ARTS & LITERATURE
Emily Young: Giving Voice to the Earth
The distinguished sculptor Emily Young talks about her work and the stories that stone can tell us
‘What does it look like when a human is at one with the universe? Embracing it all…’
Richard Lewis: Pilgrim in the Land of Children
Robert Hirshfield appreciates the work of a teacher who has devoted his life to inspiring children to write imaginative poetry
‘A child is the privacy of a universe learning to talk to itself.’
Introducing… ‘Perfect Days’ and ‘Nowhere Special’
Jane Clark watches two films with a contemplative theme
In Memory of Bill Viola (1951–2024)
Jane Carroll pays tribute to the acclaimed video artist, who died on July 12th 2024
This Little Light of Mine
Joy Bostic talks about Africana spirituality and its expression in popular music and dance
‘These embodied rituals which involve movement, gestures, and verbal affirmations, call and response, etc. – all these are strategies that enable us to have an experience of, or open the way for the possibility of experiencing, spirit.’
Poems of Hope and Light
Neil Astley, founder of Bloodaxe Books, talks about the universal appeal of contemporary poetry and the series of inspiring anthologies he has edited
‘Poetry makes something happen in people themselves – in how they are in their being, in how they deal with things, whether they are personal situations or shared with a whole nation or the whole world.’
Introducing… ‘Tiger Work’ by Ben Okri
Barbara Vellacott reads from and discusses a new book of stories, parables and poems about climate change
Personal Integrity in the Poetry of C.P. Cavafy
Andrew Watson pays homage to Greece’s most famous modern poet, whose message of quiet fidelity to our own values still has great resonance today
‘What matters is the spirit in which the journey is undertaken: the desire to observe, to learn, to seek beauty, to take time…’
The Art of Conducting
British conductor James Lowe talks about the nature of music and the influence of the Tao Te Ching on his work
‘Great art and music dissolves barriers, allowing us to touch on something transpersonal, something above ourselves.’
Rabindranath Tagore: Participating in the Divine Playfulness
Hina Khalid explores the theological aesthetics of the great Bengali poet
‘At the heart of Tagore’s cosmology is the notion that the world is joyously sung into being. This creative sonic effusion is continually resounding through the cosmos in ever-new forms.’
George Swede: Haiku Master & Secular Contemplative
Robert Hirschfield talks to the Canadian poet and psychologist
‘The salient feature of haiku is an almost painfully heightened awareness of some feature of the universe’
Conversations with Jane Hirshfield
Jane Clark and Barbara Vellacott talk with the distinguished poet about her latest work and the role of poetry in these difficult times
‘Poems reach into every realm of human life, into every form of investigation, feeling, and expression.’
Introducing: Firestacks: Time, Tide and Gravity
Fiona Bisset | presents a video about Julie Brook’s remarkable installation in the Outer Hebrides
Exploring the Power of Love in ‘Attar’s Conference of the Birds
Kenneth Avery explores the famous story of Shaykh San‘an
“What is important today is the view that friendship and love cut across religious or denominational horizons and connect believers and unbelievers alike.”
In Memory of Etel Adnan
David Hornsby | pays tribute to the Lebanese writer and painter who died in Paris on 14th November at the age of 96
Review: The Ark in the Flood of Time
Richard Gault | reviews three epic tales from a master storyteller
The Heritage of Afghanistan
Robert Darr reflects on his long relationship with the people and culture of this ancient land, and shares his insights into its present situation
“No matter how powerful you are, there is nothing you can do to counteract the effect of beauty… the Taliban ultimately can’t succeed because the Afghan people are too strongly rooted in their music and poetry.”
Building Jerusalem: The Encompassing Vision of William Blake
Susanne Sklar provides insight into the meaning of the famous ‘Jerusalem’ hymn
“Jerusalem is a woman, a city and a way of life… She abhors exploitation, and orchestrates what we would call ‘a global fair trade network’.”
World Literature Decentered
Ian Almond on a more inclusive approach to comparative literature, and the cultural traditions of Turkey, Mexico and Bengal
“At the moment, there are vast swathes of the planet – hundreds of millions of people – who are barely represented by a single name.”
Making Paradise: Exploring the Concept of Eden
Jane Clark | visits the Making Paradise exhibition at the Aga Khan Centre in London, which explores our notions of Eden as a place of peace and tranquillity
Poems for These Times: A Reflection
Jane Clark and Barbara Vellacott review the poetry series we presented during the Covid-19 lockdown, March – June 2020
Poetry engages the imagination, and can touch us deeply, body and soul; it can bring us to a sense of our common humanity
Dante, Erotic Love and the Path to God
Mark Vernon | On the 700-year anniversary of The Divine Comedy, Mark Vernon explores a pivotal moment of transformation in the Purgatorio in which Dante gets a glimpse of the vastness of Divine Love
Dom Sylvester Houédard: tantric poetries
Charles Verey | A review of an exhibition of work done in the 1960s and 70s by the remarkable monk/poet, whose lifework was to develop a universal form of spirituality.
Rumi: The Operation of Divine Love
Alan Williams tells us about his new translation of Rumi’s great epic poem, the Masnavi
“Rumi wants not merely to define in words but to take us to that world of ultimate meaning, which is way beyond any mental conception”
A Celebration of Nature
Artist and gardener Laura Blackwood talks to Elizabeth Roberts and Kawther Luay about the importance of connecting with the natural world
“There has to be a certain receptivity, alertness or quietness to your approach. It’s a real thing to just be completely receptive.”
A West-Eastern Divan for our Time
Robin Thomson | In 1819, Goethe initiated a ground-breaking poetic dialogue between East and West with his tribute the Persian poet, Hafiz. This year, a new project has brought together poets from around the world to create A New Divan for the contemporary world.
Works and Days: Simone Fattal at MoMA PSI
Michael Hornsby | Strength and fragility come to the fore in the Syrian-Lebanese artist’s mythology-laden retrospective in New York.
Henry Moore’s “Helmet Heads”
Johnathan Sunley | An exhibition at the Wallace Collection in London displays this remarkable series of sculptures for the first time, exploring the complex relationship between inner and outer, container and contained.
Robert Lax: A Life Slowly Lived
Robert Hirschfield on the contemplative practice of a remarkable 20th-century poet/mystic.
“For Lax, there was no seam between walking, praying, writing. All experiences were to be fully absorbed, integrated into a life fully lived.”
Connecting with the Unseen World
Kira Perov, wife and long-term collaborator of the video artist Bill Viola, talks to Jane Carroll about the ideas and experiences which inspire their work
“These video works give us the gift of time. They give the viewer time to spend with these images, to move from our physical ‘real’ world to a metaphysical one.”
Calligraphy – A Sacred Tradition
Distinguished calligrapher Ann Hechle talks about her lifelong quest to understand the underlying unity of the world
“As I grapple with putting letters, words and drawings together, I am using strategies that belong to a much bigger and grander world, which are part of universal law.”
Bewildered by Love and Longing
Michael Sells and Simone Fattal talk about a new translation of Ibn ‘Arabi’s famous cycle of love poems Translation of Desires
“For Ibn ‘Arabi longing or desire is a cosmic force. It goes beyond all boundaries, and it is the closest taste of the infinite that people can have in their own experience.”
A Thing of Beauty…
Mark Boston reflects on painting the film Loving Vincent
“The entire movement of the world sometimes seems an endless, elaborately painted masterpiece, with every moment in a slightly different configuration from the last.”
Painting and the Contemplative Life
Artist and psychotherapist Benet Haughton talks about the spiritual vision that underpins his life and work
“Something has to come through that I haven’t seen before, that is transformative, so that I’m surprised, genuinely surprised, by it.”
A New Architectural Language for Islam
The inclusive vision of Glenn Murcutt’s Australian Islamic Centre
“The building sets out to be physically and psychologically inclusive. It speaks eloquently of both its current Australian context and ancient Islamic culture.”
A ‘Quite Interesting’ Approach to Education
John Lloyd talks to Jane Clark and Hilary Papworth about the philosophy behind the QI project
“Nothing is as simple or obvious as it seems. Everything has an underside – something hidden deep inside it which is completely astonishing.”
Narratives for a Unified World
Andrew Singer talks about the vision behind the literary journal Trafika Europe
“Regardless of the political and economic uncertainty, there is a cultural continuity and a unity to Europe that already stretches back hundreds of years.”
Poacher’s Pilgrimage – A Journey with Alastair McIntosh
A review by Jim Griffin
“The Western Isles are often referred to as ‘thin places’ – places where the separation between the divine and the human easily breaks down.”
An Artisan of Beauty and Truth
The extraordinary poet, novelist, activist and painter, Etel Adnan, who died in 2021 at the age of 96, talks about her art and her philosophy of life
“What we call ‘love’ is a relationship that never ends; it is like a wave that keeps bringing you back to it, so we are like surfers who run after the perfect experience.”
A Thing of Beauty…
Graham Falvey visits the Chauvet Caves in Southern France
“The fundamental fact is that with these paintings, we created/discovered art. At the heart of their mystery lies a spiritual quest for understanding…”
A Thing of Beauty…
Barbara Vellacott contemplates the indescribability of beauty in Dante’s Paradiso
“Beauty is a divine vibration which sings in poet, poem, reader and listener. But its essence is nevertheless indescribable.”
Three Transitions
Richard Twinch on Cultural Change
“The past is not just a heap of outmoded algorithms, but a valuable resource to be archaeologically unpicked and valued.”
A Thing of Beauty…
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater
“The circumference of architecture is changing with astonishing rapidity but its center remains unchanged – the human heart.”
A Thing of Beauty…
James Turrell’s Berlin Installation
“Here the invitation is to something less cosmic, more personal.”
d-r-a-w-n-i-n-w-a-r-d
Nicola Simpson on Dom Sylvester Houédard
“How do we hear the inaudible sound of dust falling?”
Tell Them What We Have Learned Here…
Chronicles from World War II
“… divine faithfulness, present even in the depths of the nightmare.”
A Thing of Beauty…
Chagall’s Peace Window
“Unity is not achievable when it is conceived as merely bringing together a collection of parts. It requires a more comprehensive vision.”
The Field of Light
Bruce Munro’s New Work
“I saw in my mind a landscape of illuminated stems that, like a dormant seed in a dry desert, quietly wait until darkness falls.”
The Red Sail
Katharine Tiernan
“All about him the sea stretches away to the mauve edge of the horizon. The strangeness of it empties his soul.”
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