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The Cultural Frontline: Culture and Commerce

Magazines & Reviews

Culture and Commerce

07/05/2016 GMT

BBC World Service - The Cultural Frontline, Culture and Commerce

How culture represents, and draws inspiration from, what we buy, sell and produce.

With Tina Daheley.

The city of Detroit in America was once known for its industry and vibrant music scene. In 2013 Detroit filed for bankruptcy and images of run-down and abandoned buildings, known to residents as 'ruin porn', came to define the city's reputation. But as writer John Patrick Leary explains, a new visual cliché is coming to dominate, making him nostalgic for 'ruin porn'.

Buenos Aires in Argentina has more bookshops per resident than any other city in the world. As the Buenos Aires Book Fair continues, Irene Caselli considers why residents are such avid book buyers, and what the titles they choose to read can tell us about their concerns.

Artist Maria Eichhorn discusses taking inspiration from the way work impacts our sense of time for her new exhibition 5 weeks, 25 days, 175 hours. Visitors to the exhibition will find a closed gallery with staff signed off for five weeks of leisure time. 

Bosnian writer Faruk Šehić takes a train into Zurich to look at the city's luxury watches on display in Bahnhofstrasse, and reflects on why watches have been an eternal source of fascination for him, and inspiration for his writing.

(Photo: ruins at the abandoned Packard Automotive Plant Credit: Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

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