James Birch: Six Degrees of Francis Bacon
This is the story of one curator’s audacious project to stage a retrospective of Francis Bacon’s paintings in Soviet-era Moscow. It’s also a picture of Soviet and Western relations just before the fall of the Berlin Wall. And it’s a close encounter with a cast of eccentric characters including the enigmatic Soviet culture minister and Francis Bacon himself. The project’s bold instigator was James Birch, who joins us to share his fascinating true story of Bacon in Moscow.
Book Festival News
Book Festival reveals first author events for 2024Sunday 14 April
Watch more
Caroline Moorehead: Mussolini’s Dangerous Daughter
Armando Iannucci: An Epic Poem for Our Times
Samar Yazbek: Escapism for Survival
Charlie Adlard and Robbie Morrison (2014 event)
Hilary Mantel: Inside the Head of Thomas Cromwell
Alex Renton & Lisa Williams: Scotland's Black History Matters
Matt Haig (2017 Event)
Selva Almada: Giving Voice to the Victims of Femicide
Kerry Andrew & Kerri ní Dochartaigh: Blood and Water
Fergal Keane with Allan Little: The Scars of War Reporting