Cultural Exchange

Artist Conrad Shawcross chooses one of the 250 pictures in the waterlilies series dated after 1916, by Claude Monet. Plus an archive interview with Sir Gerald Kelly who met Monet in 1902 and the English Head Gardener at Monet's house at Giverny.

American writer and humorist David Sedaris chooses the TV reality series RuPaul's Drag Race, which aims to find America's next drag superstar. Plus archive interviews Ru Paul, Paul O'Grady and Rex Jameson.

Ian Rankin chooses the album Solid Air by John Martyn. Plus archive bbc interviews with John Martyn, Phil Collins, Ralph McTell and Danny Thompson. Go to Front Row’s Cultural Exchange website for full details.

The photographer Rankin chooses the poem Neutral Tones by Thomas Hardy. Plus an archive interview with Hardy biographer Claire Tomalin and a visit to Hardy’s house in Dorset.

Author Pat Barker chooses Benjamin Britten's song cycle Who Are These Children? Plus archive interviews with Britten and Gladys Parr, a masterclass in performing the piece by Peter Pears - and a recent Front Row discussion with the singer Ian Bostridge and the Guardian columnist Martin Kettle on dealing with the composer’s dramatisation of and fascination with children in a culture of heightened sensitivities about the young. Go to Front Row’s Cultural Exchange website for full details.

Artist Maggi Hambling chooses Cy Twombly's Bacchus paintings. Plus archive interviews with Tactita Dean, Louisa Buck, Paul Allen and Maggi Hambling herself. Go to Front Row’s Cultural Exchange website for full details.

Penelope Curtis, Director at Tate Britain, chooses the buildings designed by Chamberlin, Powell and Bon at the University of Leeds. Plus archive interviews with Dame Judi Dench and architects Peter and Alison Smithson. Go to Front Row’s Cultural Exchange website for full details.

Brian Sewell chooses the painting Christ contemplated by the Christian Soul by Velazquez. Plus archive interviews with Richard Griffiths and Carlos Fuentes. Go to Front Row’s Cultural Exchange website for full details.

Actor and musician Clarke Peters – best-known for his TV roles in the Wire and Treme – chooses They Came Before Columbus, the bestselling 1970s book by Dr Ivan Van Sertima, that porposed a new interpretation of African American ancestry.

The former Children’s Laureate and author of The Gruffalo chooses American children’s writer Arnold Lobel whose books include the Frog and Toad series and Grasshopper on the Road. Plus Sam West reads Lobel’s story ‘A List’ and there’s archive from Michael Rosen, Anthony Browne and Anne Fine.