Biography
Linett Kamala is a boundary-defying creative powered by plants – a vegan, interdisciplinary artist, academic and festivals specialist born in Harlesden, London, U.K. to Jamaican parents.
Her passion for enriching the lives of others through art, sound system culture, well-being and education is demonstrated by partnerships and collaborations with numerous organisations spans nearly four decades.
Linett Kamala works across various disciplines including installations, paintings, public art, DJ soundscapes and performance. Her works are recognised by her signature style – an expressive hand script, which she refers to as ‘freestyle calligraffiti’. She draws inspiration from oral histories, carnivals and Jamaican sound system culture. Her current ongoing projects are ‘BASS TONE REGENERATION’ an innovative sound & light installation inspired by Sonny Roberts, ‘Recipe for a Happy Mind’ which includes raising awareness of how festival culture contributes to our wellness and ‘Disya Dancehall’ which celebrates the vibrancy of the 90s era of dancehall culture.
Linett is known as the ‘Sound System Queen’, being credited as one of the first female DJs to perform at the Notting Hill Carnival on a static sound system in the early 1980s at a static sound system. Today she continues to champion inclusion within sound system culture, advocating for underrepresented groups, including her two initiatives; Lin Kam Art Sound System Futures Programme developing the next generation and Original Sounds Collective, amplifying the presence of women in sound system and moving the culture forward.
Linett is Founding Director of Lin Kam Art which enriches lives through festival culture via takeovers, residencies, workshops, events and programmes. Deeply rooted in community empowerment, this outreach aspect of her socially engaged creative practice engages with thousands of people across all ages each year and ranges from mentoring emerging creatives to taking up space through festival culture. Recent examples include; Sound System Culture Day at the British Library, Windrush 75 Community Tea Party in Gladstone Park, production for static sound systems at Notting Hill Carnival, delivering the South Kilburn CarniVale Music & Wellbeing Festival, curating the legendary Windrush 75: Jamaican Sound System Culture at the British Museum cultural, Kilburn Up High, a design commission for Brondesbury Bridge in Kilburn and curation for The Look Laundrette, an immersive pop-up at Westfield London.
Linett is also Board Director for the Notting Hill Carnival, President of the University of the Arts London Alumni of Colour Association, Associate Lecturer in MA & BA Performance: Design and Practice at the University of the Arts London, Central Saint Martins and in BA (Hons) Live Event Management at the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance.
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