Art Night will transform the South Bank with a host of creative events this Saturday

Art Night 2018, one of London’s largest free contemporary arts festivals will take place this Saturday on London’s South Bank. With new commissions, one-off artist projects and highlighted work curated by the Hayward Gallery exhibitions team, Art Night will take place “in iconic and off-the-beaten-track venues” along a trail that runs from the Southbank Centre, through Vauxhall, Nine Elms and Battersea Power Station. As well as inviting a leading cultural institution to explore the “history, culture and architecture of a different part of London”, Art Night Open also offers local galleries, organisations, independent artists and curators the opportunity to take part in the festival.

Showcasing work that responds to the idea of “home” — Art Night will explore emotional and political themes of residency, refuge and security. The event “will offer an artistic exploration of London, celebrating diversity, culture, heritage and architecture”, explains the founders Ksenia Zemtsova and Philippine Nguyen. A group of guides will be on hand across the trail to guide visitors throughout the night, with a dedicated MBNA Thames Clippers boat running a bespoke route until 4 am.

There will also be a range of free, multidisciplinary events: Liv Wynter hosts a series of live performances at the newly reopened Garden Museum. The night includes poetry, rap, music and dance, touching on themes of politics and class, activism and labour, and sexuality and gender. Projected outside the Hayward Gallery, Yuan Goang-Ming’s Dwelling depicts a furnished living room exploding in slow motion; a work that investigates the cultural nuances of ‘home’, ‘dwelling’ and ‘ruins’. In the Embassy Gardens Marketing Suite, Miao Ying will present a virtual reality that invites the audience for a session of ‘lifestyle hypnotism’.

Art Night takes place this Saturday on London’s South Bank 6-6pm.