Three leading Southampton arts organisations will premiere new work fusing research, creativity and performance as part of the British Science Festival, taking place across the city this September.
The University of Southampton and the British Science Association has announced a major series of arts-science commissions for the festival, which runs from September 16 until September 20.
Three of the city's leading cultural institutions - Turner Sims, John Hansard Gallery and Mayflower - have co-commissioned new work in partnership with the British Science Festival 2026.
Each project will connect world-class university research with artistic practice, inviting audiences to experience science through music, sound, performance, visual art, movement and public participation.
The commissions reflect Southampton's distinctive strengths as a city of discovery, creativity and collaboration. From ocean science and artificial intelligence, to mathematics, skateboarding and public space, the programme will showcase the power of the arts to communicate research in surprising, moving and memorable ways.
University of Southampton Vice-President (Research and Enterprise), Professor Mark Spearing, said: "The British Science Festival is a remarkable opportunity to celebrate Southampton as a city where research, culture and creativity meet.
"These commissions bring together some of the university's most exciting areas of research with the imagination and expertise of our city's arts organisations.
"They show how science can be experienced not only through facts and findings, but through sound, movement, performance, public space and shared human stories."
James Brown, British Science Festival Director, added: "These three commissions showcase the power of combining scientific discovery with the creative arts to help explore the world around us, and we're thrilled to be working with such fantastic partners across Southampton.
"The British Science Festival aims to connect audiences with the people, stories and ideas at the heart of science and we can think of no better way to do that than through these exciting collaborations between researchers and artists."
Turner Sims: The Ocean Remembers
Turner Sims, the University of Southampton's music venue, is working with the Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute to commission The Ocean Remembers, a new musical work by sound artist, composer and nature beatboxer Jason Singh, created in partnership with composer and trumpeter, Yazz Ahmed.
Featuring electronic soundscapes, vocal textures, spoken word and live instruments, The Ocean Remembers will premiere at the British Science Festival launch event, performed by Singh and Ahmed alongside emerging musicians from the university's Department of Music, student vocalists from Itchen College and MC Baby Panna.
As part of Turner Sims' engagement programme, secondary pupils across four schools in Southampton and the Isle of Wight will attend workshops culminating in new musical compositions inspired by marine research, alongside new learning resources available for schools, supported by Southampton & Isles of Wight Music (SIOW Music).
Louise Coysh, Director at Turner Sims, said: "The Ocean Remembers places artists and researchers in genuine dialogue, creating something neither could achieve alone. Working with experts from the Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute, Jason Singh has transformed their marine and maritime research into something you can truly feel.
"This commission produced by Turner Sims invites audiences to encounter urgent questions about our oceans through sound, story and shared human experience."
John Hansard Gallery: The Skate Equation
John Hansard Gallery will collaborate with Skate Southampton and the University of Southampton's Mathematics department on The Skate Equation, a dynamic public art and participation project that reveals the hidden maths behind skateboarding.
Transforming Guildhall Square into a skater's haven, the project will install steel sculptures inspired by mathematical concepts, bringing a new dimension to the jump, grind, flip and flow of the boards.
From the geometry in every flip to the algebra in every jump, The Skate Equation will invite audiences to see skateboarding as both a creative and scientific act, full of shapes, angles, motion and precision.
Live skating demonstrations, interactive encounters and public engagement will bring the mathematics to life, showing that audiences do not need to be skateboarders to be 'stoked' by the science of landing a trick.
Woodrow Kernohan, Director at John Hansard Gallery, said: "Creativity is at the heart of art and science, and everything we do at John Hansard Gallery.
"Working with the British Science Festival is a brilliant opportunity to showcase cutting-edge projects from Southampton where art and science meet. We're delighted to host 18 projects exploring climate change and AI, maternity and creativity, maths and skateboarding, and the future of public space as part of this year's festival."
Mayflower: Generate: Creative Responses to AI Research
Mayflower will present an evening of work-in-progress performances at Mayflower Studios exploring the real-life, human impacts of Artificial Intelligence. Artists will develop new creative responses in conversation with University of Southampton researchers whose work places AI at the centre of inquiry, including academics from areas such as Health Sciences, Archaeology and Music.
The project will create a platform for leading research to be shared with audiences through performance, encouraging complex questions around technology, society, creativity and human experience. Generate offers an exciting moment of collaboration between the scientific and creative sectors, deepening connections between local Southampton organisations while inviting audiences to encounter AI research in immediate, imaginative and thought-provoking ways.
Sara Scott, Creative Director at Mayflower, said: "The British Science Festival arriving in Southampton has sparked the imagination of local artists and organisations to examine afresh the relationship between science and art with both disciplines absolutely routed in creativity.
"Through Generate we have been inspired by the easy connectivity between the researchers and artists in creating something new, routed in all of their work. We can't wait to share the new pieces with an audience during the festival."
The five-day festival programme will feature around 100 free events, exhibitions, performances and installations celebrating the people, stories and ideas at the heart of science.
Book tickets and view the full British Science Festival 2026 programme here
