Projects
Play Artist in Residence
I was invited to be the Play Artist in Residence at The Spring for 2021/22.
Funded by Arts Council England, this project includes a research team who are exploring this new concept of an ‘artist of play’.
DIY Radio
Commission by Hear Me Out / Music in Detention.
With Mohamed Shyheim aka KB and Johnathan Russell
.
“DIY radio takes radio back to its ultimate form, transferring information from one place to another without wires. For us this means making a radio station for people in detention in which ever ways we can.”
Participatory art on Zoom
With Arji Manuelpillai and Kathryn Corlett
Read the whole zine
Supported by
Opinion Pole
WIth YARA + DAVINA at Bloomsbury Festival 2020
In partnership with
Creative Facilitation Tools
Community & Wellbeing
HumanQ Listening Cards are a deck of 2 minute audio activities designed for group engagement in online video conferencing settings. Drawing upon nature sounds, these activities are designed to give eyes a break from the screen and bring about a sense of wellbeing, and can be used as ice-breakers, comfort breaks or as springboards for conversation or creative activity.
HumanQ Listening Cards are currently in prototyping phase. More information is available here.
Golden Record 2027: Identity & Visioning
In 1977 NASA launched time capsule discs - Golden Records - into deep space. President Jimmy Carter called them, "a present from a small, distant world, a token of our sounds, our science, our images, our music, our thoughts and our feelings." The Golden Records are now over 10 billion miles from earth, having travelled farther than any human-made object in history.
What will you add to the Golden Record 2027 for the 50th year anniversary?
More information coming soon.
Experience Design
The Magick Stone workshop guides participants through a process of designing an experience for another person. Using a range of structures and techniques inspired by the Odyssey Works immersive theatre company, this workshop explores how we can transform the ordinary into the magical.
Next public workshop Tuesday 9th March. Get in touch for tickets.
Project Collections
When The Music Stops (2016)
Highly Commended in the 2017 Koestler Trust Awards
This track was created in a single day of music making and song writing at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre, September 2016. The recording was inspired by a quote from members of the Zomba Prison Project Band, in Malawi, who talk about seeing no walls when they are making music and how music brings ‘sunshine’ into their lives.
Unheard Voices: Sounds of MID (2019)
Compilation of MID tracks selected by James Baker, mastered by Grammy-nominated producer, Derek Pacuk.
All we need is hope (2018)
A series of participatory music-making workshops connecting detainees held at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre with young people from the NHS CNWL’s Hillingdon and Harrow Early Intervention Service (EIS) group that meets at the Pembroke Centre in Ruislip. A powerful collection of original music that explores themes around mental health, including anger, drug treatments and the people who help you get through.
Friends in the City of Atlantis (2014)
Collaboration between Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre, North Leigh Youth Project and an Oxfordshire youth arts project.
The first section of the album contains live recordings of sharing sessions in Campsfield House. Large crowds would gather to hear solo performances and everyone would join in singing sea shanties togetherThe Farming song was offered by Munya, Entertainments Officer in Campsfield, drawing out a theme of worksongs. This inspired songwriting sessions at NLYP, where the young people created Friends in the City of Atlantis with George Latore, an amazing spoken word artist from Campsfield.
Unlock Freedom in my Mind (2013)
A group of detainees from Campsfield House Detention Centre and a group of people from the homeless community at Crisis Skylight Oxford engaged in a dialogue through music, poetry and spoken word.
"We know the arts can be incredibly effective in helping people begin to break the cycle of homelessness. Music can be a rare chance for self-expression, to get involved in a social activity and begin rebuilding confidence shattered by the awful experience of homelessness."
Kate Cocker, Director, Crisis Skylight Oxford
Breaking Boundaries (2011)
Dover Immigration Removal Centre.
Dover Youth HQ Centre.
Participants at Dover Youth HQ talked about the climate of fear in the aftermath of the riots in the UK in August 2011. Some of the detainees in Dover IRC were able to identify with the feelings of stigma and misunderstanding. From this position of commonality, participants united to send a message of empathy and community through creative expression.