An upward shot of the balcony of Battersea Arts Centre, with the BAC sign jutting out beneath it.

Quarantine

Why I am and why I am not

Date

Fri 6 - Sun 8 Mar 2026

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A provocation in two parts.

Why I am and why I am not is a weekend-long intervention starting with speeches from the balcony of our building – formerly Battersea Town Hall.

Inspired by Bertrand Russell’s famously controversial speech ‘Why I Am Not A Christian’ given in the Town Hall in 1927, 12 people from all walks of life will make an address to the public, beginning with either the phrase ‘Why I Am’ or ‘Why I Am Not’.

Tackling subjects from the personal to the universal, from the seemingly flippant to the certainly urgent, The Balcony presents a diverse set of voices and personalities, brought together in a celebrated proclamation of people and place.

The Rooms then invites you in to talk to, listen to, and possibly even question these individuals away from their imposing platform.

Combined as a whole, Why I am and why I am not is a meditation on our outer and inner lives, who we are behind closed doors and the version of ourselves we present to the wider world.