Dub is characterised by a reconstructive approach to sound. Central to this reconstruction is rhythm. The dub engineer records and recreates unique sonic environments, laying bare the temporal pulse of the music; substituting lyrical meaning for an altogether more rhythmic semantic. 'Dub' Poetry*, Reggae music's second child, preserves this centrality of meter, but does so by vocal means. Historically, the Dub Poet has assumed a radical** pose, commenting on the ills embedded in the postcolonial situation.  This commentary often made explicit connections between the Caribbean, the UK, Africa and America.  Over thirty years after the inception of the form, it is striking how many of the issues addressed by these artists remain with us today; affecting us all to varying degrees.

In this workshop we make an invitation for the collective exploration of ideas of lineage, memory, archive and action using Dub and 'Dub' poetry as our catalyst. What are our collective interpretations of what these forms communicate? What kinetic potentials might they hold for contemporary actions?

This workshop is featured as part of the Radical Histories/Histories of Radicalism conference to be held at Queen Mary University London. A full conference programme and registration details are available here. 

*A disputed term used here for convenience. 

**This term is used with some reticence. Although Dub Poetry, or many other forms of 'Black Radicalism' might be seen as progressive/innovative departures from tradition, this view is often one that centralises western thought and ways of knowing. In many cases, the premises upon which 'Black radical' actions and movements are built can only be viewed as 'departures' from a singular, Eurocentric view of the world. We prefer to view these actions more holistically; as extensions of our own traditions and alternatives to those ways of knowing grown from different cultural soils.