brave podcast

brave Projects

brave podcast is an audio series spotlighting bold voices in the arts. Through intimate conversations each episode explores the ideas, challenges, and dreams shaping creative practice today.

  1. JAN 5

    Jonny Tanna: Harlesden High Street, Building Community Through Art

    Jonny Tanna is the founder of Harlesden High Street, a gallery rooted in northwest London that centres artists of colour, outsider practices, and community engagement. He explains how the space grew organically from film nights and curatorial experiments into a platform designed to welcome people who are often excluded from the contemporary art world. Throughout the conversation with brave podcast host and arts editor, Victoria Comstock-Kershaw, Jonny challenges the dominance of the white cube, the decline of traditional art fairs, and the narrow collector base that many galleries rely on. He argues for broader cultural engagement, drawing from music, film, and counterculture, and speaks about Minor Attractions as an alternative fair model that prioritises social exchange, experimentation, and atmosphere. The episode explores how outsider artists are supported at Harlesden High Street, including Jonny’s approach to curation, performance, and installation. He shares stories that highlight how everyday encounters, local communities, and unconventional narratives shape the gallery’s programme. Jonny also reflects on sincerity in the art world, warning against the performative use of terms like community and accessibility. He emphasises that galleries are ultimately people-driven spaces and that treating artists and audiences with respect is essential for long-term sustainability. The conversation closes with future plans for Harlesden High Street, including archival-focused projects, exhibitions exploring music history and cultural shifts, and Jonny’s ongoing commitment to building platforms that prioritise cultural value over commercial posturing.

    1h 4m
  2. 12/22/2025

    James Marshall: Access, Confidence and Communication

    Curator, writer and founder of communications agency The Inventive, James Marshall joins Victoria Comstock-Kershaw for a new brave podcast episode to talk about access, class and confidence in the art world, and how he built a career without the usual pathways. Growing up in rural Scotland with little access to museums or galleries, James shares how arriving in London at 17 reshaped his relationship to art, and why he decided to create his own opportunities rather than accept unpaid labour as the entry fee. Throughout the episode, James breaks down the power dynamics behind internships and early career roles, and explains how bringing a clear skill set to the table can shift the balance. From learning social media on the fly to building The Inventive, he reflects on the reality that experience does not pay rent, and why paid apprenticeships and properly funded routes into the sector are overdue. The conversation also explores language, communication and the performance of the gallery ecosystem, and why contemporary art needs fewer barriers and less art speak. James and Victoria discuss accessibility in exhibitions, the value of wall texts, and how formats like Minor Attractions can help audiences connect with work beyond the white cube. James also shares what is next, including plans for a group show exploring queer relationships with intimacy, and a full circle moment working with Simone Brewster on a commissioned installation film at the Design Museum.

    50 min

About

brave podcast is an audio series spotlighting bold voices in the arts. Through intimate conversations each episode explores the ideas, challenges, and dreams shaping creative practice today.