state of the [art]

Portfolio 2026 (1/2) For enquiries and further information, please use the links in my bio. This portfolio sits within my wider practice at “state of the [art]”, @stateassuch - the arts organisation I founded and lead. The state of the [art] website has now now been updated and integrated. ************ Munotida Chinyanga (she/her) is an anti-disciplinary artist working as a director and sound designer across theatre, immersive, interactive, and participatory performance. She is the founder and creative director of state of the [art], an arts organisation that creates and produces performances, immersive experiences, live events and workshops in public and social spaces, supporting underrepresented artists through artist development programmes, and marginalised communities through large-scale co-created projects. In 2026, her practice is focused on directing and leading the development and fundraising of new and ongoing projects, with a reduced capacity for sound design work. ************ #CreativeDirector #ParticipatoryArts #ImmersiveTheatre #CoCreation AntiDisciplinary

Portfolio 2026 (2/2) For enquiries and further information, please use the links in my bio. This portfolio sits within my wider practice at “state of the [art]”, @stateassuch - the arts organisation I founded and lead. The state of the [art] website has now now been updated and integrated. ************ Munotida Chinyanga (she/her) is an anti-disciplinary artist working as a director and sound designer across theatre, immersive, interactive, and participatory performance. She is the founder and creative director of state of the [art], an arts organisation that creates and produces performances, immersive experiences, live events and workshops in public and social spaces, supporting underrepresented artists through artist development programmes, and marginalised communities through large-scale co-created projects. In 2026, her practice is focused on directing and leading the development and fundraising of new and ongoing projects, with a reduced capacity for sound design work. ************ #CreativeDirector #ParticipatoryArts #ImmersiveTheatre #CoCreation #AntiDisciplinary

Ishita Uppadhayay joins Two Places At Once. Poet and facilitator Ishita Uppadhayay joins Two Places at Once installation across both London and Gloucester, presenting two different interactive poetry pieces exploring memory, migration, home, distance and connection. LONDON — A POEM BETWEEN US
One-to-one writing exchanges with Ishita. Sit down with a poet. The timer starts. Share a thought, a memory, a place, or a feeling. Together, you’ll create a small piece of writing to take away. When the time ends, the writing stops wherever it has arrived. Friday 29 May 2026
Waterloo Millennium Green, London
Free / Drop-in GLOUCESTER — POETRY / SPOKEN WORD WORKSHOP
A relaxed group writing workshop using prompts, poetry books and shared reflection to explore memory, home, migration and belonging. You do not need to have written poetry before. You can write, listen, reflect, share if you want to, or take something away with you. Saturday 30 May 2026
1pm–2pm
GASP Studios / Meanwhile Gallery, Level 1, Eastgate Shopping Centre, Gloucester
Free / Drop-in / No experience needed Ishita Uppadhayay is a poet and facilitator from India based in London. They won the 2025 Aurora Prize for Writing and are a Roundhouse Poetry Collective and Barbican Young Poets alum. Their writing explores immigration, grief, alcoholism and relationships — everything you shouldn’t discuss at the dinner table. Find their work at @ishitaupp Presented as part of Two Places at Once: Soundroom by state of the [art], in partnership with BACK Art Foundation, supported by British Council and Strike A Light. @strikealightfestival #TwoPlacesAtOnce #Soundroom #PoetryWorkshop #SpokenWord #gloucester

Free Dance & Movement Workshop in Gloucester As part of Two Places at Once, movement artist Lauren Scott will lead a relaxed public dance and movement workshop rooted in popping, hip hop and social dance. This is an open, beginner-friendly session exploring rhythm, listening, community and the body as an archive — holding memory, movement, sound and place. You do not need to be a dancer to take part. Come as you are, move as you can. Saturday 30 May 2026
3pm–4pm
GASP Studios / Meanwhile Gallery, Level 1, Eastgate Shopping Centre, Gloucester 
Free / Drop-in / No experience needed Lauren Scott is a movement artist specialising in street styles, with a practice rooted in popping and hip hop, alongside contemporary and theatrical influences. Her work has been platformed by Sadler’s Wells, The Place, Somerset House, Breakin’ Convention and Dance Umbrella, with commercial collaborations including Nike, Red Bull and Formula 1. 📸 - @terrraforming Presented as part of Two Places at Once: Soundroom by state of the [art], in partnership with BACK Art Foundation, supported by British Council and Strike A Light @strikealightfestival #TwoPlacesAtOnce #Soundroom #Gloucester #DanceWorkshop #MovementWorkshop Popping HipHop SocialDance StrikeALight StateOfTheArt

In conversation with Bijita Barman Today we’re spotlighting Bijita Barman, one of the artists shaping Two Places at Once. Bijita is a visual storyteller from Dhaka, working across painting, comics, animation, illustration and design. Her practice blends vibrant colour, spirituality, whimsy and personal narrative — using art as a way to process, heal and stay connected to the world around her. For Two Places at Once, Bijita has been thinking about sound as something emotional, embodied and deeply connected to everyday life. From the bells of rickshaws to the rhythm of nature, kitchen sounds, mental noise and the sounds we suppress inside our bodies, her reflections ask us to listen more closely to what is already around us. “I realised I was not in tune with my present sensations, especially my hearing. After my workshops I decided to observe the sounds and noises around me more.” Two Places at Once is a cross-border SoundRoom project connecting Dhaka, London and Gloucester through sound, memory, place and exchange. Created by state of the [art] and BACK Art Foundation @backartfoundation Supported by the British Council @britishcouncilbd #TwoPlacesAtOnce #DhakaSoundRoom #BijitaBarman #BangladeshArtists #DhakaArtists SoundArt VisualStorytelling SoundRoom CrossBorderCollaboration BritishCouncil BACKArtFoundation StateOfTheArt

Meet the UK artists of Two Places at Once. A free headphone-led listening experience connecting Gloucester, London and Dhaka through sound, poetry, movement, memory, migration, climate and belonging. Iftikhar Latif @yungifto is a British-Bangladeshi writer, performer and producer from East London. His work explores social relationships, self and belonging through the lens of growing up as a working-class Bengali in Tower Hamlets. Juice Cui @juice_shuting is a sound artist and freelance composer whose practice moves across sound, theatre, painting, sculpture, film and performance, creating immersive sonic worlds that question time, perception and history. 📸: Shaw Liu Lauren Scott @laurenscott1.0 is a movement artist specialising in street styles, with a practice rooted in popping and hip hop, alongside contemporary and theatrical influences. 📸: @terrraforming - Lizzie Quek Mercedes White @mjdwgram is a Gloucester-based multi-hyphenate creative working across poetry, theatre, music and sound design for immersive experiences, with a practice centred on gentleness, connection and audience engagement. 📸: Georgia Williams Audiences will be invited to put on headphones and move between three audio channels created by artists in the UK and Bangladesh — listening, sitting, moving, writing, responding, or simply spending time with the sound. LONDON
Friday 29 May 2026
12pm–5pm
Waterloo Millennium Green
Baylis Road, London SE1 7AA GLOUCESTER
Saturday 30 May 2026
12pm–5pm
GASP Studios / Meanwhile Gallery
Level 1, Eastgate Shopping Centre, GL1 1PA Gloucester will also include free drop-in workshops:
Poetry / Spoken Word: 1pm–2pm
Dance / Movement: 3pm–4pm Free. Relaxed. No booking needed. Created by state of the [art] in partnership with BACK Art @backartfoundation Foundation, supported by British Council @britishcouncilbd and Strike A Light @strikealightfestival . #TwoPlacesAtOnce #Soundroom #StateOfTheArt #GloucesterEvents #LondonEvents SoundArt ParticipatoryArt ImmersiveArt BritishCouncil StrikeALight BACKArtFoundation

Meet the Bangladesh artists of Two Places at Once Across Dhaka, these artists are working with sound, memory, climate, migration, ecology, identity, ritual, movement, painting, performance, installation and everyday life. Together with artists in the UK, they are helping us build a shared listening space between Bangladesh, London and Gloucester — a place where stories, textures, atmospheres and lived experiences can travel across distance. Two Places at Once: Soundroom is a headphone-led public installation created by state of the [art] in partnership with BACK Art Foundation @backartfoundation , supported by the British Council @britishcouncilbd and Strike A Light @strikealightfestival More soon on how their work is shaping the Soundroom. #TwoPlacesAtOnce #Soundroom #BangladeshArtists #DhakaArtists #StateOfTheArt BACKArtFoundation BritishCouncil StrikeALight SoundArt ParticipatoryArt InstallationArt ClimateAndCulture Diaspora Migration Memory ContemporaryArt

FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME. This summer, state of the [art] moves through soundrooms, dinner tables, public space, club nights, call-outs, cities, kitchens, strangers, performers and chaos. After years of trying, applying, rewriting, surviving, being rejected, coming back and still choosing the work — we’re building a season. This is SUMMER OF STATE 2026. Featuring:
Two Places at Once
Sound Designer Call-Out
Performer Call-Out
Cannes Lions: Festival of Creativity
Not On The Guest List
Don’t Talk to Strangers
How to Build the City
There’s Rice at Home For the people still making it.
For the artists still trying.
For the work that refuses to disappear.
For the love of the game. #SummerOfState #StateOfTheArt #EuropeMaxingSummer

HOW TO BUILD THE CITY - SEPTEMBER 2026 Join the waiting list: https://tally.so/r/MevVEg FXXKINNN HELL, Guess who’s back? After years of writing the application, rewriting the application, surviving the rejection emails, trying again, trying again, trying again — we’ve finally been handed a tiny chance. So Gilgamesh returns. How to Build the City is an interactive performance where audiences follow scenes, complete tasks, move around the city, meet strangers, play games, and help build the world of the show as it unfolds. Part myth.
Part game.
Part public-space chaos.
Part love letter to the city. Gloucester & London Ticket information coming soon. Join the waiting list: https://tally.so/r/MevVEg #HowToBuildTheCity #Gilgamesh #InteractivePerformance #ParticipatoryTheatre #StateOfTheArt

PERFORMER CALL-OUT - JUNE 2026 
Week commencing 1 June 2026 We’re hosting a full-day audition workshop for performers interested in devised, immersive, participatory and public-space performance. For performers who missed rigorous ensemble training, state training, physical devising and getting the body back into action. This is for performers who are excited by working with audiences, playing games, moving through cities, holding strange encounters, improvising with care, building scenes from tasks, and making performance that does not always stay politely on a stage. Selected performers will be invited into paid rehearsals and performances for How to Build the City. Apply via the link in bio. Direct form: forms.gle/YCKdhH39N8CMPhnn8 DEADLINE: 29th MAY 2026 #PerformerCallOut #AuditionWorkshop #PaidOpportunity #ImmersiveTheatre #ParticipatoryPerformance StateOfTheArt

PAID SOUND DESIGNER CALL-OUT
Fee: £1,000 Back again for those who missed the first round. We’re looking for a sound designer / sonic world-builder to work with state of the [art] across bold, interactive sound for theatre, club culture, public space and live audience experiences. This is for someone who understands sound as more than atmosphere. Sound as movement.
Sound as instruction.
Sound as party.
Sound as architecture.
Sound as the thing that makes people look up, move differently, talk to someone, or realise they are suddenly inside the work. Apply via the link in bio. Direct form: https://forms.gle/jfwBGw4qst7wgnsHA DEADLINE: 18th MAY #SoundDesigner #CallOut #PaidOpportunity #SonicWorldBuilder #StateOfTheArt

DON’T TALK TO STRANGERS - SEPTEMBER 2026 London We are developing a new public-space activation as part of Koro Lab, an artist development programme supporting migrant and Global Majority creatives making immersive, interactive and site-specific work. This one is about strangers. The rules we inherit.
The rules we break.
The small tasks that make a city feel less impossible. We basically teach people how to talk to strangers. Coming to public space in September 2026. More information soon. #DontTalkToStrangers #KoroLab #PublicSpace #InteractivePerformance #StateOfTheArt