What To See At Art Night 2018
By Something CuratedOne of London’s largest contemporary art festivals, Art Night, helmed by Ksenia Zemtsova and Philippine Nguyen, returns with its third edition for one busy night this Saturday July 7th, from 6pm-6am. Each year since its inception in 2016, Art Night has partnered with a cultural institution to curate a contemporary arts festival based on the culture and identity of a London neighbourhood. From commissions to one-off projects, Art Night showcases a diverse multidisciplinary art programme. This year, the festival’s trail will run alongside the River Thames, spanning from Southbank Centre’s Hayward Gallery to Battersea Power Station.
Art Night has enlisted the exhibitions team at the Hayward Gallery to curate this year’s festival. Integral to the culture of the Southbank Centre, the Hayward Gallery has a strong history of exhibiting work by both emerging and established artists such as Antony Gormley, Francis Bacon, and Ed Ruscha, over the years. The Hayward team have curated Art Night 2018 based on themes of home and urban landscape.
On the Art Night 2018 trail, visitors will witness a comfortably furnished living room explode in slow motion in Dwelling (2014), a single-channel video work by Taiwanese artist Yuan Goang-Ming. At the British Interplanetary Society, you will encounter Halil Altindere’s Space Refugee—a multimedia installation on Muhammed Ahmed Faris, the first Syrian Cosmonaut in space who is now a refugee in Turkey. And at the newly reopened Garden Museum, Liv Wynter, a UK artist and activist, will host a series of live performances including poetry, rap, music and dance, which engage in social issues. Other highlighted artists in the Hayward Gallery’s programme include Prem Sahib, Suzanne Treister, Cécile B. Evans, Lara Favaretto, Vajiko Chachkhiani, and Miao Ying.
Art Night’s Open Call initiative has invited over 50 other cultural institutions to participate in the festival. The projects in Art Night’s Open Call will take place throughout the trail in unexpected venues and outdoor spaces and will follow the Hayward Gallery’s curatorial themes. This Open Call programme will feature an exciting body of work, including the performative installation Muro (2018) by Mexican artist Bosco Sodi. Throughout the night, Sodi will invite trail-goers to dismantle her installation, a wall comprised of 1600 clay bricks located near the National Theatre’s riverside square, as well as take a piece of the artwork home with them.
Art Night founders Zemtsova and Nguyen hope that in its third edition the festival will, “Offer an artistic exploration of London, celebrating diversity, culture, heritage and architecture, through an engaging, free and multidisciplinary programme of events.” An event accessible to all, featuring a diversity of artistic voices, Art Night truly embodies this ethos of community. Open for one night only tomorrow, be sure to visit Art Night 2018 to see the Southbank enlivened by contemporary art and performance.
Words by Olivia Williams | Feature image: Lara Favaretto (via Art Night)