Southampton Arts and Humanities Festival, formerly called Human Worlds Festival (2014 - 2020), is the University of Southampton's annual arts- and humanities-based festival organised by the Public Engagement with Research unit. It is a free series of public events, in-person and online, open to all.
Human Worlds Festival was first launched in 2014, it was renamed in September 2021 and runs every year in November to coincide with Being Human festival , the UK’s national celebration of humanities research led by the School of Advanced Study at the University of London, in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the British Academy .
The ten-day celebration usually includes our Arts and Humanities Day (formerly known as Hands-on-Humanities Day), a free family-friendly event with interactive hands-on activities, workshops, exhibitions, talks and performances from across our Faculties.
Over the last few years, we have invited participation from external exhibitors including local bookstores, radios, schools, community groups, cultural venues, trusts and other research institutions.
Here is a look back on some of our events throughout the years.
Southampton Arts and Humanities Festival returned in Autumn of 2024, taking place from Thursday 7th to Saturday 16th November.
Arts and Humanities Day (formerly Hands-on Humanities Day) our free family-friendly event with a programme packed full of hands-on activities, workshops, talks and exhibits took place on Saturday 9th November at the Southampton Cultural Quarter, in collaboration with the University of Southampton's branch of the ESRC Festival of Social Science, John Hansard Gallery, MAST Mayflower Studios and Southampton City Art Gallery.
The main events of this year's edition included:
The Wider Festival took place through the whole length of the festival. All online content and in-person events were available on the official website at www.southamptonartshumfest.co.uk
Arts and Humanities Day is our FREE family-friendly day of celebration with a selection of interactive stands, workshops, talks, exhibitions, and live shows to explore the world of Humanities and the Arts.
In 2023, Southampton Arts and Humanities Festival took place from Thursday 9th to Saturday 18th November .
This year's expanded programme included contributions from Exhibitors towards related special events including Black History Month (October), UK Disability History Month (16th November - 16th December) and LGBT+ History Month (February 2024).
Southampton Arts and Humanities Festival ran from Thursday 11th to Sunday 20th November 2021.
The Festival was preceded by a month-long series of celebratory events in October for Black History Month and for the first time was followed by a month of celebration for UK Disability History Month (18th Nov - 18th Dec), and then by LGBT+ History Month in February 2022. The series were curated in collaboration with few other teams across the University, including the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion team, the BAME Network , the UoS Pulse LGBT+ Network and the University of Southampton Student Union (SUSU).
Other events that were hosted under the Festival umbrella included a strand of digital events for Writers in Conversation (run by English at the University of Southampton and led by Carol Burns , Head of Creative Writing) and a special night on Thursday 7th October for 'Enduring Freedom' The 20-year mission in Afghanistan' (run by History at the University of Southampton and chaired by Dr Christopher Fuller ). Watch the following video to re-discover the exclusive event that took place on the night of the twenty-year anniversary of the start of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.
Human Worlds Festival 2020 ran from Thursday 12th to Sunday 22nd November.
Since 2020 will go down in history as a year of profound changes, for the first time the Festival was preceded by a month-long series of celebratory events in October for Black History Month and was followed by a month of digital celebrations for LGBT+ History Month in February 2021. Both series were curated in collaboration with few other teams across the University, including the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion team , the BAME Network , the UoS Pulse LGBT+ Network and the University of Southampton Student Union (SUSU).
Other events that were hosted under the Festival umbrella included a special night on November 3rd for the U.S. Presidential Election (run by History at the University of Southampton and chaired by Dr Christopher Fuller ), a strand of digital events for Writers in Conversation (run by English at the University of Southampton and led by Carol Burns , Head of Creative Writing) and three Advanced Seminar Series in Arts and Humanities 2020 on pregnancy, motherhood, and childhood (run by Philosophy at the University of Southampton and chaired by Professor Fiona Woollard ).
The main events of Human Worlds Festival 2020 were:
The 2019 Human Worlds Festival ran from Thursday 14th to Saturday 23rd November.
This year’s edition included Humanities Late , a special evening event, that saw the John Hansard Gallery and City Eye opening to the public outside normal hours on Friday 22 November. The night featured a temporary installation by artist and performer Elaine Mitchener , inspired by the research of historian Professor Christer Petley , a talk by writer Professor Philip Hoare and live performances by composer Dr Drew Crawford and artist Barbara Touati-Evans . These events took place alongside the main gallery exhibition ' Waves and Forms ' by internationally renowned artist and Winchester School of Art graduate, Haroon Mirza.
The Festival concluded with Hands-on Humanities Day on Saturday 23 November, which took place for the first time at the John Hansard Gallery, City Eye, Nuffield Southampton Theatres (NST City) and Solent University ’s Sir James Matthews building, at the heart of the Southampton Cultural Quarter on Above Bar Street. The day brought together internal and external exhibitors passionate about the arts and humanities, including community radio station Unity 101 FM.
Both Humanities Late and Hands-on Humanities Day were part of the Being Human festival 2019 programme.
Wider Festival events included:
Watch the following videos to re-discover one of the amazing performances at Humanities Late, ‘Emotional Resonances’.
The 2018 Human Worlds Festival ran between Thursday 15th to Saturday 24th November 2018.
This edition saw a week full of events across the city of Southampton and was concluded by Hands-on Humanities Day on Saturday 17th November at the Avenue Campus , with activities and workshops for all.
Wider Festival events included: