Dream Space

For the final episode of Dream Space season three, we leave nature behind for a chaotic, futuristic city from the mind of comedian Nish Kumar .   Guided by host Gemma Cairney , Nish reflects on the energies of the world’s great cities from his home of London to Mumbai to Melbourne. Enter a Dream Space where Manhattan skyscrapers meet Parisian boulevards in a series of contrasting neighbo...

Angelique Kidjo ’s Dream Space isn’t a space that you enter as such, but a mindset that you carry with you day to day. The five-times Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and activist delivers a beautiful metaphor to live by in this joyous exchange with host Gemma Cairney .  Riffing on the oral traditions of Benin where she was born, for her Dream Space Angelique invites listeners to envisi...

From running away to London at eighteen and living on a bus with a band, to forcing the door open to a career in the music industry, Mary Anne Hobbs ’ path hasn’t always been the conventional one.     The DJ, curator, music journalist and radio presenter reflects on her experiences of growing up in a small Northern town, cutting her teeth in pirate radio, and how her punk, do-it-you...

In this episode of Dream Space, Terence Lewis – India’s leading contemporary dance choreographer – asks us to be still for a moment.    Guided by host Gemma Cairney , Terence imagines a dark space where sound is the only guide. He talks about connecting with our bodies through movement, thinking, listening and stillness – taking us on a journey from dance techniques to Indian philos...

Artist and filmmaker Juliet Ellis takes us on a journey through her meditative practice as a multidisciplinary artist in this absorbing episode of Dream Space .   Juliet’s Dream Space reflects on serendipity – how she happened upon meditation by chance – and encourages creativity in all forms. Grounded in the power of meditation, everyone is welcome into this Dream Space . Tranquil, deep...

In this episode of Dream Space podcast, jazz saxophonist, composer and musician Nubya Garcia brings the principles of improvisation to her dreams. Guided by host Gemma Cairney, Nubya imagines a playful, freeing space where music is a universal language. Reflecting on learning to improvise as a teenager, she asks us to let go and respond to the creative energies of the space. Try pottery making, pa...

Can a lack of control be freeing? In this episode of Dream Space, British-Iraqi writer, drag performer and filmmaker Amrou Al-Kadhi takes us on a journey through the cosmos where we become part of the universe.   Guided by host Gemma Cairney , Amrou imagines a euphoric rave inside a blanket of cosmic dust. There is no sense of time or urgency. Reflecting on queerness in his work, Amrou d...

Raised in an East London home alive with creativity – a fashion designer mum and a furniture maker dad – Arsenal defender and Lioness Lotte Wubben-Moy has always felt the power of imagination. Yet as a professional footballer, the questions she’s asked are often focus on her routine: “What do you eat?” and “How do you train?”     In Dream Space, Lotte takes up the invitation to wand...

Forest bathing. Climbing trees. Falling in love. Step inside writer Max Porter ’s dream space where you find a deep connection to the living world and an incredible sense of peace.   Guided by host Gemma Cairney , Max Porter imagines a psychedelic forest where visitors gain a superpower that reveals the complex life cycle of each living thing – from the trees to fellow human beings.&nbsp...

In the first episode of season three, visionary performance artist Marina Abramović joins host Gemma Cairney to talk about the importance of dreaming throughout her 50-year career – from the recurring dreams of her childhood to interpreting her dreams to her creative process.   Reflecting on key works in career, including The Artist Is Present at MoMA and her seven-minute, silent interve...

Dream Space is back for a third season of dreams, visions and imaginary worlds – straight from the minds of our leading creative thinkers.   Join host Gemma Cairney in the dream space with guests including Marina Abramović , Max Porter , Nubya Garcia and Lotte Wubben-Moy , who are all fascinated by our capacity to dream.   Dream Space takes listeners on a journey through an ima...

In the final episode of Dream Space series 2, Gemma Cairney leaves us in the capable hands (and mind) of Factory International’s Creative Director and natural dreamer Kee Hong Low. Join Kee Hong as he reflects on what it means to let go and embrace our dreams. Enter a vast space of calm, which transcends the limits of the everyday, and be guided by the unexpected – like the ability to smell throug...

British-born Ghanaian/Russian/German artist Afrodeutsche, aka Henrietta Smith-Rolla, invites us aboard her Love Plane in this week’s episode of Dream Space. No tickets are needed, and everyone is welcome to relax on this mystical long-haul flight where all the crew can rest. Known for her eclectic productions spanning techno, house, and classical orchestral music, Afrodeutsche is also the host of...

Award-winning Palestinian playwright and director Amir Nizar Zuabi invites us on a journey in this week’s episode of Dream Space. We travel along ancient routes, filled with the scent of spices and the taste of fresh dates, toward infinite possibilities and knowledge in 12th-century Baghdad and the Library of Alexandria. Zuabi, the founding Artistic Director of ShiberHur Theater Company in Palesti...

Award-winning artist Ryan Gander lets us into his mind in this episode of Dream Space, imagining a world where time slows down, and mindfulness reigns. Inspired by Japanese philosophy, Gander’s dream space is a minimalist, meditative world reminiscent of Zelda: Breath of the Wild , where you can swap senses and choose solitude or company with the flip of a switch. In this world, the passing of tim...

A pioneer of hip hop theatre turned award-winning photographer and educator, Benji Reid takes us into a space of healing in his dreams. Life can feel overwhelming at times. Everything moves so fast, and there are never enough hours in the day. But in Benji's Dream Space, this will never be a problem. Instead, he imagines a world that exists when you’re ready to move at a pace that works for you. A...

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, re...

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,...

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...

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 childho...

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-...

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...

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/pri...

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 t...

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 supersta...