Here To Remember with Daytimers
A commission for South Asian artists to explore collective memory through music.
- When
- July-October 2024
- Where
- Manchester
- Deadline
- 16 June 2024
- Part of the Initiative
- WE, THE LEADERS
Building on the success of the first Here to Remember, this commission is for South Asian and South Asian mixed heritage artists.
Curated by Daytimers, a collective championing the sounds, stories and voices of South Asian creative communities, as part of the commission you'll take part in group workshops and archival research, with one-to-one mentoring to support your creative process.
If chosen you’ll spend the summer and early autumn exploring collective memory and heritage through your own experiences of history, memory and lineage.
This is for you if you're interested in:
- Exploring the South Asian experience in your work through archiving, ancestry, memory and speculative art
- Storytelling
- Experimentation
What’s involved
- Work individually to create new music inspired by the archives at the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre which focuses on the history of Global Majority communities in Greater Manchester and beyond
- Visit the Beacon Valley in Birmingham, an ecological oasis with intertwined colonial histories where you'll gain inspiration from nature and explore concepts of rewilding and re-indigenising with the land
- Take part in music making sessions and workshops with guest artists to explore archiving and storytelling as a creative practice
- Showcase your work as part of a live show curated by Daytimers in Manchester in October 2024
- Receive a fee of £1500
We understand this commission will be deeply personal for artists. The content of the creative output will be led solely by the commissioned artists, with the Brighter Sound team providing practical and pastoral support.
Who it’s for
Here to Remember is open to musicians:
- Aged 18+
- Who identify as South Asian and South Asian mixed heritage
- From or based in the North of England (North East, North West and Yorkshire regions)
We want to hear from artists from a range of genres, backgrounds and musical disciplines (e.g. producers, rappers, vocalists, instrumentalists, multidisciplinary artists, DJs*).
So if you think “maybe my style isn’t right for this” - nope, absolutely apply!
*If you're a DJ who doesn’t make new music, you can still apply. We’ll just need you to demonstrate how you’ll be able to present original new work as part of the commission (e.g. exploring new ways of using archival material, bringing other artistic practices into the mix etc).
Costs
Alongside your fee of £1500, we’ll also cover:
- Travel, accommodation and expenses
- Access costs for things like disability support, translation or childcare
When and where
- Monday 1 July, 6-7.30pm - online
Online introductory meeting - Wednesday 10 July, 12-4pm - Manchester
Visit to the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre at Manchester Central Library to explore archives - Thursday 11 July, all day - Birmingham
Visit to the Beacon Valley with an afternoon of music making facilitated by musician, DJ and facilitator Balraj Samrai - Monday 22 July, 2-3.30pm - Manchester
Workshop with sound artist and musician Raheel Khan exploring histories, archives and heritage - Thursday 8 August, 4-5.30pm - Manchester
A masterclass with DJ, Broadcaster and producer DJ Ritu in conversation with DJs Chandé and Darama (Daytimers) exploring South Asian Underground culture through ‘past, present and future’ - September - online
One-to-one mentoring with Balraj Samrai - dates based on your availability - October - Manchester
Performance in Manchester as part of a live show curated by Daytimers
How to apply
In the application form we'll ask you some basic details, along with the following questions.
- Please tell us a bit about yourself, your career-to-date, and what kind of music you make.
- What interests you about the themes of this commission?
- How would you like to approach the themes of the commission in this new work?
- How would this commission help you to develop creatively and professionally?
You can either answer these questions in writing, or you can record yourself. If you do this, you'll just need to include links to your video or audio recordings. Have a read of our Top Tips for Applicants for more information on how to answer these questions.
The application deadline is 11pm on Sunday 16 June.
We encourage you to submit your application before the deadline but if you need a bit more time please let us know by Wednesday 12 June.
You're welcome to apply with support from a personal assistant or carer. If there is anything we can do to help you to apply, please let us know.
Head over to our Google Form to apply.
Nominate someone
If you know someone who you think would be interested in taking part, why not nominate them?
Send the person’s name and email address/social media profile to [email protected] and we’ll send them the application details.
Safer Spaces and Safeguarding
We aim to create spaces that are welcoming, engaging and supportive. Spaces where everyone is able to be themselves, and where abuse and discrimination are not tolerated.
Read our Safer Spaces Policy for more information.
Our approach to Safeguarding is the foundation of our Safer Spaces approach. By Safeguarding we mean the wellbeing, and protection from harm, abuse and mistreatment of anyone who benefits from our work, team members and others we come into contact with. Anyone who is part of our team has appropriate safeguarding knowledge and an understanding of how to deal with safeguarding issues should they arise.
Read our Safeguarding Policy for more information.
Got questions?
Get in touch with our Project Manager Kinaya by emailing [email protected].
Or you can give us a call on 0161 546 5334. Please leave a message and we’ll get back to you.
"To go forward we must remember our past and hold on to the present. DAYTIMERS, a collective and platform for South Asian artistry, is named in honour of obscured pasts. We eagerly anticipate 'Here To Remember' as a chance to keep that promise and facilitate artists to pave the way forward"
Daytimers
Daytimers
Balraj Samrai
Raheel Khan
DJ Ritu
Daytimers
Founded in 2020, Daytimers is a creative collective born via the internet, in the midst of a global pandemic induced lockdown. Having started as a way to carry on the message of the daytime parties of the 80s and 90s (in which Daytimers get their name) - where young British Asians skipped school to dance to bhangra, garage, and jungle in community spaces - Daytimers is now at the forefront of something fresh and exciting, showing the power of a community and its collective energy by championing the UK’s South Asian diaspora, extending far beyond the subcontinent alone.
Balraj Samrai
Musician, DJ, facilitator and project coordinator (Balraj) Samrai is one of the founding members of Manchester’s Swing Ting party and record label – profiled by the Guardian, Resident Advisor, FACT magazine and Bandcamp Daily. He's also the co-founder of SEEN Magazine created by global majority and marginalised communities which aims to celebrate unheard voices and stories. Balraj sits on Musicians Union’s North Committee and co-chairs the Climate Emergency working group.
Raheel Khan
Raheel Khan is an artist and musician currently on the MFA programme at Goldsmiths university - where he was a recipient of the Lisson Gallery and Aziz Foundation scholarship. Originally studying Economics, Raheel has moved towards a practice that centres various compositional methods and layering of abstraction. His current research explores policy and vacant infrastructures through machine noise, devotional loops and acoustic pressures, alternating and exchanging between these elements as a starting point to create the dialogue surrounding his work.
DJ Ritu
DJ Ritu MBE is a trailblazing broadcaster, turntablist, and radio/podcast producer. The voice of the UK’s definitive independent global music show, A World in London, Ritu's career spans almost 4 decades, including 22 years at the BBC, co-founding cult label Outcaste Records, touring in over 35 countries with her own bands Sister India and The Asian Equation, plus performing at major venues/festivals. Ritu’s musical repertoire is richly eclectic, with specialisms in global music genres (Arabic, South Asian, pan-African & Latin American) and Western music across the decades, incorporating Soul, Disco, Pop, House, Drum N’Bass. She’s a pioneer of the 90s Asian Underground & bhangra scenes, and introduced & promoted these sounds across the world, opening international doors for diaspora musicians & record labels.
Beacon Valley
Beacon Valley is an ecological oasis nestled in the heart of Birmingham’s Lickey Hills. Situated on land formerly owned by the Cadbury family, the valley is a space for connection with the earth, contemplation, expansive views, cloud watching and soothing sounds of birds and flowing water streams. They are curious about what it means to socially and ecologically re-wild and re-indigenise this place: how can we contribute towards the stories of this land? How can art and music help to grow these stories?
