Yoko Ono has been installed as the curator for next year's instalment of Meltdown, coinciding with her 80th birthday.
A profoundly influential artist, Yoko Ono has lost none of the fire which fuelled those crucial early experiments in the avant garde. Next year the Japanese artist celebrates her 80th birthday, and to coincide the Southbank Centre have installed her as the curator of Meltdown.
Taking charge of the ten day event, Yoko Ono will be responsible for developing the festival's array of performances. No stranger to the event, the Japanese artist performed as part of both Patti Smith’s Meltdown in 2005 and Ornette Coleman’s Meltdown in 2009.
Speaking about her role, Yoko Ono said: “I am deeply honoured to curate the world-famous Meltdown Festival. In doing so I am aware of the great tradition of experimentalism mixed with classicism that has made the festival such an enduring part of the British arts landscape. I am now starting to approach names from all over the world, some of whom you will know and some who might be new to your world. Let the fun begin!”
Yoko Ono's Meltdown will run between June 14th – 23rd.