Elif Shafak and Anoushka Shankar Will Headline Southbank Centre’s Refugee Week 2026 Programme

This summer, the Southbank Centre will celebrate the resilience, creativity and contributions of refugees and people seeking sanctuary as Refugee Week returns with a programme of cultural events and performances centred on the theme of ‘Courage.' The Southbank Centre's Refugee Week programme, which runs 26 – 28 June 2026, brings together artists with lived experience of displacement, leading cultural voices, allies and creatives with migrant heritage to reflect on what courage looks like today. It offers a powerful affirmation of community and solidarity in defiance of division and hostility with a dynamic and multi-disciplinary programme of DJ sets, film screenings, gigs, panel discussions and literary events in response to this year's theme.

This year's iteration of the festival takes place during the Southbank Centre's 75th anniversary year and also marks 75 years since the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention first set out the internationally recognised definition of a refugee, along with the rights and protections that must be afforded to them. Seventy-five years on, Refugee Week celebrates this historic moment with a joyful programme, shining a light on rich and multifaceted creative projects by those who have sought sanctuary. 

The Southbank Centre programme is produced in partnership with UK-based charity Counterpoints Arts and forms part of the wider national celebration of Refugee Week, the world's largest arts and culture festival celebrating the creativity of refugees and people seeking sanctuary, running 15 – 21 June 2026.

Highlights at Southbank Centre include global bestselling writer and renowned activist Elif Shafak, who will deliver the inaugural Counterpoints Lecture in the Queen Elizabeth Hall on 27 June. Drawing inspiration from the use of the term ‘counterpointed' to describe the diverse and complex perspectives of people who have experienced displacement, Shafak will explore how artists displaced by war and political extremism can reshape our understanding, and whether creativity can help to heal our divided world.

Sitar virtuoso and activist Anoushka Shankar joins forces with Counterpoints Arts and the Southbank Centre to co-curate It Sounds Like Courage in the Royal Festival Hall, a night of performances from artists standing in solidarity with displaced people (26 June). Hosted by comedian Nish Kumar and featuring artists including Salena Godden and Nikita Gill, alongside Nai Barghouti who performs with the London Contemporary Orchestra – with more acts to be announced – this showcase will be celebratory, centring community, connection, and creativity. 

On 27 June, DJ collective Our HeartBeats take over the Southbank Centre's Riverside Terrace for a free community celebration of the power of music to bring people together. Championing DJs from displaced and underrepresented backgrounds, the collective use music and performance to empower young people, particularly those with experience of displacement. Weaving together the sounds of home with the unmistakable reverberations of London's vibrant music scene, this day-to-night musical journey sees newly trained Our HeartBeats DJs take centre stage, supported by headline acts, to share their sounds and their stories. 

A specially selected programme of short films, curated by actor and writer Sarah Agha, will be screened for Arab Film Club on 28 June in the Purcell Room, followed by a live Q&A with Agha and the film-makers. These films demonstrate how film-makers can humanise narratives of migration, using cinema to champion stories of courage, community and resilience.

Almir Koldzic, Director of Counterpoints Arts, said: “We are proud to continue our longstanding partnership with the Southbank Centre for Refugee Week 2026. Through music, spoken word, visual art and film, this exciting programme of events will bring people together to celebrate the creativity of refugees and migrants and stand in solidarity with them - fostering compassion and connection at a time when it feels more urgent than ever.”

Ruth Hardie, Head of Public Programming at the Southbank Centre, said: “Developed in close partnership with Counterpoints Arts, this year's Refugee Week programme invites us to consider the central theme of courage: how courage and creativity offer new ways of seeing, questioning and imagining a future without fear and division. The Southbank Centre's programme of events and performances brings together artists and communities, making space for conversation, connection, and, most importantly, celebration of the creative and cultural impact of those who have experienced displacement.”

Mark Ball, Artistic Director of the Southbank Centre, said: “In the 75th anniversary of the Royal Festival Hall, built as the centrepiece of the 1951 Festival of Britain, we are reminded that so many of the artists, architects, designers and creative practitioners who created visions of the post-war future for the 1951 Festival were refugees who had fled the persecution of Nazi Germany. 75 years later it's fitting that this rich artistic partnership with Counterpoints Arts shines a light on the work created by artists with lived experience of displacement and those seeking sanctuary - work that continues to positively shape culture and society.”