LONDON
In our ongoing efforts to support the music community, we launched a series of initiatives to empower black and LGBTQI+ artists in London. We’ve teamed up with BEAUTIFUL and its founder SHERELLE to open a new studio space, academy, workshop programme, and exhibition series.
STUDIO
The AIAIAI x BEAUTIFUL music production studio in London is now open for business. The free-to-use space is intended for Black and queer artists to develop ideas and work on music with the use of professional equipment, and without financial and availability constraints.
We believe in providing the necessary tools for artists to express themselves fully. Working alongside SHERELLE and her BEAUTIFUL manifesto (see here) we have helped create a dedicated space with top-quality equipment. We aim to support the growth and success of Black and queer musicians, fostering a more inclusive and equitable music industry for the future.
We invite aspiring Black and queer artists to seize this opportunity, as the online portal is now open.
Apply for studio time
WORKSHOPS
Hosted by SHERELLE herself, each workshop gave 15 students access to hands-on classes, lectures, and talks about how to navigate the music industry, better their artistic craft and learn about electronic music and how ingrained Black and queer artists are in its history.
The main premise of these workshops was to help give these students a foot up in their careers in music, nurture their development, and educate them in both the business and creative aspects of the industry. They were specifically aimed towards queer and BIPOC students from various economic backgrounds.
The first week's session was split into two sections - first, a lecture on the history and political impact of Black music with journalist, author, and DJ, Marcus Barnes - covering the importance of the UK's reggae sound systems during the '70s and '80s and their close links to the jungle, drum & bass and rave cultures that followed and still stand strong to this day. For the second part of the evening, our students headed to our recording studio space for a hands-on lesson on how to host their own radio show. Splitting into three groups, SHERELLE and fellow NTS Radio regulars Zakia and OK Williams covered everything from selecting the right music and talking with confidence, to properly introducing yourself, your guests, and their music.
Workshop number two was also split into two parts. DJ and writer Elijah was up first, discussing the economical and social aspects of the music industry through the medium of his viral Yellow Squares project, followed by a roundtable discussion and Q&A with key professional figures; Phoebe Gold (manager, PinkPantheress), Errol (Touching Bass), SHERELLE (BEAUTIFUL), Mitch Stevens (Revenant Earth), Hannah Shogbola (United Talent) and Mary Anne Hobbs (BBC 6 Music), who each talked about their careers in music and the ways in which they worked their way up the ladder.
Week three saw two of the most exciting names in electronic music, Mura Masa and Loraine James, come through to give a workshop on music production. Keep scrolling to take a look at some of our favourite moments from this session.
The fourth and final workshop was an up close and personal conversation between PinkPantheress and SHERELLE, focusing on the cultural impact of Black music, as well as examining PinkPantheress's meteoric rise from anonymous TikTok and Soundcloud singer to global pop and dance music sensation.
Keep an eye out for more workshops coming in 2023.
EXHIBITIONS
To launch this initiative, BEAUTIFUL curated a week-long exhibition titled move/002 with fynn studio across two floors at Open House Hackney, celebrating the importance and power of black and queer communities within rave culture. It was the second instalment of the move/ art series, coming from the curation firm behind Saatchi Gallery’s rave culture show Sweet Harmony - one of London’s biggest art exhibitions in 2019.
Through photography, poetry, archival texts and digital installations move/002 reinterpreted the story of the black and queer experience in rave over the last forty years. Drum n bass pioneers Fabio and Grooverider provided insights to their decades-spanning careers accompanied by iconic portraits of them by Britain’s leading rave photographer Dave Swindells. Bringing us up to the present day, Bernice Mulenga, the most prominent photographer from the black British lgbtq+ community, also shared energetic dancefloor scenes from nights such as BBZ and Queer Bruk.
move/002 confidently platformed emerging talent and played host to the powerful work of up-and-coming artist Craig Bernard, whose photography explores the UK black community through themes such as Notting Hill Carnival and the BLM protests seen during the lockdown. Behind-the-scene photographs by Imaani Iris Erdogan shared an insight into life producing shows at Reprezent Radio, whilst London audiences had the first opportunity to see New Yorker Guarionex Rodriguez Jnr’s photography of Dweller Festival.
Stay tuned for more exhibitions coming later in 2022.
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