Live art is an unstoppable force of artistic practice. To highlight its importance and vitality, The London Open Live once again gives the stage to artists to present new and recent work, mapping the variety of such an art form across London.
![Devika Bilimoria, Offerings, 2024, As part of ‘CEREMONY [I]', Future Ritual, London, Photo: Fenia Kotsopoulou. Courtesy of Whitechapel Gallery](https://static.contemporarylynx.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Devika-Bilimoria-Offerings-2024-As-part-of-‘CEREMONY-I_-Future-Ritual-London-Photo_-Fenia-Kotsopoulou.-Courtesy-of-Whitechapel-Gallery.jpg)
The pandemic and the cancellation of live events and programmes because of it were a massive hit to the live arts, the effects of which still resonate. On top of that, the lack of funding, leading to many universities cutting down their support for performance programmes, results in decreased visibility and hence, wider investment and support. Prompted by such unfortunate changes, the Whitechapel Gallery in London builds on its over century-long history of bringing artists, ideas, and audiences together to provide new opportunities for everyone.
London’s East End, one of the world’s most exciting cultural quarters, is then the perfect place to highlight the vitality of live art practices through the 13-week programme of The London Open Live, showcasing artists from different generations whose various responses to “live-ness” invite the audiences to gather around new ideas and experiences. Originally established in 1932, over the years, The London Open has evolved from an open call exhibition for East End artists to encompassing the whole city as a hub of global artistic activity while highlighting vital social and cultural themes and issues.
This year’s programme, focusing on Live Art practices, features both established and emerging artists working across definitions of “live art”. Performances taking place throughout Summer 2025 draw upon a wide range of concepts – from testing the limits of the body under endurance, exploring the texture of verbal and non-verbal language and imagining new worlds to providing a distinct and timely snapshot of live art practice today. The participating artists include Devika Bilimoria, whose three-day durational performance, Offerings, blends ritual, chance, and cultural memory to explore diaspora, hierarchy, and metaphysical belief. Drawing on Afro-Brazilian sacred rites and the mock births of 18th-century London’s molly-house subculture, Complete Breech, a new performance by Nando Messias, combines sculptural acrobatics with choreography rooted in myth, trans rights, and bodily autonomy.
Parasound, a hybrid performance by Will Pegna, merges sound and movement as part of his All Terrain Training project. Exploring physical and conceptual connectivity, it blends fantasy with function to immerse audiences in a suspended world of tension, texture, and collective presence. Joshua Woolford revisits Dancing with the devil / a symphony of organs scattered over the floor, first shown at Camden Arts Centre in 2024. Joined by DJ Sippin’ T, artist Lie Ning, and designer Yodea Marquel, Woolford presents a three-hour-long work exploring collective healing and transformation, seeking new forms of liberation for marginalised voices in a time of global uncertainty. While Tales From a London Grotto, a collaborative performance installation by Shaun Caton and Weeks & Whitford, draws on folkloric narratives tied to London’s tributaries, the work channels local histories and spirits through a shared mediumistic process, offering an immersive journey into hidden knowledge and urban myth.
i.as.in.we presents The Score(s): III, an embodied translation of Yewande YoYo Odunubi and Rohan Ayinde’s collaborative study practice. Set in a kitchen and unfolding over five scenes, the performance reimagines photographs from Carrie Mae Weems’ Kitchen Table Series (1990) through dance, sound, dialogue, and poetry. Rooted in Black radical traditions and spanning multiple Black geographies and timelines, the work explores the space between everyday Black aliveness and the drive to imagine structural change and new futures.
The participating artists:
Devika Bilimoria, Season Butler, Shaun Caton, Helen Davison, Tim Etchells, Plastique Fantastique, Helena Goldwater, i.as.in.we, William Mackrell, Nando Messias, Will Pegna, Roshana, Rubin Mayhew, Mahsa Salali, Aaron Williamson, and Joshua Woolford.
The London Open Live
June 4 – September 7, 2025
Whitechapel Gallery, London
