Dr Matthew Morrison, Senior Lecturer and Course Leader of Creative Writing BA courses at Westminster, and Professor Guy Osborn from Westminster Law School, have received funding to host ‘Soho after COVID’, a celebratory tour of London art venues present, past and future, as part of the Being Human festival 2021.
As part of the Being Human festival, Dr Morrison, Professor Osborn and the Soho Poly team will present a celebratory tour of London art venues from the past, present and future. The one-hour guided walk will reveal secret spaces, histories and projects.
As well as learning about the artistic history of Soho, participants will also be led to the doorstep of lesser-known venues which faced particular struggles during the pandemic. The experience will be interwoven with performed extracts of newly commissioned poetry, which was inspired by interviews conducted with arts’ professionals during lockdown. The event was produced in collaboration with poetry collective Live Canon and marks the joyful return of culture and performance to the capital’s streets.
On the afternoon of 18 November, the Soho Poly team will also be hosting an online talk with its creators including Dr Morrison, Professor Osborn and Dr Helen Eastman, where they will discuss how the project evolved.
The ‘Soho after COVID’ event for the Being Human festival is part of the National Lottery Funded ‘Soho Poly Project’, a campaign dedicated to the full restoration of the Soho Poly, which was once one of London’s most important post-war alternative theatres. Located in the basement of the University of Westminster’s Riding House Street building, it was a radical pioneer of ‘lunchtime theatre’, dedicated to widening democratic access to the arts. It also gave a voice to underrepresented writers, particularly women and members of the BAME and LGBTQ+ communities.
Talking about their project, Dr Matthew Morrison said: “Being Human has been amazingly supportive of our work to restore and reopen the historic Soho Poly arts venue, so it’s particularly exciting to be involved in their festival again this year as we celebrate the return of arts and culture to central London.”
Being Human is the UK’s only national festival of the humanities, and acts as a celebration of humanities research through public engagement. For Being Human 2021, the festival is themed around ‘Renewal’, promising a programme of exciting, entertaining and thought-provoking events. Led by the School of Advanced Study at the University of London, the festival works in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the British Academy to support public engagement in the sector across the UK.
Find out more about the festival on the Being Human website.
