Culture, technology and entrepreneurship – tick any boxes for you? Remix Summit London 2022 (September 1-2), has arrived back in the capital with a mega-sized programme to celebrate its tenth anniversary. Held at Google HQ in King’s Cross and the National Gallery, the conference-slash-networking-slash-inspiration event is a one-stop-shop for professionals and students working across the cultural, creative, media and tech sectors. Those in the know have been using it as a chance to listen to and connect with industry leaders for years, but its killer line-up of speakers and events also makes it worth checking out if you’re someone who simply loves the arts, regardless of your *actual job title*.
Here's some of the top picks on offer this year – and FYI we’re spotting a bit of an immersive theme going on…
Immersive theatre royalty, Punchdrunk, made their long-anticipated return to London in spring 2022 with ‘The Burnt City’, an epic dystopian shake-up of ancient Greek mythology. If you’re a fan of the group’s choose-your-own-adventure version of theatre – and, let’s face it, these guys really deliver – you should look out for the talk by Punchdrunk’s senior producer Lucy Whitby.
From exhibitions to concerts to outdoor cinema to large-scale musicals and the very best of international theatre programming, the Barbican consistently delivers. What happens inside this Brutalist icon is, more often than not, just as impressive as its famous exterior. Learn a little bit more about how it consistently remains a go-to venue from Claire Spencer, the Barbican’s CEO.
Call it a reaction to so many months spent apart and at home if you like, but 2021 was the year London fell for immersive art. We stopped wanting to look at art and started wanting to be in art. Enter: Superblue, who staged one of the capital’s most popular multisensory, tech-led art experiences from autumn 2021 onwards. Immerse yourself in a talk from their curator, Margot Mottaz.
You might not have heard of Fever – but you probably have heard of their work. This company is behind some of the biggest immersive events of recent times, including ‘Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience’. When not plunging audiences into a world of starry skies and psychedelic sunflowers, they’ve created themed experiences based on Harry Potter, Sleepy Hollow and the artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. Their co-founder, Alexandre Pérez Casares is at Remix this year.
And finally… we couldn’t pull together a list of London-centric immersive experiences without mentioning Secret Cinema. Revolutionising what it means to go to the cinema, these cult-classic aficionados have delivered us into the worlds of ‘Alien’, ‘Casablanca’, James Bond, the Moulin Rouge and more. Personally, we’d love to hear what Fabien Riggall, their founder, has to say.
Remix Summit London 2022 runs from Sep 1-2 at Google HQ and the National Gallery. Grab your last-minute tickets here.
