, distinguished curators from the museum world connect to share their stories of seeing and discovery. Simon Castets, Director of Strategic Initiatives at LUMA Arles in France, speaks with Courtney J. Martin, Executive Director of the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation in New York. Together, they discuss how the biennale shapes the coming trends in the international art scene.

The South African multidisciplinary artist William Kentridge and the famed curator Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev have created some of the most resonant work of their time. These two giants of the art world discuss the Venice installation of William’s film Self-Portrait as a Coffee Pot, Carolyn’s work as the former director of the Castello di Rivoli museum in Italy, and the origins of their long and rich creative relationship.

Julien Creuzet, one of the world’s leading contemporary artists, connects with Alvin Li, Curator of International Art at the Tate Modern in London. Julien is a professor at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Paris and the first French-Caribbean artist to represent France at the Venice Biennale. Supported by the CHANEL Culture Fund, his exhibition blends sculpture and film with poetry and music, transforming the France Pavilion. In a conversation with Alvin Li at Palazzo Pisani Moretta, Julien revisits his childhood on the island of Martinique and reflects on art’s unique capacity to unearth untold stories.

We connect two remarkable women from the international gallery scene – the legendary Sadie Coles, who has shaped the art world for decades, and Angelina Volk, a prominent young gallerist who is set to do the same for the next generation. Sadie founded her eponymous gallery in central London in 1997; Angelina founded EMALIN gallery in east London nearly twenty years later. Together, Sadie and Angelina discuss how the Venice Biennale sets the international art agenda - and how working with artists is a great love affair.