The Southbank Centre’s biennial Unlimited, the major UK festival celebrating the work of disabled artists, this year has an ambitious multi-art programme platforming the extraordinary creative work of artists who identify as being disabled, D/deaf, neurodivergent and those experiencing chronic illness or mental health conditions.
The five-day festival features new commissions, bespoke one-off events and existing work and includes a huge variety of events from a socially distanced cabaret Touretteshero’s Masked Ball (Fri 9 Sept), curated by theatre-maker and comedian Jess Thom, to an immersive sound and light performance BODIES (Thurs 8 Sept), taking place in a swimming pool in Leytonstone. The festival programme runs from 7-11 September 2022 and includes events spanning performance, dance, cabaret, music, visual art, film, talks and workshops. Unlimited is accessible to all, with over 50% of the programme available for free, plus 11 events which can be experienced digitally at home.
This is the first in-person Unlimited festival since 2018, with an increased focus on digital access. The Southbank Centre has been presenting the Unlimited festival since 2012 in partnership with Unlimited.
Ruth Hardie, Head of Public Programming at the Southbank Centre, says: “We’re delighted to be hosting another Unlimited festival celebrating the incredible artistic vision and creativity of disabled artists. This year’s festival includes amazing work commissioned by our partner Unlimited, and we’ve designed it to be as accessible as possible. Disabled artists and audiences were particularly hard hit by Covid-19, so we wanted to ensure people can experience the creative work, in a safe and appropriate way for them. We’re offering a wide variety of free, ticketed and online events for all ages and interests, so we encourage everyone to get involved.”
Jo Verrent, Director of Unlimited, says: “We can’t wait for this edition of the Southbank Centre’s Unlimited festival to start. We know the impact it can make on a disabled artist’s career and we are exceptionally pleased to see so many of our commissioned artists being featured. This festival is a melting pot of art, debate and connection for our whole community. This is why we are excited to offer an updated industry strand with new ways for our UK and international colleagues to connect. After the last few years, it’s brilliant to have an in-person festival with great online access and specific events for those of us who are remaining masked and socially distanced (like me and many of our team and artists!).”
Full event listings are available here: https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/festivals-series/unlimited
Southbank Centre, 7th – 11th September.
