Being Human Festival launches for its 10th anniversary with the theme of landmarks

Being Human Festival, now celebrating its 10th anniversary, officially launched at an event and reception on 6 November at the newly reopened and refurbished Warburg Institute.  

In its landmark year, the festival draws inspiration from landmarks, with a free programme of events across the UK. The festival runs from 17 – 16 November, 2024, and consists of 230 in 58 towns and cities, exploring everything from natural landscapes and iconic monuments to famous anniversaries and personal milestones. 

The launch event allowed participants to find out more about the exciting events happening across the UK, with stalls from researchers in Edinburgh, Sheffield, Cardiff, as well as from the School itself, featuring taster activities for attendees.   

Stalls included an exploration of gut microbes by storytelling and guided visualisation, collage creation of seaside memories of Canterbury, a virtual reality experience of ancient Roman history in Wales, a poetry reading as part of research into migrant authors in Surrey, interactive image generation of the Peak District, and copies of censored LGTBQ books during the 1980s as part of the Seized Books! Project, in partnership with both Senate House Library and the School of Advanced Study.  

Find out more about all the events in the Being Human Festival programme by visiting the website. 

Speaking at the event, Being Human Festival Director and Chair of Public Understanding of the Humanities, Professor Sarah Churchwell spoke of the festival’s role in opening up the humanities to the public in imaginative ways, and explore the ways the disciplines inspire and enrich our daily lives. 

Professor Churchwell paid tribute to the Warburg Institute for hosting the event, the School and its staff and colleagues, as well as Research England, and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the British Academy for generous funding and support for the festival.  

University of London Vice Chancellor Wendy Thomson celebrated the festival on its 10th anniversary, and how the University is proud to support it through the School, as well as innovative, creative public engagement.