LADA supports contemporary culture’s most radical artists, practices and ideas.
As a Centre for Live Art, all our specialised resources, opportunities, projects and events are driven by our unwavering commitment to experimentation and risk, to the sustainability of our planet, and to difference and diversity in all its forms.
We believe in Live Art as a means to challenge the status quo and initiate meaningful social change.
About LADA![A collage comprised of three images. On the left is a portrait of Isaiah Lopaz. On the top right hand side is a collage image in cool tones by artist Madinnah Farhannah Thompson. On the bottom right hand side is an image of artist Miranda Whall crawling on the ground with a tree on her back](https://www.thisisliveart.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/2022_collage-copy.jpg)
Study Room
Our core resource, housed at the LADA space in Bethnal Green, is the world’s largest collection of research materials on Live Art, containing over 8,000 items that include out-of-print books and rare documentation.
The Study Room is open to visitors 3 days a week. The schedule currently alternates through Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
Visit the Study Room![An image of The Garrett Centre.](https://www.thisisliveart.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/garrett-centre_adrian_dutton.jpg)
Latest Activity at LADA
All Flesh is Good: Madinah Farhannah Thompson in conversation with Valerie Uchechukwu Ebuwa
11 Oct 2024
Please join us on Friday 11th October 2024 at 7pm for a conversation about Madinah’s Black Artist in Residence research and the experience of performing at the Abramović exhibition
Read morePoppy Jackson – Tower
25 Sep 2024
Please join us on Wednesday 25th September 2024 at 5.30pm for a performance by Poppy Jackson in Wattisfield, Suffolk
Read moreLADA x Fringe! Uncensored Pleasures & Closeted Desires
14 Sep 2024 - 22 Sep 2024
Please join us on Saturday 14th, Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd of September 2024 for a series of events by Fringe! Queer Film & Arts Fest
Read moreDangerous Border Crossers: performingborders x La Pocha Nostra
02 Aug 2024
performingborders invites you to delve with them into LADA Study Room’s resources around borders and performances
Read moreWhat can LADA do for you?
Whether you are an artist, curator, writer, producer, student, educator, researcher or activist, we are here to help you understand, appreciate, dig into, and take inspiration from a huge breadth of Live Art and performance practices – contemporary and historic.
How we work![Travis Alabanza on stage](https://www.thisisliveart.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Travis_GALA_credit_Manuel_Vason-scaled.jpg)
Current Opportunities
LADA provides professional development opportunities for artists, arts workers, and academics at all stages of their careers.
Desk Scheme 2023 – Open Call Closed
We are re-launching our subsidised Desk Scheme for artists, producers, curators, researchers and writers
Read moreResources
We provide free-to-access resources for artists, students and professionals. This includes Live Online, our video platform, research facilities, information, downloadable documents, and programming packages.
With Artsadmin, we have compiled a series of links and resources for artists, which we think are useful to artists working in Live Art and contemporary performance in the UK. These FAQs, links and lists of organisations and venues are intended as a starting point for your research and project development.
![Individual sitting at a table in front of full bookshelves in the study room](https://www.thisisliveart.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/study_room_2013-9213-4.jpg)
The Study Room
Our Study Room in Bethnal Green, London contains over 8,000 items, including out-of-print books and rare performance documentation.
You can book your visit today, and search our full Study Room catalogue online.
Visit the Study RoomOnline Resources
We offer online resources including:
- Study Room catalogue
- Video channels
- Free downloads
- Study Room guides
- Project websites
Recent Projects
Curatorial projects and programmes featuring ground-breaking artists and developing new contexts, dialogues, and audiences.
Live Art in Rural UK
Live Art in Rural UK is a year long programme conceived by LADA’s former Director, Vivian Chinasa Ezugha. It focuses on amplifying the embodied practices of artists living and working in rural locations across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Read moreReimagining Care
LADA’s latest project Reimagining Care focuses on contemporary discourses about care and care practices, exploring how they can contribute to transforming the art sector.
Read moreDonate to LADA
Donations help make influential artists’ development initiatives like DIY possible, support new publications and projects by extraordinary artists, and help us buy essential books and DVDs for our Study Room.
Donate![Scottee in a sequined turqouise shirt holding up three green cards in front of their face](https://www.thisisliveart.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Double_Your_Money_Scottee_by_Holly_Revell_web_570_380-2.jpg)
LADA Publishing
LADA is a publisher. The books, films and artists’ editions published and co-published by LADA feature some of the most provocative ideas and practitioners working in Live Art, and pioneering research by thinkers in the field.
As well as partnering with major publishers on key titles, we publish our own books and editioned artworks and collaborate with artists working on independent publications.
See our Titles![The cover of the Live Art Almanac Volume 5](https://www.thisisliveart.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/almanac_5-8-e1582900155114.jpg)
Unbound - Online Shop
Unbound, is the world’s only online shop dedicated to Live Art related materials, and features the unusual and independent alongside major critical works. Our carefully-curated selection includes books from major publishers, hard-to-find artists’ editions, and a full range of LADA publications.
As a not-for-profit initiative, buying from Unbound directly benefits the UK’s Live Art infrastructure, with many of our supported artists counting it as a direct funding stream.
Find out more![A group of Study Room users look at a table full of books in LADA's Study Room.](https://www.thisisliveart.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/LADA-Study-Room-1.jpg)