London welcomes Block Universe, the city’s first-ever performance art festival

Next week there will be more 'happening' in London than you might have thought. The launch of the city’s first-ever performance art festival means artists will be speaking, mugging and writhing from the ICA to Somerset House. Titled 'Block Universe', the event will be a return to midcentury performance values with a decidedly contemporary spin.
In an era when Marina Abramovic is referenced in rock-star terms, it’s remarkable that performance art has remained so firmly in the margins in London. Awareness is as high as it’s been since Allan Kaprow’s '18 Happenings in 6 Parts' changed the game in 1959; art students can study it at colleges like Goldsmiths. And yet if it does get an airing, performance is usually tangential to the main event.
'We’re seeing an increasing interest in it, despite the way it’s being programmed in London,' says Louise O’Kelly, the festival’s director and a Goldsmiths grad, 'but a lot of artists working in performance find they don’t have a home.'
A devotee of the artform since a stint working with Hannah Wilke Collection & Archive years ago, O’Kelly was roused when Tate Tanks opened in 2012 with a 15-week festival heavy in performance art. Then… nothing. New York has a dedicated performance art space called the Kitchen and a biennial called Performa. In London, though, there is nothing like that explains O’Kelly.
With help from the Kitchen, Arts Council England and a Kickstarter campaign, O’Kelly has assembled a programme of marquee names like choreographer Joe Moran and sculptor Eva Rothschild, who will collaborate in a show at Fig-2 / ICA. Jenny Moore will perform a feminist manifesto at the Art Worker’s Guild, surrounded by portraits of the Guild’s forefathers. Nicola Conibere will wrap two bodies in swathes of fabric and send them rolling around the Royal Academy courtyard alongside Conrad Shawcross’s installation 'The Dappled Light of the Sun'.
The intersection with contemporary art is what gives Block Universe contemporary freshness. 'Performance art in the Sixties was very much about moving away from an object-space practice to something more intangible,' says O’Kelly. 'Now there’s a lot of crossover between dance, painting and sculpture. Those conversations are opening again.'
The festival's director Louise O’Kelly has assembled a programme of marquee names such as Cecilia Bengolea & Francois Chaignaud, whose 'Twerk' performance piece is pictured here. Photography: Jean-Marie Legros
Jenny Moore will perform a feminist manifesto at the Art Worker’s Guild, surrounded by portraits of the Guild’s forefathers. Photography: Alberto Garcia del Castillo
Brittany Bailey will give her first UK performance, in response to Louise Bourgeois & Gary Indiana's book 'To Whom It May Concern'. Photography: Ian Douglas
Block Universe will also present works by Lithuanian artist, composer, musician and performer Lina Lapelyte, shown here performing 'Candy Shop'
The festival will play host to American artist Ellie Ga's first performance in the UK, comprising live storytelling, recorded sound, still and moving images. Pictured: Ellie Ga at the MJC Rouget Theatre in Toulouse, France. Photography: Marc Boyer
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
-
Byredo introduces its first fine jewellery collection
Byredo fine jewellery launches with the ‘Virasaat’ collection, meaning ‘inheritance’, influenced by founder Ben Gorham’s Indian heritage
By Pei-Ru Keh Published
-
True to Type is a new Korean furniture brand for future generations
Seoul-based Jinsik Kim launches True to Type to explore craftsmanship and aesthetic purity through furniture and objects
By Rosa Bertoli Published
-
2023 Doolan Best Building award goes to Cuddymoss by Ann Nisbet Studio
The 2023 Doolan Best Building award is given to Cuddymoss, a ruin in north Ayrshire transformed into Scotland's finest building of the year
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Vanessa Beecroft’s ethereal performance and sculpture exhibition explore Sicily’s cultural history
At the historic Palazzo Abatellis, Sicily, Vanessa Beecroft has unveiled ‘VB94’, a new tableau vivant comprising a one-time performance and a new series of sculptures, the latter on view until 8 January
By Hili Perlson Published
-
Subversive artist Cosey Fanni Tutti on individuality and annihilating limitations
Following the launch of her new book Re-Sisters, we speak to Cosey Fanni Tutti about conquering fear through action, stepping into the unknown, and the secret to making art that matters
By Mary Cleary Last updated
-
Can the Marina Abramović Method change your life?
Lady Gaga and Jay-Z are among those who have followed the Abramović Method to reach higher creative consciousness. Now, the artist’s iconic approach has been translated into a series of instruction cards for all. If you don’t try, you’ll never know
By Harriet Lloyd Smith Last updated
-
Ragnar Kjartansson’s dramatic soap opera inaugurates GES-2 in Moscow
Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson inaugurates the much-anticipated V-A-C Foundation’s GES-2 House of Culture in Moscow. Santa Barbara – A Living Sculpture is a bold, theatrical work that examines the relationship between Russia and the US
By Amah-Rose Abrams Last updated
-
Torkwase Dyson and Mark Rothko inaugurate Pace gallery’s new London home
Just in time for Frieze Week 2021, Pace has opened its much-anticipated Hanover Square gallery with shows by Torkwase Dyson and Mark Rothko
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith Last updated
-
Anne Imhof: body language as tool, canvas and concept
Anne Imhof is one of five radical artists chosen by Michèle Lamy for Wallpaper’s 25th Anniversary Issue ‘5x5’ project. In the midst of Imhof’s carte blanche at Paris’ Palais de Tokyo, we explore how she has redefined the concept of body language
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith Published
-
Tomás Saraceno’s aerosolar collaboration with Ruinart takes flight
In the skies above Maison Ruinart, Tomás Saraceno’s Aerocene project is imagining a world beyond the fossil fuel era. Wallpaper* Paris editor Amy Serafin was in Reims to witness the events first hand – a blend of performance, sculpture, augmented reality, and champagne
By Amy Serafin Published
-
Watch JR’s poignant procession for Australia’s agricultural emergency
Released for Earth Day 2021, French artist JR’s film, Homily to Country, is an intensely human commentary on the ecological decline of the Darling/Baaka river system in south-eastern Australia
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith Last updated