The Essay Episodes Available now
Ithell Colquhoun’s Scylla—Artists and the Spirit World
Celebrating the artist who championed automatism, feminism and the value of other realms.
Estella Canziani's The Piper of Dreams—Artists and the Spirit World
Fairy fever and art’s response to World War I.
Wassily Kandinsky’s Composition V—Artists and the Spirit World
The roles of spiritualism and women artists at the beginning of western abstraction.
Hilma af Klint’s The Ten Largest—Artists and the Spirit World
Jennifer Higgie traces the impact of the spirit world on modernist art.
The Reinvention of Ritual—The Meaning of Ritual
5/5 Madeleine Bunting asks whether it’s time to value ritual afresh.
Rituals and the Life Cycle—The Meaning of Ritual
4/5 Madeline Bunting explores the decline of rituals marking key life events.
Rituals of State—The Meaning of Ritual
3/5 Madeleine Bunting considers the benefits and pitfalls of state and military ritual.
Shaping Time—The Meaning of Ritual
2/5 Madeleine Bunting reflects on how ritual marks the passage of time.
The End of Ritual?—The Meaning of Ritual
1/5 Madeleine Bunting explores whether public and private ritual has outlived its usefulness.
The Hidden Valley—Into the Wild
5/5 Alinah Azadeh takes us on a walk from the edge of the South Downs towards the sea.
