Arts feature
What is it about Bill Viola’s films that reduce grown-ups to tears?
Even the most down-to-earth people get emotional about Bill Viola’s videos. Clare Lilley of Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP) seems close…
Why I’m stepping down after 28 years as The Spectator pop critic
Pop's place in culture has changed drastically. Marcus Berkmann explains why, after 27 years, it is time to step down as The Spectator's pop critic
Why I’m stepping down after 28 years as The Spectator pop critic
This is my 345th and last monthly column about pop music for The Spectator. I believe I might be the…
German refugees transformed British cultural life - but at a price
German-speaking refugees dragged British culture into the 20th century. But that didn’t go down well in Stepney or Stevenage, says William Cook
Hitler’s émigrés
Next week Frank Auerbach will be honoured by the British art establishment with a one-man show at Tate Britain. It’s…
Don McCullin interview: ‘I take more than I bring. That’s not a role I’m proud of’
Jenny McCartney talks to the celebrated photojournalist about war, guilt and Aylan
Coming up for air
The thing that the photojournalist Don McCullin likes best of all now, he tells me, is to stand on Hadrian’s…
Palio exposes the bribery and violence that lies at the heart of Siena’s lawless ritual
Siena’s Palio is steeped in violence, bribery and corruption. But it matters to its people more than anything, says Jasper Rees
There will be blood
If you don’t want to spend hundreds of euros on a good seat, the best place to watch the Palio…
I was Reggie Kray's penpal
Harry Mount once idolised the Kray twins. He’s since seen the error of his ways
See no evil
When I was at university, Reggie Kray was my penpal. I wrote to him in 1991, asking for an interview…
Shakespeare's Wars of the Roses is being staged without a single black actor. So what?
Trevor Nunn is staging Shakespeare’s Wars of the Roses without a single black actor. So what, says Robert Gore-Langton
All white on the night
Shakespeare’s ‘Wars of the Roses’ will have no ethnic minority actors in the cast when the shows (two Henry VI…
Palladio was the greatest influence on taste ever – but his time is finally up
Palladio gave his name to a style that spread around the world. But was it too successful for its own good, wonders Stephen Bayley
God’s architect
Somewhat magnificently, I made the notes for this article sitting in the back of a Rolls-Royce travelling between London and…
‘People are interested in what I’m doing again’: Robert Lepage interviewed
The visionary theatremaker Robert Lepage is back in Edinburgh after a 20-year absence. Matt Trueman talks to him about trends and legacies
The master returns
There’s a scene in 887, Robert Lepage’s latest show, which opened at the Edinburgh International Festival last week, in which…
What I learned from reshooting the dullest film ever made
Stephen Smith finally sees the point of Empire, one of the dullest films in cinema history
I reshot Andy Warhol
It’s one thing to make the most boring film in cinema history — at least you can kid yourself at…
Richard Long interview: ‘I was always an artist, even when I was two years old’
William Cook explores the elemental art and Olympian walks of Richard Long
The Long view
On the green edge of Clifton Downs, high above the city, there is a sculpture that encapsulates the strange magic…
‘I’m about to lose a lot of money’: our theatre critic prepares for his Edinburgh Fringe debut
Our theatre critic, Lloyd Evans, makes his Edinburgh debut
Look at my Fringe
Like everyone performing at the Edinburgh Fringe I’m about to make a lot of mistakes. I’m about to lose a…
The new adventures of the adventure playground
Are adventure playgrounds set to make a comeback, asks Maisie Rowe
Why plotting a sound map of London is impossible
It’s easy to tag the city’s terrain by writer. But what, wonders Philip Clark, might a map of its music look like?
