- Artists
iniva is pleased to present Dancehall Riddim Queens, a solo exhibition by Linett Kamala at the Stuart Hall Library. Bringing together paintings and archival material, the exhibition explores the cultural, sonic and visual histories of dancehall, centring the legacies of women whose contributions have shaped the culture while often remaining under-recognised or erased.
Drawing on Kamala’s lived experience of London’s dancehall culture, particularly in the 1990s, the artist works with the personal –– photographs, mixtapes, CD collections, magazines, and clothing –– to trace how dancehall travels across geographies and time, shaping forms of expression through embodiment and sound. This exhibition examines the circulation of these influences, from Kingston to London and beyond, attending to the ways they are repeated, adapted and reconfigured, and cantering the concept of the riddim – a shared instrumental structure within dancehall music that multiple artists voice over.
Rather than fixed authorship, the riddim enables a layered and collective form of expression. Through this body of work, Dancehall Riddim Queens proposes the riddim as both structure and method, as a way of understanding culture as collective, cyclical and in motion. For Kamala, it also offers a way of thinking through the tensions within dancehall, where lyrics can often be outrageous and prejudiced, while rhythm remains open, participatory and continuous.
Dancehall Riddim Queens is curated by Beatriz Lobo with programme support by Vasita (Pleng) Jirathiyut and generously supported by The Ampersand Foundation.
About the Artist
Linett Kamala @linett_kamala is an interdisciplinary creative polymath whose practice centres on amplifying wellness through a range of roles including DJ, artist, academic, community organiser, creative producer and Founding Director of @lin_kam_art.
Widely recognised as the ‘Sound System Queen’, Kamala is credited as one of the first female DJs to perform on a sound system at Notting Hill Carnival in the mid-1980s. She has since come full circle in her relationship with the iconic event, now serving as a Board Director and key organiser.
Spanning over four decades, her expansive body of work encompasses installations, painting, public art, DJ-led soundscapes and live performance. Drawing deeply from oral histories, music and Jamaican sound system culture, Kamala’s practice is rooted in a socially engaged ethos that foregrounds community empowerment and collective experience.
Her work reaches thousands annually through participatory and public-facing projects. Notable initiatives include her role as Founder and Artistic Director of South Kilburn CarniVale an annual community-led festival, alongside making innovative light and sound-based installations such as @basstoneregeneration and Basstone Maypole, which reimagine our relationship to the environment and each other.