Team Category: Artists / Participants

Paul Waxon is a DJ, curator, event promotor and record collector
from Cape Town, South Africa. Paul has an interest in music from
different places and eras which informs his DJ sets and events.

Dena is an Egyptian neo soul hip hop artist who grew up in the
UK. Her interest in music began from a young age when she
started song writing and fell in love with it. She is drawn to the art
of storytelling and raises socially conscious themes in her music
as well as putting out relatable and fun material. Dena is inspired
by artists such as J Cole, Erykah Badu and Greentea Peng. Her
most recent and upcoming releases focus on bridging the gap
between the east and the west, which also is a representation of
her life and upbringing.

Born Cheikh Mor DEMBELE from Tambacounda, Senegal, his
music career started in 2016 building his fanbase through local
and national music showcases.

In 2017 Last Under won “Best Original Song” at the UNFPA
showcase and was selected among the 5 best artists to produce
an album. 2018 saw continued success, a high point being the
opportunity to represent his city on the national stage and work
with the USAID NEEMA project to produce an album featuring
the track "Japp Na Ci" on Youssou Ndour's "Prince Arts" label.
At the end of 2019, Last Under released his own 18 track album
“Vedette”.

We are glad Kaidi Tatham has committed himself to SoLab. Based in Belfast, born in Birmingham but
originating from Jamaica, he is viewed as one of UK's finest musicians whose skills range from multi-
instrumentalist, writer, and arranger to producer. An accomplished flute player and pianist, his
collaborations include: 2000Black, 4 Hero, Amp Fiddler, Amy Winehouse, Bugz in the Attic, Macy Gray,
Mr Scruff, Mulatu, Slum Village and Soul II Soul. His full Discography can be found through this link –
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/kaidi-tatham-mn0000354370

BBC Radio 6’s Gilles Peterson described him as “the UK’s answer to Herbie Hancock. He is the most
gifted musician of his generation.” Sean Keating and Josh Byrne from Stamp the Wax believe he is “to
Broken Beat, what Tony Allen was to afrobeat.” Link 1 (below) is a great introduction to Kaidi’s work.
Kaidi is also a member of DJ Jazzy Jeff’s supergroup, The PLAYList.

Hailing from Sao Paulo, Brasil but living in Belfast, Henrique is one of the most sought-after session
drummers in Northern Ireland. He records, produces, and performs in bands and solo artists projects as
part of a range of bands such as Blackjack, Manukahunney, the Wilson Magwere Band, Dena Anuk$a, Jess
Brien, Belfast Busking Band and Utropiks. His Brasilian heritage and innate ability to the culture we are
drawing upon to improvise accordingly is the unique skillset needed to take part in Solab.
Outside of drumming, he is an audiovisual creator with over 20 years of experience in media,
entertainment, and the arts. This multi-talented creative has experience across artforms – from
scriptwriter to media producer, recording artist to music director, and photographer to graphic designer.
Skills acquired are merely tools to communicate an idea, a message, a feeling. What is clear is that he is
adaptable in the creative process at all times. Regardless of the creative medium of choice, effective
communication is the ultimate objective.

His full skillset can be found here –

IDEA…

Wanjeri Gakuru is a freelance journalist, essayist and filmmaker. A cross-section of her writing has appeared in Transition Magazine, The Africa Report, The Elephant, LA Times Magazine and CNN, among others. 

Wanjeri is an alumna of the 2014 Farafina Creative Writing Workshop. She was selected as the 2018 Literary Ambassador for Nairobi by Panorama: The Journal of Intelligent Travel and in 2020 was appointed Nataal’s Nairobi-based Contributing Editor. 

Between 2018 and 2020, Wanjeri served as Managing Editor of Pan-African writers’ collective, Jalada Africa.
She served as Co-Curator and Festival Producer during the Collective’s inaugural Jalada Mobile Literary and Arts Festival covering Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, DRC and Rwanda (2017). 

In 2021, Wanjeri was appointed Jalada Africa’s Board Secretary. Wanjeri is a founding member and the Partnerships Director of Rogue Film Society (RFS), a collective of multi-talented African filmmakers and thespians working in film, TV, theater and advertising. Wanjeri co-wrote feature films, Supa Modo (2018) and Lusala (2019) as well as the pilot for TV drama series, Country Queen (2019). The independent filmmaker made her directorial debuts in short fiction and documentary in 2019 and 2020 with the mockumentary, Get Laid (2019) premiering at Shorts, Shorts and Shots Festival in collaboration with NBO Film Festival and the documentary film project, Nielimishe (2020) which is currently moving around the festival circuits. 

You can read more of her work here

Kamwangi Njue, is a multidisciplinary artist, writer, and experimental beatmaker working with artists and others from Nairobi, Kenya. He has developed, participated and delivered a range of collaborative projects and events including performances, shows, exhibitions, texts and readings. 

Maasai Mbili Artists’ Collective is a leading East African contemporary arts organization begun in 2001 by Otieno Gomba and Otieno Kota. The studio now comprises about a dozen main members, students, interns, and visiting residence artists. The artists make and exhibit contemporary art, public art, children’s art programs, music production and performance, street fashion, immersive and interactive multimedia programs, and animations. Sometimes the membership of the studio expands exponentially especially during collaborations with the community. Through projects, workshops, and exhibitions, Maasai Mbili has become an important link between the Kibera community and the outside world.

Bethuel Muthee is a poet living and working in Nairobi. He is a member of Maasai Mbili Artists Collective.
He was series editor for Down River Road’s inaugural issue “Place. As a member of Naijographia he has co-curated three exhibitions:
1. Naijographia (2017, Goethe Institute Nairobi)
2. Wanakuboeka Feelharmonic (2018, British Institute in East Africa) 3. From Here to When (2019, Goethe Institute).
You can read more of his work here

Naddya Adhiambo Oluoch-Olunya is an Animation Director and Musician from Nairobi, Kenya. 

For the past 12 years, she has relished the challenge of diving into a new story world, researching it’s histories, growing it’s palette and pushing graphic language to a place that only animation can go. With a practice spanning comics, animation and XR she has worked with studios from all over the world including Netflix Animation, Shujaaz.inc, Faceboook and ZanaAfrica.

As Founder and CEO of Nalo Studios, her goal is to tell fresh nourishing stories however and whenever she can.

You can find more of her work here