Antony Hegarty of Antony and the Johnsons has confirmed the line-up for this year’s Meltdown festival.
The festival, which will take place at various London venues between August 1st-12th, will this year feature performances from the likes of Marc Almond and Laurie Anderson, while Cocteau Twins‘ Elizabeth Fraser is also set for a rare live appearance.
Since 1993, Meltdown has been curated by a variety of established musical stars such as Elvis Costello, John Peel, and David Bowie, and last year had its line-up handpicked by The Kinks‘ Ray Davies.
“I dreamed of assembling a constellation of courageous artists, all of whom have used their platforms as cultural producers to challenge us,” Hegarty – this year’s curator – has said. “They have exhibited a ferocity in their pursuit of beauty, and, falling like a guillotine behind it, justice.”
“Today I am among a group of artists from NYC (some of whom are performing at this Meltdown Festival) who reject patriarchy in its myriad virulent and apocalyptic manifestations, and who advocate for a fundamental shift towards the feminine in all our systems and structures of governance. We have named this approach Future Feminism.”
Tickets for Meltdown 2012 will be available from 8th May to Southbank Centre members, with a general following on May 10th.