Somerset House Podcast
The Somerset House Podcast, shaped and sculpted by artists, explores original cultural ideas which connect listeners to the creative process. Each series goes behind the scenes at Somerset House to uncover the stories explored through our programme and creative community. As the home of cultural innovators, Somerset House connects creativity and the artist with wider society to produce unexpected outcomes and unexplored futures, intensifying creativity and multiplying opportunity to drive artistic and social innovation.
Episodes
March 7, 2025 • 29 mins
And how did it manage to disappear with barely a trace?
Artists Himali Singh Soin and David Soin Tappeser (Hylozoic/Desires) go on a journey through the archives to unearth the story of the Great Hedge of India, a 4,000km long hedge grown by the British East India Company in the 1840s, to control the flow of salt across the continent. But despite being one of the longest of its kind in history, no visual trace of the...
Artists Himali Singh Soin and David Soin Tappeser (Hylozoic/Desires) go on a journey through the archives to unearth the story of the Great Hedge of India, a 4,000km long hedge grown by the British East India Company in the 1840s, to control the flow of salt across the continent. But despite being one of the longest of its kind in history, no visual trace of the...
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February 5, 2025 • 36 mins
Our Future is tied to the future of our soil. Our decisions as to how we care for and use it matter. Soil teaches us that cycles are ongoing, and even in decline every day offers us opportunities for new beginnings. In this final episode Shenece Oretha explores the regenerative qualities of soil and composting as a model for personal redemption.
We hear from Palestinian grower Mohammed Saleh whose life story offers a per...
We hear from Palestinian grower Mohammed Saleh whose life story offers a per...
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January 29, 2025 • 35 mins
Much of the history of human making springs from the soil. Cuneiform, the earliest form of writing, was engraved into clay; paint pigments come from minerals in the soil; and much of our material history is held in ceramics. But soil is not neutral; it is deeply entangled with politics of ownership embedded in the land.
In this episode Shenece Oretha probes the ways the soil and clay are inspiring artists today, looking at...
In this episode Shenece Oretha probes the ways the soil and clay are inspiring artists today, looking at...
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January 22, 2025 • 30 mins
Our entire existence is dependent on our relationship with soil. As awareness builds of the enormity of the ecological crisis that we are facing, a growing number of artists are engaging with soil as a material in their work. This three part series responds to the Somerset House exhibition ‘Soil: The World at Our Feet’, unearthing soil's role in our future through the work of artists and thinkers working with it.
Soi...
Soi...
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January 21, 2025 • 1 min
Soil is unsung, and largely hidden from view. What if we were to put it in the foreground? To think of it as a collaborator?
Across three episodes, presenter and Somerset House Studios artist Shenece Oretha traces the life cycle of soil, from it’s foundational role at the beginning of life with artist Asad Raza, through to its manifestation as one of the earliest creative materials, with ceramist and writer Jennife...
Across three episodes, presenter and Somerset House Studios artist Shenece Oretha traces the life cycle of soil, from it’s foundational role at the beginning of life with artist Asad Raza, through to its manifestation as one of the earliest creative materials, with ceramist and writer Jennife...
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December 5, 2024 • 29 mins
Why has the club been so pivotal to the history of black queer placemaking?
For artist and filmmaker Topher Campbell, growing up as a Black queer man in 1980s and 90s Britain, the club provided a sanctuary from the judgement and hostility of mainstream society. It became a space for community, self-discovery, and, as a care leaver, a sense of home. As co-founder of the rukus! archive and curator of the exhibition Ma...
For artist and filmmaker Topher Campbell, growing up as a Black queer man in 1980s and 90s Britain, the club provided a sanctuary from the judgement and hostility of mainstream society. It became a space for community, self-discovery, and, as a care leaver, a sense of home. As co-founder of the rukus! archive and curator of the exhibition Ma...
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September 25, 2024 • 45 secs
What one site in Croydon can tell us about the biggest moment of civil unrest in Britain in a generation.
Listen to the full episode: Apple | Spotify
Artist Imran Perretta was in his early 20s when the riots began in 2011. What started in London quickly spread across England, but it was the footage of a furniture shop set on fire in Croydon which stayed with Imran. Now, 13 years later, Imran revisits that m...
Listen to the full episode: Apple | Spotify
Artist Imran Perretta was in his early 20s when the riots began in 2011. What started in London quickly spread across England, but it was the footage of a furniture shop set on fire in Croydon which stayed with Imran. Now, 13 years later, Imran revisits that m...
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September 25, 2024 • 34 mins
What one site in Croydon can tell us about the biggest moment of civil unrest in Britain in a generation.
Artist Imran Perretta was in his early 20s when the riots began in 2011. What started in London quickly spread across England, but it was the footage of a furniture shop set on fire in Croydon which stayed with Imran. Now, 13 years later, Imran revisits that moment in a new commission for Somerset House Studios w...
Artist Imran Perretta was in his early 20s when the riots began in 2011. What started in London quickly spread across England, but it was the footage of a furniture shop set on fire in Croydon which stayed with Imran. Now, 13 years later, Imran revisits that moment in a new commission for Somerset House Studios w...
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April 12, 2024 • 27 mins
How can cuteness be used to sugar coat difficult messages?
In this episode we join another artist commissioned for the Somerset House exhibition CUTE, Brooklyn based Sean-Kierre Lyons, to explore how cute characters have been used to tackle sensitive ideas from the middle ages on. In her practice, Sean-Kierre brings the grotesque and the cute together to approach challenging themes. Much of her work is inspired by ...
In this episode we join another artist commissioned for the Somerset House exhibition CUTE, Brooklyn based Sean-Kierre Lyons, to explore how cute characters have been used to tackle sensitive ideas from the middle ages on. In her practice, Sean-Kierre brings the grotesque and the cute together to approach challenging themes. Much of her work is inspired by ...
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March 28, 2024 • 28 mins
Hannah Diamond reflects on the transformative powers of cute
Cute aesthetics have exploded into pop culture. We use filters to make ourselves look like cute cats, dot our texts with hearts and smiley faces and our phones ping with alerts from cartoon animals reminding us to study French or change energy suppliers. Brands have been using cute images to sell us things since the dawn of advertising but with the rise of...
Cute aesthetics have exploded into pop culture. We use filters to make ourselves look like cute cats, dot our texts with hearts and smiley faces and our phones ping with alerts from cartoon animals reminding us to study French or change energy suppliers. Brands have been using cute images to sell us things since the dawn of advertising but with the rise of...
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March 22, 2024 • 26 mins
What does it mean to use the voice of others within a performance, text or recording? In this episode of Not Strictly Speaking, we look at the ways in which the voice is used both in service of power, and as a way of reclaiming agency.
Prem Sahib’s new sound performance for Assembly, Alleus, takes a speech by former Home Secretary Suella Braverman and renders it into a new form through layers of processing and repetit...
Prem Sahib’s new sound performance for Assembly, Alleus, takes a speech by former Home Secretary Suella Braverman and renders it into a new form through layers of processing and repetit...
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March 21, 2024 • 27 mins
The communal voice has a long history within the resistance movement, from African American spirituals, to the protest songs of the civil rights movement and the current pro-Palestine marches. In this episode we explore the enduring power of group singing and how it can embody resistance and resilience with Turner prize winning artist Helen Cammock and artist and Somerset House Studios resident, Vivienne Griffin.
Vi...
Vi...
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March 20, 2024 • 31 mins
The voice is something we all share and yet rarely do we explore the full range of our instrument. Ahead of Assembly at Somerset House we talk to two vocal artists who stretch the capacities of the voice as a sound producing instrument to look at the ways the voice can channel meaning beyond words; voice artist and composer Elaine Mitchener, who is resident at Somerset House Studios; and the pioneer of Extended Vocal Technique...
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March 20, 2024 • 1 min
A three-part podcast series, released 20-22 March 2024, exploring different manifestations of the voice, produced in conjunction with Somerset House Studios' Assembly.
Each episode follows artists featured in the 2024 programme, as they unpack the power of the voice beyond speech; examining it as a form of possession and how we might give voice to the inanimate.
Vocal artist and composer Elaine Mitchener lo...
Each episode follows artists featured in the 2024 programme, as they unpack the power of the voice beyond speech; examining it as a form of possession and how we might give voice to the inanimate.
Vocal artist and composer Elaine Mitchener lo...
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February 19, 2024 • 27 mins
Artists Revival Cohen & Tuur Van Balen explore how humans have transformed the animals that we live with.
The way in which we think about animals is riven with contradictions. We dote on our pets yet consume vast amounts of animals as meat. The UK consistently donates more money to animal welfare charities than any other cause and yet have created pet breeds with horrifying health defects. Revival Cohen & Tuu...
The way in which we think about animals is riven with contradictions. We dote on our pets yet consume vast amounts of animals as meat. The UK consistently donates more money to animal welfare charities than any other cause and yet have created pet breeds with horrifying health defects. Revival Cohen & Tuu...
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January 31, 2024 • 32 mins
The road to success is paved with inspirational quotes about failure. But could failure be more productive than success? In this episode of The Process we step inside the community of designers on site at Makerversity in Somerset House to explore the role of mistakes in the design process. Founding member Tom Stables talks to biomaterial designer Cassie Quinn, who makes sustainable sequins out of household waste. She shares ...
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December 2, 2023 • 33 mins
Tracing the legacy of Black British fashion with Andrew Ibi, Jazzie B & Martine Rose.
The late 80s to the early 90s saw a Black cultural renaissance in Britain. Artists and designers like Sonia Boyce, Joe Casely-Hayford and Soul II Soul were breaking new ground across the arts and changing the landscape for Black creatives. While putting together The Missing Thread exhibition, co-curator Andrew Ibi (Black Orienta...
The late 80s to the early 90s saw a Black cultural renaissance in Britain. Artists and designers like Sonia Boyce, Joe Casely-Hayford and Soul II Soul were breaking new ground across the arts and changing the landscape for Black creatives. While putting together The Missing Thread exhibition, co-curator Andrew Ibi (Black Orienta...
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July 25, 2023 • 29 mins
What if the way we're approaching the crisis is part of the crisis?
We look at the effect our endless drive for productivity is having on the planet and how we’re intimately entangled with the natural world with Somerset House Studios artist Sam Williams on the invisible labour of the earthworm, poet Jason Allen-Paisant on tenderness in rural Jamaica, systems theorist Nafeez Ahmed on why the old systems are crumbling and ...
We look at the effect our endless drive for productivity is having on the planet and how we’re intimately entangled with the natural world with Somerset House Studios artist Sam Williams on the invisible labour of the earthworm, poet Jason Allen-Paisant on tenderness in rural Jamaica, systems theorist Nafeez Ahmed on why the old systems are crumbling and ...
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July 25, 2023 • 30 mins
How can the soft body challenge social hierarchies?
We turn our gaze towards the soft life of the body and unpack new ways of thinking about embodiment in artistic practice with Somerset House studios artists Florence Peake on radical softness in somatics, choreographer and writer Dr Martin Hargreaves on the history of protest through softness in dance, Ilona Sagar on rendering bodies hard through architecture and d...
We turn our gaze towards the soft life of the body and unpack new ways of thinking about embodiment in artistic practice with Somerset House studios artists Florence Peake on radical softness in somatics, choreographer and writer Dr Martin Hargreaves on the history of protest through softness in dance, Ilona Sagar on rendering bodies hard through architecture and d...
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July 25, 2023 • 32 mins
How can we make time free?
We contemplate different ways of experiencing time beyond the linear, with Somerset House Studios artist Shenece Oretha on transforming time through the practice of listening, sociologist Judy Wajcman on unpicking progress from speed in the digital sphere and psychologist Dr Ruth Ogden on how our experience of time is relational and whether it’s possible to conceive of ‘free time’ in a modern w...
We contemplate different ways of experiencing time beyond the linear, with Somerset House Studios artist Shenece Oretha on transforming time through the practice of listening, sociologist Judy Wajcman on unpicking progress from speed in the digital sphere and psychologist Dr Ruth Ogden on how our experience of time is relational and whether it’s possible to conceive of ‘free time’ in a modern w...
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