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IJEOMA UZOUKWU(SASORAYE)

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ARTIST & DJ 

Ijeoma Uzoukwu is a non-binary, London-based Nigerian artist, making space for collective introspection through performance, moving image and sound. Their multifaceted practice channels personal and speculative contributions to esoteric ontologies, and to the ancestral Ọdịnanị database of their Igbo heritage. 

 

Holding an interest in the astrological and the metaphysical, their ritualistic work creates portals for social and political self-actualisation. 

 

As a DJ, they go by the name "Sasoraye" - Enjoying the cross-pollination of culture through music whilst questioning - how are sounds we don't instinctively place together, more connected at their roots than we think? they work with a range of genres which includes Techno, Footwork, Electronic, Amapiano, Jazz, Garage + More.

Uzoukwu is a graduate of the University Of Arts London, London College of Communication

Performances + Exhibitions 

Three In The Field (Issi Nanabeyin + Brenna Horrox)

Sound Installation 

Three In The Field (Filet) 2022

Thicker Than Water (Divine Southgate-Smith)

Sound Score

Thicker Than Water (Royal Academy Of Arts) 2022

Black Bodies

Spoken Word

144 (Reference Point) 2022

Intro To Coda

Spoken Word + Movement

Cymatic Altar (Mimosa House)

Vertical Terrain (Ugly Duck) 2022

Contra

Film

RCA (Diasporas Now)

PAF Film festival (Olomoc) 2021

When Fire Speaks We Listen

Spoken Word + Movement

Moovement (Harlesden High Street, Reference Point) 2021

Features & Articles 

Clash - Featured speaker in the BFI commissioned film by Amrou Kadhi, 2017

The Independent - Victoria and Abdul is another dangerous example of British filmmakers whitewashing colonialism

Intro To Coda

Ijeoma Uzoukwu (@sasoraye) and Rieko Whitfield (@riekowhitfield) open the Cymatic Altar ceremony with a sonic, olfactory, and embodied ritual. 

 

“Intro to Coda” is a synaesthetic embrace of shifting paradigms. Through an exploration of senses, the performance generates alternative ways of knowing that are amorphous and emotive. 

 

The performance incorporates participatory reiki and sound healing while igniting a fragrance blended by the artists specifically for the Cymatic Altar launch. “Intro to Coda” is an embodied invitation to connection and catharsis.  

 

@sasoraye and @riekowhitfield will perform at the @cymatic_altar launch on 5/5 at @mimosahouselondon, in partnership with @diasporas_now

CONTRA

"An invented language, an invitation. A drawing of connections through symbolic movement.

 

A path is carved and consecrated. Starting close, zooming out, viewed from different perspectives. Intuitive and layered - sometimes reactionary, sometimes expressive. 

 

This piece is formed through the ______ between the two artists. For Ijeoma sharing adopted practices from the last 2 years; for Josh engaging in yet undefined practices. Both coming from different ends and meeting in the middle, whilst establishing boundaries within oneself.

 

Tap tap tapping into

Tap tap

Ap ap ap

T-T-T-T-T

tatatatatata

 

With Contra the audience fills in the _____."

Commissioned by Diaspora Now, CONTRA is devised and performed by Josh Woolford and Ijeoma Uzoukwu.

Live steam performance - 01/07/2021 - 16:00 GMT

Watch here

July 2021

RE-GENERATION

"This project looks at my Covid-19 experience from a sonic perspective. The soundscape is a journey through varying thoughts, emotions and mental downloads observed during isolation. Here I consider influences such as media, planetary placements and music, relating them to what we are currently experiencing under the thumb of The coronavirus.

This experience comes with a question of what it is to be a Black Queer Woman during this pandemic, then in turn, what the future could look like for those who share my identity.
 

This soundscape/meditation aims to usher in the understanding of our times and a balance through introspection. 

Listen to soundscape

Links for further listening

April 2020