Culture vs science at The Exhibition Road Show festival

Art & Culture — 26 July 2012

Hive of Activity: a previous piece by Tomáš Libertíny

It’s difficult to imagine any right- minded Londoner needing an extra reason to visit Exhibition Road. But we’ve been given one, nonetheless. For a week from Saturday, South Ken’s cultural attractions won’t just be confined to the Natural History, Science and Victoria & Albert Museums, but will spill out onto the surrounding streets as part of the free Exhibition Road Show festival.

Packed with installations, gigs, games and dancing, the event will marry culture with science across a collection of pop-up venues.

Rising British art star Katie Paterson has created a new piece using a recast meteorite. And a ‘living sculpture’ that features live bees has been contributed by Slovak artist Tomàš Libertiny.

There will be lavishly- orchestrated pop from singer- songwriter Patrick Wolf, Mercury Prize-nominated folk from Eliza Carthy, plus performances by Kåmmer Kla, Martin Carthy, Leo Abrahams and Leafcutter John, Chris Difford and many more.

Visitors will also be able to dance their way through the genres and generations, with a different kind of music – including dancehall, ceilidh, swing and Afrobeat – soundtracking each evening at the specially- constructed ballroom.

And there’ll also be acrobatics, vintage games and themed short story readings. Pretty cool for an area whose residents are several million years old.