The Social Infrastructure of Steel
Learn how the steel pan has shaped British society for 75 years at this panel discussion featuring excerpts from Kim Johnson’s film PAN! Our Music Odyssey.
This conversation and Q&A examines how 75 years of the steel pan in the UK has impacted our society, supported by excerpts from Johnson’s 2014 documentary.
Hosting the conversation is education and researcher Josephine Torrel-Brown, with internationally recognised Trinidadian carnival artist Ray Allan Mahabir and Toussaint Clarke of Rainbow Steel Band joining as panellists.
The panellists explore the enduring labour required to sustain a movement that has revolutionised music.
By inhabiting local theatres, churches and schools, pan musicians embed themselves into the daily fabric of community practice. This embeddedness within the community means the panyard functions as a permanent site of radical social organisation.
But this year-round presence is often obscured by a narrow public focus on the summer carnivals and outdoor performances.
How do we challenge the seasonal lens that reduces a complex musical way of life to a temporary spectacle?
The discussion moves beyond the carnival stage to foreground the sophisticated social architecture that remains when the costumes are put away.
Need to know
This event is offered on a ‘pay what you can’ basis. Free tickets are available, but if you’re able to pay the suggested ticket price of £8 or more, it supports those who otherwise wouldn’t be able to attend.
For your visit
This event is held at the Purcell Room Southbank Centre
The Purcell Room is located in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, which is open from 90 minutes before events start until they finish. It’s closed at all other times.
Plan your visit
The Purcell Room is an auditorium located within our Queen Elizabeth Hall.
Getting here
Our address is Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX.
The nearest tube stations to us are Waterloo and Embankment; Waterloo is also the nearest train station. And more than 20 different London bus routes pass within 500 metres of our venues. More information on getting here by rail, road or river is available on our Getting here page.
We’re cash-free
Please note that we’re unable to accept cash payments across our venues.
Access
We’re working hard to remove barriers, so that our facilities and events can be accessible to as many people as possible.
All help points, toilets, performance and exhibition spaces at the Southbank Centre are accessible to all, as are the cafes, bars and restaurants. We also have excellent public transport links with step-free access.
All information about booking wheelchair spaces, step-free access, blue badge parking, access maps and guides and other help available whilst you’re here, including details about our Access Scheme, can be found on our Access page.
Food & drink
From coffee to cocktails, filling favourites to fine dining, plus some of London’s best street food – it’s all here at the Southbank Centre.