Unearth sound system

We are unearth, a south east-ldn based queer black womxn-led nonprofit collective curating humanising, free and accessible spaces for African diaspora to heal our colonial wounds from displacement, erasure and the western system through installation and sound

we are looking for funding to support a month long community-facing exhibition engaging local afro/caribbean diaspora, starting in June 2025.
unearth sound system is an installation of a record shop from an afrocentric alternate realm for which we are building a small hi-fi sound system as a form of radical community building, with an interactive ever-expanding collection of alternative/ofpunkdescent records, exploring cultural autonomy and blackness as the nucleus of punk. Our record shop will have prints, decolonial/ afrocentered prose, zines by sweetthangzine and a small shop to support black artists! Along with a spirited program of diasporic dj sets and black womxn fronted/curated punk-spirited performances running through the system.
This is a space for African diaspora to center ourselves (particularly queer womxn) in punk and all its offshoots, take up space and explore our connection to alternative British culture in communion as we often find these spaces are white-dominated and not curated for us. It is for nonconformist spirits incompatible with this western system, to unearth our identities, reconnect with and actualise our innate value systems and be seen as our spirits rather than our social bodies/in relation to whiteness, with the intention of then building alternative ecosystems that reflect our spiritual worth.

The queer diasporic community feel there are no permanent spaces for us, just events, due to western capitalism, which prevents the growth of alternative culture and communion. This is a much needed constant space for our intersection to live in and put our energies into that can take on its own distinct culture. We also, as people of colour don't often get to experience alternative/whitedominated genres live/together as we find the space aren't comfortable for us, leaving part of the music unexplored. The record shop is a specifically curated constant listening party for diaspora to explore the nuances of our identities, drawing connections of how our ancestral memory has found warmth in the west in communion. 

Community is our birthright. We do not have to exploit ourselves conforming to a dehumanising system to restore the ecosystems and communities that have been erased with colonisation. Every engagement will be free and accessible. We will be facilitating mobilising workshops that encourage autonomy and curating a warmth-led space that nourishes mutually supportive relationships to heal our individualist wounds space and deep need for community.

We are building a communal and humanising space informed with precolonial west African perspectives for us to be present, comfortable and centered as African diaspora, responding to our need for spaces to exist outside the western lens that nurture radical energies.

We intend on removing barriers to the authentic expression of our community outside of any western value system, addressing our lack of access to resources and mobilising black womxn in white dominated genres, providing equipment wherever possible.

We are trying transcend the massive disparity in black womxn-owned spaces and holding space rarely ever afforded to the black queer community! We are completely self-funded so any help towards this would be greatly appreciated.

Here's our previous exhibition and event curation
https://unearthsoundsystem.my.canva.site/blxck

And our manifesto
https://unearthsoundsystem.my.canva.site/manifesto



we hope to raise funds for

•  Vans to move the system and furnishings from our studio to the exhibition space 

      150 for 5 trips

• Vinyls for the collection 

      750 for as many records as we can get with that!

• Audio equipment (for the sound system and for live events) 

      1520 
               sound system (mdf, speakers, tools, amps, crossover) 800
               instrument hire 300
               record player 100
               8 channel mixer 100
               pioneer 200 deck 100
               xlrs 20
               mics 100

• Poster printing

       150 for 20

• Sound engineer for live performances

      200

add to the collection
https://unearthsoundsystem.my.canva.site/

we also welcome offerings in the form of spare equipment(xlrs, mics, amps, speakers, guitars, mixers, synths) and records. if you're able to provide anything please let me know!

[email protected]