A Tonic to the Nation: Immigrant Contribution to the Festival of Britain

Wednesday 9 September | St John's Waterloo

Marking 75 years since the Festival of Britain, St John's Waterloo - the official Festival church - will host events exploring the overlooked role that immigrants and refugees played in shaping the festival.

Overview of the day:

Symposium | 9:15am

Aimed at both a general and a specialist audience, this symposium will explore an important but still widely overlooked aspect of the 1951 Festival of Britain and its legacy: the disproportionately large creative input of those from (mostly) Jewish immigrant families and of former refugees from Nazism. Speakers include: Naomi Games, daughter of graphic designer Abram Games and Sarah MacDougall, Head of Collections and Special Projects at Ben Uri Gallery and Museum. The symposium is organised by Monica Bohm-Duchen, founding director of Insiders/Outsiders, in partnership with St John’s Waterloo and with the support of Counterpoints Arts, the Shoresh Charitable Trust, the Werthwhile Foundation and Jewish Renaissance.

 Émigré Cabaret | 7:00pm

A concert by tenor Norbert Meyn and pianist Christopher Gould telling the story of émigré musicians who rebuilt their lives in Britain during the Second World War.

Exhibition: Music, Migration and Mobility | 9 Sept until 9 Oct

A touring exhibition from the Royal College of Music, which traces the journeys of émigré musicians. Visitors can listen to oral interviews, experiences from the Second World War and hear about the impact on British music.

More info about all three events and tickets here