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Adem

@ademholness

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🏳️‍🌈🇯🇲🇹🇷🇨🇾
Creative Director + Curator
Head of Music at @sxswlondon

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😮‍💨 Tomorrow it begins 🫨

40+ curated showcases.
200+ artists.
14 stages.
Thousands of people wandering between rooms looking for their next obsession.

A lot of people have asked what the music programme at SXSW London is trying to do.

My answer is pretty simple: create moments of discovery that algorithms can’t.

Bring different scenes, communities and cultures into proximity and see what happens.

My love letter to London.

Thanks to @hollywoodreporter and @litromedia for the thoughtful conversations this week.

Let’s go.

#sxswlondon @sxswlondon taken in Shoreditch East London by @ademholness

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5 months ago

WE OUTSIDE 🤘🏽

At a moment when technology can generate endless music, what really shapes the future are the communities and scenes pushing culture forward.

That’s what @sxswlondon is about. Bringing global movements into one place.

From @segabodega reimagining live electronic performance, to @shame building careers on their own terms, and @odumodublvck fusing his cultural influences into something entirely his own.

The future of music isn’t uniform.

Can’t wait to experience this all with you in Shoreditch 💚

#sxswlondon #sxsw taken in Shoreditch East London by @ademholness

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7 months ago

May have aged out of the 30 Under 30 lists, but this is pretty cool.

Big thanks to @billboarduk / @billboard and @thomasjsmith__ for including me in the inaugural 40 Under 40 🫶🏽 by @ademholness

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183

13 days ago

Some art I understood, some I didn’t, and a surprising amount I wanted to climb on. 💜

Frieze London 2026

@friezeofficial // @black.curatorial taken in Frieze Art Fair by @ademholness

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a day ago

Q3, you’ve been a real one…

😵🫩😴 by @ademholness

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6 days ago

Evidence I need to remember to be outside.

🌱June–September 2026. taken in London, United Kingdom by @ademholness

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a month ago

Carnival can’t be happening in London and me not be there. 🇯🇲

Caribbean music has always been the soundtrack to my life, home, and friendships but the more time I spend making things in music and culture, the more astounding Carnival is for me.

So much of our industry involves competing for people’s attention. Artists, brands, festivals, venues, all trying to engage audiences to build careers and businesses.

Yet Carnival feels like this extraordinary reminder of what happens when communities come together to build something on their own terms.

I think that’s something I’m learning to think about differently in my own work. Not everything needs to start with deciding what people should experience. Sometimes it’s about creating the conditions for people to make something together, and trusting what comes from that.

I got to watch this year’s procession from the judges’ bandstand, seeing all these incredible costumes, floats and sounds coming down the road. And I kept thinking about how many people, across so many generations, have had to make, protect and fight for this thing for it to still exist at this scale 60 years later.

And it’s still a place where you can wander through the streets, turn a corner and discover a completely different vibe, generation or pocket of Caribbean culture.

I especially loved seeing how intergenerational it felt this year. Every age, every body, every kind of person, all there. Dancing.

Seeing what @antheatheehudson , Matthew and the whole team pull off, 60 years on, makes me undeniably proud. ❤️💛💚

Happy birthday @nhcarnivalldn taken in Notting Hill Carnival by @ademholness

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2 months ago

Before SXSW London this year, I knew that once the second edition happened that I’d need somewhere to properly decompress, switch off and eventually start concocting new ideas again.

I’d never had a garden as an adult, so I didn’t really know what I was doing. I just knew I wanted to make something that felt peaceful, pretty and pink. 🌸

So in April I sowed a bunch of wildflower seeds and did my best to keep them alive, usually after very long days or very early in the morning. Either way, mostly weeding and watering in the dark. 🫪

At times, work can occupy a big part of my brain, so I’ve been trying to get better at deliberately making space for the things that just recharge me.

A few months later, I kinda can’t believe how well it’s worked, or how much I’ve loved being out here, snipping and digging. ✂️🍃

Anyway, all I need now is recommendations for the garden playlist. ☀️🌞🕶️ taken in North London by @ademholness

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2 months ago

Sooooo, I think this is what I like. 😗

Things that take time.

Things that bring people together.

Sunshine. by @ademholness

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2 months ago

My sunshine soundtrack ☀️

1. Kokoroko – Tuff Times Never Last (though 10 points if you recognise the album behind me)
2. Common – Like Water for Chocolate
3. anaiis – Devotion & The Black Divine
4. Olivia Deena Jones
5. Infinity Song – Essentials

HOWEVER, I’ve officially rinsed these now. Need some recommendations for what I should put on next.

Summer sounds. Full no-skip albums only pleaseeee! 🙏🏽 taken in North London by @ademholness

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3 months ago

🌞 by @ademholness

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3 months ago

A highly productive few days consisted of:

📚Reading King of Lost Dreams

🙏🏽 Convincing friends to do things they’ll love (@toksdada 👀)

🖌️ Attempting monoprinting (definitely not giving up the day job)

💭 Reactivating imagination

💤 Actual rest.

10/10. Would recommend. by @ademholness

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3 months ago