Verdurin /vəʁdyrɛ̃/ is a project space in East London hosted by Pierre d’Alancaisez and programmed with friends.
Verdurin presents an idiosyncratic mix of events, courses, and exhibitions addressing urgent cultural, political, and philosophical questions through visual culture.
Verdurin is also a concept store and publisher, providing the essentials an aesthete will need to survive cultural doomsday: daring literature, artefacts deserving of perdurance, and artisanal provisions.
d’Alancaisez was first inspired to marshal an audience to discuss politics, art, and ideas critically in response to the failure of institutions and the breakdown in the cultural order following the pandemic.
The name Verdurin is borrowed from Proust’s literary character Mme Verdurin who in À la recherche du temps perdu hosts a literary salon. Verdurin today carries on her spirit of conviviality and mutual edification.
We are happy to receive pitches and ideas for events, performances, launches, screenings, talks relating to art, culture, politics, and philosophy.
Team
Pierre d’Alancaisez
Pierre d’Alancaisez is a curator and critic, and the founder of Verdurin.
Amir Naaman
Amir Naaman is a novelist and a personal trainer.
Nina Power
Nina Power is a philosopher and critic.
Travis Jeppesen
Travis Jeppesen is the author of numerous books and the creator of object-oriented writing.
Emma Bielecki
Emma Bielecki is a lecturer, writer, and researcher. She splits her time between London and nineteenth-century Paris.
Lola Salem
Lola Salem is a researcher and cultural strategist.
Artists, contributors, guests
Malcom Kyeyune
Malcom Kyeyune is a writer living in Uppsala, Sweden.
Isobel McCrum
Isobel McCrum is an AI systems architect.
Angie Speaks
Angie Speaks is the author of Late Stage Babylon, host of Depth Diaries, and contributor to Newsweek and Spiked.
Travis Jeppesen
Travis Jeppesen is the author of numerous books and the creator of object-oriented writing.
Noah Perez
Noah Perez is a writer from London and an editor at The Toe Rag.
Lola Salem
Lola Salem is a researcher and cultural strategist.
Suzanne Newcombe
Suzanne Newcombe is a senior lecturer in Religious Studies at the Open University and honorary director of Inform.
Ed McKeon
Ed is a music programmer who explores the aesthetic implications of shifts in understanding of history.
Nina Power
Nina Power is a philosopher and critic.
Hamilton Morrin
Hamilton Morrin is a neuropsychiatrist researching brain-computer interface technology and human-AI interactions.
Aimee Armstrong
Aimee Armstrong’s work portrays modern relationships in a post-internet, post-woke, post-infographic world.
Jamieson Webster
Jamieson Webster is a writer and psychoanalyst, and a founding member of Das Unbehagen.
Oliver Davis
Oliver Davis is Professor of French at University College Cork and co-author of Hatred of Sex.
Georg Kurz
Georg Kurz is a German politician associated with the Die Linke.
David Moulton
David Moulton is a writer and independent researcher.
Bertie Marshall
Bertie Marshall is a writer and performer of plays, poems, and fiction.
Nick Hostettler
Nick Hostettler is a lecturer in politics.
Blake Smith
Blake Smith is a historian and translator who lives in Chicago.
Ofri Ilany
Dr. Ofri Ilany is a historian, journalist, and literary critic.
Tony D. Sampson
Tony D. Sampson examines the influence of intangible environments on our experiences.
Jacob Koster
Jacob Koster is a researcher who explores socially engaged art and social movement practice, as well as aesthetics and the philosophy of art.
