DKUK

A conversation about finding your place in the art world, recorded live during a real haircut at DKUK, Peckham's mirrorless salon where art replaces mirrors.Lucy Cowling is a curator based in South London. She has been the driving force behind the exhibition programme at DKUK, and the shows you see on these walls throughout this video are her work. She didn't know curating was a job until her mid-twenties. What she did know was that she wanted to be close to the work. Not making it, but bringing it out into the world.We talk about how to find your way into the art world without a plan. About the Goldsmiths MA in curating, what it gives you and what it doesn't. About running an exhibition programme from your own flat, cooking dinner for artists before agreeing to show them. About women's football, performance art, and restructuring your whole working life to protect the things you actually care about.This is a slow, honest conversation about sustaining a creative career. It goes deep. Worth settling in for.Recorded in one continuous take, with the ambient sound of scissors throughout. Best enjoyed with headphones.♦ Lucy Cowling https://www.instagram.com/lucyrianna/♦ KIPP: https://kip.gallery/info ♦ Book at DKUK: dkuk.biz#Curating #ArtWorld #ContemporaryArt #CreativeCareer #PeckhamArt #ASMR #HowToBecomeACurator

In this episode of the DKUK Podcast, Daniel sits down with Richard Phoenix, artist, writer and long-time collaborator with Heart and Soul, the Deptford-based organisation supporting learning disabled and autistic artists for over 40 years.Recorded inside the Heart and Soul exhibition at DKUK in Peckham, this conversation moves from DIY punk tours and publishing with Rough Trade Books to large-scale public art in Trafalgar Square. Richard talks about the young people’s project Do Your Own Thing, the radical importance of access, and what it means to create real visibility for artists who are too often overlooked.At the centre of the conversation is a simple idea that feels urgent: being seen is power. Not spectacle. Not tokenism. But being seen as you want to be seen.We explore how framing changes perception, how naming something art shifts its meaning, and how long-term cultural work can transform a space. From site visits and collaborative installs at DKUK to the creation of a six-metre puppet processing down Whitehall, this is a conversation about good chaos, deep relationships, and the craft of building creative communities that last.The DKUK Podcast is recorded live during real haircuts inside our mirrorless salon in Peckham, London, where art replaces mirrors and conversation unfolds naturally. Expect thoughtful dialogue, moments of humour, and the quiet rhythm of scissors in the background.Best enjoyed with headphones.

This episode is taken from the DKUK archive and was originally recorded in January 2024 during Humphrey Ocean’s exhibition at the salon.I first met Humphrey in 2009. The exhibition that followed was many years in the making, so it feels quietly right that this conversation is finally being shared more widely.Humphrey Ocean is a British artist whose practice is rooted in drawing and painting. Over the years he has worked with figures such as Paul McCartney and Ian Dury, yet he remains deeply thoughtful, observant and refreshingly down to earth. In this conversation, recorded while I cut his hair, we talk about attention, slowness, survival, portraiture and the strange beauty of the everyday.At one point Humphrey says that motorway signs can be beautiful, and that sunsets do not necessarily need painting. It’s a line that reframes how we look at the world around us. Later, he reflects on the idea that the old masters are “two hours long”, speaking about the time we give to looking, and why some works endure because people return to them again and again.The DKUK podcast has been running since 2014 alongside the mirrorless hair salon of the same name in Peckham, London. At DKUK, clients look at art instead of themselves while they have their hair cut. The podcast follows the same principle. It is recorded during real haircuts, allowing conversation to unfold at a natural pace. It is less an interview and more time spent in a room with someone.Each episode is recorded using binaural microphones, capturing the subtle sounds of scissors, water and movement in the space. The result has a gentle ASMR quality and is best enjoyed with headphones.DKUK exists at the intersection of hair, art and conversation. The salon removes mirrors to create a calmer experience, and the podcast reflects that same atmosphere. Episodes explore creativity, identity, work, money, attention and what it means to make something in the world.This is an archival episode, presented as it was recorded. Settle in, take your time, and enjoy the conversation.

Listen to Daniel and Olivia discussing her exhibition at DKUK from December 2023.