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.

The architect Amanda Levete chooses Casa Malaparte, a house on the Italian island of Capri. Plus archive interviews with Jean-Luc Godard, Charlie Luxton, Prof Richard Burdett and Amanda Levete herself.

Actress Marianne Jean-Baptiste chooses Miles Davis' 1959 album Kind of Blue. Plus archive interviews with drummer Jimmy Cobb and trumpeter Henry Lowther and archive features about the Miles Davis' early life and relationship with bebop pioneer Charlie Parker.

Playwright and screenwriter Lee Hall chooses Briggflatts, a poem by Basil Bunting. Plus archive interviews with Elton John, Tom Pickard and Basil Bunting himself.

The pianist Mitsuko Uchida chooses The Resurrection by Piero della Francesca. Plus archive interviews with Martin Kemp, Lang Lang and a report into how The Resurrection was saved from destruction.

The author chooses The Journal of Marie Bashkirtseff. Plus archive interviews with Doris Lessing, Tanith Lee and Dr Rowan Williams.

Broadcaster Francine Stock chooses the Iranian film The Apple. Plus archive interviews with Samira Makhmalbaf and Ali Samadi Ahadi and a clip of John's report from Iran about The Cyrus Cylinder.

Novelist Glenn Patterson chooses the film Yankee Doodle Dandy.Plus archive interviews with James Cagney and Hal B. Wallis and archive features about the film and its director Michael Curtiz.

Broadcaster and writer Dame Joan Bakewell chooses the 1963 film The Leopard, directed by Luchino Visconti. Plus archive interviews with Burt Lancaster, Francis Ford Coppola, Claudia Cardinale and Joan Bakewell herself.

Turner Prize winning artist, Rachel Whiteread chooses a postcard of Fall by Bridget Riley.Plus archive interviews with Bridget Riley, Sir Anthony Caro and Michael Craig Martin.

Neil Gaiman chooses a painting by Richard Dadd – The Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke. Plus archive interviews with Freddie Mercury and an extract from Angela Carter’s play based on the painting. Go to Front Row’s Cultural Exchange website for full details.