Episode notes
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,…
Podcast
Dream Space
Factory International · Arts & Books · English
What does art have the power to do, when we allow ourselves to dream? In Dream Space we take listeners on a journey through an imaginary, limitless space. There’s Infinite resources. A blank canvas. The challenge: to create your dream artistic utopia. Our host Gemma Cairney speaks with some of the w
More from Dream Space All episodes →
-
S2 · E5 · 4 Sep 2024 · 32 min
David Hoyle on revolution, community and a world beyond capitalism
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…
-
S2 · E4 · 28 Aug 2024 · 29 min
Zawe Ashton on steam trains, Play-Doh and a multilingual world
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…
-
S2 · E3 · 21 Aug 2024 · 28 min
Gazelle Twin on endless summers, insect soundtracks and pine-scented air
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…
-
S2 · E2 · 14 Aug 2024 · 33 min
Hetain Patel on Ford Escorts, desert calm and mango-scented mornings
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...…
-
S2 · E1 · 7 Aug 2024 · 31 min
DJ Paulette on Manchester rain, techno and disco-ball umbrellas
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…
-
S1 · E10 · 13 Nov 2023 · 27 min
Lemn Sissay on forests, friendship and endless sunrises
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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
S1 · E9 · 30 Oct 2023 · 27 min
Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley on PlayStation worlds, train rides and a new utopia
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…
-
E8 · 16 Oct 2023 · 35 min
Es Devlin on nature, circular time and learning to see differently
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…
-
S1 · E7 · 2 Oct 2023 · 30 min
Nabihah Iqbal on the Nile, a frozen sunset and unlikely company
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…
-
S1 · E6 · 18 Sep 2023 · 32 min
Ivan Michael Blackstock on dance, masculinity and mental health
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…
