Latest news with #GeorgethePoet
Euronews
23-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Euronews
George the Poet teams up with young Londoners to reimagine iconic art
'I think expressing yourself creatively is like opening a window in a crowded room,' George the Poet told Euronews Culture. 'It's part of the cleansing process. It's a way of letting go. A way of just confronting things that you might not even want to say out loud.' That energy was exactly what filled the shimmering LED walls of FRAMELESS, the UK's largest immersive art space, for a special event celebrating the words of young Londoners. In a collaboration between FRAMELESS, the Mayor of London's Violence Reduction Unit, and spoken word artist and podcast host George the Poet, the Art of Expression initiative invited a group of 13–25-year-olds to reimagine famous artworks through original spoken word pieces. Their work - poetry rooted in their lived experiences - was presented not just alongside the art, but within it: an immersive, multi-sensory reframe of Rembrandt's The Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Edvard Munch's The Scream, Hieronymus Bosch's The Garden of Earthly Delights, and more. Making art more accessible for young people The project comes off the back of new research which uncovered a growing cultural divide: 48% of young people don't feel historical art is relevant to their lives, while a quarter find traditional galleries 'posh and intimidating.' Yet, despite this disconnect, the appetite is there - 61% of young people say they wish they had more opportunities to engage with art, and 64% believe that learning to interpret or create art would improve other areas of their lives. 'I always imagined a space where we can do immersive artwork,' explained George the Poet, recalling how he has previously utilised audio immersion through his award-winning podcast, "Have You Heard George's Podcast?". 'But the visual immersive was always the missing piece. Frameless reached out… connecting young people, classic pieces, contemporary pieces, and poetry. I said, yeah - you've come to the right person.' George led workshops with the Young People's Action Group from the VRU, using art as a mirror to reflect back the challenges, hopes, and complexity of youth in modern London. A post shared by Frameless London (@framelessldn) 'I personally believe that everything we drew out was already within them,' he said. 'They had the appreciation of art, of poetry, of how these things connect to contemporary society. It's been beautiful to watch it blossom.' He added: 'If you recognise that we all have that creative instinct, that artistic impulse, and you invite a young person to bring that to the table - they will become receptive to anything you want to introduce them to,' he said. 'I've never seen it fail.' One young writer turned "The Great Wave off Kanagawa" into a metaphor for migration and family displacement. Another took on "The Scream", framing it as a cry against systemic injustice. And George himself reimagined John Atkinson Grimshaw painting "Reflections on the Thames", all through the lens of 21st-century urban life. George believes that this kind of expression can leave a lasting imprint not just on the individual, but on society: 'When we come together and share our reflections, that becomes like a map of society,' he said. 'And in this era of AI, of online wars, of populism - it's very important that we're making our voices heard. Our authentic voices.' But the barriers to entry in the creative industry remain high, especially for those from working-class or marginalised backgrounds. For George the Poet, the solution lies in real, long-term investment. 'We need more public support, more state support,' he told Euronews Culture. 'It's very important to proactively meet our young people in their communities with a real, intention to usher them into the industry." The spoken word pieces can be heard here on the Frameless website, and are also available to listen to in the gallery space this summer by scanning a QR code.
Times
27-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
George the Poet/Chineke! review — the climate crisis in words and music
George the Poet isn't really a climate activist, and he knows it. Appearing at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London as part of the Southbank's ambitious Multitudes festival, in a concert billed as a meditation on the climate emergency, the spoken word artist established a narrative in which he had been commissioned to say nice things about nature. He entered wielding a laptop from which he 'read' his 'drafts' and took Zoom calls. He code-switched from his easy north London accent to a chirpy corporate RP, to face eager PRs. It was a clever setup for some slightly fuzzy poems on the natural world — nevertheless recently released as an album. In any case, they paled in comparison to the tighter, more informed, more fervent
The Guardian
29-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
On my radar: George the Poet's cultural highlights
Born George Mpanga in north-west London in 1991, George the Poet is a spoken-word artist, author and podcast host. He studied politics, psychology and sociology at King's College, Cambridge and is now doing a PhD at UCL about the economic and cultural potential of black music. Aged 22 he signed with Island Records and released an EP before stepping away from the music industry. His award-winning podcast, Have You Heard George's Podcast?, launched in 2018. Last year he published Track Record: Me, Music and the War on Blackness. He will perform in RISE at the Royal Festival Hall on 25 April, as part of the Southbank Centre's new arts festival, Multitudes. Kenya Kitchen, Edgware This is a comfortable, accessible restaurant in Edgware that does a nice mixture of grilled meats and stews. My family is from Uganda and also Kenya, so the food here takes me right back. The music they play is Kenyan. The aesthetic is very familiar. They serve some really good local foods, such as ugali, a maize flour staple in a lot of east African food; nyama choma, or grilled meat; and sukuma wiki, a veg dish with sauteed greens. It has the feel of a family-run business, with really nice service. My family and I go for special occasions. I love that place. Keys the Prince I came across Keys on social media. What grabbed me was the visual aspect: it wasn't the most flashy, but it was authentic. He creates music videos in locations that are relevant to the African community in London – for example, in material shops, where you can buy materials to tailor your own clothes with – and he does it in a really stylish way. And then the music is so easy, so relaxed, and he does a good job of infusing it with Nigerian sounds and Yoruba language. I've recently really been into his song Gbe Mi De Be, featuring Bxujii. R Discovery Once upon a time, in order to find academic papers, you had to go to Google Scholar or sift through the library, but that's an imperfect process, especially when, like me, you're doing a PhD part-time. R Discovery is a tool I came across through an education influencer called Dr Amina Yonis. It streamlines that whole process. You can search by theme, by author, by field. There's also an AI feature that allows you to listen to the audio version of a paper. It's made my PhD journey less of a panic. Ely Wananda Wananda is a YouTuber who comments on different aspects of Black British life. He's a data scientist and I appreciate anyone in a technical job who makes an effort to demystify his field. He poses questions or provocations, such as 'What's holding back Black British businesses from success?' and 'Why wealth and marriage go hand in hand'. These are topics that some of us will never tire of grappling with, and Ely approaches them with a nice conversational style. I find it easy to get material online about Black America, but the focus on Black Britain, especially from an academic perspective, is often lacking. Squid Game season 2 Let's acknowledge a crowd pleaser! I loved Squid Game season one. Yes, there's a lot of shock and gore, but I value the emotional intensity of it. It's a thriller focusing on a series of games that participants are enticed into with the promise of money, but these games turn out to be lethal. It's quite a naked analysis of capitalism, exploring all the ways people get into debt, and also a reflection on human behaviour. I just binged season two. It's more of the same but with new characters and some interesting developments. I enjoyed it very much. Kunda and Friends My life at the moment is dominated by a toddler and a newborn. I usually tune out when I hear kids' programmes, but whenever Kunda comes on, I appreciate it. First of all, it's educational and talks your child through language, behaviour and all of that good stuff. But particularly relevant for me is the focus on African kids – it's important for my child to be able to see darker shades on TV. Songs from kids' programmes can get annoying very quickly, but Kunda has yet to annoy me. It's entertaining, it's well animated – it's just fun.
