Block Universe 2018

International performance art festival Block Universe returns to London for its fourth edition beginning on Spring Bank Holiday Weekend (26 May to 3 June 2018) with a 9-day programme of performances, workshops, talks and film screenings. 

The festival brings some of the most innovative UK-based and international artists working at the cross-section of dance, music and contemporary visual art to unique spaces across the city, including the Royal Academy of Arts, The Store X, British Museum, Somerset House, Studio Voltaire, Oval Space, Siobhan Davies Dance and Brunel Museum Thames Tunnel. 

Featuring three UK premieres and seven new, site-specific commissions, this year’s edition addresses the current divisiveness created by contemporary politics, with artists exploring the ideals of community and collectivity in their work.

Highlights include: STAGING: Solo #2 by award-winning Maria Hassabi, an 8-hour durational piece staged on a bright pink carpet at The Store X, pitting slowness of movement against the speed of modern life; a new live multimedia installation at Oval Space by Gery Georgieva, famous for her iconic reworking of Beyoncé’s Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It) examining cultural identities; Laura Wilson’s "dance meets fresh dough” piece in response to the sculptures in the current exhibition Rodin and the Art of Ancient Greece at the British Museum; and artist collective They Are Here’s Routine, which transforms Studio Voltaire into a comedy club with a difference: the comedians performing are an array of Londoners living precariously in the city, including local migrant workers in the gig economy, who have been taking part in comedy workshops to give voice to their lives.

Full list of artists taking part in Block Universe 2018: Gery Georgieva, Maria Hassabi, artist duo Evan Ifekoya & Victoria Sin, Last Yearz Interesting Negro (Jamila Johnson-Small), Hanne Lippard, Alex Mirutziu, Giselle Stanborough, artist collective They Are Here, and Nora Turato.

Image Credits: Maria Hassabi, STAGING: Solo #2 (2017). Installation view at K20, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen,Düsseldorf. December 8, 2017 – January 21, 2018. Performer, Maria Hassabi. Courtesy the artist; Koenig & Clinton, New York; The Breeder, Athens. Photo credit, Thomas Poravas