Kiota Lab

Kiota Bristol
Kiota Lab Podcast

This is a series of 6 podcasts celebrating BIPoC artists in Bristol and the surrounding areas, adapted from our original shows at The Wardrobe Theatre, with interviews with either Aisha Ali or Shagufta Iqbal (Co-directors of Kiota). At some point in the future we’ll find a way to showcase these artists' work in a live setting where we can be together, share the experience and chat about it over drinks after and possibly even sprout new projects! (Please note there may be differences in the volume of the recording - bear with us we are learning how to podcast on the job!)

Episodes

  1. Kiota Lab - Episode 6

    26/11/2020

    Kiota Lab - Episode 6

    Our final Podcast of the series!!! Hosted by our very own Aisha Ali, featuring: Miri Tkaya Miri Tkaya is a British-Egyptian, Invisibly-Disabled Artist, Vocalist, Song-writer, Writer, Performer and Speaker. Miri is passionate about imagination, Arts and language as vehicles to transcend and transform. Longing for a world of mirrors that reflect our authentic selves, she is committed to examining the space between perception and reality, uncovering and celebrating the ‘unseen’ and the ‘other.’ Through lilting jazzy melodies, intricate harmonies and poetic rhythmical lyricism, Miri weaves philosophy and song with honesty, playfulness and grit. Miri is currently creating music for a gig-theatre show about invisible illness and perception. Her song "Blood Moon/Wash Away” is about navigating cycles of fluctuating symptoms and abilities in chronic invisible illness, washing away the horizontal hours, the skepticism and judgement that comes with them, and constantly starting over again. This is an exclusive demo which will be turned into a fuller arrangement. Produced by Dom Richardson. AND Muneera Pilgrim Muneera Pilgrim is a Storyteller, International Poet, Cultural Producer, Writer, Broadcaster and TEDx  speaker. She co-founded the Muslim Hip-Hop and spoken word duo Poetic Pilgrimage, and has since gone on to create waves as a solo artist. She is a  co-founder of  a new platform, Black Muslim Women Bike She conducts workshops, shares art, lectures, and finds alternative ways to tell stories, build community and exchange ideas. She regularly contributes to BBC 2’s Pause for Thought, she is an associate artist with Inbetween Time, an associate artist with English Touring Theatre where she is writing her first play, and she is currently writing her first official poetry collection will be released in 2021 with Burning Eye Books. Her piece “Dating in this economy” is a section of a work in progress play about coming of all things: age, realisation, acceptance....it’s a woman’s tale. This is in collaboration with English Touring Theatre. CW: talk of islamophobia, racism and violence

    39 min
  2. Kiota Lab - Episode 5

    19/11/2020

    Kiota Lab - Episode 5

    We are joined by: Hanan is a Welsh-Iraqi poet and writer based in Cardiff.  She has been featured on both ITV Wales and BBC Wales and worked in partnership withNational Museum Wales, Artes Mundi, Warwick University,Swansea Fringe,StAnza Festival, WalesArts Review and Seren Books. Her work has been published in Banat Collective, Hedgehog Press, Wales Arts Review, Sukoon mag, Lumin Journal, Poetry Wales, Parthian, Y Stamp, sister-hood magazine and MuslimGirl.com.  Her winning monologue was featured at Bush Theatre’s Hijabi Monologues. She is the co-founder of Wales’ first BAME open mic series 'Where I'm Coming From'. She was a 2018-2019 Hay Festival Writer at Work.  Her debut poetry pamphlet ‘My Body Can House Two Hearts’ was published by BurningEye Books. She is a recipient of the 2020 Ffolio  - Ffilm Cymru/ BBC Wales short film commission. Bertel Martin of Bristol Black Writers Group, Bertel Martin has been active in Bristol’s writing scene for over 25 years, as a writer, performer and producer. Promoting Caribbean and African writers in Yardstick and with the British Council. A co-founder of Word of Mouth (now Blah, Blah, Blah), Former Director of Plymouth International Book Festival and Director of City Chameleon, a publishing company specialising in poetry and short stories, Bertel has been published in a number of anthologies. Performance highlights include performing with Lee Evans, Benjamin Zephaniah, Attila Stockbroker and Jean "Binta" Breeze. Currently Bertel is on the board of directors of Bristol Short Story Prize and the board of Trustees of the Tobacco Factory and trying to find time for his own projects.

    33 min
  3. Kiota Lab - Episode 4

    12/11/2020

    Kiota Lab - Episode 4

    -Hosted by Aisha Ali -Poetry from Vanessa Melody  Vanessa Melody is singer-songwriter and poet of Afro-Caribbean descent, born and raised in Bristol. In 2018, confined to her bed due to a 3 week bout of illness, she produced over 50 poems that were later compiled and published through Balboa Press, in a book called 'Rise To Freedom Her Story in Rhyme' Her poem, Mother Nature, is about how she spends a lot of time in the natural spaces in the area where she lives in Eastville. Mother Nature takes care of her, guides her and when she is still enough,  she can hear, feel, see and taste the essence of life that sustains her. She believes it is the same for us all because we are one, we are all connected. -Comedy from Pravanya Pillay 2008 Sir Henry Floyd Form Representative Pravanya Pillay is a comedian and youth empowerment leader. In 2017 she founded Stomping Ground, an organisation which empowers young people of colour by transforming Bristol’s arts and cultural landscape so that it is fully accessible and representative.  A director, writer and performer her comedic style is like marmite (yeasty) and leaves you wondering: “did I hate that?”. Pravanya Pillay’s surreal, absurdist humour is always silly, always fun and always a bit pointless. Critics say “well she’s having a good time” and “wow, that’s a lot of energy” -Pravanya chats to Aisha about her comedy inspiration, what she's learned in lockdown and her plans for the future.

    34 min

About

This is a series of 6 podcasts celebrating BIPoC artists in Bristol and the surrounding areas, adapted from our original shows at The Wardrobe Theatre, with interviews with either Aisha Ali or Shagufta Iqbal (Co-directors of Kiota). At some point in the future we’ll find a way to showcase these artists' work in a live setting where we can be together, share the experience and chat about it over drinks after and possibly even sprout new projects! (Please note there may be differences in the volume of the recording - bear with us we are learning how to podcast on the job!)

To listen to explicit episodes, sign in.

Stay up to date with this show

Sign in or sign up to follow shows, save episodes and get the latest updates.

Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

Asia Pacific

Europe

Latin America and the Caribbean

The United States and Canada