HIGHLIGHTS OF SOUTHBANK CENTRE’S FESTIVAL OF THE WORLD WITH MASTERCARD

17 April 2012
HIGHLIGHTS OF SOUTHBANK CENTRE’S FESTIVAL OF THE WORLD
WITH MASTERCARD
1 June to 9 September 2012
Festival of the World Opening Weekend and Diamond Jubilee Weekend
1 – 5 June, across Southbank Centre
Festival of the World opens on 1 June 2012 in time for the Diamond Jubilee Weekend. In addition
to a number of art installations around the site (see separate release), there will also be free
themed events to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. From dancing to favourite hits from the
last 60 years in Diamond Decades (Saturday 2 June), to making a flower or flag to decorate the
giant corgi sculpture that will take over The Clore Ballroom (Tuesday 5 June), there’s something
for all the family. Southbank Centre’s popular ballroom dancing event gets a patriotic twist in
Strictly Jubilee Ballroom on Monday 3 June, and visitors are invited to dress in red, white and blue
to the dance event which includes demonstrations, lessons and live music. The weekend also
features a special homage to Frank Sinatra, with Paul Holgate and band playing Sinatra songs 60
years after the exact date of his televised Royal Festival Hall show as part his 1962 world tour.
Festival of the World Museum
1 June – 9 September, Royal Festival Hall
At the heart of the festival experience will be the Festival of the World Museum, located in the
Royal Festival Hall and designed by Wayne and Gerardine Hemingway. Through a series of
immersive and interactive environments, which present artworks, documentary footage, objects
and memorabilia, it will offer an exploration of the thinkers, artists and communities who have
inspired and contributed to the Festival.
Southbank Centre’s Resident Orchestras
1 June – 9 September, across Southbank Centre
Southbank Centre’s Resident Orchestras, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia
Orchestra, London Sinfonietta and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, take part in the
Festival of the World celebrations. On 8 July at 3pm, Philharmonia Orchestra, with Principal
Conductor and Artistic Advisor Esa-Pekka Salonen, performs Gustav Holst’s The Planets and the
world premiere of Joby Talbot’s World, Stars, Systems, Infinity. The Royal Festival Hall event also
includes an exploration of Holst’s piece, led by presenter Paul Rissmann, featuring projections,
musical demonstrations and interviews. On 29 July, the London Philharmonic Orchestra joins
forces with the Beijing Symphony Orchestra for a performance conducted by the Beijing Symphony
Orchestra's Principal Conductor Tan Li Jua. The programme features a specially commissioned
symphonic overture by Chinese composer Guo Wenjing and Tang Jiang Ping’s Symphony
Concerto Sacred Fire 2008 with percussionist Li Biao, culminating with Beethoven’s Symphony
No.9. On 14 July, a recorded performance of Sally Beamish's Spinal Chords with Orchestra of the
Age of Enlightenment will be presented as part of New Music 20x12 weekend. Created by the
Orchestra with the composer and premiered in February, Spinal Chords is one of the 20 new
works included in PRS for Music Foundation’s New Music 20x12 programme for the London 2012
Cultural Olympiad.
E4 Udderbelly at Southbank Centre
Until 8 July, adjacent to Jubilee Gardens
Now in its 4th year, the E4 Udderbelly Festival at Southbank Centre has grown to become the
largest comedy festival in London featuring performances this year by the likes of Tim Minchin,
Greg Davies, Nina Conti, Milton Jones and Frisky & Mannish. The two headlining shows this year,
The Vocal Orchestra and Havana Rumba! are suitable for all ages, with nearly all tickets priced
between £10 - £20. www.udderbelly.co.uk
Priceless London Wonderground at Southbank Centre
8 May – 30 September, adjacent to Jubilee Gardens
A new addition this summer, Priceless London Wonderground will feature the best in cabaret,
circus, sideshow and music. Built around a magnificent 1920s Spiegeltent, Priceless London
Wonderground is a playground for the people, bringing a taste of 20th century Coney Island to 21st
century London. Expect oddities, curiosities and eccentricities around every corner and over
indulge in a programme of shows for all tastes and ages. This collaboration between Southbank
Centre and Underbelly builds on the success of the E4 Udderbelly Festival over the last 4 years.
The headline show is Cantina, a sensational cocktail of glamorous vaudeville and scintillating
circus, from the creators of Tom Tom Crew, which opens on 8 May until 30 September. Other
highlights of this season include Meow Meow, Boom Boom Club, Fascinating Aida and a residency
from the sensational Camille who will be reprising her previous hit shows and introducing her new
album, Changeling. Priceless London Wonderground is sponsored by MasterCard.
www.pricelesslondonwonderground.co.uk
Cantina at Priceless London Wonderground at Southbank Centre
8 May – 30 September, adjacent to Jubilee Gardens
Fresh from sell-out tours of Australia and Europe, Cantina features a brilliant company of
Australia's finest circus artists from La Clique, Circa, Acrobat and Circus Oz and will be performed
inside the exquisite spiegeltent; an old fashioned circus tent crafted from hand carved wood,
polished mirrors, velvet, crystal and coloured leadlight.
All Eyes On Korea
1 June – 9 September, across Southbank Centre
The Korean Cultural Centre UK (KCCUK) presents All Eyes on Korea, a 100 Day Summer Festival
at venues across the capital. Inspired by the five colours of Korea, each representing North, East,
South, West and the Centre, the festival will bring the best of Korea’s creative content to London.
At the heart of All Eyes On Korea is a collaboration with Southbank Centre. The showcase event
will take place on 31st July, a K-Classic concert with Southbank Centre Resident Orchestra, the
Philharmonia Orchestra featuring the renowned Sarah Chang and Sumi Jo. Traditional Korean
Music with a modern twist will be presented by Be-Being, Baramgot and Gongmyoung. Be-Being
reinterpret the sounds of Korea’s masked plays, Baramgot take us on a journey of Korea’s musical
heritage and Gongmyoung’s distinct style blends the power of drums with the delicacy of
percussion. Pansori, with its themed stories is a form of musical theatre recognised by UNESCO
and performers Pansori Project ZA will bring these songs of love and satire to the stage. Korean
artists KIM Beom, CHOI Jeong Hwa and LEE Bul will participate in Wide Open School; Hyesoon
KIM will take part in the Poetry Parnassus and KIM Beom will also present an exhibition in the
Project Space at the Hayward Gallery. For the duration of the summer CHOI Jeong Hwa will also
be exhibiting an outdoor installation of his work.
A Room for London
1 June – 9 September, Queen Elizabeth Hall rooftop
High up on the roof of the Queen Elizabeth Hall, a riverboat appears to have come to rest –
grounded, perhaps, from the retreating waters of the Thames below. A unique one-bedroom
installation conceived by architect David Kohn and artist Fiona Banner, A Room for London is a
major collaboration between Living Architecture and Artangel, in association with Southbank
Centre, the London 2012 Festival and Arts Council England. Central to A Room for London is a
programme devised by Artangel that will take place at the end of every month and is part of the
London 2012 Festival. It includes A London Address, a series of reflections by writers on London
and Sounds from a Room, a sequence of live webcast performances by musicians from around the
world. During the summer the following artists will participate; as part of A London Address – Maya
Jasanoff (May); Michael Ondaatje (June); Alain Mabanckou (July); Teju Cole (August); and as part
of a Sounds from a Room - Amadou and Mariam (live broadcast 23 May); Imogen Heap (22 June);
Festival of the World artist Baaba Maal (15 July); tUnE-yArDs (18 July) and Natalie Clein (24
August). Artangel has also devised Ideas for London, in association with the Evening Standard, a
competition to inspire Londoners’ most remarkable proposals for their city. A Room for London is
now fully booked for 2012. Ideas for London can be submitted until 5 September 2012. One winner
will be announced each month, and invited to stay overnight in the Room to develop their idea with
a number of influential guests. www.aroomforlondon.co.uk.
Family Half Term Shows
2 – 8 June 2012, across Southbank Centre
This half term Southbank Centre presents the UK premiere of Donka (Saturday 2 – Friday 8 June),
created by the acclaimed director and circus artist Daniele Finzi Pasca. Commissioned to
celebrate the 150th anniversary of Chekhov’s birth, Donka combines dazzling aerial acrobatics,
multi-media illusion and magic to create sublimely lyrical circus. Also on over half term is The Girl
Who Forgot to Sing Badly (Saturday 2 – Friday 8 June), which follows the story of Peggy
O’Hegarty and her family of packers as they struggle to cope with a lack of work. It’s up to Peggy,
armed with her courageous but off-key singing, to save the day.
Wide Open School
11 June – 11 July, Hayward Gallery (see separate release)
For one month only, the Hayward Gallery is being transformed into Wide Open School – a school
with a programme devised and fuelled by the imaginations of more than 80 leading artists from
over 40 different countries. It will be the first time that a public gallery has undertaken a project on
this scale. Anything but a traditional art school, it will be a wide-ranging forum where artists choose
a subject they are passionately interested in and lead seminars, workshops, collaborative projects,
lectures and performances. Wide Open School will create an energetic atmosphere for exchanging
ideas, so that all participants gain a direct experience of different ways of thinking, questioning and
solving problems. Events include Cao Fei hosting an evening based on a cultural gathering from
the Six Dynasties era in China (16 and 17 June); Susan Hiller assembling and studying dreams
relating to recent political, social and economic events (16 and 17 June); two sessions with Susan
Philipsz exploring how sounds can trigger memory and redefine a place (7 and 8 July); a three-day
practical workshop involving sculpture and dance with Ernesto Neto (6, 7 and 8 July); a
demonstration about art and sushi with Shimabuku and Daisuke Hayashi (1 July); Mark Wallinger
teaching a history of drawing, from Alberti to Pixar (23 and 24 June); and Gillian Wearing leading a
class exploring Method acting (30 June and 1 July).
With additional support from Arts Council England.
Sounds Venezuela
22 – 26 June, Royal Festival Hall and across Southbank Centre (see separate release)
Gustavo Dudamel and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra return to Southbank Centre for a
four-day residency, supported by Shell. The residency includes two Southbank Centre Shell
Classic International series concerts on 23 and 26 June 2012, which sold out within hours of going
on sale in February last year, in addition to a Sunday morning family concert (24 June); a musical
fiesta of Latin and classical music in the Royal Festival Hall (24 June); and free open rehearsals
and live concert streaming to The Clore Ballroom. Inspired by the authentic Venezuelan El Sistema
teaching system where free music lessons, coaching and rehearsals take place in local community
learning centres called Nucleos, throughout the week, the Royal Festival Hall will become a unique
learning and performing centre for hundreds of children and young people from across the country.
The residency and concerts are part of the London 2012 Festival.
Festival of the World Summit
25 June, across Southbank Centre
Festival of the World Summit is a celebration of the people and projects from around the world that
change lives through art. It coincides with the Simon Bolivar orchestra residency, and in the
presence of Jose Abreu, founder of the hugely influential El Sistema Venezuela, the 36-year-old
revolutionary social programme, which has changed the lives of over 350,000 young people
through the rigours of classical music training as a means to build self confidence, skills and
discipline. The day will be filled with workshops, live demonstrations, market stalls, speedmentoring, performances and networking and will include the chance to hear the Simon Bolivar
Orchestra in public rehearsal, led by conductor Gustavo Dudamel.
Poetry Parnassus
26 June – 1 July, across Southbank Centre (see separate release)
Taking inspiration from Mount Parnassus in Greece, one of poetry’s spiritual and mythical
heartlands, Poetry Parnassus is a week-long celebratory gathering, which will feature poetry from
all of the 204 competing Olympic nations, with more than 140 poets. It includes Nobel Laureates
Seamus Heaney and Wole Soyinka, travelling to Southbank Centre to take part in the largest
poetry festival in world history, and is part of the London 2012 Festival. It will be an opportunity to
discover new voices and world greats with poets, spoken word artists, praise singers, story tellers
and rappers reading their work in over 50 languages and dialects. Led by Southbank Centre
Artistic Director Jude Kelly and Artist in Residence and Curator Simon Armitage, Poetry Parnassus
will feature readings, workshops and a final gala event with all the poets. The poets will also
contribute a poem in their own language for The World Record, a book which will champion
translation and be published by Bloodaxe Books, with a one-off handwritten edition housed in
Southbank Centre’s Saison Poetry Library. With additional support from Arts Council England.
Africa Utopia
3 July – 24 July, across Southbank Centre (see separate release)
Africa Utopia is a month-long festival of music, theatre, film, literature, dance, fashion, talks and
debate programmed by Southbank Centre in conjunction with renowned Senegalese singer and
human-rights campaigner Baaba Maal, as part of Southbank Centre’s Festival of the World with
MasterCard. While headline concerts feature iconic artists, including Angelique Kidjo, Oumou
Sangaré, Taj Mahal and Baaba Maal, the very best writers from Somalia, Nigeria, Angola, Ethiopia
and beyond provide invaluable insight into the reality of contemporary Africa. More stories of Africa
are told through dance and performance pieces, which range from new work by the award-winning
South Africa choreographer Gregory Maqoma to an inspirational streetdance project involving
Rwandan street children. Throughout the festival an invited group of young delegates – guided by
‘elders’ including Baaba Maal, Ben Okri, Lemn Sissay and Wole Soyinka – engage with African
arts organizations and cultural leaders to explore how art projects can be mobilized to bring about
social change.
BrynFest
4 – 7 July, across Southbank Centre (separate release available on request)
Southbank Centre celebrates much-loved bass-baritone Bryn Terfel with BrynFest, a four-day long
festival featuring a variety of Welsh and international artists. At the heart of BrynFest are four
Royal Festival Hall performances of Broadway favourites, opera classics, rock and roll and Welsh
Choral Music. The line-up, which features Bryn Terfel singing popular musical theatre numbers
and operatic arias, also includes the Orchestra and Chorus of Welsh National Opera, Gruff Rhys,
stars from the world of opera and West End, and the Wales Choir of the World. The festival will
culminate with Bryn joining hundreds of singers outdoors on the Royal Festival Hall Riverside
Terrace for the Bryn Big Sing.
London Literature Festival
5 – 13 July, across Southbank Centre
Southbank Centre’s London Literature Festival brings the world to London with a global array of
writers, artists and activists from across the Arab region and Africa and dispatches from Mumbai,
China and the Caribbean. Headlining names include Siri Hustvedt, John Pilger, Saul Williams,
Lemn Sissay and Noo Saro-Wiwa. The festival will unpick the complexities of the Arab
Revolutions. It will also devote a weekend to the spoken word with Shake the Dust, the final of the
UK’s biggest national youth poetry slam, with teams of young people performing original pieces
they have written and developed based around the Olympic and Paralympic Values and the theme
of ‘truce’ as part of the London 2012 Festival. As London comes under the global spotlight the
London Literature Festival will offer a sometimes playful, sometimes provocative look at the city
that the world calls home – offering the chance to experience the city afresh through graphic short
stories, debate, oral history and poetry. London Literature Festival will present the first ever UK
performances of Don DeLillo’s The Word For Snow.
Step Into Dance
7 July, The Clore Ballroom, Royal Festival Hall
The culmination of the Royal Academy of Dance’s schools outreach programme, Step Into Dance
is a day of performances and workshops featuring 11-18 year old students from schools in 32
London boroughs. Each school will present the work they have been rehearsing with Royal
Academy of Dance teachers in after-school clubs, by giving a performance with styles ranging from
contemporary and street dance to Bollywood and jazz. In addition, the students will join the young
people taking part in the Shake the Dust Poetry Slam, happening on the same day, for a poetry
and dance celebration. Members of the public can also take part in free taster workshops given by
Royal Academy of Dance teachers. Step Into Dance is funded by the Jack Petchey Foundation.
Dancing Voices, part of Big Dance
11 July, Queen Elizabeth Hall
East London Dance, Capital Age Festival and Southbank Centre’s VoiceLab present a
performance by older Londoners featuring 150 dancers and 50 singers. The ensemble piece,
choreographed by Natasha Gilmore and rehearsed for several months, will be performed by a
group of over-60 year olds featuring VoiceLab singers and dancers from across London. The
project builds on the Big Chair Dance in 2008 and Dancing StAGE in 2010 and aims to bring social
benefits as well as physical and mental health and wellbeing to older people. Dancing Voices is a
major event as part of Big Dance 2012 and the Capital Age Festival and is produced by East
London Dance and Southbank Centre. This Mayor of London project is funded by Big Dance and
BBC Performing Arts Trust. Voicelab is supported by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation.
Big Dance is part of the London 2012 Festival.
U. Dance
13 – 16 July, across Southbank Centre
Presented by Youth Dance England (YDE) with Southbank Centre, U.Dance aims to raise the
standard of youth dance performances in England and provide more performance opportunities for
young people. For U.Dance 2012 young dancers will fill the site for four days, including three
evening performances in the Royal Festival Hall and Queen Elizabeth Hall. A newly created and
auditioned U.Dance Ensemble will perform a one-off piece choreographed and directed by Hofesh
Shechter, which will feature 20 young dancers from across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland
and Wales. Members of the public can also take part in workshops throughout the weekend.
U.Dance is a YDE initiative in partnership with Southbank Centre, National Youth Dance Wales, Y
Dance (Scotland) and Dance United (Northern Ireland).
New Music 20x12
13 – 15 July, across Southbank Centre (separate release available on request)
Southbank Centre presents 20 new commissions created by some of the UK’s most exciting
composers for PRS for Music Foundation’s New Music 20x12 London 2012 Cultural Olympiad
programme as part of a weekend dedicated to music composition in the UK. The programme,
initiated by private patrons Jillian Barker and David Cohen and delivered by PRS for Music
Foundation in partnership with the BBC Radio 3, London 2012 and NMC Recordings, includes
leading composers in the fields of contemporary classical, jazz and folk music, such as MarkAnthony Turnage, Sally Beamish, Julian Joseph, Jason Yarde, Sheema Mukherjee, Aidan
O’Rourke and Richard Causton. 14 of the 20 works included in the programme will be presented
as free performances across Southbank Centre’s 21-acre site and concerts will be followed by
discussions with participating composers and performers. Each day of New Music 20x12 weekend
culminates in an evening concert with programmes including the London premieres of Conor
Mitchell’s Our Day, performed by Northern Ireland Opera, and of Sheema Mukherjee’s Bending the
Dark, performed by folk supergroup Imagined Village, and a performance of Graham Fitkin’s Track
to Track with the London Chamber Orchestra and Graham Fitkin Band. Throughout the weekend
Southbank Centre will host a series of four workshops for all aspiring musicians and composers
and continuous 25-minute one-to-one composing surgeries for all music-writing audience members
who wish to get expert advice from any of the composers participating in the weekend. With
additional support from Arts Council England, Columbia Foundation Fund of the Capital
Community Foundation and Creative Scotland.
Hotel Medea
19 July – 11 August, Hayward Gallery (performances each week from Thursdays to
Sundays)
'The theatrical version of bingeing on absinthe' (Time Out)
Hotel Medea is an award-winning trilogy, produced by Persis-Jade Maravala and Zecora Ura
Theatre Network, an organisation based in Rio de Janeiro and East London, with an original sound
score by DJ Dolores. It’s an interpretation of the myth of Medea, which takes place overnight,
beginning at midnight and running for approximately six hours until dawn. Part One is the meeting
and marriage of Jason and Medea including food, dance and a battle for the Golden Fleece,
performed to a live DJ set; Part 2 is a post-modern wasteland with CCTV adding fresh
perspectives to Jason’s betrayal; and Part 3 is the Feast of Dawn, complete with paparazzi
chases, burning brides and twisted games of hide and seek; all culminating in a breakfast banquet.
Tickets are available for Part 1 only; or the whole Trilogy.
Rouge
25 – 28 July, Purcell Room
Southbank Centre presents the London premiere of Rouge by pioneering Cambodian company
Phare Ponleu Selpack, which was set up in 1994 by eight young Cambodians who had spent their
childhoods in the refugee camps at the Thai border. They returned to their hometown of
Battambang determined to help rebuild Cambodian identity through traditional Khmer arts and
culture and gradually gathered together children living in difficult situations including streets kids,
trafficked children and orphans. Using the skills they had been taught in the refugee camps, they
have helped them to reintegrate into society. Rouge features a cast of exceptional young male
performers and a two-piece gamelan band. Phare Ponleu Selpak and director Sarosi Nay, of
French dance company Compagnie UBI, have created an extraordinary show about their country
where younger generations have grown up believing that the Khmer Rouge and their reign of terror
in the 1970s is just a myth. Through very physical choreography and impeccable object
manipulation, these daring acrobats rewind and replay memories of their country’s recent history to
remarkably joyous effect.
Billy Bragg’s Return of the Big Busk
28 July, Riverside Terrace and Festival Riverside
Billy Bragg returns to Southbank Centre with his hugely popular Big Busk. Musicians of all ages
and abilities are invited to come to Southbank Centre with their instruments and join Billy Bragg in
an afternoon of mass music making, featuring Bragg’s favourite songs. Chord charts and lyrics will
be available for download from Southbank Centre’s website in advance.
Antony’s Meltdown
1 – 12 August, across Southbank Centre (separate release available on request)
The Observer is Media Partner of Meltdown 2012
Musician and visual artist Antony Hegarty will curate the 19th Meltdown festival, which takes place
in August for the first time in 2012 as part of the London 2012 Festival. The avant-garde performer
and lead singer with Mercury Award-winning Antony and the Johnsons follows in the footsteps of
previous directors including Jarvis Cocker, Robert Wyatt, Laurie Anderson, Patti Smith, Ornette
Coleman, David Bowie and, most recently, Ray Davies. Taking over the venues and spaces of
London's iconic, riverside arts centre, the artist who emerged from the New York underground art
scene of the early 1990s will curate twelve days of music, debate and performance that reflect his
interests, influences and passions. Issues close to his heart – ranging from environment and
spirituality to gender politics - will be among themes explored through the festival.
Unlimited
1 – 9 September, across Southbank Centre
In parallel with the London 2012 Paralympic Games and as part of the London 2012 Festival,
Southbank Centre will present a programme of 29 major commissions that celebrates arts and
culture by disabled and deaf artists on an unprecedented scale in the United Kingdom. The
commissions include new works by Claire Cunningham, Candoco Dance Company and Graeae
Theatre Company and span choreography, live arts, visual arts, music and theatre. Unlimited will
feature a circus show exploring the ups and downs of bipolar disorder; a children’s theatre show
taking families on an adventure inside a beehive; and international collaborations with artists from
Brazil, China, Australia and South Africa. Unlimited also features an exciting programme of free
and ticketed events, outdoor performances and exhibitions as well as participatory activities and
platforms for discussion and debate. By presenting this groundbreaking body of new work, the
issues at the heart of deaf and disability arts will be placed at the forefront of public debate,
showing the power art has to transform the way we see the world. Unlimited is principally funded
by the National Lottery through the Olympic Lottery Distributor and is delivered in partnership
between London 2012, Arts Council England, the Scottish Arts Council, Arts Council of Wales, Arts
Council of Northern Ireland and the British Council.
COUNTDOWN PROJECT TO THE LONDON 2012 FESTIVAL AHEAD OF FESTIVAL OF THE
WORLD
George Benjamin Weekend
12 – 13 May, across Southbank Centre (separate release available on request)
Described by the New York Times as ‘one of the most formidable composers of his generation’,
George Benjamin, a Southbank Centre Associate Artist, will be celebrated over one weekend.
Presenting 10 seminal works of his oeuvre over three concerts, the celebration culminates on 13
May in a performance of Benjamin’s Jubilation, commissioned by the Inner London Education
Authority in 1985 for young performers. For this concert at the Royal Festival Hall, the composer
himself will conduct Southbank Centre Resident Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, and a
specially formed youth ensemble and choir. Young musicians from the Royal Academy of Music
will pay tribute to Benjamin on 12 May. Their concert will be followed by Southbank Centre
Resident Orchestra the London Sinfonietta, with pianist Tamara Stefanovich and flautist Michael
Cox, in a rare performance of Antara, which features groundbreaking electronics from IRCAM in
Paris, as the orchestra transforms itself sonically into giant pan-pipes. The George Benjamin
Weekend is a countdown event to the London 2012 Festival.
Please visit www.southbankcentre.co.uk/world
For further PRESS information please contact Patricia O’Connor, Head of Press, on 020
7921 0632 / [email protected] or Helena Zedig, Press Manager, on
020 7921 0847 / [email protected].
Notes to Editors
Southbank Centre’s Festival of the World
1 June to 9 September 2012
Southbank Centre’s summer 2012 site-wide Festival of the World with MasterCard opens on 1
June 2012 for the Diamond Jubilee Weekend, and closes on 9 September 2012. As London
welcomes the world this summer, Southbank Centre’s Festival of the World will include
inspirational projects from the UK and around the world, which showcase the power of the arts to
change the lives of individuals, communities and whole societies. The site will be transformed with
art installations including a giant ‘robot’ sculpture; a colossal baobab tree made from fabric;
‘Rainbow Park’, a multi-coloured beach; and an exhibition in the Royal Festival Hall of the thinkers,
artists and communities who have inspired and contributed to the Festival. The reopening of the
Queen Elizabeth Hall Roof Garden, weekly food markets, and a pop-up cafe complete the Festival
landscape. www.southbankcentre.co.uk/world
Southbank Centre
Southbank Centre is the UK’s largest arts centre, occupying a 21-acre site that sits in the midst of
London’s most vibrant cultural quarter on the South Bank of the Thames. The site has an
extraordinary creative and architectural history stretching back to the 1951 Festival of Britain.
Southbank Centre is home to the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and the
Hayward Gallery as well as The Saison Poetry Library and the Arts Council Collection. For further
information please visit www.southbankcentre.co.uk.
About MasterCard
MasterCard cardholders can enjoy exclusive experiences and privileged access to the very best
the Festival of the World has to offer by visiting southbankcentre.co.uk/MasterCard.
MasterCard (NYSE: MA), www.mastercard.com, is a global payments and technology company. It
operates the world’s fastest payments processing network, connecting consumers, financial
institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories.
MasterCard’s products and solutions make everyday commerce activities – such as shopping,
traveling, running a business and managing finances – easier, more secure and more efficient for
everyone. Follow us on Twitter @MasterCardNews, join the conversation on The Heart of
Commerce Blog and subscribe for the latest news.
Arts Council England
Arts Council England champions, develops and invests in artistic and cultural experiences that
enrich people’s lives. We support a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries –
from theatre to digital art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections. Great art
and culture inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves and the world around
us. In short, it makes life better. Between 2011 and 2015, we will invest £1.4 billion of public money
from government and an estimated £1 billion from the National Lottery to help create these
experiences for as many people as possible across the country. www.artscouncil.org.uk
About the Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival
The London 2012 Cultural Olympiad is the largest cultural celebration in the history of the modern
Olympic and Paralympic Movements. Spread over four years, it is designed to give everyone in the
UK a chance to be part of London 2012 and inspire creativity across all forms of culture, especially
among young people. The culmination of the Cultural Olympiad will be the London 2012 Festival, a
spectacular 12-week nationwide celebration bringing together leading artists from across the world
with the very best from the UK, from Midsummers Day on 21 June and running until the final day of
the Paralympic Games on 9 September 2012.The London 2012 Festival will celebrate the huge
range, quality and accessibility of the UK’s world-class culture including dance, music, theatre, the
visual arts, fashion, film and digital innovation, giving the opportunity for people across the UK to
celebrate the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Principal funders of the Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival are Arts Council England,
Legacy Trust UK and the Olympic Lottery Distributor. BP and BT are Premier Partners of the
Cultural Olympiad and the London 2012 Festival.
For more details on the programme and to sign up for information visit
www.london2012.com/festival