logo
episode-header-image
Oct 2023
27m 45s

Women breathing new life into taxidermy

Bbc World Service
About this episode

Kim Chakanetsa meets two women who are breathing new life into the ancient practice of taxidermy, the process of preserving animal skin with fur and feather.

Polly Morgan is an award-winning British sculptor who uses taxidermy to make works of art. Her work has been sold to art collectors worldwide and to celebrities like Cate Blanchette and Harry Styles.

Divya Anantharaman is an award-winning taxidermist and educator based in NY city. She is the founder of Gotham Taxidermy and her clients range from museums, designers, gallerists, and collectors. She’s the co-author of Stuffed Animals: A Guide to Modern Taxidermy.

Produced by Alice Gioia.

(Image: (L) Polly Morgan, credit Mat Collishaw. (R) Divya Anantharaman, courtesy of Divya Anantharaman)

Up next
Oct 19
Women making sport greener
From the pitches we build to the stadiums we fill, the world of sport can have a huge impact on the environment. The biggest sporting events in the world bring joy to millions of people, but that comes at a cost. As the climate crisis intensifies, can the sporting world become pa ... Show More
26m 28s
Oct 12
The healing power of wild landscapes
Plunging into a remote mountain lake, camel-trekking for miles through empty desert… Natural landscapes have an incredible ability to change the way we think and behave. Datshiane Navanayagam talks to women from Wales and the Netherlands who spend their time in some of the world' ... Show More
26m 28s
Oct 5
Crime scene and trauma cleaners
Cleaning up after a death or violent incident is often far too traumatic and potentially dangerous for family members or for regular cleaning services to undertake. Instead, it’s a task carried out by a small but specialised group of individuals – often women.Ella Al-Shamahi spea ... Show More
26m 28s
Recommended Episodes
Aug 2024
Thrift
Katy Gosset meets a Christchurch woman who's teaching a new generation of New Zealanders how to pickle and preserve. 
13m 58s
Dec 2022
Ep.8: Lace
Lace covers and uncovers, is delicate and sensual. Its creation requires so much time, patience and skill that it was once considered a jewel or a treasure. The fashion historian Florence Müller talks about all of this, while the Sicilian writer Nadia Terranova takes us with her ... Show More
17m 59s
Apr 2024
Super Furry Animals
This week, Kathryn Hughes introduces her new book on the cat craze that swept Edwardian England; and she also tells us about an exhibition of the work of Julia Margaret Cameron and Francesca Woodman. Plus a review of Sunjeev Sahota's The Spoiled Heart.'Catland: Feline Enchantment ... Show More
42m 14s
Jan 2022
Who What Wear with Hillary Kerr: Rodarte Designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy on Film, the Mushroom Dress, and Their Imaginative World
<p>Kate and Laura Mulleavy are the brilliant minds behind the fashion label Rodarte. Since 2005, the sisters have been creating some of fashion’s most coveted looks, and their work has been seen on stylish women such as Kirsten Dunst and Lady Gaga and in museums around the world, ... Show More
42m 18s
Mar 2022
Rest In Pee Wee
tail spinning
19m 25s
Mar 2024
How Eva Chen Gets It Done | PLUS Batsheva Is Putting “Hags” On The Runway
Chloe sits down with Eva Chen to talk about balancing work (she runs fashion partnerships at Instagram), parenting (she has 3 kids), and fashion (she loved Loewe in Paris). Chioma talks to designer Batsheva Hay about her previous life as a lawyer, her new store in NYC, and castin ... Show More
54m 32s
May 2023
Fashion Re-imagined
FASHION RE-IMAGINED: Laurie Taylor talks to Angela McRobbie, Emeritus Professor at Goldsmiths, University of London about the working lives of independent designers in London, Berlin and Milan, at a time when fashion is under the spotlight due to concerns about the environment an ... Show More
28m 17s
Jun 2021
Bank Note designer Debbie Marriott, Protecting the title "nurse", Author Kate Moore & "Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner"
Anita Rani with Bank Note designer Debbie Marriott, Protecting the title "nurse", Author Kate Moore & "Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner"Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Lisa Jenkinson Studio Managers: Emma Harth * Gayl Gordon 
58m 23s