The Urban Listening Room: A Sound System Session with Charlie Dark

About the event

Hosted in the UCL Urban Room on London’s creative East Bank, this live sound system session transforms Charlie Dark’s Run Dem Sounds sound system into a space for collective listening and connection.

Participants will join Charlie Dark MBE and DIVINE KIND (Dana Sousa-Limbu) on a deep listening journey through vinyl, a flowing sequence of soul, dub, and ambient London rhythms, before contributing short spoken reflections that will be recorded and woven into a collaborative soundscape.

The evening will be recorded, remixed, and pressed as a one-off vinyl dubplate - a tactile archive of memory and belonging, blending the sonic energy of the session with the voices and rhythms of its participants.

Developed with the support of The Bartlett Pan-African Indigenist Collective, the project is rooted in the Collective’s ethos of epistemic equity, decolonial practice, and collective wellbeing. Together, the collaborators explore how sound systems as diasporic infrastructures of gathering and resistance can become methods of research, dialogue, and creative repair within institutional spaces.

The Urban Listening Room brings Black and African creativity and sound system culture into the heart of UCL, reimagining how and where knowledge is created.

For artists, DJs, and creatives, it offers a rare chance to slow down, listen deeply, and find calm in the city. Unlike traditional listening sessions, participants are not passive listeners, and are instead invited to co-produce what they hear, layering their reflections and memories into the mix. In doing so, sound becomes a shared practice of creation, reflection, and renewal, blurring the lines between audience, artist, and archive.

“I like putting things in spaces they’re not traditionally seen.” — Charlie Dark

What to expect

• Experience a deep listening journey guided by Charlie Dark with his Run Dem Sounds sound system.

• Share your reflections in a live remix process, where your voice becomes part of the collective soundscape.

• Enjoy tea, conversation, and community in a relaxed, welcoming setting.

• Contribute to a collaborative sound archive, later digitised and pressed as a one-off vinyl, connecting this session to future phases of The Urban Listening Room project.

This is a free event, however booking is essential.

By signing up, you consent to be audio recorded and for your recording to contribute to the final sound work. If you would like to opt out, please contact Dana Sousa-Limbu (dana.sousa-limbu@ucl.ac.uk) in advance.

Listening session facilitators

Charlie Dark MBE is a DJ, public speaker, community builder, and founder of the influential Run Dem Crew. Charlie Dark’s work bridges music, movement, and wellbeing. His practice centres on bringing communities together through rhythm, running, and sound-system culture; from nightclubs to parks to classrooms. Charlie’s sound system, Run Dem Sounds, is both sculpture and sanctuary: a diasporic technology of care designed to create moments of calm, reflection, and joy in the city.

DIVINE KIND is the creative-research practice of DJ-researcher and cultural producer Dana Sousa-Limbu, whose work explores radical human care through sound and social gathering in urban environments. Dana investigates DJs and sound systems as infrastructures of care, creating spaces where collective listening becomes a tool for wellbeing, connection, and creative resistance in London. As Cultural Programming and Events Lead of The Bartlett Pan-African Indigenist Collective, she supports grassroots-led initiatives that centre Black and African perspectives within architectural and spatial education. Her recent cultural productions include commissions for the London Design Biennale and The Cally Festival, where she explored how sound can build belonging and community care.

About the Memory Workshop

The Memory Workshop is a collecting and digitisation project within the UCL Urban Room. Using the idea of lab-based learning, the workshop records oral histories within London and on campus. Students and users of the workshop can digitise vinyl records, VHS and cassette tapes as well as edit their own digital materials. This work is part of Urban Room’s commitment to supporting impactful student research and developing collaborations with artists, residents and organisations around the Olympic Park where UCL East is located.

Discover more Memory Workshops within the Just Imaginaries Exhibition programming at the UCL Urban Room.