Theatrum Mundi, which has been based at LSE Cities since 2012, is moving to Somerset House. Growing out of a series of conversations bringing together artists, performers, and urbanists to discuss shared questions about the ways culture produces public life in cities, Theatrum Mundi has developed into an independent charitable organisation.
Founded at the LSE in 2012 by urbanist and sociologist Professor Richard Sennett, Theatrum Mundi (TM) convened workshops, conferences, and publications examining the design of the urban public realm through the crafts of artistic practices such as choreography and music, and assembled a network of young artists and urbanists that generously contributed to its work. As it grew, TM coordinated more ambitious projects, such as a series of international design challenges asking whether political ideals can be designed into the city.
Within the last two years at LSE Cities, under the directorship of Adam Kaasa, TM has developed programmes with partners such as Onassis Cultural Centre in Athens, People’s Palace Projects in Rio de Janeiro and weareherevenice; commissioned a film bringing to life the Quito Papers with UN-Habitat and presented it in events in Paris, New York, and Beijing; undertaken a major piece of research on cultural infrastructure in London to be launched at Museum of London on 14th November; created a series of experimental seminars with architects and musicians at the Fondation Maison des sciences de l’homme in Paris; and produced its first book ‘Uncommon Building’ from a series of workshops on speculative fiction.
TM will continue to create programmes and partnerships that aim to enrich urban design and research through encounter with arts practices, as well as providing a setting for rich critical discussion between its network of collaborators. In London, TM will be led by John Bingham-Hall, who has been with the project since 2015, with a board of trustees chaired by Richard Sennett. Through a new link with Columbia University, TM will also expand its activities in New York and Paris, as well as creating an exchange with Beijing with support from the Kaifeng Foundation.
Upcoming programming includes workshops on urban sound, a salon at the Museum of London, and film screenings raising questions about culture in migration.
Forthcoming
20th October
Uncommon Building Book Launch
Somerset House, London
20th October
Atelier TM: the body as research tool
Villa Vassilieff, Paris
26th October
Cosmopolis: Collective Intelligence #1
Centre Pompidou, Paris
14th November
The London Salon: cultural infrastructure
Museum of London
26th November
Music in Migration
ICA
