Paul Nataraj: Collaboration Through Listening, Time and Trust
What happens when artists are given the time to build trust, listen and deepen relationships?
This summer, as part of the international Contested Desires programme, Paul Nataraj returned to D6 for a second residency, building on the connections and creative conversations that began in 2025. This was an opportunity to continue a collaboration that had already taken root, nurturing relationships with South Shields-based Black and minoritised women-led organisation Sangini and exploring where shared storytelling might lead.
Paul's practice centres on deep listening and the relationship between memory and sound. Working alongside Sangini's members, he created space for them to share personal and often overlooked histories, many shaped by migration and the enduring legacies of colonialism.
Through conversations, workshops and time spent together – often over home-cooked food – stories emerged that connected lives in the North of England today with histories rooted in countries of the former British Empire, such as Bangladesh.
Sangini Director’s Padma Rao reflected:
This summer, as part of the international Contested Desires programme, Paul Nataraj returned to D6 for a second residency, building on the connections and creative conversations that began in 2025. This was an opportunity to continue a collaboration that had already taken root, nurturing relationships with South Shields-based Black and minoritised women-led organisation Sangini and exploring where shared storytelling might lead.
Paul's practice centres on deep listening and the relationship between memory and sound. Working alongside Sangini's members, he created space for them to share personal and often overlooked histories, many shaped by migration and the enduring legacies of colonialism.
Through conversations, workshops and time spent together – often over home-cooked food – stories emerged that connected lives in the North of England today with histories rooted in countries of the former British Empire, such as Bangladesh.
Sangini Director’s Padma Rao reflected:
‘Paul's work helped give voice to women who are often invisible and unheard’.
These relationships led to the development of a new collaborative work, The Ballad of the Scapegoat (after N Bose). The work weaves together layered reflections on the politics of identity and belonging. Elements of flags cut from vibrant fabrics were stitched into a goat's hide alongside the word ‘alien’ in different languages.
Rich with personal stories and collective histories, the work celebrates the creativity and resilience of communities shaped by movement and empire, while questioning the systems that determine who belongs, who is marked as an outsider, and the human cost of those distinctions.
Rich with personal stories and collective histories, the work celebrates the creativity and resilience of communities shaped by movement and empire, while questioning the systems that determine who belongs, who is marked as an outsider, and the human cost of those distinctions.
Following the residency, Paul and Padma, alongside fellow Contested Desires artists and collaborators, shared learnings at D6’s event, North East Narratives: Art, Collaboration and Decolonial Practice. Again and again, speakers returned to the idea that meaningful work grows through connection: creating space for people's experiences to be centred on their own terms, while approaching complex histories with care and respect.
Reflecting on the residency, Paul said:
Reflecting on the residency, Paul said:
‘the joy lies in connecting the pieces of the puzzle together, working through complexity, and creating new energy through collaboration’.
Through D6's support, the residency provided the time, space and care for those connections to deepen. It demonstrates how sustained relationships can generate powerful new work and deepen understanding of the connections between experiences rooted in the North of England and wider histories and perspectives.
Warmest of thanks to all at Sangini, Paul, Padma, and D6’s Producer in Residence Aisha Khateeb.
Contested Desires examines the impact of colonial legacies through artistic collaboration.
It is co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union. In the UK, we are grateful for the support of Arts Council England, the National Lottery Heritage Fund, and Community Foundation North East's and Newcastle City Council's Newcastle Culture Investment Fund.
Images: workshops with Paul Nataraj and Sangini creating The Ballad of the Scapegoat (after N Bose), 2026. Photos: Paul Nataraj | Aisha Khateeb | Helen Holtom
Warmest of thanks to all at Sangini, Paul, Padma, and D6’s Producer in Residence Aisha Khateeb.
Contested Desires examines the impact of colonial legacies through artistic collaboration.
It is co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union. In the UK, we are grateful for the support of Arts Council England, the National Lottery Heritage Fund, and Community Foundation North East's and Newcastle City Council's Newcastle Culture Investment Fund.
Images: workshops with Paul Nataraj and Sangini creating The Ballad of the Scapegoat (after N Bose), 2026. Photos: Paul Nataraj | Aisha Khateeb | Helen Holtom
