Queer East’s seventh festival edition, taking place this May and June, includes an exciting performing arts programme. The festival continues its multidisciplinary momentum in partnership with leading London arts venues, presenting a range of bold, thought-provoking queer works from East and Southeast Asia and their diaspora communities. This year’s programme features two international productions No. 60 by the renowned Pichet Klunchun Dance Company (Thailand) and Bunny by performance artists Daniel Kok and Luke George (Singapore, Germany, Australia). A new Queer East takeover takes place at the ICA featuring a dynamic lineup of queer artists, performers and DJs from around the world. As well, an industry day for performance makers and cultural workers involved in queer and Asian arts will also be part of this year’s programme.
The festival runs from 1 May to 6 June, with the performing arts programme hosted at Battersea Arts Centre, The Place, ICA and Chats Palace.
No. 60 by Pichet Klunchun Dance Company (Thailand)
Tuesday 19 May, 7.30pm
The Place
One of Thailand’s most celebrated choreographers, Pichet Klunchun, and his company join Queer East at The Place with this provocative reimagination of traditional Thai Khon dance. Stripping the classical form of its mask and sequins, Klunchun scrutinises the 59 poses and movements in the Theppanom canon, which all Thai classical dancers acquire by rote-learning. Six new principles propose a ‘60th movement’ to deconstruct the 700-year-old system, allowing a new generation to think and create freely.
No. 60 undoes classical limitations embracing the sense and soul of Thai legacy. A dialogue unfolds between tradition and innovation as the dancers inhabit and circulate within the same continuum, not as binary opposites, instigating individual thought and expression in the times of autocracy.
Bunny by Daniel Kok and Luke George (Singapore, Germany, Australia)
4, 5 & 6 June, 7.30pm
Battersea Arts Centre
Bunny is a daring interactive performance utilising the physical properties of rope and knots to explore desire, trust, consent, and connection between the artist and the audience. This durational performance unravels lines of connection, suspending tension and unleashing collective desire.
Daniel Kok and Luke George look to macramé, sailors’ knots, Chinese knots and rope bondage to weave together an experience of collectivity. “Bunny” is a nickname given to the person being tied in rope bondage. In this work, we ask ourselves this question: What if everyone (in the theatre) is a Bunny?
Since its world premiere in 2016, Bunny has travelled to over 15 cities across North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia, generating enthusiastic responses. Finally, Bunny lands in London, and for the very first time in the UK, audiences are invited in.
Bunny is on sale now and runs from 4–6 June in partnership with Battersea Arts Centre.
Queer East Takeover at the ICA (16 May) and Industry Programme at Chats Palace (23 May)
Expanding its ongoing partnership with the ICA, the new Queer East takeover will feature an electrifying group of East and Southeast Asian artists at the forefront of radical queer arts, music, and performance. This full-venue activation will include a variety of events, with contributions from artists such as Joseph Lee and Paula Wong from Hong Kong’s Unlock Dancing Plaza, London-based Shibari artist hua hua, an artist film and moving image programme curated by Bart Seng Wen Long, a DJ night, and more to be confirmed.
In addition to the performance events, Queer East will hold an Industry Day at Chats Palace. This will feature a programme of talks, panels, pitches, and workshops to share ideas and best practices within the performing arts sector. It will bring together queer theatre makers, festival curators, and grassroots community organisers to utilise resources and address shared challenges through collaborative networking.
Full artist lineup and programme to be announced in early April.
Yi Wang, Queer East Festival and Programme Director, says: “Starting as a film-focused showcase in 2020, I am thrilled to see that Queer East has emerged to be one of the most exciting multi-disciplinary arts festivals in the UK, centred on East and Southeast Asian queer communities and beyond. Working closely with our partners across the city, this year’s Queer East presents an artistically ambitious programme that invites audiences to experience some of the most forward-thinking queer performance making in expansive shapes and forms. The richness of Asian and queer communities is a vital part of the UK’s identity, and I hope that Queer East can continue to foster a space for bold, alternative, and multifaceted expressions of Asianness and queerness.”
Queer East Festival 2026 takes place 1 May – 6 June across venues in London. The full festival programme will be announced in early April.
Venues: Barbican Centre, Battersea Arts Centre, BFI Southbank, Centre 151, Chats Palace, ICA, Rio Cinema, The Place, Museum of the Home, and more
