The Southbank Centre hosts series of events with special guests this summer
The Southbank Centre is hosting a series of weekend events, curated by guest artists including Nish Kumar, Anoushka Shankar and Shingai in celebration of being reunited with our loved ones.
Summer Reunion opens today with a weekend celebrating the venue’s local community, which will be followed by nine weekends, organised by a different artist.
Southbank Centre senior producer Ruth Hardie said: “When we were thinking of bringing audiences back on site and what we thought it was important to say or do.
“We just kept coming back to the idea of reunion and actually that it’s a real moment of emotion and release for lots of different reasons.
“We wanted to reunite audiences with artists, and audiences with art.”
As well as celebrating being able to come together, the artists are sharing what they’ve learned from this year and also reflecting on the loss that so many people have experienced.
They are also exploring what is important for the community to do next in their own unique way.
Comedian Nish Kumar has curated the weekend of July 23 to 25, which celebrates how comedy has adapted throughout the pandemic.
His Friday programme is a celebration of work comedians have been making and producing during the pandemic.
Saturday and Sunday will see him working with organisations that platform diverse voices across the comedy and cabaret scene.
Mr Kumar said: “I’m excited – I’ve always seen myself as a curator, by which I mean I enjoy inflicting my taste on people regardless of their interests.
“We’ve got some very exciting plans. Among other things, I’m in negotiations with the guy that owns the Tupac hologram.
“I think the most important thing is to celebrate us being able to be together again.”
Associate Artist at the Southbank Centre Anoushka Shankar has planned a colourful programme of live music, spoken word and dance for July 2 to 4.
Her Saturday is packed with Indian classical music and dance before the party starts with Nerm & DJ Manara and a live-performance from BISHI and other guests. But Ms Shankar’s weekend also has a more reflective tone, as she is affected by the ongoing situation in India.
She said: “The idea of people coming together and enjoying artworks that we’ve been restricted from experiencing in person for so long feels overwhelming.
“A lot of people taking part in the weekend, like myself, will have been affected by the ongoing tragedy in India, and it can be hard to contextualise the fact that we are celebrating and slowly relaxing here whilst it’s all falling apart for our loved ones there.”
The Noistette’s lead vocalist, Shingai closes the Southbank Centre’s artist-curated weekends with a celebration of music, performance and circus.
Part of the weekend also sees South-east London-raised Shingai take a look at the significant contributions of alternative black female talent who have been all too often overlooked.
She said: “My vision is about promoting unity, celebrating originality and a diverse spectrum of voices – voices often overlooked in the mainstream.
“I want to celebrate the DIY culture of London that we see in a lot of sound systems, punk bands and events that spring up in wild and wonderful places across the city.”
Other guest curators include Scottee, Dennis Bovell, Jess Thom, Amrou Al-Kadhi, Nubya Garcia and Jade Hackett in collaboration with DJ Walde.
Ms Hardie said: “It is a real celebration of being back together, but it also has moments of reflection.
“It’s trying to make sure that we don’t just go back to normal – that we do learn from what we’ve been through, that we adapt and we change and we make sure that we are more inclusive and we are more understanding and we really are a space for everyone.”
The Riverside Stage programme is free and unticketed. Attendance will be on a first-come first served basis.
The programme can be found online at www.southbankcentre.co.uk
