The Kensington and Chelsea Poetry Fringe’s Advisory Board
Poppy Seed has been ‘Coming Through’ as extended family in the Ladbroke Grove / Kensington & Chelsea arts scene for over 20 years. A captivating and prolific musical poet, playwright and activist advocating for diversity equity and justice. Whilst being Internationally acclaimed she has graced stages in the area from Subterania, and Aklam Hall under the fly over throughout the 90s, worked with Charlie Hanson Crysallis TV on scripts for Channel 4, guested in regular poetic music performances with the late great Noel Mckoy at Dutch Pot when she first shared a local stage with Princess Emmanuelle and vibed with various local artists over the decades. Recently appearing with her live Poppy Seed band delighted audiences listening through headphones with soulful jazz Roots culture, style and conscious lyrics at the groundbreaking Tavistock Square Silent concert. Poppy Seed has supported and collaborated with Kamitan Arts over the years.
“I have high praise for the relentless commitment of Kamitan Arts’ Artistic Director Princess Emannuelle, towards community arts.” Poppy Seed notably joined them with the ‘Poetry4Grenfell’ book project, Arts Council funded ‘VAP’ – Virtual Acoustic Poetry sessions during COVID and the annual open-air series ‘Poetry on the Steps’ at Opera Holland Park where the platform is used to advocate for more investment, representation and equity for local grassroots artists and organisations. In solidarity with such values, Poppy Seed has also endorsed Kamitan Arts’ ‘Advocacy 4 Equity’ campaign.
Poppy is currently “honoured to be on the Kamitan Arts advisory board and excited to be part of upcoming inaugural Kensington and Chelsea Poetry Fringe Festival”. Proud to support and partner with Kamitan Arts who will also be shortly hosting a ‘Tate Late’ at the famous Tate Britain.
Hold on to your hats folks it’s going to sweep you off your feet!
@pseedpsp
www.linkedin.com/in/angela-harvey-83302720/
Princess Emmanuelle a.k.a. EmpresS *1 (الامبراطورة الأولى) is a lifelong RBKC resident and the Founding Artistic Director of Kamitan Arts CIC. She is a British Egyptian bi-lingual rap-poetess, choreographer, and creative healing facilitator who rose to prominence in the UK poetry scene over two decades ago. Regularly featuring and blessing the mic with her ‘Word, Sound ‘n Power’ at prominent events and venues such as: Afropick’s Soul Food at The Tabernacle, the late Noel McKoy’s Dutch Pot at Subterania and Ion Bar, Urban Griots, Organic Essence, Apples and Snakes at BAC, The Poetry Café, Kamitan Ma’aket at The Beethoven Centre, Notting Hill Carnival, the Escoffery Sister’s Kindred Spirit and Dr Stu’s Da Manor on All Saints Rd. Known for her international tours, during which she has collaborated with and opened up for prominent Reggae and Hip-Hop artists across the UK, Egypt, and Brazil, such as: O’ Rappa, Racoinais MC’s, Gyptian, Keith Murray, Al Griffiths ,West El Balad and the one and only Public Enemy who invited her Royalty up to the stage. ‘EmpresS *1’ was recognised as “Egypt’s sole female rapper” (Egypt Today) in the early 2000’s.
Described as “holding the flag for women who are generally under-represented in the arts and cultural world… her music talks about Love, Justice, Equality, Freedom, Respect, Unity, Dual Identity, Oppression, Peace, Female Independence…” (Afrolution, 2011), Princess’s work boldly explores themes central to social justice, cultural identity and personal empowerment.
She is the driving force behind the ‘Poetry 4 Grenfell’ project and the award-winning short film Best Art (Portobello Film Festival – PFF, 2017). Additionally, she compiled and edited the multi-lingual Poetry 4 Grenfell book — a creative outlet amplifying the traumatised voices of inter-generational local residents, bereaved families, a victim and activists from Ladbroke Grove and Latimer, aged 3 to 77. Self-published by Kamitan Arts, this work reflects their commitment to creative therapeutic practice within the RBKC community.
The first short Princess wrote and directed was in the early 2000’s, ‘Sistah Roots, Sistah in Suit, Sistah Party, Hype ‘n Zoots’ that was all filmed in Ladbroke Grove, on Portobello and in her childhood youth centre ‘LYC’. This multi-disciplinary short film included the Spoken Word, Dance, Music and Acting and was screened at PFF, the Black and Asian Film Festival and the BBC. She continued to film other humanitarian musical videos such as ‘Mehtageen Taghyeer’ (We Need Change) in 2012 about the Egyptian Revolution, which aired on Egyptian TV, Nile TV and screened at The Nour’s Festival ‘Al Souk’.
Princess Emmanuelle’s commitment to Arts Advocacy was recognised with the Grenfell Diversity Award in 2024. Through Kamitan Arts, she is now the founder of The Kensington and Chelsea Poetry Fringe, championing grassroots voices and cultural justice from the community up.
@EmpresS1Egypt
Dr Mike Medas is a musician, poet, visual artist, environmental scientist, social researcher and advocate of grass-roots solutions, with roots in the Ladbroke Grove community of activists and griots since the 1970s. A multi-instrumentalist, he founded the Natural Progression jazz workshop in 2012, initially based at the Tabernacle Community Centre in West London’s Powis Square, to nurture and support local talent.
His research interests and published work since the late 1980s have covered innovative approaches to community-based regeneration, health advocacy and environmental sustainability. Mike’s recent work in the cultural domain includes developing a biography and website for the legendary nonagenarian Guyanese poet, dancer, choreographer and folklorist, Doris Harper-Wills.
Mike has collaborated with Kamitan Arts over the last decade on various workshops and shows including ‘P4G’, ‘Lyrikal Art’ and Poetic Art’. He welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Advisory Board of the K & C Poetry Fringe, as he believes that, in the words of the late, great Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o (1938-2025), ‘words are the food, body, mirror and sound of thought’.
@natural_progression_25x
Debbie Golt, FRSA is a local resident and long-time associate and supporter of Kamitan Arts having known Princess Emmanuelle for over 30 years. She is an award winning broadcaster and DJ and a global arts consultant and is a radio skills trainer. She is also a published performance poet and has taken part in Kamitan Arts initiatives such as Poetry on the Steps and has a poem in Poetry 4 Grenfell. She was Arts Officer for RBKC in the 90s into early 2000s with a major focus on Arts in Education and enabling networks. Debbie programmed music for the Portobello Arts Festival and was coordinator of the Earls Court Festival in the same period. Debbie is Chair of the national organisation Women In Music (UK) championing women’s excellence in all aspects of music and challenging obstacles. She was presented with the LBHF (London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham) 2025 Every Day Hero Award and is closely involved with the Mboka Festival in Gambia and Kenya.
Debbie has The Outerglobe, a deeply respected and popular weekly radio show on Resonance FM – London’s art radio – going out Londonwide and worldwide taking African music and wider arts and culture as the starting point. As well as African/inspired new music and related arts news, The Outerglobe carries interviews with both bubbling up and well established musicians and creatives from many disciplines, with women well to the fore. Princess Emmanuelle has featured as an interviewee and artist on several occasions over the years. Debbie has made programmes for other stations including Soho Radio and NTS and regularly contributes a music mix to Portobello Radio. Going back some years she has been interviewed on BBC Radio One, Radio London and other platforms and was on the world’s first internet radio, Gaia Live, in the late 90s having started broadcasting on pioneer women’s radio station, Brazen Radio in 1992. Another broadcasting highlight was a peak listening time music show on W10 FM in 1997.
As a DJ Debbie has played at festivals UK and worldwide including Musicport, Oland Roots, Fusion Marrakech, Hidden Beach and Bestival. She leads Vinyl Sisters a loose collective of feisty women of all ages and backgrounds encouraging new women to step forward and express themselves spinning records. Before devoting time to her own arts practice, Debbie managed and toured global beat artists inviting Oumou Sangare for her first ever UK dates, touring the likes of Stella Chiweshe and Ali Hassan Kuban in a music business partnership. She managed Taxi Pata Pata securing the first Radio One session for a UK based African band and gave Angelique Kidjo her first UK magazine interview. Debbie has been a panellist at leading music expos including Umbrella, In the City, Radio One Sound City and Womex and will join a panel on Intergenerational Arts Practice in Kenya in summer 2025.
Debbie said “I am honoured to join the K and C Poetry Fringe Advisory Board in such excellent company. With this initiative Kamitan Arts is creating opportunities for real grass roots participation and expression, prioritising people in the Borough and celebrating diversity in its fullness – with their typical open hearted flair”
@Outerglobe
Zita Holbourne, FRSA, MRHistS, Hon. Fellow UWTSD – Multi-award-winning, multidisciplinary artist, writer, campaigner, community activist, Co-Chair of Artists’ Union England, Chair of Public Services International (PSI) Education Support and Culture Sector Workers and co-founder and National Chair of BARAC UK.
Equality, freedom, justice and human rights are central to Zita’s socially engaged creative practice. She has advised Global institutions including the European Commission on equality, equity and inclusion in the cultural sector and is the author of PSI’s Manifesto for Cultural Workers.
Zita has worked as an equality advisor, played a leading role in National and European negotiations on equality, representing the trade union movement, built numerous equality structures and she established and was the curator of the Roots Culture Identity art exhibition from 2013 to 2023, providing a platform for you racialised artists.
Zita’s connection with RBKC and Kamitan Arts began at the doorsteps of the Grenfell Tower fire in her role as an equality and human rights campaigner and community activist. Zita was a founding member of BAME Lawyers for Justice, working to support Grenfell survivors, families and community in the aftermath of the fire and in their quest for answers and justice. Through her work as a multidisciplinary artist and through her creative practice she contributed to the Poetry4Grenfell anthology and was a resident artist for Kamitan Arts VAP sessions throughout COVID, working with children impacted, to process thoughts and feelings through visual art.
Zita is one of the chosen panellists on Kamitan Arts’ ‘Advocacy 4 Equity in the Arts and Culture Sector’ for the Westway Arts Network which is part of the Fringe in June 2025. KA have invited Zita to be one of our Advisory Board members for the Kensington and Chelsea Poetry Fringe to impar her extensive expertise with the RBKC artistic community once again.
“I am passionate about the launch of the K & C Poetry Fringe because I believe poetry has the ability to heal, amplify voices, raise awareness, promote unity and solidarity and much more. Also the fringe can play a valuable role in nurturing talent and celebrate the power and beauty of literature, creative writing and spoken word traditions and craft.”
Inspirational Role Model, Global Diversity List 2023, Co-founder & National Chair, BARAC UK
Author, writer, poet, artist, curator, vocalist, Joint National Chair; Artists Union England
UNESCO Coalition of Artists for the General History of Africa, Nawi Collective.
@zitabaracuk
www.blackactivistsrisingagainstcuts.blogspot.com www.zitaholbourne.com
Photo taken by Andrew Lalchan