The Venus Bushfires is a creative collective of one and many, of which Helen Epega is the only constant member. The Nigerian-British singer-songwriter, composer and performance artist explores the ethereal sounds of the ‘hang’, the power of the talking drum and the quirks of children’s toys cross-fertilising multiple visual and musical styles.

Helen harnesses influences from avant-garde, psychedelic, tribal and meditative arts and draws inspiration from musical and creative pioneers such as Fela Kuti and Kate Bush, creating music and stories that explore the sensual and the spiritual. She describes her music as Afro-Sonic. Her work has been celebrated globally and featured on BBC, CNN, TVC News, The Guardian UK, Channel 4 UK, Reuters, France 24, Le Monde, The Guardian Nigeria and many others.

She wrote and composed the world's first pidgin (broken English) opera 'Song Queen: A Pidgin Opera' which debuted in London in July 2015. The ground-breaking opera has been performed in London and Cape Town and in 2019 was performed in Lagos, Nigeria for the first time. ‘Song Queen: A Pidgin Opera’returns to London in 2022 and debuts in New York later in the year.

‘Sounds of Us - A Sound Art Snapshot: Life, Love, Fear, Hope & Protest In The time Of Pandemic Lockdown’ is Helen’s first project and release in 2021. The work explores everyday and sacred sounds recorded by members of the public in London and Lagos throughout 2020. It is part of a larger music meets tech project that connects people globally through shared sounds. Her music, self-titled fashion line and merchandise are available from

www.thevenusbushfires.com

Bethan Evans is a PhD candidate at NTU, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council through the Midlands3Cities doctoral training partnership. She specialises in black British short fiction, and her areas of interest are postcolonial and black British literature, narrative form, and the publishing industry.