Episodes
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In the final episode of Dream Space series 2, Gemma Cairney leaves us in the capable hands (and mind) of Factory International’s Creative Director and natural dreamer Kee Hong Low. Join Kee Hong as he reflects on what it means to let go and embrace our dreams. Enter a vast space of calm, which transcends the limits of the everyday, and be guided by the unexpected – like the ability to smell through your skin! Plus, Gemma Cairney reflects on our series highlights and all the wonderful dream spaces we visited along the way.
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British-born Ghanaian/Russian/German artist Afrodeutsche, aka Henrietta Smith-Rolla, invites us aboard her Love Plane in this week’s episode of Dream Space. No tickets are needed, and everyone is welcome to relax on this mystical long-haul flight where all the crew can rest.
Known for her eclectic productions spanning techno, house, and classical orchestral music, Afrodeutsche is also the host of BBC Radio 6 Music’s People’s Party every Friday evening.
Dream Space is a Reduced Listening production for Factory International, hosted by Gemma Cairney. This episode was produced by Silvia Malnati, with sound design by Femi Oriogun-Williams, and theme music by Andrew PM Hunt.
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Award-winning Palestinian playwright and director Amir Nizar Zuabi invites us on a journey in this week’s episode of Dream Space. We travel along ancient routes, filled with the scent of spices and the taste of fresh dates, toward infinite possibilities and knowledge in 12th-century Baghdad and the Library of Alexandria.
Zuabi, the founding Artistic Director of ShiberHur Theater Company in Palestine, is also an Associate Director at the Young Vic Theatre and a member of United Theaters Europe for artistic achievement. His latest project, The Herds, follows life-size puppet animals as they journey from West Africa to Norway, escaping climate disaster.
Dream Space is a Reduced Listening production for Factory International, hosted by Gemma Cairney. This episode was produced by Tess Davidson, with sound design by Femi Oriogun-Williams, and theme music by Andrew PM Hunt.
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Award-winning artist Ryan Gander lets us into his mind in this episode of Dream Space, imagining a world where time slows down, and mindfulness reigns. Inspired by Japanese philosophy, Gander’s dream space is a minimalist, meditative world reminiscent of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, where you can swap senses and choose solitude or company with the flip of a switch. In this world, the passing of time is savoured, and wandering without a goal becomes a form of meditation.
Ryan Gander, based in Suffolk, is known for his expansive body of work spanning sculpture, writing, architecture, and performance. Describing himself as a “neo-conceptual no-style-style amateur philosopher,” Gander’s art explores themes of language, time, and knowledge. His accolades include an OBE in 2017, the Hodder Fellowship at Princeton University in 2019, and becoming a Royal Academician in 2022.
For MIF23, Gander created The Find, hiding thousands of collectable coins across Manchester.
Hosted by Gemma Cairney, Dream Space is a Reduced Listening production for Factory International. This episode was produced by Silvia Malnati, with sound design by Femi Oriogun-Williams, and theme music by Andrew PM Hunt.
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A pioneer of hip hop theatre turned award-winning photographer and educator, Benji Reid takes us into a space of healing in his dreams.
Life can feel overwhelming at times. Everything moves so fast, and there are never enough hours in the day. But in Benji's Dream Space, this will never be a problem. Instead, he imagines a world that exists when you’re ready to move at a pace that works for you. A space where time doesn’t exist – and there is a library of souls to be inspired by, lined with red trees and soft clouds to wade through.
Benji Reid first trained as a dancer before forming his hip hop theatre company Breaking Cycles which he has toured globally. Through his work, he explores the themes of the Black British experience, Black masculinity, and mental health. Benji's show at the 2023 edition of Manchester International Festival, Find Your Eyes, invited audiences to watch him craft his photography in real time – blending theatre and dance with photography.
Dream Space is a Reduced Listening production for Factory International, hosted by Gemma Cairney. This episode was produced by Tess Davidson, with sound design by Femi Oriogun-Williams, and theme music by Andrew PM Hunt.
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Mancunian cabaret star, actor and visual artist David Hoyle takes on a trip to a new utopia in our latest episode of Dream Space. If you’re feeling oppressed, lonely and unmotivated in a capitalist world that is causing rising social inequalities and political polarisation then you are not the only one. And, great news, there’s an alternative waiting for you: Planet Infinity, the community-led, revolutionary Dream Space conjured up by David.
David is a bit of a Manchester icon. From performing as his infamous alter-ego ‘The Divine David’ on the stages of underground clubs to presenting his own show on Channel 4 in the '90s, over the past four decades David has never stopped developing his artistic practice, exploring the themes of gender, mental health, capitalism, revolution and more…
To celebrate over 40 years of his work, in Spring 2024, Factory International hosted Please Feel Free to Ignore My Work at the Aviva Studios, where David opened the door to his outrageous and moving world.
Dream Space is a Reduced Listening production for Factory International, hosted by Gemma Cairney. This episode was produced by Silvia Malnati, with sound design by Femi Oriogun-Williams, and theme music by Andrew PM Hunt.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Actor, writer, and director Zawe Ashton invites us into her dream world in this episode —a sensory landscape where nostalgia comes to life. Imagine the smell of Play-Doh and Ugandan food transporting you to a place where everyone speaks different languages but can understand one another. In Zawe's vast, sandy dreamscape, steam trains from various eras wind through pine trees and ancient pyramids, revealing cosmic potential and universal connections.
Zawe Ashton, known for her roles in Marvel Studios' The Marvels, Channel 4’s Fresh Meat and her acclaimed performances in Harold Pinter’s Betrayal, shares her unique vision of a world where memories and imagination intertwine.
Hosted by Gemma Cairney, Dream Space is produced by Reduced Listening for Factory International. This episode was produced by Tess Davidson, with sound design by Femi Oriogun-Williams, and theme music by Andrew PM Hunt.
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Enter the dreams of electronic music composer, producer, and artist Gazelle Twin as she imagines an endless summer’s evening where the scent of pine fills the air and insects are in charge of the soundtrack. An opportunity for escape and self-exploration, Gazelle Twin’s dream space offers a place of safety allowing us to process and heal.
Gazelle Twin, aka Elizabeth Bernholz, is an artist whose work is radical, sometimes political, and almost always personal. 2023 saw her confront the ghosts of her past through her fourth solo studio album Black Dog, as well as write an original soundtrack for the Sky Max thriller series Then You Run featuring Vivian Oparah.
For Factory International, Gazelle Twin worked alongside Maxine Peake, Sarah Frankcom, Imogen Knight and Daisy Johnson on Robin/Red/Breast, a live performance that blurred the boundaries between theatre, art and music, and tackled complex issues around fertility, violence and power.
Dream Space is produced by Reduced Listening for Factory International, hosted by Gemma Cairney. This episode was produced by Nada Smiljanic, with sound design by Femi Oriogun-Williams, and theme music by Andrew PM Hunt.
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Our dreamer this time is visual artist and performer Hetain Patel. Born and raised in a working class British Gujarati Asian household in Bolton, Patel’s practice explores the increasingly blurred line between reality and fantasy, fixed identity and transformation. In his work, which includes turning his first car into a massive Transformer and impersonating the superheroes that shaped his childhood, he aims at connecting marginalised cultures through pop culture.
For his dream world expect dance, The Matrix, a suite of 80s Ford Escorts and the delicious smells of mango and coriander...
Hetain Patel is currently working on The Hobby Cave - an ambitious celebration of our favourite hobbies, which is led by Artangel with a network of 13 partnering organisations including Factory International.
Dream Space is produced by Reduced Listening for Factory International, hosted by Gemma Cairney. This episode was produced by Silvia Malnati, with sound design by Femi Oriogun-Williams, and theme music by Andrew PM Hunt.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Legendary mixer and Haçienda resident DJ Paulette dances to the music of her dreams in this episode of Dream Space. Music and water collide, Manchester rain becomes a techno beat and waterfalls cascade on disco-ball umbrellas.
Winner of the 2022 DJ Mag Top 100 Lifetime Achievement Award, DJ Paulette is an acclaimed DJ across UK and Europe, born, raised and based in Manchester. Over a thirty-year career, she has played some of the biggest clubs in the world and brought joy through her sets from The Hacienda in Manchester in the nineties – where she was one of two women to have a monthly residency – to London, Paris, Ibiza and beyond.
Her debut book ‘Welcome To The Club: The Life and Lessons of a black Woman DJ’ was published in January 2024 by Manchester University Press.
Dream Space is produced by Reduced Listening for Factory International, hosted by Gemma Cairney. This episode was produced by Tess Davidson, with sound design by Femi Oriogun-Williams, and theme music by Andrew PM Hunt.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Dream Space is back for a second season. Hosted by the multi-talented, award-winning broadcaster Gemma Cairney, we ask some of the world’s most exciting artists to take listeners on a journey through an imaginary space where nothing is off limits. With infinite resources at their disposal and a blank canvas for their vision, Dream Space is an invitation to explore the question: what does art have the potential to do, when we allow ourselves to dream?.
Featuring guests such as actor Zawe Ashton, artists Hetain Patel, Benji Reid, Ryan Gander and David Hoyle, musicians Gazelle Twin, Afrodeutsche and DJ Paulette and Director Amir Nizar Zuabi, listeners will encounter visions of the future dreamt up by some of the world’s leading creative minds.
Open your mind, get relaxed, and let's get dreaming.
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In this episode the acclaimed poet, writer, playwright and broadcaster Lemn Sissay takes us through his nature-inspired Dream Space. The writer and poet invites you to get lost in a forest or simply watch a sunrise on repeat with friends. On the soundtrack? New music from Loyle Carner and Arlo Parks. On the menu? The best cuisine from around the world, of course.
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In this episode, artist and world-builder Danielle Braithwaite-Shirley takes us on a journey - literally with a collective train ride - to a utopian dream space inspired by the aesthetics of a Playstation One game. On the soundtrack is Arthur Russell and on the menu, Danielle is serving up plenty of Caribbean flavours.
As an artist, Danielle's work seeks to archive Black trans experiences, using technology to imagine environments that centre their bodies. These often come in the form of video games - letting the audience become immersed in Danielle’s worlds, asking them to reflect on their own identities.
For Factory International, Danielle has created I CAN'T FOLLOW YOU ANYMORE - a browser-based video game that explores the idea of a Black Trans revolution. In the glitchy style of a 90’s PlayStation One horror game, the player must dance or fight to convert others to their ideology whilst facing positions which challenge their own.
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In this episode award-winning artist and set designer Es Devlin builds a world where humans share a language with endangered butterflies and birds. Time is circular and electronic devices non-existent. Our sound world is expanded. We hear the voices of whales and the movement of mountains. This Dream Space is the awakening of human perception.
Es Devlin has worked with some of the biggest superstars on the planet. Known for creating entire worlds on stage, Es is the subject of the Netflix documentary series Abstract: The Art Of Design and her immersive, sculptural work has been installed at the Tate Modern Gardens, COP26 and Superblue Miami.
For Factory International, Es Devlin brings her magic to Aviva Studios with an iconic set for our huge opening show Free Your Mind. Can't get enough? Her monumental, immersive installation An Atlas of Es Devlin takes over the vast warehouse space during the day.
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In the latest episode of Dream Space, Nabihah Iqbal transports us to Egypt – where a calm oasis is waiting on the banks of the Nile and a golden sunset is frozen in time. Birds are singing, grandma is cooking and Jeff Buckley, Cleopatra and Bruce Lee wander past in conversation.
Nabihah Iqbal is a musician, DJ, writer and broadcaster. In 2023, she has been busy curating Brighton Festival and touring her latest album DREAMER – a record she created during the early months of 2020, after her studio was burgled and long-awaited album lost.
For Factory International, Nabihah Iqbal produced the music for Factory Works – an audio artwork created by artist Neville Gabie in collaboration with construction workers and manufacturers involved in the creation of Aviva Studios.
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Today our dreamer is Ivan Michael Blackstock. With a background in contemporary dance, South-London born Ivan is a true multidisciplinary artist, from Sadler’s Wells in London and Paris’ Vilette Theatre, to working with Beyoncé on the choreography of both Black Is King and the Grammy award-winning music video 'Brown Skin Girl'.
Alongside this, for over seven years Blackstock has been developing TRAPLORD. Co-commissioned by Factory International, the project was concocted in an abandoned East London leisure centre and touches on themes of masculinity, mental health and race, and has recently won an Olivier Award for ‘best new dance production’.
This is Ivan Blackstock’s Dream Space…
Music from Traplord: Torben Sylvest - Producer
Kaaris - Chargé (Mr. Carmack Remix)
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Our dreamer in this episode is the brilliant Jenn Nkiru. Jenn is an award-winning artist, director and visionary filmmaker from Peckham, whose work is rooted in the history of Black music, Afro-surrealism, experimental film and the Black arts movement.
Her own particular style of filmmaking is distinctive, switching between eras and locations in a process she describes as “cosmic archaeology”. She’s directed documentaries, cinematic shorts, and music videos - including the critically acclaimed music video for Beyoncé's "Brown Skin Girl", which won the Best Music Video award at the 2021 Grammys.
For Factory International , Jenn is creating a brand new film which reflects on space, time and memory, intertwining Manchester’s industrial history with modern-day architecture, paying homage to the people and culture that make up a city…
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In this episode of Dream Space, Sabrina Mahfouz invites us into her triple-room extravaganza featuring nostalgic '90s beats, pastel colours and a collaborative fine art space.
Sabrina Mahfouz is a multifaceted playwright, lyricist, poet and screenwriter. Her critically acclaimed work includes the theatre adaptation of Noughts & Crosses and memoir These Bodies of Water. She explores themes around class, inequality and her British, Egyptian and Guyanese heritage.
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In this episode we’re entering the dream space of the award-winning author and poet Danez Smith.
They are the author of three critically acclaimed poetry collections, including Homie and Don’t Call Us Dead which won the Forward Prize for Best Collection and delves into the intricacies of their identity as Black, queer and HIV positive. They once described their work as a chance to 'peer into the surreal edge at another version of us'.
For MIF23, Danez Smith set the creative tone for a lock-in at Manchester’s Contact Theatre in honour of its 50th anniversary. A collaboration between Factory International and Contact, 50 Hours of Freedom invited three local artists to make new work in 50 hours which was performed in front of a live audience, all inspired by a brief given by Danez.
Produced by Reduced Listening for Factory International.
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The brilliant Scottee is a multi-award winning artist based in Manchester making work for theatres, ears and walls - tackling topics of class, bodies, queerness, privilege and so much more. In this episode of Dream Space they takes us on a journey through their dream of function rooms, queer euphoria and a whole lot of potato salad.
factoryinternational.org/dreamspace
Produced by Reduced Listening for Factory International.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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