London Open Live

Whitechapel Gallery is delighted to announce the fifteen artists selected for the 2025 edition of The London Open, which this year focuses on live art practices.

The participating artists are: Devika Bilimoria, Season Butler, Shaun Caton, Helen Davison, Tim Etchells, Plastique Fantastique, Helena Goldwater, i.as.in.we, William Mackrell, Nando Messias, Will Pegna, Roshana Rubin Mayhew, Mahsa Salali, Aaron Williamson and Joshua Woolford.

The London Open was originally established in 1932 to showcase local East End artists and the creative energy of the area. Over the years it has expanded to encompass the whole city and has provided an important launch pad for many of the UK’s leading artists including Larry Achiampong, Frank Bowling, Alice Channer, Anish Kapoor, Heather Phillipson, Paula Rego, Veronica Ryan, and Bob and Roberta Smith.

For 2025, the decision was made to focus on performance and live art. The live art scene was badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, not least due to the cancellation of live events and programmes during the various lockdowns. This inevitably resulted in decreased visibility as well as lack of investment and support for artists. The London Open Live aims to create new opportunities for artists working across live art practices, while showcasing the importance of participatory and collective practices through a dynamic programme of new and recent work.

394 applications were received for this year’s edition from which the final 15 artists were selected. The judging panel comprised of Anne Bean, artist; Lois Keidan, co-founder of the Live Art Development Agency; Martin O’Brien, artist, Senior Lecturer in Live Art and Head of Department of Drama at Queen Mary University London; Harold Offeh, artist and Head of Programme for MA Contemporary Art Practice at the Royal College of Art, London; Leila Hasham, Head of Exhibitions, Whitechapel Gallery; and Hannah Woods, Assistant Curator, Whitechapel Gallery.

The application process for The London Open Live 2025 was managed by Artquest – a public programme of University of the Arts London (UAL) – and is informed by Artquest’s extensive research into open call procedures across the arts sector.

Performances will take place Thursday to Sunday throughout June-September 2025 and will be accompanied by a film programme looking at contemporary performance practice in London.