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
Suzanne Newcombe
Suzanne Newcombe is a senior lecturer in Religious Studies at the Open University and honorary director of Inform.
Ewan Morrison
Ewan Morrison is an award-winning novelist, screenwriter, and essayist.
Nicholas Blincoe
Nicholas Blincoe is a novelist, screenwriter, and historian.
Jack Jacobs
Jack Jacobs is an actor and audiobook narrator.
Bertie Marshall
Bertie Marshall is a writer and performer of plays, poems, and fiction.
Vanity von Glow
Internationally ignored superstar Vanity von Glow is a live performance tour de force.
Sam Jennings
Sam Jennings is an American writer in London.
Marcas Lancaster
Marcas Lancaster is a writer, producer, and self confessed ‘failed gay’.
Ran Heilbrunn
Ran Heilbrunn is a writer and scholar whose work focuses on technology, political theory, and current affairs.
Ofri Ilany
Dr. Ofri Ilany is a historian, journalist, and literary critic.
Justin Smith-Ruiu
Justin Smith-Ruiu is a writer and philosopher at the Université Paris Cité. He is the founder of The Hinternet.
Thomas Peermohamed Lambert
Thomas Peermohamed Lambert is a novelist and literary scholar.
Aaron Moulton
Aaron Moulton is a curator and anthropologist. His research in ‘The Influencing Machine’ charted the impact of the NGO movement on the visual culture of Eastern Europe in the 1990s.
Rosie Kay
Rosie Kay is a dancer and choreographer who created MK ULTRA with the film-maker Adam Curtis.
Mark Simpson
Mark Simpson is a writer and broadcaster credited (or blamed) for coining the term ‘metrosexual‘.
Simon Fanshawe
Simon Fanshawe OBE is a broadcaster, writer, and activist. He was one of the founders of the LGBT charity Stonewall.
Abbie Lucas
Abbie Lucas is a filmmaker, theatre director, and co-host of Art of Darkness.
Kevin Kautzman
Kevin Kautzman is a playwright and co-host of Art of Darkness.
Karin Ferrari
Karin Ferrari is an artist exploring ‘trash mysticism’.
Benjamin Studebaker
Benjamin Studebaker is a political theorist.
Thaïs Lenkiewicz
Thaïs Lenkiewicz collages science fiction, religion, conspiracy theories, game shows, and prehistory.
