East Bank summer programme
East Bank is delighted to announce its first creative programme, running 23 July – 22 September 2022 in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and neighbouring venues across the four Olympic boroughs – Newham, Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest. Marking 10 years since the London 2012 Olympic Games, this free programme of cultural events will celebrate the continued legacy of the Games in east London, bringing together new art commissions; live performances, talks and tours; and a series of community workshops.
East Bank is a unique collaboration between world-leading universities, and arts and culture institutions on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. A new hub for innovation, creativity and learning, East Bank opens up opportunities for everyone who visits, lives and works in east London. This summer’s creative programme anticipates the forthcoming site openings of each of the East Bank partners: University College London, London College of Fashion, UAL, BBC, Sadler’s Wells and V&A. In particular, the programme’s grand finale will celebrate the opening of the UCL East campus on 22 September 2022. The East Bank summer programme is supported by Foundation for Future London, the City of London, London Legacy Development Corporation, Greater London Authority and the councils of Newham, Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest.
The Great Get Together
23 July
Our free-to-enter, flagship community event is inspired by and showcases the best of east London, bringing together music, dance, arts, sports and food for all to enjoy.
Prepare to be wowed by our mainstage line-up, expect breakthrough acts and cutting-edge music brought to you by BBC Music Introducing. Our favourites London School of Samba Parade will bring a fiesta of vibrant colour and rhythmic dance, and Breakin’ Convention are back with their rap lyrics and hip-hop moves - we challenge you not to dance along. Awe-inspiring circus acts, immersive street theatre, and an acoustic area jam-packed with up-and-coming local singers, musicians plus poets are sure to keep you entertained throughout the day. Visit The Great Get Together website for more information.
Dystopia/Utopia
27 August - 30 October
Summer 2022 marks the beginning of the East Bank partners arriving in Stratford, and the 10-year anniversary of the London Olympic Games. In this East Bank commission by ground-breaking media publication gal-dem, independent curator Leyla Reynolds programmes a series of activations by artists of colour from marginalised genders, exploring the way communities rebuild after a pandemic for a more equitable future.
Exhibiting artists include illustrator Erin Aniker, multimedia artist Cherelle Sappleton and visual artist Kirsty Kerr. The works will appear in and around Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park as digital screens, large-scale easels, printed hoardings, installations, and more.
Dystopia to Utopia: reimagining our future
22 September, 7.30pm and 8.15pm
Commissioned as part of the 2022 East Bank creative programme, and set against the stunning backdrop of the rising East Bank buildings on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Dystopia to Utopia: Reimagining Our Future is a large-scale outdoor performance fusing dance, music, spoken word, and film. Creatively produced by East London Dance in partnership with UD Music, the performance includes an 80-strong cast of community, youth, and professional dancers and singers from east London.
At sunset, on Thursday 22 September the East Bank site on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park will come to life with projection and genre-bending performance, inspired by the theme of Dystopia/Utopia set by renowned publication gal-dem. Co-designed by the young people, community cast, and creative team, the piece re-imagines our future as we come together as a community following the pandemic.
The performance will mark the arrival of the East Bank Partners onto the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park as University College London opens its doors this September, with UAL: London College of Fashion, V&A East, BBC Music, and Sadler’s Wells East soon to follow.
Both performances (7.30pm and 8.15pm) are the same, lasting approximately 20 minutes each. Join us on the platform below Tessa Jowell Boulevard, opposite East Bank on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park (what3words: script.famous.return).
- Commissioned and produced by East Bank Partners: University College London, UAL: London College of Fashion, V&A East, BBC Music, and Sadler’s Wells East.
- Creatively produced at the Talent House by East London Dance in partnership with UD Music, responding to a creative brief by gal-dem.
- Creative Director, Dannielle ‘Rhimes’ Lecointe, with additional choreography by Olu Alatise, Natasha Cox and Dominic Hamilton.
- Music Producer, Tony Nwachukwu, with additional musical direction by Andy Gilbert.
- Featuring a community and professional dance cast, East London Youth Dance Company & Flames Collective.
- The film features 'My Hood' a film by Alice Underwood, choreographed by Jordan ‘JFunk’ Franklin, with music production by Andy Gilbert, performances by Y.O.U Collective and Flames Collective; extra footage captured by Missing Pixels; and artwork by Erin Aniker and Cherelle Sappleton.
Talks and Tours – Critical Conversations – Utopia/Dystopia
15 October, 1-6pm at Hackney Bridge, AGO2, 1 - 28 East Bay Lane, Hackney, London, E15 7SJ
Drawing on the themes of the East Bank’s Summer Programme, 'Dystopia/Utopia', this afternoon of talks at Hackney Bridge culminates a summer of creativity by artists and communities in east London.
Featuring artists commissioned by ground-breaking media publication gal-dem and independent curator Leyla Reynolds, as well as researchers, curators, and experts from the East Bank partners (V&A, London College of Fashion, UCL, BBC, and Sadlers Wells) this program explores the prescient issues related to communities surrounding the East Bank site.
Topics for the day include Heatwaves: climate crisis and its impact on communities of colour; Making interventions, legacies of change pre and post-pandemic, discussing community organising and mutual aid; as well as an insight into the creative process of artists and producers commissioned for the East Bank Summer Programme.
1pm - 1.45pm: Utopia/Dystopia Art Tour
An opportunity to explore artworks by Cherelle Sappleton, Erin Aniker, and Kirsty Kerr led by curator Leyla Reynolds.
2pm - 2.55pm: Heatwaves: the climate crisis and its impacts on communities of colour
A panel focused on how communities of colour are being particularly hit hard by the climate crisis.
3.15pm - 4.10pm: Talk: Making interventions: legacies of change pre and post-pandemic
A panel discussing the hyper-local politicised changes made and being made by groups, prompted by the pandemic, with emphasis on community groups and acts of resistance achieved by organising and mutual aid. As well as how these interventions are extending beyond the pandemic and enduring through the cost of living crisis.
4.15pm - 5pm: Utopia/Dystopia Art Tour
An opportunity to explore artworks by Cherelle Sappleton, Erin Aniker and Kirsty Kerr led by curator Leyla Reynolds.
5pm - 5.55pm: Getting back to normal: how our artists did it
An insight into the creative process behind the artworks, featuring artists, curators, and producers from the East Bank summer program.
6pm onwards: Drinks
Join artists and producers for informal drinks on the Hackney Bridge Terrace, and tell us your ideas for future events in the East Bank program.
