A collaboration between Stewart Baxter (composer & visual artist) and Samatar Elmi (multi-awarded winning poet) is a cross-media exploration of identity, freedom and belonging centred around the themes of shifting and distorted audio-visual and lyrical landscapes.
Rooted in the local early 00’s punk and DIY scene, Baxter and Elmi have since worked internationally, recently reconnecting to explore experimental collaborations that embrace geographical and logistical challenges as opportunities to expand their creative practice.
Centred around a new spoken word piece, Elmi narrates his experience as a mixed-race British Somali who grew up in Hull but has lived around the world. In doing so, he has deepened his perspective on what it means to be a multi-cultural son of Hull. Collaborating across continents via WhatsApp, Baxter and Elmi are united through distorted projections and improvised atmospheric soundscapes brought together by Baxter as an audio-visual live performance.
Stewart Baxter is a composer, producer, and visual artist based in Hull who is the drummer for the international touring band LIFE, who are currently promoting their third album ‘North East Coastal Town’ after previous receiving Album Of The Year status at BBC Radio 1 and securing eight playlisted singles across BBC 6 Music. Stewart has recently been commissioned and delivered work for Humber Street Gallery, Absolutely Cultured and Sound and Music developing his practice within found sounds, tape loops and experimental audio.
Winner of the 2021 Geoffrey Dearmer Prize, Samatar Elmi is an Obsidian Fellow, Numbi Associate Poetry Editor and graduate of the Young Inscribe Mentoring Program. Poems have appeared in Poetry Review, Magma, Iota and anthologised in More Fiya, Filigree, After Plath, and the Echoing Gallery. Elmi's ‘Portrait of Colossus’ was selected as the PBS Summer Pamphlet of Choice. As Knomad Spock, his most recent album, ‘Winter of Discontent’ was critically acclaimed in print (Clash Magazine, Afropunk, GoldFlakePaint, Equate Magazine) and radio (BBC 6 Music, BBC Wales, Amazing Radio, Radio X). Elmi has performed live in session for Janice Long (BBC Wales), has been recently featured in the Guardian poetry round up and he was highlighted as ‘Ones To Watch’ at Latitude Festival.
