South by South East festival comes to the Gulbenkian Arts Centre

South by South East is an annual festival of creativity held on our Canterbury campus at the Gulbenkian Arts Centre. Over two days (11 & 12 May 2022) the festival combines the opportunity for artists to develop and showcase projects in development, and for audiences to see new and emerging work being made in Kent and Essex.

This year’s line-up includes works of dance, multi-disciplinary work, immersive installations, cabaret and spoken word. It is not just for industry, there are free, outdoor events you can join next week – and tickets available for a number of the performances. So please come along and see what’s new!

Producers of the festival, 1DegreeEast, are bringing the South by South East back to Gulbenkian for its second year. The Festival supports the aim of the Institute of Cultural and Creative Industries (iCCi) to position the University as a key player in the development of the arts in Kent.

Find out more by visiting the Gulbenkian Arts Centre website.

Here’s just some of the things that you can enjoy during the week:

Wednesday 11 May

  • Fish out of Water – 12.15 – on the Registry lawn  (free & no ticket required)

Fish Out Of Water is a fresh, multi-disciplinary outdoor dance performance, which explores themes of belonging, otherness, displacement, and migrancy.

  •  Boogie Booth – 1.30 – on the Registry lawn  (free & no ticket required)

Boogie Booth is a live performance and dance experience. Visitors will meet our resident BoogieBoothers, Karl & Faith, who will take you on a spectacular tour through the world of dance from Jazz, Hip-Hop, to Roma dancing, all within the magical Boogie Booth.

  • Speaking out & Fitting In! – 3.30 – at the Gulbenkian (£5 per ticket)

“Speaking Out and Fitting In” is a solo show in dynamic poetry and beguiling prose, with flashes of cabaret and aerial burlesque, in which Alice d’Lumiere playfully explores the wonderful, if occasionally counter-intuitive, position of the gender-fluid individual striving to both fit in to another gender whilst yearning to establish a unique, personal voice for themselves.

Thursday 12 May

  • Simorgh Soup – Barking Trees – 2:45 – at the Gulbenkian Theatre, free but ticketed

A wild new dance theatre production exploring Spinoza’s ethics and our relationship to nature and technology

  • Finding an Audience Online – 4.45 – at the Gulbenkian Theatre (£5 per ticket)

Comedian and creator of the internet sensation The Room Next Door, Michael Spicer joins broadcaster and writer Katie Puckrik to talk about making comedy under the radar for over twenty years before using social media to make the breakthrough.

  • 11 & 12 May – In Her Shoes Exhibition – at the Colyer-Fergusson Foyer (free & no ticket required)

In Her Shoes is an immersive installation experience exploring the concepts of identity, stereotypes, and relationship to home. Your 20-minute adventure begins as you step inside a shoe shop built for one.