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.
Daniel Neill
Daniel is a writer, and protégé at Verdurin.
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
Kevin Kautzman
Kevin Kautzman is a playwright and co-host of Art of Darkness.
Liam Blackford
Liam Blackford is an Australian writer and poet.
George Hoare
George Hoare is a political theorist, podcaster, and author.
Thomas Peermohamed Lambert
Thomas Peermohamed Lambert is a novelist and literary scholar.
Jacob Siegel
Jacob Siegel is writer and a contributing editor at Tablet.
Ben Sixsmith
Ben Sixsmith is a writer living in Upper Silesia and online editor of The Critic.
Roger Lancaster
Roger Lancaster is a professor of anthropology and cultural studies at George Mason University.
Sam Jennings
Sam Jennings is an American writer in London.
Harrison Pitt
Harrison Pitt is a writer, contributing editor at The European Conservative, and fellow at New Culture Forum.
Lee Jones
Lee Jones’ researches sovereignty, intervention, and state transformation and the ‘New Cold War’ between the US and China.
Malcom Kyeyune
Malcom Kyeyune is a writer living in Uppsala, Sweden.
Karin Ferrari
Karin Ferrari is an artist exploring ‘trash mysticism’.
Dougal Verinder Gedge
Dougal Gedge’s practice reflects a reality experienced compulsively online.
Lola Salem
Lola Salem is a researcher and cultural strategist.
Elena Louisa Lange
Elena Lange is a philosopher, Japanologist, writer, former musician, and former assistant professor. She is the editor of Café Américain.
Nick Hostettler
Nick Hostettler is a lecturer in politics.
Daniel Corrick
Daniel Corrick is a literary historian specialising in the Decadent movement and evolution of supernatural fiction.
Abbie Lucas
Abbie Lucas is a filmmaker, theatre director, and co-host of Art of Darkness.
David McGrogan
David McGrogan is a legal scholar and writer interested in the sociology of human rights law and the legitimacy of the state.
Jack Hunter
Jack Hunter is an anthropologist exploring the borderlands of consciousness, religion, ecology, and the paranormal.
Sophie Barshall
Sophie Barshall is a writer and artist, and the editor of The Toe Rag magazine.
