In a restless world, silence can be the source of healing and creativity, believes Rosa Bellino

What can a play about a reclusive American poet tell us about ourselves? Quite a lot, if the experience of its creators is anything to go by. Edie Campbell and Jack Lynch talk to Mary Lean.

What has political freedom meant for the arts in Russia? Natalia Pankova, Chair of the Russian Arts Foundation of Nizhny Novgorod, talks to Anastasia Stepanova.

Mary Lean is transported by the work of a man whose art was his message.

Hugh Williams looks at what crafts and craftspeople can bring to an increasingly wired-up society.

As Jan and Anneke van Nouhuys from the Netherlands approach their silver wedding they tell Kenneth Noble about the highs and lows of Jan's calling to be a silversmith.

Veteran potter David Leach believes art is about transcendental values. He talks to Mary Lean and Anastasia Stepanova.

John Burrows is an English-born freelance conductor, based in New York City. He has been Music Director for many shows in London's West End and, in 1983, co-founded the Lyric Opera of Dallas

Choice Okoro attends a symposium in Ottawa on the responsibilities of artists and writers as champions of human rights

Betsy Lancaster takes part in a conference 'for all who long to discover the creative sparkle within' and finds manifestations in unexpected places.