Can Art Save Us?: Recent Episodes
Paula Moore
I’m raising the first national and international conversation about the real meaning of courage and curiosity and why it makes a big difference to our mental, societal and democratic health. I talk to award-winning, diverse, national and international artists about the role of curiosity and courage in their lives and work with lessons in wellbeing for all of us. I’m exploring why we need these qualities to help change the global epidemic of mental illness, loneliness, polarization of our communities, and even global conflict. Are we sure these qualities of curiosity and courage are flourishing and especially as the digital world drives dis-information and pushed content? Since the arts cultivate courage and curiosity, I’m asking the question Can art save us?
Be curious! SEASON ONE includes hip-hop poetry, graffiti, Islamic art, tap dance, filmmaking, music, drag, surrealism, photography and performance. The settings for this work include explosive protests in Istanbul, end of life, the Vatican, boy band tours, the WWII frontline, taking the stage, Egypt, museums, schools and the streets. SEASON TWO includes Islamic architecture, photography and protest, Syrian music, inclusive theatre, community arts, plays, installations and Windrush culture, ceramics and the Art School for the Homeless. The settings for this work include the war in Syria, the UK’s, 1985 Miners Strike, aristocracy and domestic abuse, the city of Brighton’s divisions and destiny, the 1970s West Indian Front Room, the body and pushing the boundaries of movement.
Can Art Save Us? – Conversations on Arts, Mental Health, Social Justice & Wellbeing.
After nine seasons, 65 episodes and more than 6,000 downloads, I'm very grateful that this independent podcast has earned the trust of listeners and artists around the world. Thank you to every guest and listener because this reach has been built entirely through organic growth and without a paid PR machine. I'm now reliably informed that the series is placed well ahead of the majority of new podcasts and with continued growth. So, thank you. To mark this shared achievement, I wanted to close 2025 with something special, a feature on an arts organisation that shares and embodies the values this series supports. The Arts House in Wakefield, also known as the House That Art Built, is a leading example of what is possible, even in the toughest economic climate. This small but long-established arts charity remains steadfast in its mission to champion diversity, inclusion and transformative change. This isn't about tokenism, its core to everything they do. Together in this episode, we'll explore how the arts can help us think more deeply, feel more fully and imagine more generously. The Art House demonstrates what we should all be able to expect when it comes to participating in the arts and to discover multiple benefits that can help shape a better world to live in.
In this feature I had the pleasure to talk to:
Damon Jackson-Waldock, the Co-Executive Director at the Art House.
Amelia Baron, Curator and Program Coordinator at the Art House.
Tonye Ekine, who had a recent solo exhibition at the Art House, When the Dawn Delays, We Rise Anyway. Listed in the Top 40, Rising Stars by the Royal Society of British Artists.
Dr. Victoria Claire, who had a recent solo exhibition at the Art House, Sense of Sculpture. Victoria is a registered blind professional artist in contemporary sculpture. In 2024, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from the University of Greater Manchester for her Outstanding Contribution to Public Art.
I hope you are inspired by the truly human centered work and kindness of The Art House. Your host, Paula
All images courtesy of The Art House.
Discover:
The Art House https://the-arthouse.org.uk/
Artist, Tonye Ekine https://www.instagram.com/wherestonye/?hl=en
Tonye Ekine, Season 7 https://canartsaveus.podbean.com/e/seeing-beyond-the-masks-ancient-and-social/
Artist, Dr. Victoria Claire https://www.victoriaclaire-beyondvision.com/
Artist, Amelia Baron https://www.ameliabaron.co.uk/
Production:
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all audio interviews in this series.
Read only, text transcripts of every interview, news, reviews and your host, Paula Moore, are available here: https://canartsaveus.com/
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING. PLEASE SHARE THIS FREE TO LISTEN SERIES TO HELP MAKE THE ARTS ALL OF OURS.
© Can Art Save Us? All rights reserved. Content is for informational purposes only and not professional advice. Guest views are their own.
Can Art Save Us? – Conversations on Arts, Mental Health, Social Justice & Wellbeing.
Tom Lutz, is a celebrated author, travel photographer, founder of the Los Angeles Review of Books and a distinguished professor at UC Riverside, the University of California. His current book is: 1925 - A Literary Encyclopedia, and this is much more than a reference work. This is a cultural x-ray on 1925, which he identifies as “the most stunning year.” Tom presents 1925 as a collage of literature, art, dance, music, the rise of advertising and more. You can take a curious tour and you'll encounter a wide range of courageous writers and artists. He's also currently working with a Los Angeles-based production company on a television show set in the 1920s. Tom writes, “In 1925, I could see the seeds of virtually every aspect of our cultural life, from art and politics to the fear of environmental collapse and the alarming rise of right-wing authoritarianism.” And this book raises an important question. What can we learn from the creative and social breakthroughs of 1925, when a hundred years later the world still mirrors division, ideology and struggles for equality? As Tom notes, “we have come far and yet not very far at all," but we end with hope. 1925 shows us how positive change was, and still can be achieved - that art is necessary.
Discover Tom Lutz: https://www.tomlutzwriter.com/
Production:
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all audio interviews in this series.
Read only, text transcripts of every interview, news, reviews and your host, Paula Moore, are available here: https://canartsaveus.com/
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING. PLEASE SHARE THIS FREE TO LISTEN SERIES TO HELP MAKE THE ARTS ALL OF OURS.
© Can Art Save Us? All rights reserved. Content is for informational purposes only and not professional advice. Guest views are their own.
Can Art Save Us? – Conversations on Arts, Mental Health, Social Justice & Wellbeing.
Birungi Kawooya is a self-taught British-Ugandan artist, wellbeing researcher, and creative facilitator. Her name, Birungi, means 'Bringer of Good Things,' a name deeply rooted in Ugandan culture. Her art practice is a return to her heritage. Reconnecting with Ugandan culture, artisanal practices, and the natural environment, has been central to her personal recovery. After a marketing career in London left her deeply burnt out, Birungi turned toward art and healing. She began exploring the trauma she experienced as a Black, disabled woman, and as a child growing up in London with working-class roots. Self-care has come through creating art with natural fibres such as palm and banana leaves, embracing afro-somatic movement and dances of the African diaspora, whilst keeping an emphasis on rest and simply being enough. Birungi’s work reminds us that care is cultural, creative, and communal, and that healing practices from the Global Majority have long offered wisdom, balance, and restoration. Her workshops offer safe, healing spaces for Black women and non-binary people. And, as a true 'Bringer of Good Things,' she offers community care through mindfulness rooted in African practices, nurturing healing and connection. Her spaces of cultural rootedness are acts of both resistance and restoration, where Birungi invites you to dream, rest, and heal.
Images courtesy of Birungi Kawooya.
Discover Birungi Kawooya: https://birungikawooyaart.com/home/
Production:
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all audio interviews in this series.
Read only, text transcripts of every interview, news, reviews and your host, Paula Moore, are available here: https://canartsaveus.com/
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING. PLEASE SHARE THIS FREE TO LISTEN SERIES TO HELP MAKE THE ARTS ALL OF OURS.
© Can Art Save Us? All rights reserved. Content is for informational purposes only and not professional advice. Guest views are their own.
Today, public relations is powered by digital storytelling, inclusivity, immersive experiences, data and hybrid strategies. But it's also shaped by distinct and diverse artists who happen to be PR creatives. And that's exactly what this exhibition episode uncovers and celebrates. For the first time, the Art of PR, liberates these artists from the client brief. Now in its second year, this dedicated exhibition showcases PR professionals as artists telling their own creative stories. The Coningsby Gallery in London has hosted both editions, and this year you can also explore the online exhibition until the 15th of October, thanks to Occhi Arts & Entertainment. The link is below on this episode page.
Joining us today are Ade Lee, founder of the Art of PR. Ade also specialises in wet plate photography, creating unique contemporary portraits and images by returning to Victorian techniques of the 1850s.
Fola Odumosu, is a sculptor who handcrafts abstract forms, working intuitively. She develops a dialogue with her materials, building imagined architecture that can both rise from the canvas or stand as three-dimensional works.
Simon Moore, is a fine artist, creative director, designer, illustrator and animator. His work has been shown in the BP Portrait Award at London's National Portrait Gallery and he's equally at home scaling up to film billboards or street art.
Nadia Padayachy, is a portrait artist whose work captures raw emotional depth. Themes of parenting, love, resilience and connection run through her paintings with unflinching honesty. Nadia was also quarter finalist on Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year in 2024 and her work also includes a lifelong passion for cinema.
We talk about the courage it takes to be an artist, to stand in your own vulnerability, building confidence through connection, leaving comfort zones, but supporting wellbeing. We explore the gift of reflection in abstract art, the role of narrative and recognition, the influence of cinema, finding fulfilment, whether your art is commercial or not, and the creative engine of curiosity.
You can enjoy The Art of PR, online exhibition with 19 diverse, artists, beautifully presented, courtesy of Occhi Arts & Entertainment. It's available until the 15th of October, just scroll down to Enter Exhibition:
https://occhicontemporary.org/online-gallery/
And in Season 7, meet two more distinct artists, also exhibiting in The Art of PR, Tonye Ekine and David Emmanuel Noel, highlighting identity, personal and social wellbeing.
Images, kind permission of:
Ade Lee - 1. Self portrait 2. Peruvian puppeteer Bella.
Fola Odumosu - 1. Infinite 2. Comfort Zone
Simon Moore - 1. Flotsam and Jetsam 2. Time Is the Old Justice
Nadia - 1. Sleeping with Babies
Discover the artists:
Ade Lee: https://www.instagram.com/aderollei/?hl=en-gb
Fola Odumosu: https://www.folaodumosu.com/
Simon Moore: https://www.burkeandhare.net/
Nadia Padayachy: https://www.instagram.com/nadiapadayachy/?hl=en-gb
Coningsby Gallery, The Art of PR:
https://www.coningsbygallery.com/exhibition/art-of-pr-september-2025
Exhibition soundtrack, Hoxton Radio:
https://hoxtonradio.com/nondef-cd-sounds-art-of-pr-2025/
Production:
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all audio interviews in this series.
Read only, text transcripts of every interview, news, reviews and your host, Paula Moore, are available here: https://canartsaveus.com/
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING. PLEASE SHARE THIS FREE TO LISTEN SERIES TO HELP MAKE THE ARTS ALL OF OURS.
You may be someone who has already experienced a 360 life change through ill health, or are currently supporting somebody with a life changing diagnosis. Dr Shanali Perera's own 360 story is one of sudden, abrupt and frightening change. 10 years ago, as a medical doctor, Shanali was specializing in rheumatology with a specific interest in vasculitis, a rare autoimmune disease, only to become diagnosed with it herself. Her fast tracked medical career was derailed, leaving her with uncertainty, loss and fear. It was when she turned to visual digital art that she found not only a new form of expression, but finally regained control of her experience. Today as a practicing artist, including acrylic paint on canvas, her work is at the intersection of art, medical education and patient advocacy. Shanali is an activist, her art, writing and talks put human experience at the center of patient care and medical learning. It's through the therapeutic benefits of art and expression as an alternative language that both clinicians and patients can dramatically improve care and self-management. Her book, Finding Me Beyond Illness, is a visual narrative about her transformation. She illustrates her personal pathway, and invites patients to take similar steps that help make human, medical and art concepts, one conversation.
Discover Shanali Perera: https://www.shanaliperera.com/
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all audio interviews in this series.
Read only, text transcripts of every interview, news, reviews and your host, Paula Moore, are available here: https://canartsaveus.com/
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING. PLEASE SHARE THIS FREE TO LISTEN SERIES TO HELP MAKE THE ARTS ALL OF OURS.
Professor Ericka Verba, is the director of Latin American Studies at California State University. She's an author and a musician, recently reviewed as a rising star by the Los Angeles magazine voyage LA. She is notably the author of the first English language biography of Violeta Parra out now entitled Thanks to Life. The title translates Parra's iconic song, Gracias a la Vida, famously covered by Joan Baez and many more. Violeta Parra is one of Chile's most important women artists and Ericka's study of her life and work spans five decades. Her deep expertise translates into the reviews, describing it as a "stunning achievement" and "deeply moving." She both navigates and honors the life of a complex woman, an artist who shattered gender, racial and class barriers. Violeta Parra collected and preserved Chilean folk music as a personal mission, now of huge national significance and made an important contribution to Chile's protest music movement. New Song. Thanks to life, underscores the power of art as a force for change. Parra represented voices that were otherwise unheard in her songs, notably women workers and indigenous peoples. She broke extraordinary barriers as a recording and visual artist working across paintings, ceramics and tapestries. In 1964 she became the first self taught Latin American visual artist to hold a solo exhibition at the Museum of Decorative Arts, housed in the Louvre, Paris, tragically in 1967 and this biography documents her travels throughout Latin America and Europe at the height of the Cold War. It's intertwined with her conflicting identities and the meaning of authenticity. This biography is a legacy work of passion and compassion.
Discover Ericka Verba https://erickaverba.com/
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all audio interviews in this series.
Read only, text transcripts of every interview, news, reviews and your host, Paula Moore, are available here: https://canartsaveus.com/
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING. PLEASE SHARE THIS FREE TO LISTEN SERIES AND HELP MAKE THE ARTS ALL OF OURS.
Tere Chad is a multidisciplinary artist and curator from Chile, currently based in London. She is fast rising as an international artist and to date she has held seven solo exhibitions, completed seven residencies participated in more than 50 collective exhibitions and has curated over 20 shows on four different continents. Her practice includes sculpture, painting, poetry, performance, textiles, installation and silversmithing. Promoting Latin American art and culture is core to her work and the Global South informs her response to the climate crisis, migration, sustainability and humanity. In 2020, she was granted a global talent visa for exceptional promise to continue her practice here in the UK. She graduated with a Masters of Art in sculpture from the Royal College of Art and in 2021, she was accepted as a member of the Royal Society of Sculptors. Tere observes modern life and the impact of fast-changing technologies, media sensationalism and digital distortion on human connections. She elevates what ancient civilisations and indigenous knowledge can teach us. A significant and current project that began in 2017 is Neo-Norte or New North, an artistic research initiative that turns the world map upside down to challenge dominant geopolitical narratives and the displacement of power. Neo-Norte has showcased internationally with more than 565,000 visitors fostering cross-cultural dialogues for an interconnected world. Tere Chad, is as a deeply thoughtful, international artist with a global identity and strong Chilean roots.
Images are subject to copyright, courtesy of Tere Chad, please see credit list below.
Discover Tere Chad https://www.terechad.com/
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all audio interviews in this series.
Read only, text transcripts of every interview, news, reviews and your host, Paula Moore, are available here: https://canartsaveus.com/
IMAGE CREDITS
COLUMN ONE
Woven Hug 2.0, Tere Chad, Cordelia Rizzo (Documentation: Kavod Films); Flowerfield Arts Centre, Linen Biennale, Portstewart, Northern Ireland (2023).
Abrazo Entramado 1.0 (Woven Hug 1.0), Tere Chad, Cordelia Rizzo (CC BY NC-SA CONARTE); LABNL Lab Cultural Ciudadano, Monterrey, México (2022).
COLUMN TWO
6 Neo Norte 5.0, Act of Relational Art, Collaborators: Tere Chad, Tere Chad, Asia Artom, Concepción García Sánchez, Cindy Lilen, Anastasia Marcelja, Giada Marchese, Lidia Maugeri, Debra Pollarino, Ines Rocques, Alessandro Rebesani (Documentation: Movies Move Us); Spazio Zelda, Venice, Italy (2024).
COLUMN 3
Zurciendo Vacíos (Mending Voids), Tere Chad, Cordelia Rizzo, UDEM CRGS, Centro Cultural Plaza Fátima (Documentation: CC BY SA LABNL); LABNL, Monterrey, México (2023).
Zurciendo Vacíos (Mending Voids), Tere Chad, Cordelia Rizzo, UDEM CRGS, LABNL (Documentation: Grecia Evangelina); Centro Cultural Plaza Fátima, San Pedro Garza García, México (2023).
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING. PLEASE SHARE THIS FREE TO LISTEN SERIES AND HELP MAKE THE ARTS ALL OF OURS.
Nicola Avramovich is not only considered one of Serbia's finest classical pianists, but one of the best of his generation. He is a sought after performer giving numerous recitals and chamber music concerts worldwide, including prestigious festivals and leading concert halls here in the UK, Nicola Avramovich is the recipient of numerous prestigious scholarships and awards, including the Benjamin Britten Piano Fellowship at the Royal College of Music in London. This fellowship is only awarded every two years to an outstanding pianist preparing for a career as an international soloist. He is an exciting, incredibly disciplined talent. Nicola is recognized as an exceptional talent, and he also has a deep appreciation of folklore. He interpreted Serbian folk music that he grew up with from a very early age on the piano. As an accomplished classical pianist, he has also celebrated these musical roots in his forthcoming release, Origins, which brings together music by composers from Serbia, Hungary, Romania and other Eastern European countries. Nicola has composed and improvised folk melodies in this unique classical recording, which he has performed in several countries, including China, to a wonderful response and a European tour is to follow. His repertoire is described as “superb and authentic.” There is a beautiful message in his work that music has no boundaries. It is both transcending and unifying a common humanity that can be shared. In this episode you will also hear a performance extract, Nikola's own, stunning transcription of the Serbian folk dance, Vranje.
Discover Nikola Avramovich on Instagram @n_avramovic_
Nikola Avramovich performs Vranje https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQfrDQB8oTA
Genuin Record Label https://www.genuinclassics.com/_new/artist_1.php?k=848
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all audio interviews in this series.
Read only, text transcripts of every interview, news, reviews and your host, Paula Moore, are available here: https://canartsaveus.com/
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING. PLEASE SHARE THIS FREE TO LISTEN SERIES AND HELP MAKE THE ARTS ALL OF OURS.
Gabriela Elisabeth Edawani Fernandez, known as Ina Leah, is a transdisciplinary artist and her work is rooted in the practices of the indigenous Lamaholot people of East Nusa Tengara, home of her cultural heritage. The Lamaholot people are indigenous to the southernmost province of Indonesia and the small islands around it. It's an area of natural beauty. Gabriela weaves together art and wellbeing practices, including improvisational music, expressive painting, collective dance, traditional crafts, and moving image. There's a deep level of integration between the different disciplines she works with, building a holistic knowledge and respect for cultural heritage. She's deeply inspired by cultural traditions and collective participation that understands the interconnectedness of humans and the natural world. As a contemporary artist, you can also find Gabriela Fernandez on Spotify, along with well over 16,000 listeners. For a celebration of musical heritage, oral tradition and sound art. Ina is deeply sensitive to noise. She talks openly about her ADHD and autism and as a neuro-divergent creator she understands the need for calm in our lives. Gabriela is committed to the healing powers of art on our physical and mental wellbeing, and the name she has given herself as an artist reflects healing. Leah is an anagram of the word heal, and Ina means mother in the Lamaholic language. We talk about her mission in holistic health, grounded in cultural identity.
Discover Ina Leah https://www.artwithinaleah.com/
The Embodiment of Care https://www.artwithinaleah.com/embodimentofcare-improvisation
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all audio interviews in this series.
Read only, text transcripts of every interview, news, reviews and your host, Paula Moore, are available here: https://canartsaveus.com/
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING. PLEASE SHARE THIS FREE TO LISTEN SERIES AND HELP MAKE THE ARTS ALL OF OURS.
Jane Wright is a ceramicist, violinist and champion of community arts. A West Yorkshire born musician and artist, Jane is now based in the iconic seaside town of Margate in Kent, famous for its art history. Margate was home to the renowned water colourist Turner, considered to be the best loved English Romantic artist, and it's currently home to Tracey Emin, famously known for her confessional art. Between world class artists and the Turner Contemporary Gallery. Margate has a thriving community art scene, and Jayne is the project founder of Tiles of Joy, a community arts, Happiness Project. Over 1000 hand crafted tiles have already been made in workshops and at least 4000 people have bought one of Jane's tiles. This trail of happiness is bringing people together from all walks of life, promoting creativity and community spirit. As a ceramicist, Jane is also known for her body positive, Mermaid Army, a collection of tiles and stoneware sculptures of people who wild swim. They represent stories of nostalgia and empowerment. One sculpture represents Gill Castle, who became the first person ever to swim the channel with a stoma, raising awareness of childbirth injuries. Currently, the mermaid sculptures are touring with the message words matter, part of the campaign This Ends Now, raising awareness of male violence against women and girls. Her work consistently shows solidarity and support for the causes she cares about, including the sewing resistance, a global textile project. Her current exhibition, Long, explores the cultural significance of long hair in relation to femininity, identity and power. Jane's art is about awareness, advocacy, activism, and championing joy.
Discover Jayne Wright at the Turner Contemporary Art Gallery, Margate.
https://shop.turnercontemporary.org/collections/jayne-wright
Current Exhibition, Long, at the Liminal Gallery, Margate.
https://liminal-gallery.com/collections/jayne-wright-long
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all audio interviews in this series.
Read only, text transcripts of every interview, news, reviews and your host, Paula Moore, are available here: https://canartsaveus.com/
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING. PLEASE SHARE THIS FREE TO LISTEN SERIES AND HELP MAKE THE ARTS ALL OF OURS.
David Emmanuel Noel, is a visual and interdisciplinary artist who often splits his time between New York and London. He collaborates with musicians and performers to explore race, identity and culture with an emphasis on public engagement. He's interested in promoting a fairer, kinder and inclusive society and he's worked with socially conscious organisations including New York's Groundswell Community Mural Project, the Powerhouse, a UK charity supporting women with learning difficulties, the National Network for Art and Health and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. He's also worked with the Royal Institute of British Architects and David has a very clear interest in the social and therapeutic benefits of art in public spaces. He clearly states every artist should see their art form as a therapeutic tool above or beyond anything else. David is also a political science graduate and holds an m MA in European Studies. How the arts can influence socio-economic and political trends is clearly on his radar. His broad interests across the creative industries have also culminated in David co-founding Occhi Arts and Entertainment, which includes consultancy and an online magazine to showcase artists and to promote arts advocacy. David's artwork has been featured at highly prestigious venues such as the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Kennedy Centre, Washington DC, along with galleries in London and festivals. His career is undoubtedly like a rich tapestry of work, a cloak for good. His paintings are full of movement and colour, sensory in intent and heightened in collaborations with musicians such as Grammy Award-nominated US band Cloud9 and Daryl Yokely's Sound Reformation. Everything speaks out.
The Art of PR is the first exhibition to collectively present the work of established and emerging artists from the UK public relations sector, including David Emmanuel Noel and Tonye Ekine, also in Season 7.
Visit the Coningsby Gallery: info@coningsbygallery.com / 07884 314361
18 November 2024–23 November 2024
www.coningsbygallery.com/exhibition/the-art-of-pr-november-2024
Discover David Emmanuel Noel: www.davidemmanuelnoelart.net/
Occhi Magazine (Part of Occhi Arts & Entertainment): www.occhimagazine.com/
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all audio interviews in this series.
Read only, text transcripts of every interview, news, reviews and your host, Paula Moore, are available here: www.canartsaveus.com
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING. PLEASE SHARE THIS FREE TO LISTEN SERIES AND HELP MAKE THE ARTS ALL OF OURS.
Sometimes it seems people are just born gifted and Zoom Rockman started his working artistic life from the age of eight, when he was self-publishing his own monthly comic, The Zoom, now considered a collector's item. Today Zoom is an award-winning political cartoonist, illustrator, puppet animator, and now the Director of his first animated one hour film, Survivor. This is the true story of Ivor Perl, who survived the Holocaust, age 12 with his brother. In stark contrast to Ivor’s life, at age 12, Zoom had become the youngest cartoonist for the world's longest running comic The Beano. At age 16, he became a regular contributor at Private Eye, the UK's number one best selling News and Current Affairs magazine. Zoom's humor and observation was already mature enough for this audience, but six years later, he quit after receiving an anti-Semitic death threat for one of his cartoons and lack of response he felt he had from the magazine. Many more accomplishments have since continued. One being in 2023, Zoom Rockman's, Jewish Hall of Fame, was billed as the ‘must see summer exhibition,’ where he created interactive life size automata of Jewish icons, including Lord sugar, Amy Winehouse and Sacha Baron Cohen. Suffice to say, the London Evening Standard newspaper has previously named Zoom as one of the most influential Londoners under 25, and he was included on Instagram's first ever 21 under 21 list within the art category. Zoom's gift of visual storytelling is ever more pronounced with his new film Survivor. This is a huge act of compassion, archival accuracy and artistic skill, telling the true story of Ivor Perl's survival. To do this, he has created an astonishing 150, hand animated paper puppets representing real people. The intricate detail of his sets accurately replicate locations, and the film is accompanied with music by the award-winning composer Erran Baron Cohen and vocals by Pini Brown, whose voice grips the emotional magnitude of this story. The film is based on Ivor Perl's book and testimony, Chicken Soup Under the Tree. We also talk about the importance of visual literacy, authenticity and telling the truth versus dis-information and failing education. Links are below to follow the film and for screening information.
Images courtesy of Zoom Rockman. Survivor images are reproduced with the permission of Lemon Soul.
Discover More:
FILM www.survivorfilm.com
IVOR PERL’S BOOK www.lemonsoul.com/products/chicken-soup-under-the-tree?srsltid=AfmBOopCsd-yBvpDEkXZaTjx_emAbzBBlZFiZnu5eC0nchFKyFTc0fQ5
MARCH OF THE LIVING www.marchoftheliving.org.uk/
HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY 2025 www.hmd.org.uk/what-is-holocaust-memorial-day/this-years-theme/
VOCALS BY PINNY BROWN www.linktr.ee/piniontheroof
COMPOSER ERRAN BARON COHEN www.erranbaroncohen.com
Podcast Host - Paula Moore
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all audio interviews in this series.
Read only, text transcripts of every interview, news, reviews and your host are available here: www.canartsaveus.com
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING. PLEASE SHARE THIS FREE TO LISTEN SERIES AND HELP MAKE THE ARTS ALL OF OURS.
Sunaura Taylor is an artist, writer, activist, academic and mother. Sunaura is the Assistant Professor in the Division of Society and Environment and the director of the Disabled Ecologies Lab at the University of California, Berkely. A skilled artist, her artworks have been exhibited at venues such as the CUE Art Foundation, a contemporary art space in New York City, the Smithsonian Institution, the world's largest museum, education, and research complex and they are a part of the Berkeley Art Museum collection. Sunaura is also the author of Beasts of Burden: Animal and Disability Liberation, which received the American Book Award. Her current book is, Disabled Ecologies: Lessons from a Wounded Desert and whilst it’s not a memoir, it is personal and political. She documents how residents organized one of the earliest and most successful environmental justice movements in the USA. Sunaura is a game changer, a global thinker, she brings together what environmental and disability movements can learn from one another. Her books reveal how disability and ableism shape our understanding of nature and environmental crisis. She uncovers networks of disability, both human and wild, that are created when ecosystems are corrupted and profoundly altered. Sunaura raises an important question we should all be asking in the name of shared justice, “What happened to us?” Not, what happened to you? This is someone with an incredible eye for detail, for whom painting is a love of seeing and whose political statements are also drawn from sharp observation, analysis and lived experience. Sunaura also has a critical understanding of curiosity cultivated in her alternative childhood education of being 'unschooled.'
Sunaura Taylor
Aquifer Losing Reach, Speculative Aquifers Series
Pen and Watercolor on Paper, apx 11 x 8’’, 2017-2020
Sunaura Taylor
Animals With Arthrogryposis
Oil on Canvas, 6’ x 9’ (72“ x 108”), 2009
Author Photo © Julius Schlosberg
Discover Sunaura Taylor: www.sunaurataylor.net/
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all audio interviews in this series.
Read only, text transcripts of every interview, news, reviews and your host, Paula Moore, are available here: www.canartsaveus.com
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING. PLEASE SHARE THIS FREE TO LISTEN SERIES AND HELP MAKE THE ARTS ALL OF OURS.
Tonye Ekine is one of the top 40 British Rising Stars recognized by the Royal Society of British Artists. He is also recently back from the world renowned, Venice Biennale, where he was selected for a highly prestigious fellowship with the British Council. In its 60th anniversary year, the Venice Biennale attracted half a million visitors to celebrate ground breaking artists from around the world. Tonye has set himself apart from other contemporary African artists with his distinct use of the iconic, Ife Bronze masks in his paintings. Ife is the religious and royal center of the Yoruba people in Nigeria and the masks are exceptional works of art, dating back to the 12th century. Born in Nigeria, Tonye is now based in London and by foregrounding his Yoruba heritage in his contemporary art, he raises questions of identity, the legacy of colonialism, the social masks we wear in everyday life and he isn’t shy of uncomfortable paradox. Tonye’s role as an artist is set to move through the world in different ways taking his identity and roots with him. He says: “There is freedom in expression – and that’s where you find identity.” He’s interested in being part of design, fashion, marketing, brands in communication and education, his openness is refreshing. He prioritises knowledge as currency not economic status. We talk about identity and authenticity, connection as the most important form of validation and optimism.
Discover Tonye Ekine: www.wherestonye.com/
The Art of PR is the first exhibition to collectively present the work of established and emerging artists from the UK public relations sector, including Tonye Ekine.
Visit the Coningsby Gallery: info@coningsbygallery.com / 07884 314361
18 November 2024–23 November 2024
www.coningsbygallery.com/exhibition/the-art-of-pr-november-2024
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all audio interviews in this series.
Read only, text transcripts of every interview, news, reviews and your host, Paula Moore, are available here: www.canartsaveus.com
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING. PLEASE SHARE THIS FREE TO LISTEN SERIES AND HELP MAKE THE ARTS ALL OF OURS.
What's it like to be the least likely artists to have two hit, number one albums on Decca Records, one of the world's most iconic labels? Decca Classics, discovered and pursued singing nuns, the Poor Clares of Arundel in West Sussex, to record with them. The debut album, 'Light for the World,' sold out of cds within 24 hours, had 60 million streams, topped the Amazon and Apple music charts internationally and topped the UK specialist chart for 19 weeks. The second album, 'My Peace I Give You,' is out now, led by popular demand. Sister Gabriel shares their experience; doubts, resistance, concerns, negotiating terms and how this all became a beautiful experience with world wide impact.
The Poor Clares have recorded an infusion of Latin hymns and medieval texts which have had a powerful, healing impact across the world, touching the lives of people, whether they are religious or not. A common response has been, “I don't believe in God, but there is something about your music that takes me somewhere that I had never experienced before.” From the debut album, they were inundated with letters of thanks, often speaking of healing and calm, religious or not.
The Poor Clares live a contemplative, cloistered life and rarely go out but the convent and their guest house are regularly populated with visitors from all walks of life. Their multiple responsibilities revolve around a disciplined structure of praying, seven times a day and staying in touch with World News. We dispel myths of a contemplative life being simply passive. We talk about courage, personal choices, recording albums, being of service but not self-serving and balancing novelty with health curiosity. “The scariest thing to do is to submit yourself to something other than oneself.” Sister Gabriel.
Before choosing a consecrated life, Sister Gabriel, had completed a degree in auto and mechanical engineering and worked in Czechoslovakia for a year helping to improve British safety standards in machinery. Art had been a significant part of her family life in the North East, including her admiration for Tisch, a significant social documentary photographer from Newcastle, and the Pittman painters northern miners that painted a unique historical record of their lives and mined literally through class barriers to do so.
As the sisters say themselves, "You don't have to be religious to enjoy their music." Published on September 21st, 2024, International Day of Peace, the episode includes the title track, "My Peace I Give You." The music is courtesy of Decca Classics.
Photos © Chris O'Donovan
Discover The Poor Clares: www.poorclaresarundel.org
Discover Decca Classics: www.deccaclassics.com/en
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all audio interviews in this series.
Read only, text transcripts of every interview, news, reviews and your host, Paula Moore, are available here: www.canartsaveus.com
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING. THIS IS A FREE TO LISTEN SERIES.
PLEASE SHARE, AND HELP MAKE THE ARTS ALL OF OURS.
A first for the series, a mother and daughter, discussing parallels between their work. They have both successfully bypassed conventional and formal routes into painting and publishing winning awards and five star reviews. Following her teaching career, Yeside Linney, is a mostly self-taught artist who has quickly accrued multiple awards, including two national awards in The Women in Art Prize. Yeside was born in Nigeria but sent to Britain to be educated at a very young age, where she has lived since the age of 4. Her paintings, be it landscapes or portraits are free of convention and layered with textures, history, emotion and courage. She found she could only paint her autobiography and investigated her Nigerian heritage, particularly the cultural riches of the Yoruba tribe. She, herself is often painted too and her portrait by artist, Peter James Field, has also recently been hung in the National Portrait Gallery.
Her daughter Claire Linney, author of children’s books, brings to life historical people of black and mixed heritage. Claire is writing black history back into Britain’s historical narrative that has been mostly excluded from the school curriculum. Our new Labour government is now conducting a review of the national curriculum with important questions about equality, diversity and inclusion still to be answered. Claire’s first book, The Time Tub Travellers and the Silk Thief, has 5 star reviews from both the buyers and young readers. It’s a fast paced adventure that returns to Tudor England and best friends Zula and Milo, encounter Reasonable Blackman, a significant, historical figure. He was one of the earliest people of African heritage working as an independent business owner in London at that time, a black silk weaver with rare and sought after skills enjoyed only by aristocracy. It’s an adventure in healthy curiosity, openness, exploration and learning.
We talk about historical representation and the impact on identity today, the dominant beauty narrative versus diverse, cultural expressions. We look at how history is what is and isn't painted on a canvas, or is and isn't written on a page. This is a celebration of healthy curiosity and courage from a mother that is "insatiably curious" and a daughter who is "constantly curious." It's an inspirational journey of their courage, bypassing gatekeepers, rules and barriers, to paint and publish with their own permission.
Images from the Scarification series © Yeside Linney
Images of the Time Tub Travellers, book cover illustration by Onyinye Iwu,
with kind permission of Claire Linney.
Discover Yeside Linney: www.yeside.com
Discover Claire Linney: www.clairelinney.com/
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all audio interviews in this series.
Read only, text transcripts of every interview, news, reviews and your host, Paula Moore, are available here: www.canartsaveus.com
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING. THIS IS A FREE TO LISTEN SERIES.
PLEASE SHARE AND HELP MAKE THE ARTS ALL OF OURS.
This episode is about "Joyful madness" and a brilliant collaboration between Science and the Arts. Dr. Weliton Menário Costa, also known as Weli both as a scientist and as a recording artist, is the global winner of the "Dance Your PhD" competition. Complex academic research is communicated through dance to reach new audiences. It’s a tough but inspired challenge and a joy to see science celebrated through the Arts. The visibility of this relationship is especially important when a divisive political approach between the Arts and Sciences has dominated here in the UK; but it’s not a natural division. What is and isn’t natural is also a critical finding in Weli’s scientific work. His three year study of wild kangaroos has evidenced the natural diversity of kangaroo personalities and without conflict. He was able to conclude, “Kangaroos are different, just like us. Differences happen in all species, it’s just natural.” And this is what you see in Weli’s video, a group dance that includes a Drag Queen with Brazilian funk, classical Indian and ballet dancers all performing to his own song, Kangaroo Time.
We draw on parallels between his scientific study of wild kangaroos and human behaviour. Weli shares powerful, personal stories of his own challenges with identity and mental health. As a young gay man growing up in a conservative rural area of Brazil, being different alerted him to how the social environment can also shape our behaviour. He talks about his personal fears and anxieties and how his life changed dramatically in Australia where he now lives. We talk about his meditation practice and the importance of acceptance and letting go whilst understanding these aren't passive states. His practice has been core to his cultivation of courage and to developing responsiveness rather than reactiveness. There are clear acts of courageousness in Weli's journey, including his decision to become a full time recording artist and his current EP, "Yours Academically," chronicles that transition. Watch the video, dance along and find your inner roo!
Photographs courtesy of Nic Vevers, The Australian National University.
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview, news, reviews and your host are here: www.canartsaveus.com
Kangaroo Time Club Mix, video - www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoSYO3fApEc
Discover @WeliMusic on Instagram, check his bio for links, including Spotify or head to Youtube:
www.youtube.com/channel/UCBpUI9oMUYmIl0wcTsD1Lkw
What happens when the judicial system we're taught to trust is in fact part of a complex web of systemic failure and structural discrimination on vast scales? My guests today have raised one of the most important spotlights on systemic failure in Australia's prison system. Indigenous Australians are one of the most incarcerated people in the world. Alex Siddons is the director of the groundbreaking feature documentary, The Art of Incarceration, which is currently available on Netflix. He won unprecedented access to film at the Indigenous Unit of Victoria's Fulham Correctional Center. Christopher Austin is a lead participant in the documentary and he was incarcerated from the age of 11. And by the time he was 46, the longest time he had spent in society at any one time was nine months. There's nothing sketchy about this documentary and crime isn't excused. But the repeat cycle of crime and over representation of Indigenous Australians is explored in order to find solutions. Through the personal stories of in-mates the documentary explores the relevance and legacy of colonial history of Stolen Generations, displacement and disadvantage that feed into the prison system today. Alex spotlights how hope and positive change is literally painted through the Torch art program. The program connects indigenous inmates to their culture and strengthens cultural identity through the practice of art. It recognizes that people who are disenfranchised from their dominant culture become too disconnected to rehabilitate successfully. Christopher Austin and Alex Siddons take part in this episode. Christopher shares his personal experience of being displaced and incarcerated from the age of 11. He is a unique survivor of the prison system and today both an artist and pioneer for change. He is now The Torch’s, Indigenous Program Mentor, in itself a huge landmark for change in which he leads. Alex Siddons, is a dedicated filmmaker and his documentary not only raised a vital spotlight on this human rights issue but a brotherhood too. The consent and collaboration of prisoners is further testimony to the Torch Arts Programme, successfully cultivating connection, cultural respect, real change and a future outside of the traps both in and outside of prison.
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview, news, reviews and your host are here: www.canartsaveus.com
Discover The Art of Incarceration on Netflix and the Director Alex Siddons: www.alexsiddons.com
Support and Discover The Torch Art Programme: www.thetorch.org.au
Buy art by First Nations people, vouchers and gifts: www.thetorch.org.au/shop-2/
Julie Hesmondhalgh is one of Britain’s most loved actresses, she plays roles for stage and screen that tackle important issues and reach out to the hearts and minds of audiences everywhere. Her roles in drama have included sexual violence, the calamity of hate crimes, the representation of transgender people, exploring the right to die and more recently, exposing one of the most widespread miscarriages of justice in British history, The Post Office Scandal. This hit ITV series, Mr. Bates versus the Post Office, has had an unprecedented reaction forcing new political urgency to resolve this scandal. In theatre her work has responded to war, austerity, cancer, mental health, refugees and currently, her personal and emotionally courageous, one woman show, These We Love, a hymn to her working-class childhood. Julie’s work as an artist is part and parcel of her activism for positive change, a fairer society and equality, including access to the Arts. Whilst her famous and ground breaking television role as Hayley Cropper, a transgender woman in Coronation Street, often dominates her career, her work is bigger than this very famous soap opera. Julie is also full of fun and she understands the importance of daftness. She thinks deeply about hope and what it means in how we navigate our lives. We talk about finding her dad's diaries, the huge investment in Arts for the privately educated but devastating cuts in state education and what that means in a democracy. We discuss the Arts in relation to mental health, being able to connect, not feel alone and to combat fear with joy. Julie discusses why hope and optimism are essential in personal and political struggle and how the Arts encourages us all to thrive.
Photos courtesy of Julie Hesmondhalgh
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview, news, reviews and your host are here: www.canartsaveus.com
Discover:
Julie Hesmondhalgh www.loucoulson.co.uk/talent/julie-hesmondhalgh
Arts Emergency www.arts-emergency.org
Take Back Theatre www.takebacktheatre
Dennis Clausen, is a professor of American Literature and Screenwriting at the University of San Diego in the USA. He’s a highly respected, award-winning author of many works of fiction that reflect his lived experience and special interest in American small towns. He’s also written, Storytelling as Art and Craftsmanship, offering practical strategies for Screenwriters and Creative Writers. The emphasis on storytelling as art and craft is critical which is reflected in his regular contributions to Psychology Today. He discusses the threat of Artificial Intelligence and technology to our own thinking skills, neurological development, mental fitness, our imagination, having an authentic voice and questioning, who’s soul will be in literature? We talk about the relationship in his current trilogy between social injustice, economic inequality, homelessness and how Art is critical to finding truth, purpose and human existence. Dennis shares powerful personal stories including how his father, Lloyd Clausen, was adopted to be a farm labourer, not a son, who was extremely deprived. In the 1920s, the Great Depression and droughts also made for his crushing existence. Dennis unravelled his father's life story before he sadly died from cancer and he consequently published, "Prairie Son." All of his work is a great act of humanity and an important reminder why the humanities must have freedom to survive, to respond to authoritarianism and exercise the health of our own minds.
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview, news, reviews and your host are here: www.canartsaveus.com
Discover Professor Dennis Clausen: www.dennisclausen.com
Professor Dennis Clausen, contributor to Psychology Today magazine: www.psychologytoday.com/us/contributors/dennis-m-clausen-phd
David Attree is a ‘people’s poet,’ he’s also known as a ‘Poet-Chef,’ ‘Famous Dave,’ and more recently as the voice of the ‘Week in Words,’ aired on BBC Radio across three counties. His poetry is also currently on buses in the city of Brighton, known internationally as a centre of creativity. But fame isn’t what interests Dave, it’s connection; it’s you. Dave’s BBC, on-air introduction, was clear from the start: “I’m not writing for a crowd.” He’s interested in every individual that makes up a community. He finds “hope in disguise” and he takes “the time to measure what really counts.” Dave “links news and stories with poems and rhymes,” he creates a calm space where we can stop and think and even Time can rest a while. Dave is also an active poet in other ways; he walks and cycles for charitable causes, he speaks up, with us and for us. He’salso a funeral celebrant. He celebrates a person’s life as though he has always known them, with the skill and insight that poets possess. And what lies behind it all? Courage. Dave knows tragedy and fear, he’s had life-saving surgery that sadly, many don’t make and he’s also recovered from a stroke. Through all this he serves the value of life, for all of us and he champions his amazing, para-Olympian daughter too. This is a family that isn’t shy of beating the odds. Dave lets you know you are heard amongst all the noise, he invites you to pause and I’m sure, like me, you’ll feel, you’ve always known him too.
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview, news, reviews and your host are here: www.canartsaveus.com
Discover Dave Attree on BBC Sounds. The Week in Words and other clips with Dave are uploaded here as part of the Allison Ferns, Sunday Breakfast Show: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p001d7v5/clips
Do you like dancing? Do we dance enough? Or maybe the question is, why don’t we dance more? Dr. Angela Pickard is the UK’s first Professor of Dance Education. She has worked with talented dancers and choreographers across a multitude of theatres and sites in the UK and internationally. From toddlers to The Royal Ballet School, Angela has a wealth of knowledge and she is now the Director of the Sidney De Haan Research Centre for Arts and Health, here in the UK. She is interested in the relationship between dance and psychological, social and artistic outcomes and is particularly interested in responding to exclusion. Who is and isn’t included in dance, even in contemporary forms that we might assume are much more accessible? Who participates in dance is problematic, there’s a ring of elitism around it. Different generations may have memories of the traditional Friday night dance at the village hall, the school disco, the glamorous prom, the explosion of street-dance or maybe at weddings only. Have you ever been to a 'Daybreaker,' a morning dance rave to feel energized and well? Are you a fan of the hit TV series, Strictly Come Dancing? Whatever is happening, it seems our relationship with dance is fragmented, yet it has brought us joy, forms of protest and phenomenal social change. So, let’s get curious about dance and who better to ask than the UK’s first Professor of Dance Education?
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview, news, reviews and your host are here: www.canartsaveus.com
Discover Dr. Angela Pickard, Director of the Sydney de Haan Centre www.canterbury.ac.uk/research/research-centres/sidney-de-haan-research-centre-for-arts-and-health
Cassa Pancho, MBE, founded Ballet Black in 2001, Britain’s most diverse ballet company celebrating dancers of black and Asian descent. Today it’s one of the most prolific commissioners of new and critically acclaimed ballets here in the UK. The journey in between however, has been huge. Racist barriers in the industry were high and it was only six years ago that the world leading designer, Freed of London, in collaboration with Ballet Black, developed the UK’s first range of point shoes for dancers with darker skin tones. The exclusively pink or pale ballet shoe had long reigned as the symbol of a white-centric ballet world. It was trying to write her dissertation for a degree in The Art and Teaching of Classical Ballet, that Cassa realised she couldn’t interview black women in British ballet, because there weren’t any. As a young graduate, Cassa started Ballet Black, it was a brave under taking. Starting a new company is normally built around a star dancer and no-one was likely to take her seriously. But, Ballet Black offered a space where black and Asian dancers could come without feeling othered or marginalised and even a basic dance class was hugely popular. This is the work of a pioneer leading positive change. Black ballerinas being told they could only be cast in male roles or to break their feet because they didn’t fit a preferred, white, body type, are racist traumas to be left in the dust of this trailblazing work. Ballet Black is making a fundamental change in the diversity of classical ballet and to audiences in Britain. We talk about the freedom to be an artist, the stories that are told and who by, creative collaborations, the Ballet Black junior school and Ballet Black on Film.
Photo Credits:
Image of Cassa Pancho, solo, credited to Holly McGlynnImages of the Ballet Black Company on stage and with Cassa in a Studio, are both credited to Photography by ASH Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview, news, reviews and your host are here: www.canartsaveus.com
Discover Ballet Black: www.balletblack.co.uk
Ballet Black on Film: www.bbonfilm.balletblack.co.uk
Performances and Dates: wwww.balletblack.co.uk/performances/
Reference also made to Justice 4 Windrush: www.justice4windrush.org
Described as “an obscenely talented man.” Matthew Todd is a multi, award-winning writer, playwright, broadcaster and sometime performer. He was also the editor of the UK’s best-selling gay magazine, Attitude, for 8 years. During this time, Matthew interviewed countless celebrities, idols and icons, including Madonna, Elton John and Lady Gaga. For his very last issue in 2016, he made history. HRH Prince William was photographed for the front cover of Attitude, making his first appearance in the gay press and issuing the first Royal statement against homo, bi, and transphobic bullying. This was statement publishing. The Art of the Attitude front cover was glossy, distinct and stylish, it featured photographs of both gay and straight celebrities; everyone was welcome. But what lay behind those front covers was an even bigger and personal story, one that has informed what some would say, is life-saving work today. Matthew’s insights into gay culture and his own lived experience, was telling him a very different story; not everyone did in fact, feel welcome. He was witnessing a disproportionate number of gay people suffering from anxiety, depression, addiction, suicidal thoughts and behaviour. Despite big life statements, perfect bodies, out and proud gay attitudes, there was a dysfunction which Matthew identified as the ‘straight jacket of shame.’ In his book, Straight Jacket, How to be Gay and Happy, he examines the socio-political history that lies behind gay culture and how secrecy, being othered, criminalised, bullied and relentlessly judged, became defining characteristics of the straight jacket. No amount of striving for perfectionism can replace shame and Matthew’s book, Straight Jacket, is described as a ‘revolutionary call.’ It's reviewed by Sir Elton John as “an essential read for every gay person on the planet." This interview also marks LGBT+ History Month. References include:
- Conservative, Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher's, homophobic legislation, Section 28 in 1988 and harmful attitudes of the tabloid press.
- Progress from limited rights in 1967 to the Marriage Same Sex Couples Act in 2013
- Making history with HRH Prince William's first appearance on the front cover of a gay magazine, Attitude, in 2016. The first royal statement against homo, bi and transphobic bullying was also issued.
- The tragic murder of a transgender girl, Brianna Ghey, in 2023, motivated in part by hostility towards her trans identity and impact of the dark web.
- Attitudes in the 70s and 80s, captured in the current, multi award-winning film, All of Us Strangers. Digital streaming is now available in 2024.
In LGBT+ month and every month, Matthew Todd's landmark book remains as relevant and as important today. This is a book for anyone interested in good mental health, healthy relationships, a kinder society, human rights and not hatred and discrimination.
You can also see Matthew's successful play, Blowing Whistles, 25 April - 25 May at The Turbine Theatre, London. Blowing Whistles is set on the night before Pride in the Park, a gay couple Nigel and Jamie, grapple with the complexities of modern gay relationships. @TurbineTheatre Book soon!
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview, news, reviews and your host are here: www.canartsaveus.com
Discover Matthew Todd: www.matthewtodd.net/
LGBT+ History Month: www.lgbtplushistorymonth.co.uk/
Musa Motha is an outstanding, world class dancer and a master of making the impossible, possible. Despite a leg amputation at the age of 11 due to cancer, Musa's dance techniques and innovations exceed all ideas of what we typically think able-bodied means. Musa Motha has won the hearts and minds of thousands around the world, he is celebrated as a national hero in his home country of South Africa and now based in London, England, he is equally loved. Musa made television history with his breakthrough, UK, performance on the hit TV series, Britain’s Got Talent. The first ever, group golden buzzer was struck after the hysterical insistence of the audience. A shower of love and gold saturated the stage in return for a dance performance that was one of awe and disbelief. His ballet posture could hold up a skyscraper, but the essence of his core strength is courage, firm self-belief and faith. We talk about transformation in his personal life and in South Africa itself. Musa was nearly one when Nelson Mandela was sworn in as president. We talk about losing a leg and becoming a dancer, his near death experiences, positive thinking, visualisation, his firm belief in manifestation and unwavering faith in God.
Photo Credits: @ViktorErikEman
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview, news, reviews and your host are here: https://www.canartsaveus.com
Discover Musa Motha: www.harboursidemgmt.com/artists/musa-motha-artist-page/
Do enough of us think about our resiliency, our capacity to manage or co-exist with stressful events, now and in the future? Do we even think about cultivating our resilience for life’s catastrophes? Sculptor, Kate Viner has foregrounded resilience in her recent exhibition, Resilience in Clay, representing seven people, seeking refuge in the UK, displaced by conflict, discrimination and persecution. Across much of her work including Children Caught in Crossfire and Female Crucifixion, sculptor, Kate Viner, responds to courage, conflict and the brave optimism held by those worst affected. The expressions she captures in her portrait sculptures tell you everything without words. There are those who have lost everything, even their ability to make eye contact, displaced from their lives and families. Kate however, makes that eye contact, she draws our eyes to those who are most vulnerable and whilst they may not be able to look, she ensures they are seen through her sculptural art. We talk about art and spirituality and art as a calling. We talk about resilience for life as an artist, working with difficult themes and responding to people with trauma in their lives. We also talk about the resilience of refugees, their brave optimism and statements of compassion for how we live in the world. Kate never asks personal questions but creates trust with cups of tea, laughter and friendship.
Images Courtesy of Kate Viner Studio
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview are here with news, reviews and your host: www.canartsaveus.com
Discover Kate Viner: www.kateviner.com
Discover The Sanctuary, supporting refugees and asylum seekers locally. www.sanctuaryinchichester.org
It's not often we meet a living legend, or someone who achieves their life's vision when there have been unimaginable forces against them. Gregory Maqoma, in the world of dance and on the international stage, is one of the most important artists of his generation. He not only survived the oppression and institutionalized racism in apartheid South Africa, but he broke cultural and gender expectations even within his own family, to pursue a life in the Arts. He has become a cultural landmark in his own right, and his legacy is currently being celebrated in his 50th year. Gregory has taken back African history and the black body from colonial ownership. He honors the classical dance of his African ancestors and contemporary collaborations, amongst numerous highly prestigious awards in South Africa and America, France also awarded him the ‘Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.’ He's a leader in dance and social justice, elevating the possibilities and contradictions in life. He's a visionary who could see beyond the burning tires, the burning houses, and burning flesh in apartheid South Africa. And despite the human injustice he saw growing up, Gregory was and is the Joy Dancer. As part of his legacy celebrations this year, two books have been published. ‘The Joy Dancer,’ introduces children to Gregory as a young boy living in Soweto, a segregated township, discovering the magic of dance, his memoir, ‘My Life, My Dance, My Soul,’ sees that young boy become a giant of courage, conviction and compassion. We talk about life taking risks, courage, the brutal regime of apartheid, the courage of women that made his dance life possible and being brave enough to be curious.
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview are here with news, reviews and your host: www.canartsaveus.com
Discover Gregory Maqoma: www.gregmaqoma.com/
Discover Vuyani Dance Theatre: www.vuyani.co.za/
Have you ever thought about the Art of History? Not the history of art but how history is painted to tell us about the past; to document historical events, people and movement, power and conflict, control and beliefs, to tell us how to understand our lives, identity and the world today. How history is painted and told in any form, can include propaganda, fact, fiction, embellishment and absence. But who has told and been able to tell their histories? Currently in the UK, we have a significant news story in education that spotlights the importance of history, how and what is told, investigated or re-examined and by whom. Professor Hakim Adi, is the first British person of African heritage to become a professor of history in the UK. He was appointed Professor of the History of Africa and the African Diaspora at the University of Chichester and he’s just been shortlisted for the Wolfson history prize for his book published in 2022, entitled African and Caribbean People in Britain: A History. The Wolfson Prize is the UK’s most prestigious history prize. Here comes the strange part. At Chichester University, Professor Adi’s course, was recently axed without consultation. Despite being appointed years before this particular course, he was also made redundant. We talk about the need for truth, transformative history to help combat racism, respecting struggle and to never give up. He is internationally recognized as an expert in the history of Africa and the African diaspora. This is the best history lesson I've had. What we're not taught is staggering; the courage, the honour, the excitement, the inspiration, the giants that are absent. This is a voice raising a poorly painted landscape to the bolder truth of Africa.
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview, news, reviews and your host are here: https://www.canartsaveus.com
Discover Professor Hakim Adi: www.hakimadi.org/
Nicky Goulder, CEO of the charity Create, recently received an Amazing Women award celebrating her as an ‘Arts Innovator.’ The British magazine, Women and Home, sold worldwide, hosts these awards for women making a big difference in the world. And this is indeed a very celebratory year. Founded 20 years ago, Create is now a multi-award-winning charity empowering the lives of society’s most disadvantaged and vulnerable people. In fact, Create has won more than 120 awards since 2012 and has worked with 40, 000 + people since it started. This is a charity that changes lives through the creative arts, connecting, inspiring and empowering the people they work with. Working with artists, Create delivers purposeful projects for young and adult carers, disabled adults and children, prisoners, pensioners, marginalised groups including the homeless, refugees and the LGBTQ+ community. Currently Create has partnered on a nationwide Feeding Creativity campaign with the bakers Jacksons of Yorkshire. Publicised on millions of loaves of bread, Feeding Creativity is reaching schools and children nationwide whilst raising awareness of young carers. We talk about dad's in prison, carers as young as four years old, the pandemic urgency to reach new and existing participants, the importance of celebrating, why creativity matters and the evidence for Arts and wellbeing, including increasing life expectancy by ten years.
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview are here with news, reviews and your host: www.canartsaveus.com
Discover Create: www.createarts.org.uk
Mark Walmsley trained in drums and percussion and spent 15 years performing with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. He’s also played in the pit of various West End shows in London and taught drumming to children online, around the world. But Mark also beats a different drum, as a self-confessed, ‘furious networker,’ working his way through creative digital marketing and events management. Put all that together, hand it to Tom Cruise behind his bar in Cocktail, and you get Mark Walmsley, founder of the Arts and Culture Network. Currently, there’s an average of 300 new members a day joining a global community that’s 80, 000 strong and Mark’s mission is to drive connections. He’s also interested in fractional philanthropy, taking a percentage of membership fees to support initiatives in under-developed communities, for example supporting a dance group for homeless children, based in Uganda. We talk about entrepreneurism, risk, the pirate code of conduct, music and neurology and why Einstein said imagination is more important than knowledge. We also talk about his exec role on Jungle Book, a forthcoming, immersive theatre experience. Mark leans forward and everyone is invited.
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview are here with news, reviews and your host: www.canartsaveus.com
Discover Mark Walmsley and the Arts & Culture Network: www.artsandculturenetwork.com/
Basil Watson is a Jamaican sculptor now based in the USA, and over a 45 year career, he has achieved international recognition as one of the world's leading sculptors. He was awarded the highest order of distinction commands a class by the government of Jamaica, and his distinction through service continues today. Basil's outstanding work serves the development of global harmony, he speaks to equality, justice and peace, always remaining humble, dedicated to his artistic service. He's also the son of Barrington Watson one of Jamaica's most eminent artists who became an internationally renowned painter. He was a pioneer leading cultural change in the recognition of and possibility for black artists and art runs throughout Basil's family, including his brother, sister and son, who were all artists. This is a family legacy sharing an artistic language that speaks universally to humanity. Basil is responsible for iconic statements sculptors that reach out emotionally capturing the spirits and personality of his subjects. Just some of his well known work includes Jamaican sprinter, the eight time Olympic gold medalist, Usain Bolt, Civil rights leader, and one of the greatest speakers of all time, Martin Luther King. And the National Windrush monument, unveiled by Prince William in Britain. Basil understands the important role of the arts in leadership. And in his own words, “global harmony is critical for the survival of humanity and for the creation of a world in which all mankind can live productive and creative lives.” We talk about the courage to follow your creative path, to hold onto your moral and artistic integrity, to keep moving forward even through huge pressures and to always think of the bigger picture.
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview can also be found here: www//canartsaveus.com/
Discover Basil Watson: www//basilsculpture.com/home.html
Zita Holbourne is a multi award winning multidisciplinary artist, author, poet, curator and vocalist. She's an experienced trade union and community activist and her artwork responds to social and climate justice, human rights and equality. Zita was elected to the TUC National Race Relations Committee and the Women's Committee and she's joint National Chair of the Union for Artists. As a human rights campaigner, and educator she believes in practical solidarity, and for years she's raised funds for humanitarian aid missions. She's the National Chair of Black Activists Rising Against Cuts which she co-founded in 2010, initially in response to government austerity. She's also founded the Roots, Culture, Identity art collective, curating exhibitions to showcase the art of young black and migrant artists. Through arts activism she campaigns against all forms of discrimination, including the discriminatory cuts in the UK arts and culture sectors already in 2023 achievements include being one of the winning submissions for the Jessica Kingsley writers prize entitled, Roots and Rebellion Personal Stories of Resisting Racism and Reclaiming Identity. She has been nominated for Arts, Culture and Community Influencer in the Caribbean Global Awards 2023 and her artwork was commissioned for the Voices of Windrush festival, commemorating and celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Windrush generation arriving into Britain. We talk about art speaking to scandal, to hope, to commemorating the lost, the loved and leaders of positive, social change. We talk about art as a healer, a teacher and a friend.
Photo Credits:
Largest, central photo of Zita Holbourne © Josimar Senior, Black Writers Guild
Top left, photo of Zita Holbourne © Elizabeth Dalziel, Women Activists of East London exhibition .
Bottom right, Artwork by © Zita Holbourne for the Voices of Windrush Festival
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview can also be found here: www//canartsaveus.com/
Discover the Roots, Culture, Identity Exhibition: www.tuc.org.uk/RootsCultureIdentity
Discover Voices of Windrush Festival: www.voicesofwindrush.com/
Discover Zita Holbourne: www.//linktr.ee/ZitaBARACUK
John Simmit founded the Upfront Comedy Empire. He's a comedian, producer, actor and theatre performer enjoying current success in the musical Rush, a "joyous Jamaican journey" earning five star reviews and sellout shows. For 30 years, John has promoted black comedy in Britain, and alongside comedy tours, he has built a network of clubs nationwide. He's credited by The Guardian newspaper as "the man who put British black comedy on the map," and he also regularly showcase talent he brought over from the United States. Early on in his career, John made a name for himself in the real McCoy, a hit BBC television comedy show featuring Black and Asian stars that quickly reached audiences of 5 million. He's also known for his character in the second most successful TV show ever in terms of sales. The multiple BAFTA award winning Teletubbies, John played Dipsy and Britain's only Cuban-Jamaican-Brummie brought reggae and Caribbean culture into preschool programming. From the surreal to the comedy of life. John brings us joy, and humor. We talk about Rush, musical theatre combing history with hits to tell the story of Windrush. We talk about the legacy and political scandal of Windrush. We also talk about the courage, generosity and kindness of comedy.
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview can also be found here: www//canartsaveus.com/
Discover Rush: www//rushtheatrecompany.co.uk/
Dr Michael McMillan is an artist, author, playwright and curator. His plays and performance pieces have been produced by the Royal Court Theatre, Channel 4, BBC Radio 4 Drama and across the UK. He’s a Visiting Professor of Creative Writing at the University of the Arts, London and an Associate Lecturer, teaching Cultural & Historical Studies at the London College of Fashion. Michael was born to immigrant parents from St Vincent and the Grenadines and his work explores family, identity and generation in a migrant context. His curation and installation of a 1970s West Indian Front Room at the Geffrye Museum had more than 35, 000 visitors and has since become a permanent exhibition at the now Museum of the Home. A new iteration of this 1970s interior was recently included at Tate Britain’s landmark exhibition; “Life Between Islands,” exploring Caribbean-British art over four generations. Amongst the 5 star reviews, The Guardian described the exhibition as ”a mind-altering portrait of British Caribbean life through art.” We talk about the significance of the Windrush generation versus government scandal, the struggle behind rich cultural exchange, the political fear of art, the vital integrity of an artist, courage when your identity is made a target and the experience that changed Michael's life when he was only 16. Michael is a true educator.
Series Audio Editor - Courtesy of Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Images: The Museum of the Home
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview can also be found here: www//canartsaveus.com/
Discover Dr. Michael McMillan's Front Room here: www.museumofthehome.org.uk/whats-on/rooms-through-time/a-front-room-in-1970/
I had the pleasure to interview Shirley May in Season 3, which was dedicated to poetry and spoken word artists. We talked about how her work has responded to pain and pride in the experience of migration, her Jamaican heritage and in African history. Shirley May is an acclaimed poet, writer and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of literature. She is also CEO and Artistic Director of Young Identity, Manchester's premier spoken word collective in the UK. To complement that episode repeated in Season 4 (She Wrote Her Own Eulogy) that celebrates Windrush 75, in this special edition we spoke about the experience of her parents leaving Jamaica for Britain. Shirley shares stories not included in her book 'She Wrote Her Own Eulogy,' and we talk about why the commemorative events of Windrush 75 are so important.
You can hear more from the Young Identity poets in Season 3 too, who also share Caribbean and African heritage. See Season 3 listings:
'The Courage and Craft of Two Poets' 'Pain, Poetry and a Jamaican born Nigerian Princess'.
Discover Shirley May and Young Identity: www//youngidentity.org/ Series Audio Editor - Courtesy of Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview can also be found here: www//canartsaveus.com/
Shirley May is an acclaimed poet, writer and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of literature. She is also CEO and Artistic Director of Young Identity, Manchester's premier spoken word collective in the UK. In 2006, Shirley founded the Inner Voice, a voluntary Youth Arts Project that 16 dedicated years later, has become Young Identity, a literature and performance arts charity. Young Identity now has the prestigious status of being a national portfolio organisation with the UK Arts Council. In other words, Young Identity is recognized as a leader both in their field and in our collective national arts. Shirley's work is described as "blazing with emotion, challenging all the senses." We talk about her work responding to pain and pride in the experience of migration, her Jamaican heritage and in African history. We start with how one day "she woke up with a poem in her mouth," how "the word was first" and developing the "risk of excellence," in marginalised youth today. Young Identity is important legacy work that talks to truth.
This episode first featured in Season 3 (Speak Your Excellence). As part of the Windrush 75 commemorations and celebrations, Season 4 includes this episode again and it is also complimented with an additional short interview with Shirley May. This is listed in Season 4 as 'Still Dancing - Windrush 75,' in which Shirley talks specifically about the experience of her parents leaving Jamaica for Britain, including experiences not previously published in her book, "She Wrote Her Own Eulogy." Her parents came in response to the call to help rebuild Britain post WWII and she talks about why the Windrush 75 Anniversary and events are so important in response to both legacy and scandal. (More links below).
You can hear more from the Young Identity poets in Season 3 too, who also share Caribbean and African heritage. See Season 3 listings:
'The Courage and Craft of Two Poets' 'Pain, Poetry and a Jamaican born Nigerian Princess'.
Series Audio Editor - Courtesy of Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview can also be found here: www//canartsaveus.com/
Discover Shirley May here: www.youngidentity.org/ www.shirleyannemay.co.uk
Jim Grover, a social documentary photographer who deep dives respectfully into the hearts and minds of people in his local communities. Living in South Clapham London, he is rewarded with a rich tapestry of life. His work celebrates 75 years of Windrush stories and Caribbean culture 25 years of the ordination of women into the Church of England priesthood. He has captured COVID stories from a single park bench during the global crisis, and celebrated the life of Morris Dorfman, who ran the longest surviving independent shop on Clapham High Street. Morris was the grandchild of Ukrainian refugees who arrived in 1902, fleeing anti-semitic violence in what was then part of Russia. And this is what Jim does. He looks behind shop facades into West Indian Dominos clubs and Jamaican front rooms. He attends gravesites and community meetings, like his first major project entitled of things not saying, Jim looks behind all of those walls that can stop us from seeing our shared human experience and from connecting. His work is described as poignant, intimate, moving, and often beautiful. And the times the observer, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph timeout, the BBC, the British Journal of photography are all a part of the British media and more that respects his work in return
Series Audio Editor - Courtesy of Joey Quan.
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview can also be found here: www//canartsaveus.com/
Discover Jim Grover: www//jimgroverphotography.com/
The Windrush Exhibition: www//windrushvoyagethroughthegenerations.com/
Cameroonian clay addict, Djakou Kassi Nathalie, is a ceramic artist now based in Nigeria. With over 30 years of practice and numerous prestigious awards, this is statement art that understands architectural design, artistic innovation and creative craft. Natalie responds to discrimination, racism, solidarity, human and environmental violence, education and equality. Her work combines contemporary issues with ancestry always reflecting her deep love and admiration of African art. Her use of the iconic African mask carved into her clay in repetitive patterns, is like a language of love, showing the cultural roots of her life that continues to flourish with possibility. From objects to sculpted figures, all of her work, just like her larger-than-life fist clenched in solidarity ‘speaks out.’ We talk about fighting for a place at the only art school and cultural disapproval, learning to be creatively fearless, to be a mother figure to her siblings, in the community and as an inspirational educator. We talk about the power of art as knowledge and our responsibility to educate each other. We talk about lover over brutality and how the use of her iconic African mask is a statement of human presence and accountability. We were also relying on a power generator lasting for this interview and Nathalie was kindly working in a second language too. I asked her to write an additional few words in her first language in response to the question, Can art save us?
L'art peut nous sauver si les sujets abordés par les artistes sont pertinents et accessibles au plus grand nombre et surtout accessibles aux plus jeunes . L'art peut nous sauver à travers une education permanente sur les sujets de société en revelant et en proposant des solutions à travers l'expression artistique que ce soit par la musique, le theatre les arts visuels, les performances, l'ecriture ou autres formes artistiques. L' art peut nous sauver en nous montrant l'autre facette des choses que nous voyons mal.
Translation: Art can save us if the subjects addressed by the artists are relevant and accessible to the greatest number of people and especially accessible to the youngest. Art can save us through a lifelong education on social issues by revealing and proposing solutions through artistic expression whether through music, theater, visual arts, performances, writing or others art form. Art can save us by showing us the other side of things we see are wrong.
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview can also be found here: www//canartsaveus.com/
Discover Djakou Kassi Nathalie:
51.3k Followers www.instagram.com/djakoukassi/?hl=en
What does a commended poet, dancer of the Indian, classical form Kathak, outstanding legal academic and occasional writer in the hope-punk story genre, have in common? One person it seems, Bhumika Billa. What stands out is Bhumika’s astonishing ability to communicate through dance, language and legal linguistics. She has a sharp eye on identity, whether it’s her own as an Indian woman living in the UK, the gendered constraints on her female ancestors, gender and sexual politics today, social class or caste and the digital identity that we now adopt or are arguably forced into. In 2021, the BBC recognised Bhumika as one of Britain’s most exciting emerging spoken word artists and she has been a finalist in several, prestigious slams since then. She is in the business of observing and unravelling the intricacies of data politics, artificial intelligence and law, structural inequality and the future we all face if we don’t stand up for justice. We talk about living in two bodies, the male gaze, anger, curiosity as a privilege, freedom and storytelling through dance and poetry.
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview can also be found here: www//canartsaveus.com/
Discover Bhumika Billa:
www.applesandsnakes.org/2022/11/25/bhumika-billa-my-mother-lives-in-me/
Can you imagine making an appointment to see Dr. Lovely or better still the Faerytale Doctor? Would you be open to the spiritual practice of shamanism through storytelling as a way of navigating your life or to find a compass for your soul? Could we all benefit from connecting to something sacred to help us find ourselves in our ever complex and intense world? Elizabeth Lovely begun her shamanic pathway with the 'breaking of her brain,' when she had to find new ways to interpret her life. After her vibrant and hectic years in theatre and arts festivals she turned to indigenous spiritual practices, a deeply held respect for shamanism and the art of storytelling. We don't talk about conjuring up magic and trickery but how to find connections to live better. We talk about shamans as healers, as the first visionary artists, accepting the sacred as real, life in community service and making plenty of cups of courage tea.
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview can also be found here: www//canartsaveus.com/
Discover Elizabeth Lovely: www.faerytaleapothecary.wixsite.com/sacredstories/elizabethjanelovely
AJ O’Neil is an internationally recognised West End, TV and Film performer. He’s a dancer, choreographer and long-standing teacher of the famous Pineapple Dance Studios, home to some of the world’s most famous stars. His fitness classes have been listed in British Vogue, Cosmopolitan and Timeout as their ‘Best Pics’ and viewed 100s of 1000s times online. He was the personal trainer for dancers on ITV's, Dance, Dance, Dance and he choreographed and presented Pop Up Popstar for the Irish national broadcaster RTÉ. He's choreographed television dancethons and dance virals, getting British celebrities like Olympic gold medallist Tom Daley, multi-million record selling singer, Louise Rednapp and TV and Radio presenter, Dermot O’Leary, all dancing. His has numerous TV credits and has worked on and appeared in ads including Dior, Nintendo and Puma. His theatre credits include Chicago in the West End and the European and West End Premiere of ‘A Man of No Importance,’ and he played Jamie in the Irish premeiere of The Last Five Years. But, after all that glitter, here comes the real shine. AJ gets everyone dancing. He’s also known as Sit Down AJ because of his inclusive work and his poptastic cardio sessions, are met with an outpouring of gratitude, thank yous and love from people struggling with exclusion. He’s also bringing new joy into the special educational needs space. We talk about a life changing accident, putting low self-esteem under the spotlight in more ways than one and how to flourish.
Series Audio Editor - Courtesy of Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview can also be found here: www//canartsaveus.com/
Discover AJ: www//ajoneill.co.uk/home
Manchester based poet Qudsia Akhtar is already recognised as an important new voice for her generation, her debut collection of poems, 'Khamoshi' (Silence), is out now, published by Verve Poetry Press. She is also highly commended in the Forward Book of Poetry, 2023, considered the indispensable annual guide to contemporary poetry. Qudsia reflects modern Britain as a British-Pakistani writer. She talks about the noise of cultural duality as well as the silence that builds inside generations of migrant women. Her soft and gentle voice doesn't betray the histories of massacres, genocides, patriarchy, colonial legacies and Islamophobia. We talk about gruesome truths uncovered by the arts, creativity, self-expression and speaking up to demand justice for those who can't. Illustrated with readings by Qudsia throughout.
Series Audio Editor - Courtesy of Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview can also be found here: www//canartsaveus.com/
Discover Qudsia Akhtar here: www.couldseeher.com/
Princess Arinola Adegbite a.k.a. P. A. Bitez is a British Jamaican-born Nigerian poet, she’s a spoken word artist, a songwriter and filmmaker whose artistic expression is described as social activism and spiritual healing. At 16, she published her debut poetry collection 'Soft Tortures.' At 17, she won Slambassadors, a national poetry competition and by 2020, she was one of six finalists of the BBC Words First talent scheme, searching for the Best Spoken Word Poets in the UK. In 2021 she was awarded Manchester Creative of The Year at The Manchester Culture Awards and she has won a number of successful commissions too. Currently Princess Arinola, is a member of Young Identity, Manchester’s Premier Spoken Word Collective and in early 2023, we can look forward to her Afrofuturistic EP Vintage Destiny. We talk about self-actualisation and dysmorphia, poetry defined by proximity to blackness, page poets and spoken word artists, editing versus erasure, love and loss and whether Shakespeare and Tupac were the same.
Series Audio Editor - Courtesy of Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview can also be found here: www//canartsaveus.com/
Discover Princess Arinola here: www.youngidentity.org/the-team
Adam Kammerling is a former, UK slam poet champion who has since become an inter-disciplinary artist combining his innovative poetry with theatre, dance and music. He embraces collaboration, risk and experimentation and his poetry creates movement both on and off the page. His debut poetry collection, Seder, is a National Jewish Book Awards Finalist. Adam's collection explores his Jewish heritage, inter-generational trauma and his deeply personal visit to Auschwitz. Please be sure to listen to him recite the poem Orange, orange, orange, in this podcast. We talk about his creative journey from punk and metal bands to slam poetry to inter-disciplinary performances of his poems today. We talk about trauma, the holocaust, his family and memory. "It's a strange feeling to reach for memory and hold nothing." We talk about male identity distorted by violence and confused courage and his creative workshops with homeless affected people and looked after children. Adam is a compassionate soul with a very deep and "shared root." His theatre work has been reviewed as ‘dazzling brilliance,’ his rap as 'unpretentious' and his work with young people in foster care as 'sensational.'
Published on January 25th, 2023, Adam is headlining on January 27th at the Holocaust Memorial Day, in Wrexham and his website link is below.
Series Audio Editor - Courtesy of Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview can also be found here: www//canartsaveus.com/
Discover Adam Kammerling here: www.adamkammerling.co.uk/
Shirley May is an acclaimed poet, writer and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of literature. She is also CEO and Artistic Director of Young Identity, Manchester's premier spoken word collective in the UK. In 2006, Shirley founded the Inner Voice, a voluntary Youth Arts Project that 16 dedicated years later, has become Young Identity, a literature and performance arts charity. Young Identity now has the prestigious status of being a national portfolio organisation with the UK Arts Council. In other words, Young Identity is recognized as a leader both in their field and in our collective national arts. Shirley's work is described as "blazing with emotion, challenging all the senses." We talk about her work responding to pain and pride in the experience of migration, her Jamaican heritage and in African history. We start with how one day "she woke up with a poem in her mouth," how "the word was first" and developing the "risk of excellence," in marginalised youth today. Young Identity is important legacy work that talks to truth.
Series Audio Editor - Courtesy of Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview can also be found here: www//canartsaveus.com/
Discover Shirley May here: www.youngidentity.org/ www.shirleyannemay.co.uk
Cherry Smyth is an Irish writer and poet who lives in London. In 2022 Cherry was nominated as a Fellow for the Royal Society of Literature and she is Associate Professor in Creative and Critical Writing at the University of Greenwich. Critically acclaimed, Cherry has had four poetry collections published and a debut novel, Hold Still. Her current work, If the River is Hidden, is a collaboration with Craig Jordan Baker. This has also been developed for performance with the flautist Eimear McGeown, one of the world's most versatile exponents of both the classical and Irish flute. If the River is Hidden, is a shared pilgrimage, over 8 days, Cherry Smyth and Craig Jordan Baker walk the length of the River Bann, Northern Ireland’s longest river. This hybrid work of prose and poetry, is a deeply personal, journey between friends. With backgrounds from each side of the sectarian divide, they explore together their Irish identity, of belonging and not belonging, of the Troubles, trauma and truth. This is by no means an easy pilgrimage and we talk about the pain of partition, of bombings, the Irish famine, deep personal losses but also of compassion, connection and landscape as coming home.
Discover the musical composition by flautist Eimear McGeown, specially commissioned to accompany If the River is Hidden.
www.epoquepress.com/cherry-smyth-craig-jordan-baker-if-the-river-is-hidden
Discover Cherry Smyth here: www.cherrysmyth.com
Edit - Courtesy of Katherine Wiley.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview can also be found here: www//canartsaveus.com/
Otis Mensah is the first hip-hop poet to be awarded a poet laureate title in the UK by the City of Sheffield. Influenced by the expressive freedom of Jazz, Otis documents his journeys of introspection through vulnerable expression that speaks to racial identity, masculinity, loneliness and being othered. He has had numerous commissions and live performances include the Glastonbury Music Festival. His poetry collection, Metamorphosis, gives voice to unspoken trauma in everyday-life and we also talked about why poetry can speak, but we may not talk to each other.
As the first Hip-Hop artist to be awarded a poet laureate title in the UK, he wants to use the position to break down barriers, smash the stuffy stereotype, and remind people that poetry is meant to be for the people. The Guardian.
Otis could be described as the most courageously vulnerable artist of the 21st century.
Series Audio Editor - Courtesy of Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview can also be found here: www//canartsaveus.com/
Discover Otis Mensah here: www.otismensah.com
Tom Delahunt, the hobo poet, is an award-winning academic and an advanced nurse practitioner with years of experience in intensive and emergency care. In 2019 he was awarded Most Innovative Teacher of the Year, by the prestigious Times Higher Education Awards, this was in recognition of his use of poetry to support nursing students dealing with trauma. Tom created the blog Poetic Nursing Heart and he also advocates creating a safe space for neurodiversity in education. He says “poetry fuels my hopes and aspirations for inclusion and a rise in educational wonder.” Tom’s complex dyslexia was diagnosed as an adult and he attributes his survival at school to his autistic tendencies navigating what he describes as the ‘mechanistic and impersonal system that is school.’ We talk about, trauma, addiction, neuro-diversity, philosophies of serenity and pessimism and ultimately love. His new children’s book, The Wandering Lamb, is about unconditional love and acceptance. And then, there's The Butterfly Farmer... Ready to fly?
Series Audio Editor - Courtesy of Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview can also be found here: www//canartsaveus.com/
Discover Tom Delahunt here: www.linkedin.com/in/tom-delahunt-71a1559a/
Kickstarter private preview for forthcoming play:
www.kickstarter.com/projects/tcl/the-table-of-consciousness?ref=bh2wzx&token=aa34fe8d
Both BBC Words First Finalists, Billie Meredith is a poet and performer and Saf-S2E is a poet and rapper and they are active members of Young Identity. Recognised as some of the UK’s best emerging talent, they are involved in the Cities Untold project, a partnership between Young Identity, the Manchester Literature Festival and Danish literature festivals. Their commissions will be inspired by the secrets and untold narratives of a city. Saf-S2E also has an album out now, Ink is Blood and Billie's theatre work has been reviewed as brilliant in the Adhesion of Love, written by multi-award winning playwright Stephen Hornby. Billie played Walt Whitman, America's 'father of free verse.' We talk about destiny, poverty, fear, developing craft, Manchester and Africa and ask whose industrial revolution was it? With so much creative and innovative work coming out of Young Identity, this is their cultural revolution and we should probably take Saf-S2E's poetic advice, ‘Expect the Unexpected.’
Series Audio Editor - Courtesy of Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview can also be found here: www//canartsaveus.com/
Discover Billie Meredith and Saf-S2E here: www.youngidentity.org/
Discover Saf-S2E's album, Ink is Blood, here: www.open.spotify.com/album/08GlLcmCeC4arevzbtDZhW
Dr Michael McMillan is an artist, author, playwright and curator. His plays and performance pieces have been produced by the Royal Court Theatre, Channel 4, BBC Radio 4 Drama and across the UK. He’s a Visiting Professor of Creative Writing at the University of the Arts, London and an Associate Lecturer, teaching Cultural & Historical Studies at the London College of Fashion. Michael was born to immigrant parents from St Vincent and the Grenadines and his work explores family, identity and generation in a migrant context. His curation and installation of a 1970s West Indian Front Room at the Geffrye Museum had more than 35, 000 visitors and has since become a permanent exhibition at the now Museum of the Home. A new iteration of this 1970s interior was recently included at Tate Britain’s landmark exhibition; “Life Between Islands,” exploring Caribbean-British art over four generations. Amongst the 5 star reviews, The Guardian described the exhibition as ”a mind-altering portrait of British Caribbean life through art.” We talk about the struggle behind rich cultural exchange, the political fear of art, the vital integrity of an artist, courage when your identity is made a target and the experience that changed Michael's life when he was only 16. Michael is a true educator.
Series Audio Editor - Courtesy of Joey Quan.
Images: The Museum of the Home
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview can also be found here: www//canartsaveus.com/
Discover Dr. Michael McMillan's Front Room here: www.museumofthehome.org.uk/whats-on/rooms-through-time/a-front-room-in-1970/
Daryl Beeton is a kind of acrobatic superhero. He flies on top of sway poles which includes 25 meters across London's Olympic Stadium. H’s trekked 228 miles across Nicaragua, filmed by the BBC, requiring armed soldiers due to the dangers of bandits and kidnappers. He also performs with the trapeze and could probably hang upside down longer than Batman and he's the creator of joyful and highly imaginative, inclusive theater. Daryl Beeton creates accessible theater for everyone. He's a performer with a disability. And he shows the joy of creating alternative and imaginative ways of performing. If you want to see how many ways a wheelchair can spin, striking, acrobatic shapes, and unexpected choreographies, he's your man. We talk about social disability, taking risks as part of exploring friendship and self-development, owning your identity and not being mis-represented, pushing boundaries and expectations, with plenty of mischief, merriment and fun.
Assistant Audio Editor - Enric Thier
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview can also be found here: www//canartsaveus.com/
Discover Daryl Beeton: www.darylandco.com
Tarek Zaidieh is an exceptionally talented violinist and member of the outstanding Orchestra for Syrian Musicians. The orchestra is described as a celebration of Syrian culture with contagious rhythms, soaring vocals and genius musicianship. Tarek has performed with the orchestra across Europe and at major festivals, including Glastonbury. You may have discovered the orchestra performing with Damon Albarn, famously known as the frontman of Blur, and co-founder and lead singer of the virtual band Gorillaz. Tarek has described some of these experiences as once in a lifetime and that the mission of the orchestra is showing the world that Syrians speak the language of peace. We talk about the violin as his second heartbeat, music as an injection of life when threatened by war and a connection to home when displaced by conflict. Tarek and the Orchestra of Syrian Musicians let the music do the talking, sharing messages of peace across the world.
Series Audio Editor - Courtesy of Joey Quan.
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview can also be found here: www//canartsaveus.com/
Discover The Orchestra of Syrian Musicians here: www.facebook.com/syrianorchestra/
Joe Howell, also known as Maverick Beyond is a photographic artist working with an alternative cyanotype process from which she also creates sculptures. Her identity is firmly rooted in Sunderland, loyal to her working class roots, Jo is standing up to arts elitism by staying put. Despite the barriers against her as a working class woman in the arts, Jo not only supports community groups into creative practice and learning, but she foregrounds women lost in history. We talk about the 'Sad Countess' as both a victim of shocking domestic abuse and as a ground breaking victor of sexist law. Jo also amplified and made visible the significance of the Countess as a botanist in the Bowes Museum collection. We talk about the contribution of women to the 1985 Miners' Strike and the role of art in banners which she is also making visible again today. Jo talks about the pain she lives with, fibromyalgia, alongside the social wounds in society today but, just like her nana did, with every intention of getting on.
Series Audio Editor - Courtesy of Joey Quan.
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview can also be found here: www//canartsaveus.com/
Discover Jo's work here along with free, creative workshop videos, get curious! www.maverickbeyond.com
Maya Youssef is known as the Queen of the Qanun, a virtuoso and composer of this beautiful Middle Eastern instrument described as a flat harp with 78 strings and possibly a descendant of the Egyptian harp. Maya honours Arabic classical music traditions with pathways into Western classical, Latin and jazz music. Her music responds to her vivid dreams and spiritual awakening, war and domestic abuse, love and separation. Maya's music is a prayer for peace and healing which she consciously shares with her audiences. In Maya’s words the act of playing music is the opposite of death and destruction; it is a life- and hope-affirming act and an antidote to what is happening, not only in her home of Syria, but in the world. We talk about how she became Queen of an instrument deemed only for men, music and heartbreak, surviving her personal war and finding the universal home.
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview can also be found here: www//canartsaveus.com/
Discover Maya Youssef: www.mayayoussef.com
Bobby Brown is a creative producer, artist, manager and rising architect of community arts and equal access, based in the city of Brighton. He's a game changer in youth work supporting creative projects, including music and radio that changes the lives of disadvantaged and excluded young people. He describes himself as a dream weaver, a bridge builder, an optimist and as someone who relied on youth services growing up to make sense of conflict and creative energy. He's an artist manager for rap duo Frankie Stew and Harvey Gunn and he's already been behind R&B singer Elli Ingram, a household name. We talk about identity, why multi-cultural cities are still ghettoised, Black Lives Matter and cultural spaces, fear and internal faith. Bobby is a game changer in the city of Brighton responding to the ever deepening gap between rich and poor. He shares his ideas and vision for building a society where democracy, equality and a collective voice can flourish together.
Series Audio Editor - Courtesy of Joey Quan.
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview can also be found here: www//canartsaveus.com/
Discover Bobby Brown here: www.lighthouse.org.uk/projects/public-art-strategy
Dr. Marwa Al-Sabouni is an award-winning architect considered to be one of the top 50 global thinkers around the world. Marwa elevates the critical role architecture has to play in building peace and preventing conflict through segregation and isolation. She is the author of ‘The Battle for Home’ and ‘Building for Hope' and an international speaker. She also recently co-directed the Brighton festival. We talk about 'uglification' and how badly built environments result in loneliness, violence, suicide and war. We talk about inhumane architecture as a form of siege on our human experience. We talk about hope, how we can re-build for peace and where those examples of architecture have been found historically. Marwa's hometown Homs was destroyed during the Syrian war and she and her family lived as prisoners for 2 years with daily, deadly threats. She chose to stay, to rebuild peace. Her courage is as humble as it is huge, practical, spiritual and very inspiring for a world in desperate need of peace.
During this recording, Marwa had low bandwidth in Syria, very special thanks are owed to the audio editor Barry J. Gibb to make the quality the best it could be.
Discover Marwa Al Sabouni here:
www.facebook.com/people/Marwa-Al-Sabouni/100001576481506/
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview can also be found here: www//canartsaveus.com/
Marice Cumber is one of the UK’s most compelling ceramic artists. She presents her own emotions, fears and vulnerabilities in her work and even cowardice shows up, no doubt kicking and screaming. Her large, over-sized, ceramic cups hold and display her raw emotions. They share the edgy qualities of German Expressionism by showing inner feelings and embracing the alternative but keeping a healthy focus on individual strength too. Marice is also the founder and director of Accumulate, the Art School for the Homeless and she has been committed to creativity as a way of empowering people who are homeless to move forward positively in their lives – you could say helping to re-fill their own cups with possibility and opportunity. We talk about cowardice, courage, mental health, purpose through crisis and how we can change adversity in our lives through creativity.
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview can also be found here: www//canartsaveus.com/
Discover Marice Cumber: www.instagram.com/maricecumber www.accumulate.org.uk
Antony Penrose, is a photographer, author, rewilder and Co-director of The Penrose Collection and the Lee Miller Archives at Farleys House & Gallery, his childhood home in Sussex. Antony conserves and shares the extraordinary work of his parents. His father Sir Roland Penrose was a surrealist painter, poet, biographer and a major collector of modern art. His mother, Lee Miller, moved from being in front of the camera as a Vogue super model by today’s standards, to behind it as both a surrealist and highly significant WWII frontline war photographer. Oscar winner, Kate Winslet, will play Lee Miller in the forthcoming film, 'Lee.' Antony talks about biting Picasso, the courage of conviction and we discuss how 'curiosity is the most important thing in the world.' We discuss how surrealism and Lee's WWII war photography championed honesty and truth, however brutal.
Images by permission only: ‘
Antony Penrose, Farleys House, Sussex, England’ by Tony Tree / ‘Dining Room, Farleys House, Sussex, England’ by Tony Tree
Audio edit courtesy of Joey Quan.
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview can be found here: www//canartsaveus.com/
Eve Horne, is a singer, songwriter, producer, author, award winning mentor and activist. Eve's journey is a roller coaster from being in 90s 'girl groups' touring with major boy bands, a No. 1 single and millions of streams on Spotify, to a major life change dealing with depression then re-emerging as a producer and co-writer for major artists. Black, gay and a single mum, Eve is also a campaigner for gender equality in the music industry with her campaign 'The Unheard.' This year she is recognised as a Future Leader with Keychange, a global movement for equality. Eve talks about early trauma from feelings of rejection to racially motivated murder. She talks about life extremes from private jets to driving trains and onto the loneliness of leadership. Struggle has built her resilience and her commitment to justice is brave and unwavering.
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview can be found here: www.canartsaveus.com/
Images: Courtesy of Eve Horne / Peak Music UK.
Audio edit: Courtesy of Joey Quan.
Discover Eve: www.peakmusic.uk
Hala Sabet, changed her life from being the most senior woman in the multinational oil and gas giant, Shell, in Egypt, to becoming a fine artist. Hala draws on her Egyptian roots to express the universe through sculpture and painting. She was selected by the Royal British Society of Sculptors and the International Art Fair in Egypt, where she also has recently had large scale solo exhibitions. We explore curiosity and courage through the idea of biblical coding, Islamic geometry, gravity and profound grief when art was her essential life force. Hala shares the loss of her mother, brother and feeling devastated when her husband needed major heart surgery. Hala's conviction is gripped through art.
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview can be found here: www.canartsaveus.com/
Images: Artworks by and courtesy of Hala Sabet.
Audi Edit courtesy of Katherine Wiley.
Discover Hala Sabet: www.halasabet.co.uk
Mohammed Ali, MBE, is a graffiti artist who works internationally and creates immersive events combining theatre, music and poetry too. Mohammed has a deep respect for heritage, community and the arts and his purpose is clear; he wants to empower communities and celebrate multi-cultural stories around faith and migration. His art work could be understood as a vital community service, one of human connection. Mohammed is changing community division by demystifying culture, faith and ethnicity, spray can by spray can. We explore whether public space really exists, the empowerment of people, art without pretention and where courage exists.
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview can be found here: www.canartsaveus.com/
Images: Courtesy of Mohammed Ali, MBE
Audio Edit: Courtesy of Joey Quan.
Discover Mohammed Ali: www.artofmohammedali.com
Marije Nie is a classically trained musician and percussive tap dance poet. Marije's Ted Talk features her multi award-winning dance documentary 'One Million Steps’ with Eva Stotz, where she tapped poetic dance steps in the face of an explosive protest with police using tear gas in Gezi Park, Istanbul. Marije is also the recipient of the Dutch Jur Naessens prize for innovation and she has performed with classical orchestras, jazz and contemporary ensembles on concert stages around the world. We explore space in rhythm, the mind and the community. We discuss stretching our 'imagination muscles' and the rhythm of music to over coming fear of bodily harm and death.
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview can be found here: www.canartsaveus.com/
Image: Courtesy of Marije Nie
Audio edit courtesy of Joey Quan
Discover Marije Nie: www.marijenie.com
Otis Mensah, is a hip-hop poet and master of vulnerable expression. Otis became the City of Sheffield’s first poet laureate and his live performances include Glastonbury Music Festival and opening for numerous artists. Otis breaks down barriers of power, elitism and control including stereotyping and branding. He reminds "people that poetry is meant to be for the people.” – The Guardian. We explore curiosity and courage through identity, power struggles, daily fears, anxieties, the beauty of dyslexia and how we can give language freedom to let ourselves flourish. We discuss why poetry can speak but we may not speak to each other.
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview can be found here: www.canartsaveus.com/
Image: Ai Narapol.
Audio edit courtesy of Joey Quan.
Discover Otis Mensah: www.otismensah.com/
Lady Kitt is a creative activist, artist, maker and drag king, described as ‘an international superstar of feminism.’ You may also encounter Kitt as Captain Privilege or as King Kitt, a terminally confused, toxic male. Kitt’s practice however as a socially engaged artist is crystal clear. From performance art to giant origami, Kitt addresses inequality and inclusivity and creates projects all over the world. We talk about socially engaged art as acts of compassion and failures in social provision as acts of harm. We talk about art as a collaborative heartbeat but not a cure all for community regeneration led by poor policy. We explore curiosity as mess and the structures of support we need for courage.
Images: Courtesy of Lady Kitt.
Headshot PlentyUpTop (Colour photo, interior. Head and shoulders portrait of Kitt, a white shaven headed human. Kitt is smiling a wide smile. They wear a headdress which, in bright pink 3D letters, reads "Plenty Up Top". They also wear a necklace which, in the same pink lettering, reads "Gallery". 2019)
Headshot QueerCripCraftPower (Colour photo, interior. Kitt, white haven headed human with a big smile wears a headdress made of huge multi coloured flowers and a black long sleeved shirt on which white and orange text reads “queer crip craft power”. 2021)
Audio edit courtesy of Katherine Wiley.
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview can be found here: www.canartsaveus.com/
Discover Lady Kitt: www.lladykitt.com
Barry Gibb is a multi, multi-award winning filmmaker with over 100 science films and a series of powerful shorts about time, life and death. He often films in deeply sensitive and difficult circumstances. His recent film 'The Gift,' follows the artist Barbara Bird's end of life but also her continued journey by gifting her body to science. This film has won 15 international awards alone. Barry is also a neuro-scientist and award-winning author of the 'Rough Guide to the Brain.' We explore curiosity and courage through vulnerability, time, life and death. Barry shares his fear of death and how the camera lens invites his courage to share meaningfully creative work and his compassionate purpose.
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview can be found here: www.canartsaveus.com/
Image: Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Episode audio edit: Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Series music: Created by and courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Discover Barry's work: www.barryjamesgibb.com