Sankofa is an immersive sound and visual experience exploring the narrative of a young black woman, Afrofuturism and her comic book heroes. NikNak creates a new sonic world and realises her superhuman abilities through Turntablism.
With live improvised Turntablism NikNak sculpts soundscapes that combine with visual artist Loëpa’s imagery.
The use of surround sound and the live interplay between visuals and audio creates a unique sound world to explore.
Sankofa was developed during Sound UK's 2021 Sound Generator R&D residency. Sound UK produced and toured the debut tour of Sankofa in 2022. See tour dates here.
NikNak is an award-winning artist from London and based in Leeds, UK.
A woman with a highly impressive array of talents and skills, and a dynamic music creative with experimental albums and tracks/remixes on Come Play With Me, Kynant Records, OTONO, Reel Long Overdub under her belt, NikNak regularly redefines and expands upon her role as a ground-breaking multidisciplinary artist.
Previously mentored by Shiva Feshareki, Anna Meredith and Supriya Nagaranjan, NikNak became the first Black Turntablist in history to win the illustrious Oram Award in 2020, has been featured in well renowned publications such as Mixmag, Resident Advisor, Yorkshire Evening Post, Electronic Sound Mag, and DJ Mag, and received support from Arts Council, Brighter Sound, Launchpad, Sound UK, Sound and Music, and PRS Foundation.
A member of the Eve's Drop DJ Collective and listed as one of DJ-Mag’s “Ones To Watch in 2022”, NikNak continues to build upon her vast DJing experience having blown audiences away with her eclectic DJ sets at festivals like Wilderness, We Out Here, Leeds International Festival, Bestival and more, as well as running the "Dub Sirens" and "Melanin" events in Leeds.
Loëpa (Edie Clay) is a multidisciplinary audiovisual artist and painter from Leeds, specialising in psychedelic liquid light show visuals and projection art.
Their work focuses on visual storytelling and combining paintings with digital editing to create immersive sensory installations.
“From her genre-defying mixes and leftfield collaborations to her ambient compositions and bespoke turntablism style, this Oram Award winner is in a proverbial league of her own.” – DJ Mag Artists to Watch 2022
“She’s on the rise and doing it her way. Her mix for our series is a thrilling trip through rhythms and styles with her singular technique at the fore.” – DJ Mag
