Transformative Arts & Cultural Production
My art practice weaves dance, sonics, clowning, film and embodied ethics.
Science Fiction is a core inspiration in my work and a thread within both the short films I danced in and directed. Space is the Place (2017) and The Grief Portal (2020) are both Afrofuturist short films, commissioned by Channel 4 Random Acts & Performing Borders Live and Counterpoints Arts, respectively.
I am devoted to the healing potential of bass frequencies and polyrhythms. As DJ AfroOankali, I serve ritual bass: a hypnotic blend of low end frequencies and polyrhythms which celebrates the Afro-Caribbean influence in electronic music and the healing potential of bass music. In 2020, I created the concept for and co-founded Emergent Bass – An award winning event series in Berlin that celebrates Bass music from across the African diaspora and showcases predominantly Black DJs, to celebrate the lineage of soundsystem culture and the Black origins of electronic music.
I have performed internationally at venues including Tate Britain, Soho House Berlin, Camden People’s Theatre, South Bank Centre, The Trolley Dances (San Francsico). I have shared my practice in workshops at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, Wellcome Collection, Savvy Contemporary (Berlin), Haus der Kulturen der Weld and The Centre for Arts, Research and Alliances (New York City).
I do the following:
- Create artwork, curate socially engaged events and cultural experiences.
- Create learning experiences, leading to a deeper understanding of topics such as how artists can become agents of transformation, implement care practices within their projects or how organisations can create safe(r) spaces within music festivals.
- Facilitate meetings and events with embodied and trauma informed principles woven in.
- Provide thought partnership, strategy and consultancy to support socially engaged artists or creative goals, projects and visionary initiatives.
Professional Highlights
Curator and Director of MA Ecologies of Transformation (Sandberg Institute, 2021 – 2023)
Creative Director and Booker for Emergent Bass (2020 – 2024)
Director & Dancer in The Grief Portal (Performing Borders Live and Counterpoints Arts, 2020).
Creative Director & Project Manager of RE:GENERATE (2018)
Director & Dancer in Space is The Place (Channel 4 Random Acts, 2017)
Creative Director and Curator of The SanQtuary (Shambala Festival, 2018 – 2022).
DJ AfroOankali
I play a hypnotic blend of low end frequencies and polyrhythms that celebrates the Afro-Caribbean influence in electronic music and underground club culture. My sets are genre fluid, blending Dancehall, Jungle, Baile Funk, UK Funky, Gqom and other bass heavy, polyrhythmic sounds from across the diaspora.
Click here to check out my Soundcloud
Pricing starts at €200 for a 1 hour set.
To book, email: afrooankali@gmail.com
What you get:
- A juicy dance floor.
- A musical experience which honours sound system culture and pleasure activism.
- An approach that re-invokes cultures of care within the party space.
“Camille’s practice as an artist, teacher and facilitator has been a guiding light for my work as a curator collaborating with people in different civic and community organising contexts in London. I have been deeply impacted by the way in which Camille holds space for people; tenderly moving between grief-work, somatic practices, movement and dance, alongside trauma- informed work, creating spaces where we can feel and process things together – joy and pleasure and also our hurt – in pathways towards personal transformation and social justice.”
Curation & Cultural Production
Over the last eight years, I have curated and produced a number of immersive spaces and events that fuse socio-political issues with creative expression. In 2020, I became the co-founder and creative lead for Emergent Bass – an award winning event series in Berlin that gives a platform to BIPOC artists and honours the Black roots of electronic music and underground club culture.
In 2020, I was approached by Sandberg Institute to design and lead a temporary masters programme rooted in my practice. This led to the creation of Ecologies of Transformation – a course researching how art making and embodiment can create social change. To read more about the course, click here.
In 2018, with Imani Robinson and support from Release, we produced RE:GENERATE – A Black centred arts festival exploring drug policy, racial justice and liberation. The same year, I created the SanQtuary at Shambala festival (UK) – A queer clubhouse dedicated to showcasing the creativity of the QTIPOC community, alongside healing arts and embodiment practice.
In 2016, I was the production manager of the Sistxrhood – Glastonbury festival’s first womxn only venue in Shangri-La.
These projects emerged as a result of my 10+ years working in festival production and immersive art curation at events including Boomtown, Burning Man, Nowhere, Symbiosis, Boom & Glastonbury.
Submit a booking request
Thank you for your interest in collaborating with me.
In order to support my wellbeing, I need to limit my screen time. As a result, if you would like to work with me, or ask a question, I invite you to fill out the following form so I can have as much information in advance as possible. Please fill out the parts that are relevant for you.
I will aim to respond to you within ten working days.
Thank you. I hope we can grow work cultures that support rest.