Created by leading voices across film, theatre, literature and fashion – Gareth Pugh, Carson McColl, Danny Boyle and Paulette Randall, with Sabrina Mahfouz and Natasha Chivers, the landmark event will transform the Southbank Centre in a one-day, sitewide experience: an immersive fusion of theatrical performance, live music, dance, fashion and visual art that reveals the throughlines between cultural movements that have shifted Britain’s kaleidoscopic identity.
You Are Here is the centrepiece of its 75th anniversary celebrations.
Since the Festival of Britain in 1951, the Southbank Centre has been a leading cultural beacon, a meeting place for boundary-pushing artists and a welcoming space for audiences. You Are Here builds on that spirit and 75 years of history, reimagining the site with a large-scale takeover.
Tracking a riotous path from monochrome 1950s austerity to a full-technicolour present-day, You Are Here traces a story of ingenuity and rebellion that has run through the core of Britain’s cultural identity across the decades. Drawing on the restless innovation that has shaped Britain since the post-war years – from reconstruction of a post-war city and the spirit of the Festival of Britain, to radical artistic movements and underground subculture – the experience connects moments of uprising, resilience and joy across generations.
Paulette Randall, director of You Are Here, said: “You Are Here is fundamentally a story about who we are as a country, told on an ambitious, collective scale. It brings together a team of storytellers to create something that feels both epic and deeply personal, reflecting the many voices and experiences that have shaped Britain’s cultural life. Having first worked with Danny at the Royal Court Theatre and then later on at the London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony, it’s a special opportunity to reunite in building a work that invites audiences to see themselves within that shared narrative”.
You Are Here draws from underground movements, club scenes, subcultural fashion, music and activism, tracing the impact of those at the vanguard of cultural and social change. Poets, MCs and rappers carry stories through the space, while choral voices and dancers translate them into irresistible sound and movement, threading a kaleidoscopic narrative throughout the day. Visitors may step from the heat and pulse of a high octane Northern Soul dancefloor to the communal joy of a house party; or move from mass participation dance to audiovisual responses to some of Britain’s most anarchic fashion and nightlife movements – each transition opening a window onto the nation’s ever-evolving identity.
