Press Release: CIRCA Presents DIASPORA CALLING! By Lauren Halsey, Curated By Ms. Lauryn Hill

 

 

• • A new commission premieres on Piccadilly Lights for one night only ahead of Diaspora Calling! at the Milton Keynes National Bowl. Tickets still available. 
  • Ms. Lauryn Hill to attend launch in Piccadilly Circus
  • CIRCA to release new print by Ms. Lauryn Hill 
  • Download the artwork film https://mab.to/t/pwPxe0hWJ65/eu1
  • Press Kit folder with documentation to be updated after 8pm

 

(CIRCA) 5 August, 2026 ➳ CIRCA is proud to present Diaspora Calling!, a major new commission by Los Angeles artist Lauren Halsey, curated by Ms. Lauryn Hill. Premiering for one night only on Piccadilly Lights in London’s Piccadilly Circus, the commission transforms one of the world’s most recognisable public screens into a celebration of Black imagination, cultural memory and the enduring connections of the African diaspora.

Created in the weeks leading up to its premiere, Diaspora Calling! draws upon Halsey’s distinctive visual language, shaped by the architecture, typography and everyday life of South Central Los Angeles. Bringing those references into the heart of London, the commission celebrates the creativity that grows from community while inviting audiences to reflect on the histories, ideas and relationships that continue to shape the African diaspora across generations.

The collaboration emerged through conversations between Ms. Lauryn Hill, CIRCA and curator Lisa Anderson. Although they work in different disciplines, Hill and Halsey share a belief that culture can create opportunities for others, preserve collective memory and strengthen communities. Diaspora Calling! brings those shared values into the public realm through a work that belongs not to a museum or gallery, but to everyone passing through Piccadilly Circus.

Lauren Halsey said: “DIASPORA CALLING! is a maximalist call to action. The work is a non-linear portrait that pays homage to the collective across Blackness. It is saturated and vibrant, about the future and the here and now, the cosmic and the street, the ancient and the new. These are everyday people lifted to the scale of Piccadilly Lights. That is true power.”

Ms. Lauryn Hill said: “I am in such a state of embodiment with respect to what’s happening that I’m not sure I have the words. Right now, I have action. My actions are speaking for me through the work itself. It was deeply moving to see so many people come out and to share that moment with the community. Seeing Lauren Halsey’s artwork presented across the iconic Piccadilly Lights was powerful. Lauren and I have collaborated creatively for many years, and her practice speaks to community, imagination and the way culture can hold and reflect our stories. The African diaspora is not a monolith, but our histories, traditions and creative expressions belong in conversation with one another. Her work will also be part of the wider cultural program and marketplace at Diaspora Calling! this Friday. Bringing music, art and community together in this way is central to the purpose of the festival.”

Lisa Anderson said: “Public art has the power to interrupt our everyday routines and expand our sense of who belongs within our shared cultural landscape. There’s no better place for DIASPORA CALLING! than London – a city whose history has been shaped by the movements, ideas and traditions of the African Diaspora, and by generations of Pan-African organising that have connected communities across the world. Lauren Halsey’s work celebrates the beauty, ingenuity and cultural intelligence that emerge from community, reminding us that the diaspora is not simply a shared history but an ongoing exchange of ideas, creativity, and possibility. Together with CIRCA, this commission transforms one of the world’s most visible public screens into a space where those histories are made visible and where the future of diasporic culture can be imagined in public.”

The CIRCA premiere on Piccadilly Lights marks the opening moment of the 2026 DIASPORA CALLING! programme, the multidisciplinary music, arts and cultural platform conceived by Ms. Lauryn Hill to celebrate, connect and strengthen Africa and its global diaspora. First presented at Brooklyn’s Kings Theatre in 2016, DIASPORA CALLING! brings together artists, cultural leaders, entrepreneurs, organisations and communities through music, visual art and shared cultural experience.

Conceived and curated by Ms. Lauryn Hill and hosted by Dave Chappelle, DIASPORA CALLING! arrives at the Milton Keynes National Bowl on Friday 7 August, bringing together music, visual art, fashion, film, food and enterprise. At the centre of the festival, Hill and Wyclef Jean will perform the Fugees’ landmark album The Score in full for its 30th anniversary, marking Hill’s only confirmed UK appearance of 2026 and the exclusive UK presentation of the anniversary performance. The programme also features Erykah Badu, YG Marley, Zion Marley, Giggs and Fireboy DML, alongside pop-ups from Topicals, Denim Tears and Kids of Immigrants, large-scale installations by Lauren Halsey, Alvaro Barrington and Slawn developed in collaboration with CIRCA and Lisa Anderson, and independent food vendors including Jerk Junction and Sweet2BeBelly. Guided by principles of collective power, healing, unity and celebration, the festival creates space for connection, exchange and lasting collaboration across the global African diaspora.

The collaboration will continue when CIRCA releases a new limited edition by Ms. Lauryn Hill. Published as part of Diaspora Calling!, the edition extends the project beyond the screen and beyond the stage, reflecting CIRCA’s commitment to making ambitious artistic collaborations accessible through publishing. Collectors and audiences can now register their interest at circa.art/shop, where the edition will be available to purchase from Sunday.

Presented free to the public, Diaspora Calling! premieres on Piccadilly Lights in London at 8pm on Wednesday 5 August 2026 as a special ten-minute CIRCA takeover.

 

NOTES TO EDITORS

 

ABOUT DIASPORA CALLING!
Diaspora Calling! is a multidisciplinary music, arts and cultural platform conceived by Ms. Lauryn Hill to celebrate, connect and strengthen Africa and its global diaspora.  First presented at Brooklyn’s Kings Theatre in 2016, Diaspora Calling! brings together artists, cultural leaders, thinkers, organizations, entrepreneurs, innovators and communities through music, visual art, storytelling, dialogue and shared cultural experience. Guided by the principles of collective power, healing, unity and celebration, Diaspora Calling! creates space for communities separated by geography, language and history to recognize one another, exchange ideas and build lasting relationships. Its purpose extends beyond representation and performance. Diaspora Calling! is designed to turn cultural connection into collaboration, opportunity and progress—building toward Sovereign Futures. For additional information, visit (diasporacalling.com)

ABOUT LAUREN HALSEY
Lauren Halsey (b. 1987 Los Angeles) produces standalone sculptures, graphically maximalist collages that blend real and imagined geographies, and site specific projects that include immersive installations that bridge sculpture and architecture. Based in South Central Los Angeles where her family has lived for several generations, Halsey rethinks the possibilities for art, architecture, and community engagement. Combining found, fabricated, and handmade objects, Halsey’s work maintains a sense of civic urgency and free-flowing imagination, reflecting the lives of the people and places around her. Through critiques of gentrification and disenfranchisement paired with real-world proposals that celebrate on-the-ground aesthetics, Halsey creates a visionary form of culture that is at once radical and collaborative.

ABOUT LISA ANDERSON
Lisa Anderson is a curator, cultural strategist and writer whose practice explores the intersections of contemporary art, music and the global African diaspora. She develops exhibitions, public commissions and interdisciplinary collaborations that foreground cultural memory, public engagement and new models of cultural exchange. Formerly Managing Director of the Black Cultural Archives, Anderson has spent over a decade working across the cultural sector, connecting artists, institutions and audiences through projects that expand access to contemporary art and diasporic cultural production. For Diaspora Calling!, she brought together Ms. Lauryn Hill, Lauren Halsey and CIRCA to realise a landmark public commission on London’s Piccadilly Lights.

ABOUT CIRCA
CIRCA is redefining how culture circulates in the twenty-first century with a daily programme on London’s Piccadilly Lights. Each commission extends into prints, books, and digital publications, reaching audiences beyond traditional institutions while generating a circular economy known as the #CIRCAECONOMY, which reinvests in future projects, prizes, and community initiatives.

Since launching in 2020, CIRCA has raised over £1 million to support artists and social causes worldwide. Its public art programme has featured new commissions by Ai Weiwei, Marina Abramović, Yoko Ono, Patti Smith, David Hockney, Frank Bowling, Vivienne Westwood, Anne Imhof, Tony Cokes, Emma Talbot, Alvaro Barrington, Cauleen Smith, Shirin Neshat, Eddie Peake, Kandis Williams, Fiona Banner and Kembra Pfahler, amongst others. (circa.art)

ABOUT PICCADILLY LIGHTS
Visited by over 100 million people each year, Piccadilly Lights is an iconic London landmark operated by Ocean Outdoor on behalf of Landsec. The screen regularly hosts cultural moments, creative commissions and public displays, offering one of the most visible platforms for art in the world.

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