Star-studded Chelsea Arts festival opens this week
Bernardine Evaristo, Fiona Shaw, Indira Varma, Asa Butterfield, Celia Imrie, Gavin Turk, Inua Ellams, Katherine Rundell and more appear across the five day programme.
Explore the Chelsea Arts Festival from 16-20 September.
See our highlights below. For the the full line up and to book tickets click here. Plus Chelsea's shops, restaurants, hotels and pubs will also be hosting events and running offers for visitors throughout the programme. Explore those here.
Plus, just announced: The Bayeaux Tapestry - Mystery and Marvel, with curator Professor Michael Lewis on Sunday.
Film and Art
Ahead of its UK cinema release on 25 September, the festival will welcome the cast and creators of Sense and Sensibility to Cadogan Hall on Thursday for an exclusive conversation about bringing Jane Austen’s much-loved novel to the screen. Screenwriter Diana Reid will join actors Fiona Shaw and Bodhi Rae Breathnach for an in-depth discussion, accompanied by exclusive clips from the film.
Celebrated conceptual artist Gavin Turk joins the programme at Saatchi Gallery with a unique talk tracing the story of rubbish in art — from the point industrial society first produced ‘waste’ as a category, through Duchamp’s ready-mades and the moment artists began building with, rather than merely depicting, discarded material.
The Chelsea Art Market on Sunday will transform Duke of York Square into an open-air market, with 35 artists showing original artwork and exceptional finds from £5-£500 alongside live music and hands-on workshops from local partners.
Literature
At Cadogan Hall, Asa Butterfield, Indira Varma, Samantha Spiro and Tamsin Greig will take to the stage on Friday with poetry to celebrate ten years of Allie Esiri’s bestselling anthology A Poem for Every Night of the Year, which has inspired generations of poetry lovers.
Katherine Rundell will discuss her new novel The Neverfear on Saturday, while Bernardine Evaristo hosts An Evening with Bernardine Evaristo and Friendson Thursday, presented by the Women’s Prize. Joining her will be Bonnie Garmus, Jacqueline Crooks, Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason and Joelle Taylor, with musical performances from Mariatu and Konya Kanneh-Mason.
Theatre & Music
At Saatchi Gallery on Saturday, The London Theatre Review returns for a live recording of the award-nominated podcast. Hosts Nancy Durrant, Nick Curtis and Nick Clark will be joined by Indhu Rubasingham, Artistic Director of the National Theatre, and actor Samuel Barnett for a rare conversation about running one of Britain's most vital cultural institutions. Saatchi Gallery will also host a party celebrating 50 years since Punk burst on tyo th scenes on King's Road.
Iconic and ever-innovative dance company Rambert brings work from its centenary programme, This Is Rambert, to Cadogan Hall on Saturday in honour of its centenary year.
