For the penultimate event of this edition of Season for Ex-Change, we are hosting a roundtable with artists commissioned by Season for Change commissions with three nationwide partners: artist and architect Nicolas Henninger (East Street Arts); Balraj Samrai and Farah Ahmad Khan(Manchester Museum); Duncan Speakman, a composer and sound artist (Watershed).

Nicolas Henninger‘s commission Cabanon will give Leeds residents the chance to experience ‘low waste’ living and consider material changes they can make in their lives. Cabanon is a reference to Le Corbusier’s minimal retreat home which was no larger than 8ftX8ft and built from one material. Cabanon will invite people to live for a couple of nights to explore their habits and a more sustainable way of life.

Duncan Speakman is a composer and sound artist based at the Pervasive Media Studio in Bristol. He creates narrative sound led experiences that engage audiences in uncontrolled public and private space. He regularly creates bespoke work internationally including installations on trains in Guangzhou, loudspeaker symphonies in New Zealand, audio walks in Saitama, and sound installations in Porto; he has also recently developed a number of hybrid print/digital experiments. His current research is in the relationship between locative urban audio experiences and contemporary ecology, wrapping the questions in melancholy and romance. He set up and directed the arts collective Circumstance from 2010 – 2017 with Sarah Anderson and Emilie Grenier, later joined by Tom Abba. He continues now as a solo artist and researcher.

Balraj Singh Samrai co-founded Manchester’s Swing Ting record label and party profiled by the Guardian, Resident Advisor, FACT Magazine & Bandcamp Daily. He’s appeared on BBC Radio 1, Asian Network, 1Xtra and 6 Music performing and delivering in Canada, China, Colombia, Armenia, Thailand and Jamaica at festivals and events such as Glastonbury, Outlook, Havana World Music, Circulart, Lovebox and WOMEX.

Having trained as a barrister, Farah Ahmad Khan led a legal career. Her transition into the humanitarian sector has taken her to refugee camps and communities across the globe where she has gained further, deep rooted, exposure to Arts, Cultures and Heritage. Farah uses her experiences to write, perform, empower, and educate across a multitude of educational platforms. She is a globally exhibited, freelance Artist and has commissioned several pieces in multiple languages.

In 2020, Balraj Singh Samrai and Farah Ahmad Khan began collaborating – alongside a host of talent including Asian Dub Foundation’s Pandit G, renowned tabla player Vikaash Sankadecha as well as Gavsborg and Shanique Marie of acclaimed Jamaican collective Equiknoxx – on ‘I Should Have Hugged You Tighter When We Last Met [Oh what a joy]’. Created with the support of Opera North’s artist development programme, Resonance: The Lockdown Edition the work responded to life in the COVID-19 era and the impact the pandemic has had on Black, Asian, Indigenous and Ethnic Minority groups.

How to take part