The Southbank Centre Presents Summer Season YOU BELONG HERE

This July, the Southbank Centre's summer season You Belong Here will present an extensive programme of art, conversation, music and performance with a clear message at its core: everyone is welcome. Across a range of free and ticketed events, You Belong Here provides a platform for an array of world-class artists, writers and performers to explore the impact notions of belonging have on art and society.  

Over the coming months, Southbank Centre is creating space for Palestinian artists and collectives to share their work. In July, three organisations - PalFest, Palestinian Sound Archive and 3EIB - whose work showcases Palestinian creativity across a range of art forms - are each curating events at Southbank Centre as part of You Belong Here.

Writers, actors and musicians come together to mark the launch of a new book at PalFest: Their Borders, Our World, an anthology of essays on international solidarity that ranges from architecture to football, and poetry to nuclear energy from twelve authors who offer new ways of thinking and exploring possible new futures.

The Queen Elizabeth Hall Foyer gets a makeover into a bustling bazaar featuring unique fashion brands from South West Asia and North Africa at 3EIB: Swag From SWANA. Enjoy a vibrant atmosphere of Palestinian DJs spinning sounds from the region as part of 3EIB: Sounds & Solidarity. 3EIB will also lead In Conversation: Contextualising Spaces for Liberation.

Majazz Project: Palestinian Sound Archive is a celebration of music, spoken word and artwork, with a project reviving and remixing vintage Palestinian and Arab albums to showcase the richness and diversity of their cultural and musical heritage.

Incredible writers, activists and historians such as Kelechi Okafor and David Olusoga provide in-depth discussions on Black British history, community and identity, while Anastasiia Liubchenko presents family show Home, a colourful and playful tale of a trip to discover a new home, inspired by Liubchenko's personal story of emigration. 

You Belong Here's public programme features a number of community-driven Riverside Terrace takeovers from ground-breaking groups such as AZEEMA and SOUNDS LiKE CHAOS, bringing free workshops, music and performance to the site.  

New contemporary-classical music festival Sound Within Sound (4 – 7 July) draws inspiration from Kate Molleson's book of the same name, spotlighting a collection of often overlooked 20th-century composers. Featuring concerts from London Sinfonietta, Siwan Rhys and Quatuor Bozzini among others.

In the Hayward Gallery, Tavares Strachan: There is Light Somewhere continues, exploring lost histories and unsung cultural trailblazers across a diverse range of mediums. The HENI Project Space presents Naomi Rincón Gallardo: Sonnet of Vermin (18 Jun – 1 Sept), the first of three free exhibitions delivered in partnership with the RC Foundation, Taiwan (R.O.C.), spotlighting exciting work from emerging International Artists. 

The European Premiere of Crazy Smooth: In My Body arrives in the Queen Elizabeth Hall (18 – 20 July), bringing together an intergenerational group of hip-hop dancers to explore the hardship and heroism of ageing in street dancing. 

You Belong Here continues throughout August.

To post a comment, you must register and login.