Bold Tendencies launched its 2026 season under the theme of Euphoria on 15 May, according to The Art Newspaper, which reported that the anniversary programming features new commissions by Andreas Gursky, Emma Hart, Athen Kardashian and Nina Mhach Durban, Tarek Lakhrissi and Louis Morlæ. The multidisciplinary organisation has paired these site-specific works with live events including an orchestral rendition of Mozart’s Great Mass in C Minor performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra and a surprise piano programme by 18-year-old musician Ryan Wang. The season runs until 12 September and incorporates the permanent installation of Richard Wentworth’s silver floor painting Agora that has covered the rooftop since 2015. A full choral work and additional performances tie the visual commissions together around the chosen theme.
The not-for-profit organisation began as a DIY project in 2007 when founder Hannah Barry, then a 23-year-old art history graduate, staged outdoor sculpture exhibitions in derelict spaces around Peckham, The Art Newspaper reported. Barry secured initial access through contacts at Southwark Council and moved operations into the top floors of the multi-storey car park the following year after spotting its potential as a raw, elevated venue with sweeping city views. Early programming focused on ambitious sculpture commissions that took advantage of the concrete structures and exposed conditions, according to an interview Barry gave to Frieze magazine. The name Bold Tendencies itself originated from one of those inaugural shows held in a Victorian schoolhouse slated for redevelopment.
Over the subsequent years Bold Tendencies secured progressively longer leases on the car park from Southwark Council before obtaining a lifetime agreement that guarantees its future at the site, a development detailed in reports by both The Art Newspaper and the Financial Times. The organisation has since expanded into a professional operation employing five full-time staff while maintaining its commitment to free visual art access and subsidised tickets for live events that typically range from £10 to £26. Bold Tendencies has commissioned 128 new artworks to date and established the Multi-Story Orchestra as a youth-led ensemble that performs in the unconventional venue, according to the organisation’s official history published on its website. These developments have coincided with the addition of permanent features including Simon Whybray’s pink staircase and the Frank’s Cafe rooftop bar that opened in 2009.
Bold Tendencies figures show the project has welcomed more than three million visitors since its inception, a number that has helped reposition Peckham as a recognised cultural destination in south London. The organisation runs an extensive creative learning programme that operates exclusively within a one-mile radius of the car park and maps local partners including schools, community groups and council services, according to an interview Barry gave to Frieze. By 2019 that mapping exercise had identified around 30 such organisations, a network the project continues to engage through free workshops and events. Guardian coverage of the anniversary noted that the car park’s transformation has inspired similar adaptive reuse projects across the capital while resisting full incorporation into gentrification trends through its pricing model and community focus.
Past commissions have included Anthea Hamilton’s 2010 doorway sculpture, Jess Flood-Paddock’s 2011 installation of Del Boy’s three-wheeled van and James Bridle’s 2014 wifi-equipped balloon, according to a Guardian overview of the project’s two-decade history. Permanent works now include Jenny Holzer text installations and a piece by Adel Abdessemed, the organisation’s website records. These projects have sat alongside literary events featuring authors such as Ben Okri and musical premieres including Oliver Leith’s Garland, which received its first performances at the venue. The Art Newspaper highlighted how such programming has consistently blended emerging and established artists while using the rooftop’s distinctive environment as both setting and material.
Barry described the project as a world of its own in comments to The Art Newspaper, stating, “Bold Tendencies is a world of its own. I think of it as a social force and memory palace; it’s a special place of magical transformation, a beyond-the-limits place.” The 2026 Euphoria theme draws on ideas of collective emotion, uplift and redefined social bonds, according to the organisation’s published description of the season. Programming has also included a large-scale Gursky photograph depicting nightclub crowds and Hart’s ceramic pub installation titled Last Chance Saloon. All visual elements remain free to visit on Wednesdays through Sundays from 11am to 11pm.
