"[The original organisers] felt that after five and a half years of trauma from the second world war, what the nation needed were more optimistic visions of the future through the lens of art and music, but also science and design and technology. So it was an incredibly forward-looking festival."
"Bedell added that the timing was ideal during a time of increasing divisions within society. We've never needed this more, she said. At a time when the world feels very polarised, we know that arts and culture is the thing that can bring people together. The Southbank Centre has always been this place of congregation."
"The Southbank Centre was at the heart of the 1951 Festival of Britain, which was a celebration of British science, technology and arts thought up by Clement Attlee's Labour government with the Royal Festival Hall sitting as the centrepiece."
Danny Boyle will stage You Are Here at the Southbank Centre next May to mark the 75th anniversary of the Festival of Britain and involve thousands of participants. The event will celebrate the Southbank Centre's role in supporting youth culture since its inception and will take over the site in a large-scale public celebration. The Southbank Centre was central to the original 1951 Festival of Britain, conceived by Clement Attlee's Labour government with the Royal Festival Hall as the centrepiece. Organisers cite the original festival's optimistic, forward-looking vision and hope arts and culture can help bridge current social divisions.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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