The Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson is celebrated for his playful and tactile works, from shining suns to melting ice installations. Yet with so many galleries closed in lockdown, he’s turning his attention to augmented reality. It’s now possible to download the imagination of the environmental artist to a street near you, via an app. But is it as good as the real thing? Reporter Anna Bailey pressed download and spoke to Olafur to find out.Public art has long been the preserve of men but feminist artists Nikki Luna from the Philippines and Bahia Shehab in Egypt challenge the patriarchy, by taking up space on the street and online. Nikki Luna’s audio-visual installations confront gender-based violence with the voices of marginalised women, while Bahia Shehab’s street art foregrounds the female form and addresses consent.Mexican-American portrait artist Aliza Nisenbaum gives us a glimpse of the private moments behind public service. She talks to Nawal about why her latest project honours healthcare workers at the frontline of the battle against coronavirus. Plus, we hear how a group of artists have been inspired to create a giant painting that highlights growing insecurity and political instability in Nigeria. Presenter: Nawal Al-Maghafi(Image: Olafur Eliasson, Caring Northern Light and Lucky Stone. Augmented reality. Courtesy of the artist and Acute Art.)

As their nation starts a new chapter with the inauguration of President Joe Biden, we hear from the novelists Michael Farris Smith and Zaina Arafat on writing the American story at a time of national crisis. Monique Roffey is one of Trinidad’s most celebrated writers. This month she won a Costa award for her new novel The Mermaid of Black Conch: A Love Story. Monique shares the story of how William Golding’s novel, The Inheritors shaped her life and her love of literatureThis week, Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny was detained by state authorities as he returned to Moscow after nearly being killed by a nerve agent attack. The writer Sergei Lebedev discusses how he reflects political truths in his new novel Untraceable, a story about physical, moral and political poisons in Putin’s Russia. Plus literary journalist Amy Brady explains why the increasingly popular genre Cli-Fi or climate fiction is bringing the issues of climate change and environmental damage to readers through novels.Presented by Nawal al-Maghafi(Photo: Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th President of the United States in Washington, DC. Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

You might know him as this year’s Booker Prize winner, but author Douglas Stuart is also a fashion designer. He tells Nawal Al-Maghafi about how fashion changed his life, taking him from his native Glasgow to New York City. He’s since returned to his hometown through the pages of his debut novel Shuggie Bain, in which the characters dress to impress while buying clothes on credit and dream of a different life while dealing with addiction and poverty.Can clothes change the world? For the Cultural Frontline, journalist and author Tansy Hoskins presents her political fashion look-book: a mini style-guide on how to dress to protest, from the US to Belarus and from trousers to T-shirts.Next, we meet the woman changing the face of fashion in South America. Karla Martinez, Editor in Chief of Vogue Mexico and Vogue Latin America, on how she creates a distinctly Latinx look for the iconic style magazine.Plus - has a book, a picture or a piece of clothing ever changed the way you see the world? Acclaimed South African designer David Tlale shares the story of how his uncle’s sense of style inspired a career in fashion.Presenter: Nawal Al-Maghafi (Photo: Douglas Stuart Credit: Martyn Pickersgill)

BTS are one of the biggest bands in the world. They’ve sold millions of albums, their music has been streamed billions of times online and tickets to their tours sell out instantly.The seven members of BTS, RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook, are history makers. In 2020 they became the first all-Korean pop act to top the American Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and they set the world record for attracting the most viewers for a concert live stream during the coronavirus pandemic.At the heart of their success are their fans – BTS ARMY. ARMY is unlike any other fandom and has mobilised not just to celebrate BTS but also to support each other through social engagement, community building, education and charitable acts. In summer 2020 ARMY hit the headlines for matching the band's $1million donation to the Black Lives Matter campaign in less than 24 hours.Camilla Costa explores how this fandom is revolutionising the well-established rules of the music industry and changing the way we think about the power of art to build community.Our interviewees are Nicole Santero, Carla Postma-Slabbekoorn, Jiyoung Lee, Adaeze Agbakoba, David Kim and K-Ci Williams.Our voices of ARMY are Areeba Sheikh, Brenda Ágatha, Michael Dürr, Monika Košťanyová, Snigdha Dutta, Yassin Adam, and Tagseen Samsodien.With additional content from Waleska Herrera, FO Squad KPop, Amy & Bri and BTS Vlive.Plus contributions from Nan Panunzo, Cathi Smith and Shelley Hoani.Presented by Camilla Costa(Photo: BTS. Credit: Noam Galai/Getty Images)

Why does artist Ivo Dimchev pay members of his audience cash to perform naked, and even to simulate sex on stage? The Cultural Frontline encounters three extraordinary Bulgarian artists challenging audiences and blurring the lines between cabaret, theatre and real-life. Kamen Stoyanov straps a giant referee’s whistle to the roof of his car and drives around the country, and Gery Georgieva invades an abandoned communist monument to sing a haunting Bulgarian folk song. Tracy Harris explores this bizarre art and a rapidly changing culture.A Gritty Production for BBC World Service. Produced by Chris RushtonImage: Ivo Dimchev (Credit: Karolina Miernik)

A new type of fashionista is taking the design world by storm but the supermodels have four legs instead of two. Reporter JP Devlin takes us inside the world of canine couture or fashion for dogs.Which country loves to share bears and where do goats get laughs? Internet expert and writer An Xiao Mina reveals how our favourite animal memes reveal a lot about the culture of our countries.This spring, as lockdowns were enforced across the globe, The Cultural Frontline started a project in collaboration with the British artist and producer Nick Ryan. Our aim was simple: to collect the sounds that you, our listeners, had heard wherever you were during lockdown. Now Nick Ryan returns to share some of those sounds and to also debut an extract from a new work he has created from those sonic submissions.Have you ever wondered what a spider sounds like? Argentine artist Tomás Saraceno is fascinated by spiders. It has led him to study them, to incorporate them into his visual art and to create music with them in what he calls ‘Spider Jam Sessions.' Tomás spoke to Chi Chi about making music from the vibrations of spider webs for his latest concert.Presented by Chi Chi IzunduImage: Bodhi. Credit: @mensweardog

How do board games encourage players to explore ideas, politics and morals? We meet Matt Leacock, designer of the game Pandemic, which has been used at medical schools to encourage co-operation, communication and strategy for trainees.Reiner Knizia, designer of 700 board games, talks about how making a game out of tasks can change players' behaviour in daily life.We explore the rise of a new generation of games where players collaborate, rather than oppose each other, in titles that deal with politics, hip-hop, ecology, employment, climate change and more. Quintin Smith from Shut Up & Sit Down discusses new trends in design, while Michelle Browne, designer of World of Work, tells us about the game that explores employment and social benefits.Presented and produced by Zoë Comyns. A New Normal production for the BBC World ServiceImage: The board game Pandemic (Courtesy of Matt Leacock)

How coronavirus is changing the landscape of China’s underground electronic music scene. DJ and broadcaster Frank McWeeny speaks to leading DJs and promoters about the collaboration and creativity that is transforming China’s electronic music scene after lockdown. Inside the political battle between the pop star and the President that’s dividing Uganda. Journalist Patience Akumu on the political contest between seventy-six year old incumbent President Yoweri Museveni, and the man called the Ghetto President, the thirty-eight year old musician and performer Bobi Wine.The Venezuelan pop sensation Liana Malva on her new musical project Gotas, that she hopes can help promote environmental awareness and protect her nation’s natural beauty.Plus has a film, a book or a piece of music ever changed the way you see the world? Radiohead guitarist and film composer Jonny Greenwood shares his love for the Polish composer, Krzysztof Penderecki.Presented by Tina Daheley(Photo credit: Tao Yun)

An audience with Mali’s messengers of hope; Aliou Touré, the lead singer of rock revolutionaries Songhoy Blues, tells Tina about their new album and why they believe optimism is the only way to challenge the ongoing civil unrest in their country.He’s been described as perhaps the greatest writer of Arabic fiction alive, but as well as a being a celebrated writer, poet and filmmaker, Hassan Blasim is also a refugee. Hassan discusses his latest novel God 99 - a work that tells the tale of 99 refugees and the man, also called Hassan, travelling through Europe to share their stories.Belarusian playwright Andrei Kureichik talks to reporter Lucy Ash about the nation’s pro-democracy protest movement. Andrei reveals how his latest production, Insulted Belarus(sia) reflects the legacy of President Alexander Lukashenko, the man often called Europe’s Last Dictator.Plus has a film, a play or a book ever changed the way you see the world? The activist and photographer Sunil Gupta shares the story of his discovery of the work of the Canadian writer, Alice Munro.Presented by Tina Daheley(Photo: Songhoy Blues. Credit: Kiss Diouara, Millennium Communication, Bamako)

This week as part of the BBC World Service’s 100 Women Season we're celebrating the female writers, artists and performers overcoming challenges and making their voices heard.Shortlisted for the prestigious Booker prize, Tsitsi Dangarembga’s latest novel This Mournable Body reveals late 1990s Zimbabwe through the eyes of her female lead, Tambusai. Tsitsi talks to Tina about exploring the experience of Zimbabwean women through her characters and how she feels about being shortlisted at this point in her writing career. Chilean female collective Las Tesis speak to our reporter Constanza Hola about their viral protest song The Rapist in Your Path and how it’s inspired women worldwide to speak out against sexual violence. British Somali poet Hibaq Osman’s writing explores family history and identity with heartfelt honesty. She shares a poem from her first full collection, Where the Memory Was. Plus: has a film, a book or a song ever changed the way you see the world? South African singer-songwriter Zahara on how she took courage from the film A Walk to Remember. Presented by Tina Daheley.(Photo: Tsitsi Dangarembga. Credit: DANIEL ROLAND/AFP via Getty Images)