Cardion Nights, presented by Cardion Arts and ICA, platforms new and existing performance-based work by artists working across poetry, music and visual art. Curated by Gemma Rolls-Bentley, this one-night-only event creates a powerful space for the transformative powers of queer performance whilst raising vital funds for akt - a charity supporting queer and trans homeless youth. Performance artist Ebun Sodipo, drag and vocal artist Die Lemma (replacing Wet Mess), singer Tom Rasmussen, and movement artists Eve Stainton & Florence Peake, will come together for what is sure to be a special night. Timed to coincide with Zero Discrimination Day, this gathering is a call for inclusivity, compassion, and community. 

Ebun Sodipo: An artist and writer whose work centres black trans futures, Ebun will present ‘The Way Her Tongue Settled’, a powerful performance drawing on the life of Vitória, an enslaved African trans woman in 16th-century Lisbon. Through song, movement, and monologue, Sodipo explores themes of archival pleasure, eroticism, and the contradic-tions of trans femininity across history.

Die Lemma is a trans femme artist of German and Ethiopian heritage, blending the worlds of music and drag. Her vocal performances pay homage to black music and old cabaret. Situated in the trans body, they disrupt prescriptive ideas of gender. In its place, Die weaves reimagined possibilities using costume, craft and paint 
 
Her performance is a showcase of an Ethiopian fairytale through visuals, voiceover and song. Not only a love letter to her heritage but also to black music and culture. Within the number she is trying to liberate herself and others of societies expectation of positive representation within marginalized groups - more specifically black and trans people and the pressure that causes it. 

Tom Rasmussen: The acclaimed musician will perform songs from their albums ‘Live Wire’ and ‘Body Building’, which delve into the complexities of queer life, self-forgiveness, and navigating the world as a visibly queer person. Rolling Stone hailed Rasmussen as “the voice of a generation” following the release of ‘Live Wire’ in 2024.

Eve Stainton is an artist and choreographer born in Manchester and living in London, UK. They create multi-disciplinary performances that involve movement practices, welded steel/live welding, digital collage, and other invisible forces like drama and suspense. 

Florence Peake is a London-based artist who has been making solo and group performance works intertwined with an extensive visual art practice since 1995. Peake is known for an approach which is at once sensual and witty, expressive and rigorous by encouraging chaotic relationships between the body and material, Peake creates radical and outlandish performances. 

Their performance is called Abstract 1. They have abstracted a movement practice from an earlier collaborative work to situate it in Cardion Nights. They engage in ongoing physical connection, disconnection and re-negotiations to reflect on notions of futility, commitment, continuation, need, love and difference. 

There will be a paid cloakroom available for this event. Tickets are £2.50 per item and are available to purchase at the box office.

Event Information:

• ICA Membership discounts do not apply for this event.
• This event is 18+, general admission, standing.
• This event may contain the use of haze, fog and flashing lights.
• We have a small raised platform to accommodate wheelchair users or others who require a chair. To request, please purchase a ticket, then contact 020 7930 3647 or access@ica.art
• Full access information available here