Block Universe is London‚Äôs leading international performance art festival and commissioning body. We bring together cutting-edge performance art at the cross-section of contemporary visual art, dance and music, held in major institutions and venues across London, and have built a reputation for launching the careers of a new generation of artists and actively contributing to the local and international performance art scene.
Block Universe has worked with over 100 practitioners producing over 60 productions, including 30 new commissions, and brought 14 international premieres to London over the past 6 years. In 2019 we expanded internationally to present programmes in Italy, the UAE and Germany, and in 2020 organised a week-long digital festival. We partner with major institutions, theatres, artist-run, non-traditional and community spaces, and have created work for over 60,000 live audiences, with a reach through press of close to 950m.
We are committed to being inclusive and accessible, inspiring and educating audiences by producing and presenting work by a diverse range of internationally renowned and emerging artists with strong representation of POC, LGBTQIA+, female, non-binary communities..
Our mission is to create a long-term, sustained engagement with performance art in London and beyond, pioneering a new platform, and positioning London at the forefront of the dialogue surrounding performance internationally.
Block Universe was founded in 2015 by Louise O‚ÄôKelly, and the 2022 team includes Xica Aires, Head of Production, Tatjana Damm, Managing Director and L√©a Malgouyres, Programme Assistant.
Our current advisory panel include Jonathan Sharples and Antoinette O’Loughlin.
We would also like to acknowledge our gratitude towards founding members of the Block Universe team, without whom none of this would be possible. Thank you to Nicky van Breugel and Burcu Yuksel for their time, energy and passion.
To see all the artists we have worked with and our previous partners and supporters please click here.