RA Summer Lates: The Other Paradise
Saturday 19 August 2017 7 - 11.45pm
Royal Academy of Arts
£45 - Tickets are available to buy upon arrival
Summer Exhibition 2017
Come and experience art, music, cocktails, mermaid life drawing, performance art, tropical funk DJs, craft activities, talks and more at the RA’s end of summer party on Piccadilly.
The RA becomes your playground for the night at this boutique arts festival inspired by ideas of paradise.
Wander through our courtyard, nomadic yurt and gilded Fine Rooms to discover mermaid life-drawing, tropical disco dancing, an immersive production of Milton's Paradise Lost, palm trees, secret bars, Egyptian holographic fairy tales, mermaid crown-making, talks on Greek mythology and utopia, Persephone-inspired performance art, and much more to be revealed…
Dress code: otherworldly sublime
Think fantastical creatures, mermaids and mermen, bewitching underworld inhabitants and mythical characters.
Need inspiration? Head to Pinterest
Take a look at photos of our previous RA Lates.
See below for more information about the event programme:
Tropical paradise
Step into an outdoor tropical Arcadian paradise bedecked with palm trees, sculptures and creative activities, including:
Mermaid crown-making workshop led by headdress designer and artist Caroline Young
African drumming performances by Henri Gao Bi
Tropical garden photobooth and costumes by Lova Avedian and Ciara Monahan
Botanical postcard making with Hannah Fletcher
Nomadic yurt
Enter our yurt to discover:
Dark Mermaid life drawing with Art Macabre
Sketch sinister sirens and creatures of the deep with Art Macabre. The purveyors of dark arts and theatrical life drawing present a pair of perfectly macabre merpeople for you to capture in your inky drawings.
Tropical funk DJ set by DJ Kobayashi
DJ Kobayashi's musical style varies from Balkan beats, swing, rhythm and blues, Mediterranean grooves and electro swing. He regularly performs all over London, and will bring an eclectic paradise-inspired set to the RA.
'Paradise Lost' experience
Immersive production company Wilson & Hart present a reimagining of Milton's Paradise Lost epic. Enter into the purgatorial airport and choose your route through the RA's gilded Fine Rooms. The choices you make will lead you to heaven or hell, where communal salvation or an isolating nightmare awaits...
Mythical theatre
Lose yourself in live performances inspired by myths and fairy tales
Holographic visuals and live music performances by artist Adeline Rozario, inspired by Egyptian fairytales titled The Forest of Phantasmagorias.
Opera Viscera performance featuring Lia Ikkos, Lucy Paffard and Rhianna Compton. A series of performances inspired by the Persephone myth, combining poetry, electronic music and dance.
Underworld, Utopia and sci-fi lectures
Join a series of discussions and informal talks led by historians and academics, about utopia, science fiction, mythical cults and ancient festivals including:
Professor Hugh Bowden (Kings College London) on Golden Tickets to Elysium The discovery of small gold tablets placed in graves in Greece and southern Italy and inscribed with instructions to the dead, has revealed how the ancient Greeks believed that through initiation into secret rites, they too could find their way to eternal Elysium. Hugh Bowden explores these fascinating objects, and the hidden religious world that they reveal.
Farrukh Akbar (Artist, Chelsea College of Art) presents his interactive installation and video projection, Genesis Rewound, and discusses how his work relates to AI, technological utopias and the Persian philosopher Avicenna.
Dr Jimena Escudero Pérez (Visiting Research Fellow, UCL) on Sci Fi Edens: Paradise on Earth and Other Worlds, discussing AI narratives and post-humanism within utopias and dystopias.
Matisse's Paper Garden
Take part in this drop-in workshop hosted by The Collage Club creating paper flowers and foliage inspired by our forthcoming exhibition Matisse in the Studio
Nocturnal Paradise
Chill out to live DJ set by Patricia Puertas, incorporating natural ambient sounds with abstract visual projections by Claudio Giambusso
Plus exclusive after-hours private view of the RA's exhibitions
Including
Summer Exhibition
Matisse in the Studio
Second Nature: The Art of Charles Tunnicliffe RA
note that entry is subject to exhibition capacities on the night
Street food stalls and cocktail bars
A selection of London's finest street food stalls provided by Feast It, including:
Rainbo
Serving up the best gyoza dumplings and Japanese street food with their own personal stamp
Growlers
Dishing out Portuguese steak sandwiches, made with bavette steak and full of flavour.
Zoe's Ghana Kitchen
West African street food, merging its Ghanaian roots with contemporary dining.
Happy Endings
Scooping out ice cream and alcoholic ice lollies
Plus Peyton & Byrne cafes open serving a selection of salads, charcuterie, cheese platters and sandwiches
with cocktail bars by Peter Spanton and Christabel's, and craft beer by Deviant & Dandy
And more to be revealed ...
Watch this space for more programme announcements, including Lego building, secret bars and more spaces to discover ...
Booking information
Available to all
• Access to The Other Paradise curated entertainment, experiences and activities.
• After-hours private view of RA exhibitions
Exclusively for Academicians' Room members, Patrons and Friends of the RA.
• Access to The Other Paradise curated entertainment, experiences and activities.
• Queue jump entry to all RA exhibitions
• Exclusive access to our private garden bar with a complimentary glass of champagne, botanical gin tasting and themed activities
See pictures on the RA's flickr page here of our last summer Late 'The Electric Forest'
An immersive experience you won't want to miss
List of Life
Fantastic event with more to do than expected – a wonderful atmosphere too. Perfect for a balmy summer evening!
Guest at RA Lates: The Summer Circus, July 2016
Ridiculously trendy
Culture Whisper