The Facts
The Southbank Centre, in partnership with Armenian Arts and Film London, presents 'Mixtape: An Evening of Poetry and Music from Beirut' on Saturday, October 3, 2026, at Bush Theatre in Shepherd's Bush, London. The event features poet Perla Kantarjian and sound artist Olivia Melkonian. Kantarjian, a Lebanese-Armenian writer, recently released her debut collection 'You Must Become Field', and has a poem archived in the Lunar Codex on the Moon. Melkonian is founder of Analog Armenia, an open-access archive of Armenian cassette culture. Tickets are £12.50 and include conversation, performances, and drinks afterward.
The Signal
The evening taps into a growing trend of diasporic artists using archival and multimedia practices to reclaim fragmented heritage — from Kantarjian's code-switching poetry to Melkonian's tape preservation. For collectors and curators, the presentation signals institutional interest in cross-disciplinary programming that bridges poetry, sound, and memory across the Middle Eastern diaspora. The Bush Theatre's intimate attic space provides a platform for such hybrid formats, offering a model for how arts centres can support emerging voices outside traditional gallery or stage settings.
- Artists: Perla Kantarjian, Olivia Melkonian
- Museums: Southbank Centre, Bush Theatre
- Locations: London
- Prices: £12.50
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