malakaï sargeant - BORN::FREE
Channel: She Grrrowls
Date: 2022-04-15

malakaï  (b. 1998, pronouns they/them) is a writer, theatre practitioner, cultural producer and educator from pre-gentrified Hackney, London. 

Led by curiosity and care, malakaï  creates and interrogates through an unapologetically Afrocentric lens. Their work explores queer intimacy, generational/migrational trauma, inner-city social cleansing, dismantling binaries, and unearthing Black Joy in dense built environments.

malakaï  co-founded and was Artistic Director of The S+K Project, a producing theatre company specialising in nurturing the talent of emerging Black & Asian artists, between 2014-19. S+K created and presented participatory work locally and nationally with the likes of LIFT, Royal Court, Dalston Eastern Curve Garden, Nottingham Playhouse, Regent's Place and Eventbrite. The S+K Project was Resident Young Company at Hackney Showroom between 2014-2017, Associate Artists at Talawa Theatre Company in 2018, and  Resident Company at Bernie Grant Arts Centre from  2017 until S+K’s closure in 2019.

Aged 21, malakaï was appointed Associate Director at Theatre Peckham, responsible for the venue’s artistic programming, talent development and overseeing participatory community projects. While at Theatre Peckham, malakaï set up the venue’s Young Peckham artist development strand, including a Young Producers programme exclusively for emerging Black producers, as well as co-creating Five Pillars – a bespoke introduction to anti-racism programme for the cultural sector. malakaï curated the programme for the 2020 and 2021 Young, Gifted & Black festivals and the 2021 Peckham Previews festival, as well as fundraising for and directing Theatre Peckham’s first piece of new writing produced in-house, …cake by babirye bukilwa (2021 Alfred Fagon Award longlist, 2021 Offie nomination for Best Production).

A Barbican Young Poets alumnus, malakaï  is currently co-director of literary arts organisation BORN::FREE, and remains passionate about expanding the canon of Black British writing across its forms. They are currently undertaking an MA in Black British Literature at Goldsmiths University of London; when they’re not studying, malakaï is delivering long-term creative education projects and anti-racism consultancy for  UAL, Sour Lemons, the Albany, South London Gallery & Mountview. malakaï sits on the board of directors for Bernie Grant Arts Centre and the London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT).

https://www.malakaisargeant.com/