CHANEL Connects

Artist and icon Linder Sterling discusses the power of punk in this episode of CHANEL Connects. Using a scalpel, glue, and found images—from lips to sports cars and octopuses—Linder’s photomontages have transformed the idea of glamour for over half a century. With her debut in Japan at Kyotographie and CHANEL Nexus Hall, Linder connects with Yana Peel, President of Arts, Culture & Heritage at the House. The conversation moves from the energy of Liverpool’s Beatlemania in the 60s to her legendary meat-dress moment in Manchester, from the Tokyo of today to the Germaine Greer words that forever rewired her brain.

Live from Fondation Beyeler with Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter, this episode explores club culture and contemporary art, fiction and reality, anonymity and icon. As one half of the celebrated electronic duo, Bangalter has shaped a generation with his music, becoming a defining figure in pop culture. He connected with Yana Peel, President of Arts, Culture & Heritage at CHANEL, during Art Basel in Switzerland. Together, they explore Bangalter’s path from the Centre Pompidou, where he first discovered Andy Warhol as a teenager, to collaborations with Nile Rodgers and the LA Philharmonic, and how he transformed Paris’s Pont Neuf.

Three artists—and winners of the 2026 CHANEL Next Prize—connect at the 61st Venice Biennale, considered the Olympics of the Art World. Visual artist Pol Taburet, born and based in Paris, Nigerian sound artist Emeka Ogboh, and South Korean multimedia pioneer Ayoung Kim are pushing the edges of artistic possibility, using a spectrum of tools from paint brushes to recording devices and light-detection technology. In dialogue with Yana Peel, President of Arts, Culture & Heritage at CHANEL, the conversation moves from ancient traditions to artificial intelligence and the cities that have shaped them.

In a world seen through screens, how do you bring human connection back into focus? Choreographer Andrea Peña and designer Bárbara Sánchez-Kane share their perspectives in this episode. The two Latin American artists—and 2026 Next Prize winners—join Yana Peel, President of Arts, Culture & Heritage at CHANEL for a live conversation at the 61st Venice Biennale. They reflect on pivotal moments—including Peña’s move from American Ballet Theatre to industrial design and Sánchez-Kane’s Prêt-à-Patria performance—and discuss the importance of making space for contradictions.

Recorded at the Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin, this episode explores music, poetry, and performance with Lina Lapelytė. The artist and composer transformed the Bahnhof’s historic hall into a site for worldbuilding, gathering 400,000 wooden blocks and a chorus of Berliners to create the CHANEL Commission. On the cusp of Berlin Gallery Weekend, the Golden Lion-winning artist connected with Yana Peel, President of Arts, Culture & Heritage at CHANEL for a live conversation. The two discuss eclectic inspirations—from Lithuanian folk traditions to German electronic music and the poetry of Ocean Vuong—and reflect on the magic of making something, together, in our digital age.

CHANEL Connects, the flagship arts and culture podcast, returns with a series of conversations recorded live around the world. From LACMA in Los Angeles to Berlin’s Hamburger Bahnhof and Fondation Beyeler in Basel, Season 6 connects pioneers across cities and disciplines to discuss what inspires them today and excites them about tomorrow. The new season features Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter alongside globally renowned artists Sarah Sze, Julie Mehretu, David Salle, and Linder Sterling, as well as some of the most exciting names emerging today: choreographer Andrea Peña, designer Bárbara Sánchez-Kane, and artists Ayoung Kim, Emeka Ogboh, and Pol Taburet—all winners of the CHANEL Next Prize. Presented by Yana Peel, President of Arts, Culture & Heritage at CHANEL , new episodes are released weekly from July 14.

In this episode, listeners meet renowned painter and critic David Salle. For more than five decades, the artist has been creating across disciplines: on the canvas, behind the camera, and now, in dialogue with artificial intelligence. He connects with Yana Peel, President of Arts, Culture & Heritage at CHANEL for a live conversation recorded at LACMA in Los Angeles. Set against this backdrop, they discuss Salle’s formative years at the legendary art school founded by Walt Disney, his collaborations—from Martin Scorsese to AI engineers—and the enduring power of artistic intelligence.

Recorded live at Guggenheim New York, celebrated artists Sarah Sze and Julie Mehretu connect with Yana Peel, President of Arts, Culture & Heritage at CHANEL. Through her immersive installations, Sze redefines how we experience memory and perception, using everything from found photos to paperclips. Mehretu—a painter and printmaker—also creates at scale, layering history and politics to champion the arts as an essential force for change. The conversation moves from New York in the 90s as a home of creativity, to both artists’ commitment to philanthropy, and abstraction as a space for radical invention.

How will the future of technology take shape in art? Artist Adam Pendleton has an unexpected view in this episode of CHANEL Connects. In the drawing room of La Pausa, he connects with Yana Peel, President of Arts, Culture & Heritage at CHANEL. They reflect on Pendleton’s exhibitions—including his recent show at the Hirshhorn and the acquisition of his works by MoMA—and delve into the artist’s passion project preserving Nina Simone’s childhood home.

In this episode, listeners meet artist Matthew Lutz-Kinoy and Michelin-starred chef Mauro Colagreco, who is also a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. Colagreco’s culinary philosophy is rooted in his Argentine heritage and the local French countryside, with a celebrated restaurant located in the town next to La Pausa. Paris-based artist Lutz-Kinoy also draws inspiration from his French surroundings, working across disciplines from performance and painting to ceramics. Their shared values of protecting nature and finding beauty in the everyday charge a conversation about curiosity and discovery as essential human traits.

Lauren Collins, writer at The New Yorker, is well-versed in the art of storytelling. She connects with Gerard & Kelly, who evolved from romantic partners and collaborators into an established artist duo. The history of time and place has been a topic of exploration for all three, who connect at Gabrielle Chanel’s storied villa, La Pausa. Their conversation explores the language of dance, the rich legacy of Americans on the French Riviera, and what’s lost in translation.

For episode two, ballerina Francesca Hayward connects with artist Allison Katz. Hayward’s rapid ascent to Principal Dancer of The Royal Ballet is testament to her exceptional talent and stage presence. Katz has also gained international recognition—her work explores memory across cultures and centuries and is held in the collection of Tate Modern in London, Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, among many others. Together, they discuss the parallels between dance and painting and the importance of staying true to your vision.

Academy Award-winning actor and House ambassador Lupita Nyong’o connects with Emanuele Coccia, esteemed professor and author of ‘Philosophy of the Home’. The two explore different ideas of home: Coccia has moved over 40 times, while Nyong’o shares how her relationship to place was shaped in Kenya, Mexico and the US, and together they discuss how ‘home’ is redefined in the digital age. The conversation unfolds in the drawing room of Gabrielle Chanel’s beloved Riviera home—La Pausa.

For Season 5, listeners are transported to La Pausa, Gabrielle Chanel’s "ideal Mediterranean villa" on the French Riviera. The new season features changemakers across disciplines: Academy Award-winning actor Lupita Nyong’o, Emanuele Coccia – philosopher and professor, Francesca Hayward of The Royal Ballet, artist Allison Katz, performance art duo Gerard & Kelly, Lauren Collins – writer at The New Yorker, artist Matthew Lutz-Kinoy, Michelin-starred chef Mauro Colagreco, and American artist Adam Pendleton. Episodes will be released weekly from July 16.

Season Four of CHANEL Connects, the flagship arts and culture podcast, concludes with Adriano Pedrosa, curator of the 60th edition of the Venice Biennale and the Artistic Director of the São Paulo Museum of Art. In conversation with Yana Peel, Global Head of Arts & Culture at CHANEL, Pedrosa discusses the theme for this year’s Biennale: Stranieri Ovunque—Foreigners Everywhere, and how an exhibition can "reinforce what truly matters."

At the Palazzo Persico, the world-famous designers Michael Rock and Irma Boom reflect on Venice’s pivotal role in the history of book publishing – and its influence on generations of contemporary artists. Michael is the co-founder of 2x4, while Boom has designed more than 300 books across her career. Together, they explore how, more than 500 years ago, Venice revolutionised art, a legacy that continues to this day.

This episode connects two artists from countries uniquely impacted by climate change. Representing Iceland and Hong Kong, Hildigunnur Birgisdóttir and Trevor Yeung are navigating this year’s Venice Biennale and Venice as a city, much the way they treat their island homes. At the Conservatorio di Musica, looking out onto the Italian canals, they discuss how art can inspire action in the natural world.

What makes a great curator, and what brings them to the Venice Biennale, without fail, for the past two decades? In this episode, distinguished curators from the museum world connect to share their stories of seeing and discovery. Simon Castets, Director of Strategic Initiatives at LUMA Arles in France, speaks with Courtney J. Martin, Executive Director of the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation in New York. Together, they discuss how the biennale shapes the coming trends in the international art scene.

The South African multidisciplinary artist William Kentridge and the famed curator Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev have created some of the most resonant work of their time. These two giants of the art world discuss the Venice installation of William’s film Self-Portrait as a Coffee Pot , Carolyn’s work as the former director of the Castello di Rivoli museum in Italy, and the origins of their long and rich creative relationship.

Julien Creuzet, one of the world’s leading contemporary artists, connects with Alvin Li, Curator of International Art at the Tate Modern in London. Julien is a professor at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Paris and the first French-Caribbean artist to represent France at the Venice Biennale. Supported by the CHANEL Culture Fund , his exhibition blends sculpture and film with poetry and music, transforming the France Pavilion. In a conversation with Alvin Li at Palazzo Pisani Moretta, Julien revisits his childhood on the island of Martinique and reflects on art’s unique capacity to unearth untold stories.