“It’s deep outside and I just want one good day together,” says multi-hyphenate artist Gaika. “To open Carnival weekend, I have put together a big audiovisual event with my friend Haruna.” Continuing his career-long exploration of urban sodality, the event was conceived as a response to the recent threats to the multicultural fabric that makes London so special. The aim is to draw together the artists and noise-makers representing life on the capital’s streets today. 

In a piece titled “The Spectacular Empire”, which Gaika wrote for Dazed in 2017, the artist imagined a future in which civil disobedience is widespread across the UK, police are given enhanced powers, and the US and Russia form the backbone of wider global destabilisation (not to mention the Queen dying in 2022). Reading the news today, he didn’t do half bad. Equal parts contemporary art and dystopian fiction, this article formed part of a wider, ongoing interdisciplinary project that Gaika refers to as Gkz, which has included musical releases, sculpture, and now this upcoming event. 

Even Gaika’s dystopian future, however, didn’t anticipate the swathe of racist and Islamaphobic riots that swept the UK. “Recent events have left us feeling fractured and frightened. I believe wholeheartedly in the power of multiculturalism and artful resistance through moments of celebratory congregation and collective imagination,” he says of the decision to host the multimedia event at such a critical time. “London, today or tomorrow, is at its very best when we proudly embrace each other. It’s at its best when we proudly embrace independent cultural spaces over overpriced, over-corporatised sauceless offerings,” he continues.

Rooted in these notions of community and art-as-resistance, GKZ001 features some of the brightest lights across London’s underground music and arts movements. Grime-innovating rapper Novelist; Nigerian-born, South London-raised artist Flohio; DJ-poet-rapper James Massiah; and many more will be present to share their energy and wisdom at the POC-owned Colour Factory. 

“I want as many people as possible to join us at this rave regardless of their financial situation, race, gender or sexual orientation,” says Gaika, “I’m doing this independently, I don’t have a brand sponsor, government funding, a rich dad or hedge fund to help out.” It’s a bold statement, especially considering the threats to live music and venues heightened by the pandemic. Invest in the London you’d like to live in with the ticket link here.