Please note, this website is under construction <3
Please note, this website is under construction <3
Image description: Elk, a lighter skinned Black person in a green velvet dress siting on a chair and smilingCommunity
Poetry
Art
Performance
Community Poetry Art Performance
Elkanah is a Black non-binary multidisciplinary creative - poet, actor, writer - from Yorkshire who dabbles in a bit of everything.
Elkanah works to creatively synthesise their degrees in Psychology,
Professional Acting,
English Literature
and British Sign Language
by providing advocacy-education work on a local and national level,
with a particular focus on our Global Majority, LGBTQ+ and Disabled communities.
He uses arts and activism as tools for much needed community building with creative expression at its heart - whether that’s through access consultation, workshop facilitation, social awareness campaigns,
podcasts, or sensitivity editing.
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![Image description: Elk in character as a nymph from Galatea, a site-specific theatre produced as part of Brighton Festival. They wear tattered clothes, dramatic makeup and sit in front of an intricately graffiti’d caravan.]()
Galatea, 2023
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© Brian O'Hanlon
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© Brian O'Hanlon
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Galatea, '23
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Neurobods, '23 - '25
Community
Collaborative
Working in mutuality is very important to me. What I mean by this is dismantling the power hierarchy between facilitator and participant by engaging in the creation of art alongside the people I’m with. For example, I believe the workshop space to be a ‘third space’ where micro-communities are formed to create, explore and grow with one another. Working alongside each other, instead of in the traditional teacher-student sense, collectively rejects a classist and therefore also racist cultural rhetoric that insists art is not for everybody, and relegates people into either artist or consumer. The resisting of this, for me, is an extension of my community values and engages in what I consider a ‘loving work’.
Disability Informed
There is no such thing as complete accessibility. Access requirements will undoubtedly clash because what one individual might need in a space might be the opposite to anothers. This is often used to scapegoat the lack of willingness to try and meet the needs of the people in a space (which is, of course, ableism). I believe the best we can do in third spaces is promoting a culture where those in it feel empowered to ask for what they need, what they would prefer less of, and ultimately feel able to manage their own engagement in a protected space.
I use protected space over ‘safe space’ because I also believe that no space can be truly safe - that is, free from triggers, conflict, discomfort and potentially hurt. However, I do believe a space can be free from harm - lasting emotional or psychological damage. My preferred method of attempting to protect a space is through an initial open session on what people want from it, and facilitating a group-wide set of rights that defines what mutuality and respect looks like for all of us.
Neuro-aware and Trauma Informed
*to be continued
Starling
A registered charity working with neurodivergent youth groups
around Greater Manchester.
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Who I’ve Worked With
Words of Colour
The
The Immersive Change agency. I had the pleasure of working with Joy Francis from Words of Colour on …
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Manchester Poetry Library
As both a regular haunt and valued institution, Manchester Poetry Library …
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FAQ
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I will honestly try my hand at anything if it stirs up my interest! This includes work I’m paid for - writing, acting, modelling, facilitation - and voluntary work such as being a panel member or podcast guesting!
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Faciliation pricing is based on the scope of the project and desired timeline.
My preferred day rate for workshops is £ but for community based faciliation I would consider a much reduced fee. Similarly, if there’s skilled experience I would gain from the work, I am also open to fee negotiation for my time.
For acting work, I might redirect you to my agents depending on the project. Modelling work needs to definitely go via my agents - Zebadee Talent. -
Contacting me is always free! If you’ve got a project you think I might be interested in collaborating with you on, but have not secured any funding yet, please feel free to contact me to assess my interest in it.
I greatly value community collaborations and never want finances be a barrier to community-making!