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Peter Aspden

Peter Aspden is the Financial Times’ arts writer, having previously been its arts editor for five years. He joined the paper in 1994, as deputy books and arts editor and a general feature writer on Weekend FT. He has written on numerous subjects, including travel, religion, politics, history, most art forms and sport: he covered the Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996, and the World Cup in France in 1998.

He was born in London in 1958, but spent much of his childhood in Greece, where his mother was born. He was educated at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, where he read Philosophy, Politics and Economics, before going into journalism. He joined the Times Higher Education Supplement in 1985, where he went on to become deputy editor.

He has been writing a weekly column on contemporary culture since January 2004; it appears in the Life & Arts section every Saturday. - -

The majestic survivors

To admire the Queen or Paul McCartney is to indulge in an act of cultural nostalgia. Yet nobody better understands modern Britain than the two, writes Peter Aspden

Pilgrims’ progress

The British Museum’s new exhibition about the Hajj shows that modernity and secularism do not always go hand in hand, writes Peter Aspden

Arts: Culture will remain at the heart of work and play

Peter Aspden explains why rich and poor alike take pleasure in beauty

It’s too late to stop now

The music still pulsed as insistently within Van Morrison as he sang for the commemoration of ‘an incredible year’ for Northern Ireland, writes Peter Aspden

Beyond wall power

Digital art is gaining value and popularity as it draws a different breed of collector, says Peter Aspden

All in a day’s work

Art is too serious, say Miuccia Prada and Francesco Vezzoli. Peter Aspden hears how their 24-hour exhibition will be a playful affair

Sex, art and Picasso’s libido

What is surprising, given today’s provocations, is the lack of really serious artistic work about ‘erotic complications’, writes Peter Aspden

The parts great artists cannot reach

Taking art into new places is going to be one of the most important cultural themes of the coming years, writes Peter Aspden

Culture’s sporting chance

The London 2012 Festival seeks to showcase the arts against the backdrop of the Olympic Games. Will it vindicate the city’s claim to be the cultural powerhouse of the world? Peter Aspden reports

Baggage to be carried lightly

To admit to doubt, and open yourself to visions other than your own – there is no nobler mission for art, writes Peter Aspden

Why we smart with ignorance

How to build a better Britain, circa 1954

Explore the undiscovered country

Lunch with the FT: Lady Amanda Harlech

Iconoclast who pushed at boundaries of taste and decency

All about the art of compromise

The Nanni state

Natural habitat – the world’s workshop

Enriched by poor art

On to the next stage