Niche Artefact: Podcast
NICHE ARTEFACT PODCAST | #1 | Introducing the Journey
Like an evangelist in church, like you've heard about our mother. You've heard of good news about our mother, great strength. You can't blame I guess the young kids today to know so. I can. And there was some cross promotion on a certain album. Let's insert the notification album. Yes. No. I'll run. Me shot it back, fly spotters, coming soon. Yeah. We'll edit around that. Hello, everyone. Welcome to the first of a niche artefact podcast. My name is Robin De Silva and I am the director and creator of niche artefact. And with me, there is the wonderful. Hello. Hi. Welcome, everybody. I am one of the trustees for the community group and I am also one of the performers for the niche artefact shows. Yes, you are. Fabulous. So welcome to again the first episode of our podcast. We've been working on this for quite a while. Yeah. Very excited that it is happening now. So yeah, I think for our first episode, I think the most important thing is for anybody that is new to niche artefact for everybody that's not. That hasn't been with us from the beginning. If we can talk a little bit about the history, a little bit about both of our journeys through niche. From where it started to where it's now, which is miles away. Yeah, it's definitely grown a lot and I can't believe we're coming up to a one-year anniversary, which is just incredible. Yeah. When I started, there's never imagined again to that kind of point. So I'm incredibly proud. Well, I mean, without giving anything away, am I correct in saying that you thought this was going to be quite the solo operation when you started it? Definitely. Yeah. And now it's turned into a community group, which is amazing. Yeah, I never thought we would actually reach the point of being a real community with a real beating heart. And we have so many people championing us now with like the library and it's just really great. The Spencer Trust? Yeah, the Spencer Trust. Yeah. The support has been amazing and seeing everyone slowly but surely recognizing all the things that we've been doing is great. Fabulous. So tell me, what is niche artefact? Right. No more fluffing. Niche artefact is a community-based group, so we champion local artists from stage to poetry to paintings, so every media form. And, yeah, we just basically want to provide a platform and like a support network for everybody that is into those creative industries. And, you know, it'll be evolving into our networking event as well, which is the jump read, which we'll talk about at some point. But yeah, it's just creating a safe space for people to express themselves, to grow, to learn and to shine more importantly. Fabulous. Okay, so why niche artefact? Where does the name come from? Okay, so niche artefact was basically niche means like something that's quite non-mainstream and non-commercial. And artefact comes from the aspect of like archaeology, like discovering something. So that's the origin of the name. So I wanted to delve into subjects that weren't like mainstream and what's being spoken about in the news today sort of thing. Like really delving into some interesting cool little things like we have done in the past. Fabulous. Okay, so we know what niche is. We know how it started started roughly a year ago. Yeah. Great. It was mid-September, I think 25th September. And that was the first one that we ever did. Great, which was the bar that you used to manage? Yeah, I used to run a bar in Hockley and started off just trying to engage the community. And if anything, it was all the people that just came to the bar and I just naturally just started talking to them. And I just found out actually there's a lot of creatives around here. And I just thought, "Oh, why not let's do something about that?" And it's also part of myself as well that I've created something that I would have wanted to attend to. Or there's no way where you can feel the community with our aspects as well. And I just feel like it's quite... I never realized how unique it was until people started responding to it. Well, I think that is probably the biggest sign that you've achieved something when you can say this is something that I would have wanted to go to. Let alone that you're the one creating it, so that's amazing. So, okay, so without giving the female way of the first one, how was the first niche? How did that come to be? So the first niche was lots of stressing, lots of running around. It was, like you said, I was very much a one-man band. And it was, we went to the printers, I got loads of prints done for the subject, we'll have to talk about the subject in a minute. Yeah, so yeah, basically I contacted the artists, and I think I only started with four artists, which was the first exhibit. And then a lot of it was supplemented with displays and stuff like that, which also moved into some of the other ones. So, obviously, resident drag queen Priscilla Shana Kraków has been with niche from its inception. Yeah, yeah. So, can you walk me a little bit through the first niche, like from you up in the doors? How did that come? Yeah, so it was very much, we transformed the space completely, so we ripped everything off the walls, we moved all the tables around. The idea was to have it as like a pop-up art exhibit or art gallery that was kind of the refined kind of feel that we were going for. And at the time, our resident drag queen Priscilla Shana Kraków, she was one of the first artists to support and kind of believe in what I was trying to build. So, they were very grateful. Priscilla's been there from the beginning, and she's been a showstock for ever since. She has been, she has grown so much as well. So, well, now we can talk about what the first niche artifact was, which was. So, the first niche artifact was the Grace Jones exhibit, that was the name of the first one. So, I chose Grace Jones as the first subject for it, because I felt like it was Grace Jones kind of in, like just the imagery in the iconography of Grace Jones was just very exciting and amazing in a period of time. And she has such a fascinating story. So, I felt like people needed to know about her. That's how that kind of started. I felt like an evangelist in church. Have you heard about our mother, the good news about our mother, Grace Jones, you know, started off as, I guess, kind of like a bit of a disciplinary. I wanted people to know that she was an important moment in history, and that's kind of what one niche was all about to start with, was to put a light on something that's not really commercial. People don't really know that much about it. I want people to go away and learn something as well as experiencing something. OK, so I think that's a fantastic muse and subject for the first time. Yeah, because I think while she is incredibly famous in her own right, like you say, I don't think a lot of people are Grace Jones fanatics. It was a long time ago, so I mean she was in the 70s when she was active, so you can't blame, I guess, the young kids today to know. I can. OK, so walk me through the night, so I didn't go, but let's pretend that in an alternate universe, I went to the first ever niche. You looked at the sign, you were like, "But it's great, I should go to that." Yeah, my partner and I were walking through Hookely, and we saw the giant A-frame that you are now famous for. Yeah, A-one would go home. Yeah, and we just were walking past it, and I was like, "Ooh, Grace Jones is excited, what is that?" And then I think you were also on an app, I won't say which app, but there was some... Yeah, you've got to advertise where you can. Yeah, there was some cross promotion on a certain app, let's insert the notification app. Yes. So yeah, so again, not a bad thing, promote yourself where you can. Yeah, I understand. So then let's pretend I have a ticket, and I'm going on the 25th of September 2023 to the Grace Jones exhibit. So I open the door. Yeah, so you open the door and the first thing that was there was the giant life-size Grace Jones cutout. So, Auntie Grace was there, ready to check your ticket. So that then led to like a velvet rope area where we had the four original pieces of artwork scattered about, and they were covered in red velvet, so part of the magic for a knee shot spot I think is the anticipation and like waiting to see the art unveiling. So that's been quite a successful and quite a big feedback point for everybody. Well, it's something that's happened ever since, it's happened on every knee shot effect. Yeah, so you'd have a glass persecro as you come in, with the Grace Jones one, we had a video installation with that as well. Wow. So I actually edited like a two-hour, like essentially homemade Grace Jones documentary with like rare performances that you've never seen before. It's very unfortunate, but I think like throughout moving I've lost it, but I can always make it again. You can, knowing you, knowing Robert, thinking about it again. I like to make things happen. So, yeah, the video installation was playing with like live interviews, inter-cut with live performances, and then you had probably around nearly 50 digitally restored prints that I created myself of like her most iconic looks. I mean, she's worked with Auntie Warhol, she's been amused to many people, she was at Studio 54. Yeah, and it created quite a little buzz in quite a small way, like it was the first one. I keep saying that, you know, the Grace Jones was such an amazing jump-off point as a subject that, you know, I'd love to revisit it with the amount of love and the amount of support that Niche has now, because at the time it was like, get people to care about this and like, you know. Hopefully she'll come back. Yeah, definitely. So, they obviously performed for the Grace Jones exhibit, and yeah, it was just, and then people could buy prints if they wanted to, so they're all one-of-a-kind prints that I digitally restored and printed spent a lot of money getting all that up. But it was a beautiful sight to see, like, the walls just absolutely covered in them. It was definitely a little journey. I actually have one of the prints. When I first started working for Niche, you very gracefully donated. Some prints, I have two of them in my home. I have one of Grace Jones, which is just the most beautiful picture of her outside the door of Studio 54, and it is so just, it's everything. Yeah, it is a style. It doesn't even look real. No, it truly looks like someone's imagination. It's fantastic. Great. And then Priscilla performed, and one of the things that I love about Priscilla is that she's a resourceful queen. She will make things happen, and she performed warm leatherette, which she then carried into her show. That was definitely a pattern in all the, whatever number that Priscilla worked on for every number. It was something that developed into her own act, so I was super happy for that. To see, obviously, the wonderful hospitals of Grace Jones continue to other people. You know, any number that she's done, she's worked into her own show as well, so that's great. This would be a great time for you to go on Apple Music, or Spotify, or wherever you get your music, and download Warm Leatherette as I, whoa, download any Grace Jones, right? Yeah, a good starting place if you don't know Grace Jones is, it was a compilation album called Island Life. Oh, yeah, absolutely. And that's got all the heavy hitters on there, but she was a real big pioneer in the '80s. Yeah. It was a trilogy album that she did in the '80s, where the sound was just completely different. She did a three disco albums, and then she did three very alternative '80s Jamaican off the wall, but no. If you don't know them, yeah. I remember so clearly, I mean, I say so clearly, and then I'm going to ask you what it was. But I remember one time we were having a movie night at my house, and then you said, "Everybody who was there should show what you think is the best music video of all times." And I remember I did one from a Mexican singer. Did I do Grace Jones one? Yes. Strange I've seen that face before. Yes. Oh my God. And if you haven't seen that music video, please do yourself a favor and go watch it, because it was life-changing. Oh. Yeah. I remember all of these things, honestly. Like, it's so wonderful as someone who got to experience an each and then become a part of it, how it's peppered into my life and how songs that I've performed at niche have sort of like, again, become part of my own act, but also part of my everyday life. Yeah. It's such an instrumental part of my music education, which is weird considering I went to school for music, but let's ignore that bit. And I think you do that for everybody. I think every subject, every niche artifact, it has just developed into this thing where just becomes part of people's lives, which I think is really amazing. I don't know what to say to that. Well, just take the compliment. I know you love those. I can't believe that you remember that music video. Yeah. It was like a Parisian masterpiece, like, otherworldly, but that was actually a jump off point for, like, the Lego design for niche. Like, that was definitely the... Please excuse the fly. And it's not bother, too. You can just... Listen to that sound run. Like, what? Neish artifact fly-swatters coming soon. Yeah, absolutely. Oh, my God. And I just put the sweater down. So, that's the first niche artifact. You said four art pieces. Yeah, there was four art pieces. In the video, we'll chuck some of them on here. No, there was a Lego portrait. There was a black and white chalk. I think it was chalk or passport or a graphite pencil. I got there in the end. And then there was... Was it Darren? No, Darren wasn't part of that at that point. So, unfortunately, it's a wonderful artist called Zach, but he's only had... He was only there for the first one. And then there was a child to Zach if you listen to this. You're an amazing artist. We can't wait to have you back for the next one. Yes, come back. And then there was Chelsea, which was actually the piece that... So, the first piece that sold was Chelsea's piece. She did a crystal, gold crystal piece, a cover of bulletproof half. Oh, my God. Can you tell me a little bit about Chelsea's art? 'Cause her art is so unique. Yeah, Chelsea Marie, she is... I'm so grateful that she was there from the beginning because her art style. If you can look at any painting and you can say that's a Chelsea Marie. And just by looking at the style. But she uses like mecha powders and crystals and resin. And her stuff is pretty sensational. Yeah, pretty unique. And it was the first one that sold. As soon as we unveiled it, I might be mistaken, but I think it sold between three and 400. That was amazing. Yeah, and I was very jealous 'cause I wanted to bid on it, but then somebody else did. I was like, "No, I can't match that." But no, there was such a success for her. And then soie Alice. So she did a fantastic piece, which is actually still one of my favourite pieces ever. A really cool graphic design piece. But yeah, we'll work them on video. Yeah. So that was the first niche. So four pieces, loads of prints, one performance. Yeah. It was just, yeah. So let's try to crack off. She was performing. Fantastic. So let's fast forward to literally a month ago that we're filming this in August. I don't know when this is going to come out, but we're filming in August. So literally last month was the sixth niche artifact. Yeah. So we're coming up to numbers. So numbers seven. Great. Would you like to walk us through the differences between the first one and the last one? And so we can actually talk about the growth. Obviously, we'll go chronologically. Yeah. But let's do that. Lovely jump. Yeah. So the first one was very, very small in scale. Like obviously we've got much higher capacity venue now compared to how it started. But I think it was something very new and it took a while for people to get turned on about it. Absolutely. And I think this will switch people on about it today. Yeah. Like if you haven't gone to a niche event, check gigantic. Get a ticket. Yeah. Definitely. The consistent feedback is that it's something different. Yeah. And something needed. Yeah. That's also always, that has always been the feedback. Yeah. It's not just something different. It's something that's needed. Yeah. There's not been a niche artifact where somebody who's never been to one before comes up to me and says, I can't believe what you're doing for people. Yeah. Like it's just the most heartwarming thing. Definitely. So I'll walk you through what was the most recent niche artifact without giving the title of the night. Give it away. Well, it was the birth of pride. So we actually held that niche at our newest venue, which is Nottingham Central Library in Broadmarsh. So we went from a bar that housed how many people? I want to say 93, probably was 93, the capacity. Great. So we went from a venue that would hold 93 people to a venue that holds at least 150, I want to say. Yeah. I think it's 200. 200. There we go. It's 100 for public and then we've got extra in there for artists and people that work there. So yeah, we're at a cap of 200 at the line. Great. So over 100% capacity. And it was still the persecro reception. It was still the art unveiling. Yeah. But this also came with what I think ended up being a 45 minute show in between art unveiling. Yeah. And it went from being just one performer to still having that one magnificent performer, Picella. And you've added an aerialist burlesque artist who's also vocalist. Shout out to Malay burlesque. Yeah. She is insanely talented. Yeah. We're so lucky to even have her believing in us and following us. So she is truly part of the family. Which I, let's add something here. Malay Day posted this video or this image on her socials, which she was talking about, how she's performed at the Royal Opera House. She has performed on the West End. She has performed on some of the biggest stages in the world. And being a part of Neish is the thing that she's the most proud of. Yeah. Which I think speaks volumes to what you do. Yeah. And what Neish does. From someone that's had a walk of life that other people would dream of. Absolutely. So then, and then you've had two vocalists, myself and Serena. Mm-hmm. And then it was, it just, it was a huge show. It was a huge success. How many pieces were at Burnford Pride? Oh God. I don't think I've even counted. There were a lot. There must have been. At least 20. At least 20, yes. Because it got to the point, I was like shit. I need another easel line. Mm-hmm. Now. Yeah. Immediately. Immediately. Yeah. No, definitely. There was probably the biggest turn out. Yeah. That was serious. It was, it was so special. And it's one of those things that like, it's going to happen once and then never again. But then it happens every two months. Yeah. Which is amazing. But each niche is that. Yeah. It's like something unique that you will never experience again, even at the next one. It'll be something completely different. The vibe would be completely different. Yeah. I mean, like if you look at the subjects that we've covered, it's wild. Why don't we go through them? Okay. So we had the Grey's Jones exhibit. Yeah. Grey's Jones exhibit. And then we had. Stagexes. Stagexes. The Golden Age of Hollywood. That was my first niche artifact performing. Yes. I know it's ending. Yeah. That was definitely a vibe. And why don't we just go through them? Got some monsters. Mythology got some monsters. Mythology got some monsters. Which was amazing. We didn't just go, you know, the very trad Greek mythology. We had the fantastic Ray Piper did some Chinese ink on rice paper. Yeah. Which is punishing to say the least. Yeah. So yeah, that was got some monsters. Then we did. Erotica. Erotica. Which was truly a moment in time. Well, we got, that was one of the first niches where we were turning people away. Yes. We, you know, we were at capacity and I think we've probably turned up to 40 people away. Yeah. And everybody dressed up for it and. And also just, just to put things into perspective. This event used to happen on a Wednesday. Imagine having to turn 40 people away on a Wednesday, not during a holiday, not during summer holidays. Nothing about it. Yeah. Nothing of the sort. Well, I was limited to what days I was able to do the events. But you know, even if it was a Wednesday, I was full, I was passionate enough. And I believed in it. So yeah, we did Erotica. Then it was Princess Diana. Yes. Princess Diana exhibit, which was so touching. And so I think some of the most like unique art came from it. I mean, I could say that a very niche actually. Yeah. But yeah, Princess Diana was very special. And going from like Erotica to Princess Diana, which we obviously did on purpose. Yes. Because with every niche show, like I never wanted to just replicate the same thing that happened before. Yeah. It just defeats the purpose. Mm hmm. But definitely like Diana was very, a lot of people were quite touched. Yes, definitely. It was a whole different vibe, like completely different. I was going to say, it's probably the niche for the most theorists. But no, I think that was both a pride. Yeah, probably. Yeah. I think they're probably on par. Yeah. And then yeah, after Princess Diana, we moved to the central library. Yes. Yeah. And then we've done birth of pride. And then coming September 20th, mark it in your calendars. Give it a ticket. We have 20th of September, dystopia. Are you excited? Unless you're watching this in the future. Unless you're watching this in the future, then you missed it. Welcome. Welcome time traveler. Yes. How are things going? Things better. Please tell me they're better. All right. So one of your missions as the creator of niche artifact, as the artistic director of niche artifacts, as the linchpin of niche artifacts. I'll take it. Yeah. You have talked privately, but also publicly so much about the want to give everyone a platform in which they can succeed. Yeah, definitely. It goes back to what I was saying about creating something that I would have liked to have been to, or been a part of, like, creating a platform for local artists. To succeed. And that success can be anything. It could be like being able to actually talk on a microphone or being able to believe that my office is actually good enough for somebody else to actually look at it and buy it. You know, and there's been some great success stories of, like, art selling and some of the, so the guys are just like flabbergast and they can't believe it when it happens. Well, am I all right in saying that at least 80% of the artists that niche houses had never had a piece in a gallery? No, definitely not. Never. So you're already giving someone a huge platform to exhibit their art. And then one of the things that happens every niche, and yet still surprises some of the artists, we're going to invite them to give a few words on their piece. Yeah. So, yeah, it's some people have started with zero confidence to the point of terror. And obviously, I'm running around like a blue arse flag when I'm doing the each and then I'm just like, yeah, here's the microphone, talk about peace. And obviously I've not told them beforehand because I'm just like running around doing everything. And, you know, a lot of them are like, Oh, you didn't actually say that. I was going to talk about my piece when Michael was too late now. Here's the microphone. And, you know, that's really helped a lot of people get comfortable with, you know, having an identity and taking up space. Yeah. And something that has also happened to a lot of the artists of niche is that even if their pieces don't sell initially, there will be someone who contacts you a month later, two months later and be like, do you still have that? But also a lot of people have gone commissions to do original artwork after niche. Yeah, that's true. So people have got contacts from going to niche. That's definitely true. Yeah. Yeah, I think being part of the art scene, I can speak from experience that it's not always people who have a space are not always super willing to open it up to other people because probably they fought really hard for their space and they don't feel like they can open it up. But I think you literally the doors you have open for people are great. And I hope. Well, how does that feel? It feels amazing. But I know what you mean when you're walking past some of these galleries and stuff, it just feels really intimidating and it doesn't feel, I guess that's where the community aspect really shines. It's like, you know, I give everyone the opportunity and the platform sell their art, but that's not why we do it. No. Like, I just like to have all my bases covered and give everyone as much opportunity as possible. But it's just really about showing up for yourself, coming together as a community and like the people that are just like, went together in the room and they're supporting it. And they're supporting each other. And they're just like, it's beautiful, like the vulnerability and the respect that everybody gives each other. It's amazing. And I can say from maybe not a gallery aspect, but from a performing art part of it, it now has become so much about how many followers you have, how much of a digital footprint do you have. And who you know, what you know, blah, blah, blah, and the fact that you have also opened the space to not just be about the plastic art, the paintings, the, but like we've had poets coming and read poets as well. And so the poets have actually been probably some of the most successful. Yes. Yeah, we had. It's been wild. For God's and Monsters, we had Charlie Don Sadler, who is a nothing-based writer and poet who wrote this insanely touching poem for God's and Monsters. And I just remember seeing grown men cry in the audience and she was reciting the poem. That was quite impactful. And then again, I don't know if that's an opportunity that would have been given to anybody else. So, yeah. Yeah, we welcome every medium and, you know, we don't, you know, there's art to be found in whether it's on the stage, whether it's on a canvas, whether it's on paper, you know, sky's the limit. Yeah. It's the nature of art, you know. You've created now this institution, basically, this platform, this, but at the heart of it, Nisha's just the most wonderful community I have ever been a part of, right? We have people from all walks of life. We have some international students that have made art piece. Yeah. We have a community that keeps showing up for each other. Yes. And the beauty of having, like, you've got a big bank of, like, say, 25 artists or so, you know, not every Nisha artifact being my particular fancy or, but even if they're not doing it, I'll still come support the show or, you know, still share it. So, we're definitely everyone. It feels like everyone's in it together. Yeah, definitely. And I feel like I feel like I have seen a lot of people show up for other people in Nisha artifact on other projects. Like, I've seen, we had a fantastic photographer, Alok, who had an art exhibit of his photography and I saw a couple of people from Nisha artifact who went to support, which is really nice to see. And Charlie on the poet runs an open mic poet tonight, I've seen some Nisha people going and supporting. So, Malay did we're less when she does her solo shows, a lot of people from the Nisha community come and support, which is amazing. So, tell me about why you, why, when you, maybe not when you began Nisha, but when Nisha became this fantastic community, why did you feel like there was a need for a creative community? I just thought it didn't really exist. You know, I was originally, well, when I started Nisha, I was going to go down the angle of, like, doing workshops and, like, trying to foster and build. And because I do oil paintings myself, that's something that I enjoyed and learned about when lockdown happened during coronavirus. Coronavirus. And then, you know, that's, I just thought, why not? Like, I'd love to build a community where people can show up and be artistic and, you know, it's not that emotional, it's not that serious. And even to this point, like, we're very serious about putting the shows together and everything, but like, the spirit of it is just like, yeah, just kind of like, I don't know, this thing is by itself, doesn't it? It's very much calm as you are, bring yourself, you don't have to put on a face, you don't have to put on. No, you don't have to talk if you don't want to talk, you know, we've got, you know, we're very respectful and it's like, you know, for instance, some people are quite shy in there, no desire to do public speaking about there are, you know, but it's a bit else to do, but, you know, it's never a problem. You've done some of them as well. Yeah, we just want to, we want to be there for people and to whatever capacity they want to allow us to. Absolutely. Right, so through, through the journey of nature, you know, from going from an art exhibit with lots of prints and four artists to now having over 25 artists in the community. Yeah, well, for the last one, we didn't even have any prints because we had that much art. Yeah. I mean, it did start off with is the photo's prints were like, what's the word? They were part of the exhibit. Yeah, they're like a supplement to it. A supplement, absolutely. Yeah, so obviously, if you're, yeah, 100%. So, I mean, we were limited to how many artists we have because we just started, you know, so we had a lot of prints. But as the niches have gone on, the prints have been less and less, but that's because we can actually put more original on the map and we can get more people getting exposure. I think one of my favorite things that I've seen through the journey of nature is a lot of the artists that have done most of them, or even artists that have done most of them. Or even artists that have done one, and then they took a break, and then they did another one. There's a lot of artistic growth through that, and I think that's really beautiful. I remember you hosting an oil painting masterclass at the bar you used to manage once. Yeah, we did like a workshop. Yeah. And that's something that we want to look into again. Yeah, definitely. That's definitely an aspect of me. Like, I'm looking into like my details where they want to get a course in it or something, or do a workshop again, but that's always going to be an aspect of it. Stay tuned. That come and play at studio. But I've just seen a lot of people's, a lot of the artists, a lot of their artistic vision, and their, even their technique just sort of like go through this beautiful journey. Because I think, again, going through the variety of subjects, going from something like mythology to then go straight into Arotica, and then that went into the Diana, the way that the artists have truly like navigated all of those fields and arrived at stunning beautiful masterpieces. It just feels really special. Yeah, because it can't be easy, especially if you're like, you know, only into one sort of thing. Yeah. And like, if you only like doing like nature or flowers and then you're like, how do I apply this to, you know, other things. But we have seen it with Emma. Yeah, yeah. Emma. She sneaks in a rose wherever she can, but Emma's a sensational oil painter, she's got us from the beginning. But you know, she's got her style and things that she likes, but she's managed to apply that to all these different themes. And there's like a handful of people that are so loyal to what we've been doing. And it's just like, every time that happens, I can't believe it to be bad. Right. And obviously through this huge journey, you have gone from a one man band to a rock type band. Yes. So I kind of want to ask, um, with niche being your baby, with niche being this thing that you have carried and nurtured from inception to now. So has the journey of having more people to sound off on, to rely on, to ask for help over, how has that been? That's been fucking amazing. Um, no, 100% everyone I speak to, you know, no matter what I do, where I'm working, or if I see any people from niche outside, I'll speak to them. We'll bounce ideas off, like, I literally have a notebook for everything now, because it's just like a soap board. And to be able to have those conversations of people, like yourself and, you know, David Rope, Silla, and even just like everyday people, they just come and look at the artwork. Like the information you can get from them is valuable. And every bit of feedback, you know, there's a drop of truth in everything that people say. So there's definitely, I feel blessed to be able to have people to bounce it off and to keep momentum going more importantly. Yeah, that's important. I think so too. I think you have, it's still very much your baby, but you have allowed all of us to babysit from time to time, which I think is really special. I don't think a lot of people, especially if something has this, like, drastic journey like niche, I don't think a lot of people are ready to, like, let go. I've been happy to let everyone have their moment, everyone to have their shine, like, it's, you know, it's, I'm well aware, right from the beginning that this is only happening because of everyone involved. Like, if there's no artist, there's no niche, you know, if there's no performers, it's not the same, you know, everyone has stuff to bring to the table. And let me just be recognized, that's important. Yeah, and I want to throw that back to one of my favorite moments of niche for lots of monsters, actually. It's, I've known you now for a couple of months when we did lots of monsters and I really loved you and I knew that you were it. But it was at this moment that I just realized how safe anybody can be around you and how looked after we can be by you, which I think is one of the things that makes you the fantastic person that you are. I'm just brown-nosing, rolling at this point. And he's just put his drink down. But one of my favorite moments from Got Some Monsters, and hopefully we can play a little bit more. And we can talk about it more when we talk about Got Some Monsters. Yeah, we will be going through all the more details about all the shows. We've got a lot to catch up with. And definitely. Yeah, but one of my favorite moments was, so Chelsea Marie, who we talked about from a fantastic artist, she did two brilliant pieces for Golden Age of Hollywood for stage exit. And then for whatever reason, she wasn't able to have a piece finished for Got Some Monsters. And I remember the last piece that you exhibited that night. You removed the velvet curtain from it and it was one of Chelsea's old paintings and you said that Chelsea couldn't join us this time for whatever reason and that she couldn't finish her piece. But that you still thought that it was important and needed to give her flowers for doing it, for going through it. Yeah, she's still done it and we will see it because also something that we've got to mention earlier is that as the niches have gone on, you know, we still show the work from previous pieces. Yeah, we've had loads of shows where it's like, okay, well here's the, you know, greatest hits collection of the last three. And then here's the new exhibit. Like, no, we're very much, you know, it's not just show it once and it's done. Like, we like to give all the art pieces all times time and that Chelsea piece that went horribly wrong and she mixes like chemicals with her piece because of the resin so she put the wrong ratio down in it ruined, but she did manage to save it. So we just wanted to see that it will be showing again. But again, I think that was one of the most impactful moments of niche where you, I feel like any other gallerist, any other gallerist, any other person that's in charge of putting exhibits together. Yeah, they just wouldn't bother. You wouldn't bother to mention her. Exactly. Someone else wouldn't bother to say, oh, by the way, this person was meant to do something, but that's not even how you said it was just so beautiful and it was so touching. And I remember just like having a single tear moment and like, I, this person is in, I'm safe with this person. And I think that's very special. I think that's, that's very important for everybody for any artist who has an interest on, you know, being a part of niche artifact. It's very important to know that this is not just your weird scheme to like collect art and have galleries put in places. No, yeah, the community will always come first because without the community, it's, it's just an empty gallery. Absolutely. So definitely. That even. Which a lot of galleries aren't in galleries. Well, when they're selling prints in the windows for like 25 grand and it's not in an original piece, I'm like, you know, maybe another time in my life. Yeah, but. This is rich. They're reflecting on what you said about unveiling the piece that wasn't done at all, acknowledging it like that's the same for like some pieces that I haven't had time to finish, which I'm very guilty of. Yeah. But you know, it's not finished. Oh, yeah, because of course you had all the time to paint when you were putting together. Yeah. And I say, but I'm going to the print just and talking to the performers and rehearsing and yeah, of course, Robin, yeah, you're so guilty about. Yeah. Well, anyway, so yeah, we were, you know, even if it wasn't finished, like, you know, I think it's important to, for showing up, it should be knowledge, you know, it's not, not the mentality that everyone is surprised. But it's just like the most the human thing in our community is like, there's such a bad rep with artists and art in itself. And, you know, there's, you know, some fantastic authors out there. And it was one of them was in the current running, but she was saying that, you know, artists at the turn of the 20th century where humanity put like the ego at the start. Yeah. And it all became about that person rather than the person's work. And, you know, it's the pressure that has been put on artists that have turned them into like the stereotype of, you know, moody suicidal people who their work destroys them. You know, you know, and then we capitalize on that, which is sort of bizarre. Yeah, you know, like it doesn't have to be that way. And, you know, we are moving in the right direction. But artists definitely still carry the stigma of like, I'm not good enough or, or, you know, we've had some amazing pieces in which I can't even believe that we've had these pieces in each aspect. And it's just like from people that just have no belief in what they do at all. And it's, you know, it's beautiful to see that change. It's beautiful to see that. And I think niche has given them that belief. For sure. Yeah, I'm happy. I'm happy. So not very happy. Cool. Well, I think that's all the time we have for our first ever episode of the niche artifact podcast. Please remember to subscribe on Spotify podcast, Apple podcast, wherever you get your podcast. And if you're watching this on YouTube, please subscribe, ring the notification and put us in comment. What was your favorite part of the episode? What do you want to see next? Thank you very much for being here. Yeah, thank you. And what can our listeners and our viewers expect from the podcast. So we're going to be looking into doing interviews with some of our local artists that we work with. Yeah. We're going to be doing a deep dive on the last slot. We will be seven niche artifacts. So we've got plenty to go through. And yeah, there's all sorts coming up. So we're very excited to see. Great. I mean, the niche artifact journey is taking off right now, and I couldn't be more proud of what I'd be. And who knows, you know, where we're going to end up. And also to remind everybody that the niche artifact, the first ever niche artifact. So we're going to be doing a lot of things that we've been doing a lot of times. And we're going to be doing a lot of things that we've been doing a lot of times. And we're going to be doing a lot of things that we've been doing a lot of times. And we're going to be doing a lot of things that we've been doing a lot of times. And we're going to be doing a lot of things that we've been doing a lot of times. Yeah, five of this. No, we, you know, niche is branching out in ways that everybody thought was possible. But, you know, we're making things happen. And depending on when this comes out, if you still have time to get your tickets for dystopian on the 20th of September at Multnom Central Library, we will leave a link to purchase the ticket on the description below. We'll just visit the niche artifact.co.uk and everything will be on there. We do have a latest news section and stories updates in the blog. [MUSIC PLAYING]