SOMERSET HOUSE ANNOUNCES 2026 PROGRAMME HIGHLIGHTS

Somerset House Summer Series. Credit - Benedict Priddy

Somerset House - the Home of Cultural Innovators - reveals highlights of its dynamic cultural programme across 2026 into early 2027. The announcement follows the success of Somerset House’s 25th birthday year in 2025, marking its radical transformation from government offices to an internationally acclaimed arts destination, with special cultural celebrations, new talent initiatives, a fresh visual identity and a vibrant new community of cafés, restaurants and bars.

Somerset House’s 2026-27 exhibitions and events build on the themes of artistic and social innovation that defined its landmark birthday year and are emblematic of Somerset House today. This includes confronting contemporary issues - from marine biodiversity to modern day fandom to magical thinking - through a cross-disciplinary creative lens, to celebrating milestone moments such as 10 years of experimentation space Somerset House Studios.

EXHIBITIONS

The Museum of Edible Earth
18 March – 26 April 2026
Terrace Rooms
Pay What You Can

Somerset House brings The Museum of Edible Earth to London, for the first UK presentation of this acclaimed multi-sensory project by artist and researcher masharu. Following the success of Somerset House’s major exhibition SOIL in spring 2025, which reflected on the remarkable power and potential of soil, this new installation takes visitors even deeper underground by inviting them to see, touch, smell, and - in some cases -taste the earths.

Featuring hundreds of edible globally-sourced earths, such as clay, chalk and limestone, The Museum of Edible Earth spotlights the ancient and ongoing practice of geophagy - the cultural and medicinal eating of the earth. It is a sensory-rich experience, allowing audiences to discover the diverse textures and tastes of soils at a communal table, accompanied by flavour notes, mineral details, and contextual histories. Through these revelations, visitors can explore various rituals, culinary traditions and healing practices from across the world.

At Somerset House, masharu will create a special commission transforming composted materials from SOIL and discarded coffee grounds from Somerset House’s onsite cafés, WatchHouse and Café Petiole. This work supports an experimental step in sustainable exhibition-making, redefining the lifecycle of materials. 

https://www.somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/museum-of-edible-earth

HOLY POP!
21 May – 9 August 2026
Terrace Rooms
Pay What You Can

Continuing Somerset House’s acclaimed exploration of contemporary culture, HOLY POP! arrives next summer to celebrate the world of modern shrines — the objects and collections through which we honour heroes, celebrities, and cult icons. From art and memorabilia to letters, photographs, and interactive installations, the exhibition uncovers the rituals of idolisation, showing how fandom shapes identity, values, and community.

HOLY POP! reveals the power of these personal and collective shrines to offer comfort, connection, and belonging. Visitors will discover the intimate ways people express admiration, empathy, and solidarity, while exploring the broader social forces behind our fascination with pop culture. In a fast-moving digital world, the exhibition offers a vibrant, thought-provoking celebration of human connection, devotion, and the objects that bring us together.

https://www.somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/holy-pop

Through Our Eyes: Sámi Art and Culture
6 November 2026 – 7 February 2027
Somerset House Terrace and Courtyard Rooms
Pay What You Can

Presented as part of Somerset House’s 2026 winter programme, Through Our Eyes is the first group exhibition in the UK to focus on platforming and celebrating the arts and heritage of Sámi people.

The only recognised indigenous group in the European Union, the Sápmi cultural region extends across northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia.

Curated by artist Matti Aikio and Dr Cliff Lauson, Through Our Eyes will showcase a diverse range of artistic practices including sculpture, installation, photography, videos, design, performance and cultural objects. The exhibition will also highlight the Sámi relationship with the land and natural resources, as well as their continued campaign for indigenous rights.

With support from AKO Foundation and The Nordic Cultural Fund

Abracadabra! Magical Thinking in an Unmagical World
4 February - 18 April 2027
Embankment Galleries
Tickets available in 2026

Somerset House’s major winter exhibition, opening in February 2027, steps into a world where magic is more than illusion – it is a way of seeing, feeling and being. What if magical thinking isn’t simply an escape from reality – but a tool to transform it?

As the first exhibition of its kind, Abracadabra! explores the power of magical thinking across time and cultures, from ancient rituals to modern-day mysticism. As millions start to turn to magic once again, this original exhibition traces how our belief systems, the cosmologies we create, our realities and the stories we tell about ourselves have shifted and changed over time but have always been woven with wonder to create a more connected world.

Artists, designers, musicians, philosophers, and poets will draw on the histories of popular magic, archaeology and science with works to challenge us to take a leap from reality and enter an enchanting magical realm. Here, magic becomes manifestation – and Abracadabra! calls upon the audience to participate in the act of magical thinking, creating a new story or spell that can be cast out from the show and conjures new possibilities for the collective future.

SOMERSET HOUSE STUDIOS 10TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS

In October 2026, Somerset House Studios celebrates its 10th birthday, transforming Somerset House’s New Wing into a world-renowned space of artistic experimentation and cross-disciplinary creativity. Since its inception, the Studios has supported hundreds of resident and international artists, encouraging them to develop bold ideas, address urgent issues, and experiment with emerging technologies. Offering the unique opportunity for artists to platform work created onsite at Somerset House, Somerset House Studios presents an annual programme of new commissions and collaborations from its community. In celebration of its 10th birthday, Somerset House Studios will take over the Embankment Galleries for the first time with an experimental live event featuring artists from the Studios and beyond.

Somerset House Studios at 10
October 2026
Embankment Galleries
Tickets available in 2026

Marking 10 years of Somerset House Studios opening in October 2016 and 60 years since the landmark cultural event 9 Evenings: Theatre and Engineering in October 1966, Somerset House Studios will take over the Embankment Galleries for the first time with a playful reimagination of the original event.

Celebrating 10 years of interdisciplinary collaboration and experimentation, Somerset House Studios will invite some of the most exciting UK and international contemporary artists and performers working today to experiment as part of a live event, in the same spirit of avant-garde exploration as the original.

9 Evenings: Theatre and Engineering was a seminal event in the history of artists experimenting with new technologies, taking place in New York City in October 1966. Artists such as Robert Rauschenberg, Deborah Hay, John Cage and Yvonne Rainer collaborated intensively with 30 engineers from Bell Labs to create 9 nights of large-scale experimental performance, actively positioning the artist as cultural researcher and instigator in society-at-large for the first time. This pioneering project explored the creative potential of new technologies in their artistic work with revolutionary results - it was the first time that CCTV, fibre-optics, infrared cameras and wireless transmitters were ever used in performance.

This spectacular live event will be devised for both in person and remote audiences simultaneously via Channel, Somerset House’s curated online space.

FURTHER SOMERSET HOUSE STUDIOS 2026 PROGRAMME HIGHLIGHTS

Assembly
25 – 28 March 2026
New Wing
Tickets available in 2026

Somerset House Studios’ experimental music and sound series Assembly returns with four days of performance this spring. The biannual programme presents new commissions, interdisciplinary collaborations, and live premieres developed in residence and through international partnerships.

Jenkin van Zyl: Enclosure
September – November 2026
Lancaster Room
Pay What You Can

Somerset House Studios presents multidisciplinary artist and filmmaker Jenkin van Zyl’s first major exhibition in London, co-commissioned with Film and Video Umbrella. Developed in residence at Somerset House Studios, a new single-channel film and installation will premiere in the New Wing in September 2026.

Set in a decaying cryonics facility in the English countryside, Enclosure follows a small group of reenactors as they cycle through a ritual of upkeep whose purpose has long since blurred. At its core, the film explores preservation as both promise and cruelty — a facility designed to contain memory, grief, and identity, but which demands endless maintenance to sustain what it was meant to preserve.

COURTYARD INSTALLATIONS AND EVENTS

Dana-Fiona Armour: Serpentine Currents
Fragments of a Changing Future
19 February – 26 April 2026
Edmond J. Safra Fountain Court
Free
Further press images can be found here

For its annual Spring commission, Somerset House presents Serpentine Currents, a courtyard installation which takes inspiration from endangered sea snakes to address issues of marine ecosystem collapse and environmental disruption, marking the end of the Year of Snake in February 2026 and Earth Day on 22 April 2026.

Created by German Scottish artist-researcher Dana-Fiona Armour, large-scale serpentine structures - derived from 3D scans of endangered specimens - will snake across Somerset House’s courtyard, suspended above the dancing fountains, evoking the ebb and flow of ocean tides. Throughout day and night, the installation is animated and illuminated by oceanographic data from the British coastline, triggering light patterns that register rising sea temperatures and pollution. As sea snakes are often overlooked yet vital marine bioindicators, these spectacular data visualisation sculptures render visible the silent signals of the sea, using creative innovation at Somerset House to make sobering or seemingly distant issues more emotionally resonant and socially urgent.

https://www.somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/dana-fiona-armour-serpentine-currents

Somerset House Summer Series with American Express
16 – 26 July 2026
Edmond J. Safra Fountain Court
Tickets available in 2026

Somerset House Summer Series with American Express returns this July for an electrifying edition of the essential live music festival, showcasing an eclectic mix of international musical talent, across a range of genres.

Hosted in the spectacular surroundings of Somerset House’s neoclassical open-air courtyard, and with previous headliners including St. Vincent, Amy Winehouse, The Roots, Adele, Giggs, Patti Smith, and Rosalía, this year's festival promises to offer a unique and intimate musical experience, featuring some of the world's most exciting artists.

2026’s Summer Series line up reflects individuality and creative expression found across a vast array of genres. Carefully selected in honour of their pioneering, cross-disciplinary cultural work, this year’s artists represent originality and reflect their communities in a way that is completely unique to them. This year’s invited headliners include Naïka, Palace, Thee Sacred Souls, Lightning Seeds, The Cribs, Agnes Obel, Black Country, New Road, Venna, Raf-Saperra, The Flaming Lips, and Benjamin Clementine

https://www.somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/somerset-house-summer-series

Skate at Somerset House with Virgin Atlantic Holidays
November 2026 – January 2027
Edmond J. Safra Court
Tickets available in September 2026

A beloved staple of London’s winter season, Somerset House’s spectacular courtyard will be transformed into a scene from a Christmas movie once again in November 2026, welcoming visitors for an unparalleled festive skating experience in the heart of the capital.

A host of experiences for all ages will be available to enjoy on and off the ice including the ever-popular daytime skating lessons with Skate School and the DJ-soundtracked Skate Lates. All sessions on the ice are wheelchair accessible, with exclusive wheelchair sessions and chilled out sessions for those who need them available throughout the season. Virgin Atlantic Holidays will also bring their holiday cheer and signature VIP touches to Somerset House, ensuring magical memories are made at this special time of year.

https://www.somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/skate-somerset-house

UPGRADE YOURSELF

Upgrade Yourself is Somerset House’s flagship creative careers programme, offering 18–30-year-olds a range of free entry routes into the arts and creative industries from practical work placements to inspiring mentoring events. Leveraging its unique resident community of over 2000 creatives and its acclaimed cultural programme, Upgrade Yourself is the destination for aspiring young creatives to develop vital transferable skills, build dynamic portfolios and forge lasting pathways into the cultural sector. All Upgrade Yourself events and opportunities are offered free of charge, and travel bursaries are available, plus free food is offered, to help remove additional barriers to participation.

Supported by The Julia Rausing Trust.

Future Artist Programme
Applications launch January 2026
Programme runs from February 2026 - July 2026

The Future Artists Programme offers a structured six-month creative practice exploration for 25 future artists, fusing artistic skill-building with professional development and creative community immersion. Designed and delivered in collaboration with Somerset House Studios artists, this programme offers direct access to interdisciplinary creative practices, empowering young people to explore their potential and develop artistic skills.

Supported by The Paul Hamlyn Foundation

Creative Industry Placements
Applications launch February 2026
Programme runs from April 2026 - April 2027

Divided into two six-month paid placements within Somerset House’s resident organisations, this initiative provides hands-on professional insights into how different creative businesses operate, including management, programming, and operations. Participants receive wraparound support, mentoring, and professional development, all paid at London Living Wage, enabling young people to take their first step into a creative profession and gain sight of possible future pathways.

Upgrade Yourself Monthly
First Wednesday of every month
Free

These dynamic evening sessions – each month centred on a specific sector in the creative industries from Sustainable Fashion to Event Production – are designed for aspiring creatives, combining practical workshops, expansive talks, and networking opportunities. These sessions foster confidence, build transferable skills, and connect raw talent with seasoned expertise to unlock career pathways. Participants are offered free tickets to our cultural programme to deepen engagement.

Supported by The Linbury Trust

Upgrade Yourself Festival
12 – 13 June 2026
Free

Somerset House's flagship creative careers festival will return in summer 2026, providing a comprehensive 360° programme, covering everything from masterclasses, CV clinics to inspiring talks, collaborative activities, live DJs, and performances. This vibrant two-day event equips young creatives with invaluable skills and insights to forge careers in the cultural sector. 

MAKING IT – Upgrade Yourself Film Series
December 2025 -  May 2026
Free 

MAKING IT is a new digital film series from Upgrade Yourself, which offers behind-the-scenes access to a range of changemakers who are carving their own path and shaping creative industries today.  Comprised of six exclusive career-focused films, which are hosted by Betty Douglas and Jonelle Awomoji, and feature creatives including Sheila Maurice- Grey (Kokoroko) and Aisha Mirza, MAKING IT is designed to offer practical skills and genuine insight, which can be used to boost confidence, spark ideas, and build pathways.

Black Business Residency

Now in its sixth year, the Black Business Residency returns to Somerset House with another powerful group of early-stage Black founders working across the creative industries.

Developed in partnership with DOES, and with Morgan Stanley as Anchor Sponsor, the Black Business Residency is a 12-month incubator programme which supports bold, innovative entrepreneurs – championing those reshaping industries and pioneering new cultural conversations.

This year’s cohort represents a vibrant spectrum of creative disciplines – from gaming, publishing, and performance, to tech, strategy, and storytelling. They joined the Somerset House Community in September 2025, bringing fresh energy, new ideas and exciting cross-sector projects into our shared creative space.

In October 2026, a Black Business Residency showcase will take place at Somerset House. Bringing together businesses, industry peers, and Somerset House colleagues, this event will celebrate the achievements and progress of participants. For more details, please visit https://www.somersethouse.org.uk/creative-workspaces/coworking-at-exchange/black-business-residency.

PARTNER PROJECTS

Collect 2026
25 February - 1 March 2026
Somerset House site-wide
Tickets available in January 

Collect, the leading international art fair dedicated to contemporary craft and design, returns to Somerset House in spring 2026. Presented by Crafts Council, Collect provides a global marketplace for museum curators, interior designers and art lovers at all stages of their collecting journey to discover the finest contemporary craft and design.

The 2026 edition will present a fresh line up of over 40 prestigious galleries and organisations hand-picked to exhibit by an advisory panel. Together they will present the work of 400 living artists, 80% of which will have been made in the last five years. Disciplines and materials represented will include ceramics, furniture, glass, jewellery, wearable art, metalwork, non-traditional materials, precious metalwork, sculpture, textiles, woodwork and more.

London Original Print Fair
14 – 17 May 2026
Somerset House site-wide
Tickets available in 2026

The London Original Print Fair (LOPF), London’s longest-running art fair and the world’s oldest specialist print fair, returns to Somerset House for its 41st edition in May 2026. With over 40 exhibitors, LOPF is the perfect place to buy art of all periods, with work ranging from under £100 to £100,000, famously described as “the most enjoyable event in the art market calendar.”

Sony World Photography Awards 2026
17 April – 4 May 2026
East and West Wing Galleries
Tickets available in February 2026

The internationally-acclaimed Sony World Photography Awards exhibition returns to Somerset House this spring, marking its 19th edition. A highlight of the global photography calendar, the exhibition showcases the full spectrum of contemporary photography, and brings together a diverse range of artists working with photography from around the world.

Spanning both the East and West Wing Galleries, the exhibition features a selection of winning and shortlisted images from the 2026 competition. Also on view are special presentations by Zed Nelson, Photographer of the Year 2025, and the 2026 recipient of the Outstanding Contribution to Photography, an award recognising the career and legacy of an artist whose work has shaped the photographic landscape. Curated by Monica Allende - the Chair of the Sony World Photography Awards Professional jury - the exhibition and Awards are partnered with Sony and organised by Creo under its photography strand, the World Photography Organisation.

1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair
October 2026
Somerset House site-wide
Tickets available in 2026

With annual editions in London, New York and Marrakech, the leading international art fair dedicated to contemporary art from Africa and the African diaspora, 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, will return for its flagship edition to Somerset House for the 14th consecutive year over four days in October.