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Front Row: Ai Weiwei, Claire Fuller, Seamus Heaney's poetry on location

08/06/2021

Ai Weiwei, Claire Fuller, Seamus Heaney's poetry on location

BBC Radio 4 - Front Row, Ai Weiwei, Claire Fuller, Seamus Heaney's poetry on location

Artist Ai Weiwei on Gilded Cage, his new sculpture at Blenheim Palace.

Ai Weiwei on Gilded Cage, his new sculpture at Blenheim Palace; Claire Fuller on her novel Unsettled Ground; and a new visitor experience Open Ground.

The artist Ai Weiwei has just unveiled his seven-metre-tall Gilded Cage at Blenheim Palace, a sculpture which addresses the international migrant crisis. He discusses this, as well as the largest exhibition of his work ever staged, in Lisbon, and why he has now made Portugal his home.

In the run-up to the awarding of the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2021, Front Row is talking to each of the shortlisted authors.  This week it’s the turn of Claire Fuller for her novel Unsettled Ground which has won praise for its sensitivity and intelligence.  It’s the story of twins in their 50s, living a life of rural isolation and poverty.  Following the death of their mother, lies and secrets begin to emerge and their home comes under threat.

Open Ground is a new visitor experience which enables people to hear recordings of  the late Nobel Laureate, Seamus Heaney, reading his own poems in the locations that inspired them. An accompanying app lets you learn more about the context of the poem. How successful will it be in keeping alive the Nobel Laureate’s poetry for a new generation? Freya McClements reports.

Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe
Producer: Hilary Dunn

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Ai Weiwei, Claire Fuller, Seamus Heaney's poetry on location

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