Venice - 'La Serenissima' - has been the muse of great artists for four centuries. In this lecture we explore this ever-beautiful city anew through their eyes.

Style icon or ambitious seductress? 100 years after her tragically premature death it is surely time to re-evaluate the life of this fascinating American, whose number one creative project was her son, Winston.

Discover how the huge growth and popularity of Street Art is reflected in the astonishing transformation of Spitalfields and Shoreditch from a once seedy, deprived area into one of the most fashionable, most vibrant, most 'happening' areas of London today.

Shrines, stupas, cave temples and modernist architecture - a look at the rich history of the beautiful island of Sri Lanka through its intriguing art and culture and the original minds, talents and spirits that created this unique visual world.

In this lecture we explore the photography, art and music of Oklahoma and Texas during the 1930s, when the arts flourished amidst drought and desperate poverty, supported by Roosevelt's New Deal. The soundtrack to the era is provided by Woody Guthrie and Jimmie Rodgers.

Some Stirling Prize winners have become enormously successful and appreciated by the wider public. Others have proved harder to love. In this lecture we look at some of the hits, some of the misses, and also at several buildings that arguably should have won, but didn't.