This month Live Culture offers an in studio conversation with British Artist Abigail Reynolds who is currently in the USA to launch her new publication Lost Libraries published by Hatje Cantz. Abigail, who Live Culture listeners will remember from Episode 18: The Mother's Bones, about her film project in a Cornwall Quarry, recently won the prestigious BMW Art Journey, a prize which sent her on a trip through China, Uzbekistan, Iran, Turkey, Italy, and Egypt following the Silk Road in search of destroyed libraries. She traveled for five months, visiting libraries that were lost due to political conflict or natural disasters. This book presents the photographs and recollections of her experiences.

About the BMW Art Journey:
Two artists are awarded the prize each year: one from Art Basel in Hong Kong and one Art Basel in Miami Beach. An independent panel of judges shortlists three artists from each fair, who are then tasked with crafting an itinerary for their proposed journey. Reynolds was unanimously selected from the 2016 Hong Kong shortlist, for a project she titled “The Ruins of Time: Lost Libraries of the Silk Road.”

Reynolds is best known for her collages, which splice together archival images in geometric, three-dimensional patterns. She is particularly interested in the passage of time, scouring old bookstores and flea markets for encyclopedias or guidebooks that offer decades-old views of a given landscape. She also incorporates images of what she terms “communal structures”—protest marches, highways, colleges.

On her New York visit Abigail will be participating in A Night of Philosophy & Ideas at the Brooklyn Public Library on Saturday January 27th. This is part of a 12-hour marathon, of 20 minute lectures happening from 7pm to 7am. The event is open to the public, more information is here.

As an accompaniment to our discussion this month's show features a selection of book and library themed music from  James Horner ( for the film The Name of the Rose), Brian Anderson, Yellow Ostrich and My Morning Jacket.  join us to find out more about this incredible adventure, the book, and the artworks that have resulted from the journey!