Rohina Cameron-Perera

A born-and-raised Londoner with Sri-Lankan and Scottish roots, Rohina Cameron-Perera’s love for the arts started with regular trips to the cinema as a child with their dad, which would see her become ‘hooked on stories and how they could hold so much feeling at once’. Music too was an early influence, largely because it was ‘everywhere; mum was a punk, dad loved disco, my sister was into RnB and baila played at every family event’.

Beyond film and music, Cameron-Perera also holds an interest in dance, theatre, audio and nightlife ‘especially when they blur boundaries between disciplines, cultures and audiences’. They are drawn to ‘artists who create visceral, immersive worlds – whether through light, space, emotion or identity,’ such as James Turrell, Olafur Eliasson, Nan Goldin, Julia Ducournau, Jane Schoenbrun, Marina Abramović, Ren Hang, Alexander McQueen and Pxssy Palace.

‘The Southbank Centre always felt like a creative landmark – a space that represents possibility, culture and public access to the arts. I’ve come to see it as a place where different communities and disciplines intersect and being part of that feels exciting.’

Though she always wanted to be in the arts, Cameron-Perera saw it as something ‘out of reach’ whilst growing up. But through film-producing and exploration of theatre, live events and nightlife she made her own path, and though they never set out to be a curator this journey across disciplines, led them to realise they were ‘drawn to shaping visceral experiences – creating spaces that make people feel something, and are built with intention’. 

Passionate about celebrating underrepresented voices, Cameron-Perera sees curating as being both ‘creative and connective’, and she is interested in ‘creating real moments that stay with people’. Of their curatorial work to date they are most proud of co-creating Sensorial Collective, a space that centres queer, FLINTA+ and diasporic communities.

Being a part of Southbank Centre Presents offers Cameron-Perera an opportunity ‘to collaborate, take creative risks’ and grow as a curator and a creative; ‘it means having the space and support to explore new ideas, platform underrepresented voices and push the boundaries of what inclusive, immersive programming can be’. She is particularly excited to ‘explore new formats for immersive, inclusive programming’ and being a part of ‘a space that encourages collaboration and experimentation’.