Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Adanya Dunn. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Adanya, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
One of the most meaningful projects I’ve undertaken is co-founding and running Red Light Arts & Culture (RLAC) based in the heart of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. RLAC is a cultural and artistic catalyst. We use creativity as a bridge, connecting people, sparking conversations, and celebrating the rich tapestry of life within the Red Light District. Having lived on one of the busiest streets there for a number of years, I witnessed its undeniable vibrancy and friction. There’s the energy of nightlife alongside residents, artists, ateliers, students, businesses, shops, and workers, who are all an integral part of the community.
Through RLAC, I’ve been able to harness and explore my multidisciplinary creativity and management abilities alongside my desire to create a positive impact.
RLAC launched in 2020, a time when connection and community felt more important than ever. It wasn’t just about creating an arts organization; it was a realization of a need that I think was somehow taken for granted by a lot of people: connection and community! In this sense, we didn’t create RLAC to be a typical arts organization – we use art and culture to create spaces and experiences where people can engage in meaningful conversations that range from the personal to the political.
Many residents, students, and workers here are professional artists and creatives themselves, further enriching the District’s unique cultural identity. By being a platform for these local professionals, we help highlight the thriving yet hidden artistic diversity of the Red Light District. Tucked away amidst the bustling streets are ateliers, workshops, studios, and even subsidized artist housing – a vibrant ecosystem that fuels the District’s creative energy and makes it one of Europe’s best-kept secrets in terms of artistic creation.
We’ve had contemporary classical chamber music by queer composers performed in a S*x Theater; bespoke poets at local cafés creating personalized poems on a typewriter; a walking art gallery taking up an entire block; improvised musical pieces based on live stories shared by a community audience followed by sharing in a meal together; performance art installation dance pieces in shops; storytelling in the homes of residents; and concerts in secret gated gardens no one would ever assume were there.
Our core audience is composed of different groups of people who are in this concentrated area, but who do not necessarily have immediate contact with one another. We also bring in new audiences from the broader local and international realms. From residents, workers, students, visitors, and tourists, they have a chance to meet each other at our intimate performances, and engage in meaningful conversations at our after-show gatherings that follow.
You can have a look at a video we produced that shares about our first project “InsideOut Pop-Up Concerts” here: https://www.youtube.com/
Fast-forward to last summer, during Amsterdam’s Queer & Pride Week in 2023, I co-produced the Queer S*x Worker’s Pride Day! Here’s the highlight trailer can be viewed here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQnjuld7nCA and the interview about this event: https://amsterdamian.com/see/photos/queer-pride-amsterdam-2023-queer-sex-workers-day/
For me as an artist, I feel connected to the world around me. With a platform and skills, I believe comes a responsibility to use them for good if the capacity, ability, and desire are present. I think because of my upbringing, life experiences, and how I process and see the world, I have always been inclined to connect, bring people together, and find ways to highlight the beauty and potential in everyday life.
Adanya, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My name is Adanya Dunn (she/her). I’m a professional opera singer (mezzo-soprano), multidisciplinary artist, creative entrepreneur, community organizer, and a queer intersectional feminist.
Alongside singing, I work as a freelance producer, grant writer, photographer, consultant, and web developer, and am one of the founders of the not-for-profit organization Red Light Arts & Culture, based in Amsterdam.
As an avid learner and reader, I’ve always been curious about people’s experiences, and about science and nature in general. During my Master’s in Classical Voice at the Conservatory of Amsterdam, my thesis supervisor was a neuroscientist and my paper explored the connections between neuroscience, biochemistry, and music: “Taking the Edge Off: Psilocybin and LSD as a potential treatment for Music Performance Anxiety”.
For me, these endeavours encompass my multidisciplinary and systemic approach to life. I love to work and create in the space where lines are blurred between genres and disciplines, and to explore different types of connections and possibilities.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
As a creative artist in a variety of fields, I’m constantly meeting new people and getting the chance to re-meet folks I’ve been in touch with before, just now in a different context. My work (and life in general) takes me to various places both physically and online: whether it be through travel, virtual meetings, discussion groups, going to a café, going for a hike, working to bring a production to life, visiting the farmer’s market, or just calling with a friend.
For me, the boundaries between life and art, being an artist and just living life in general, are fluid and combined to varying degrees at certain times. Sort of like how in cooking there might be different flavours featured in certain dishes from time to time, but there’s always this mix in the background, informing and supporting the other ingredients.
I love that every project is a mini world on its own and I get to explore the terrain (sometimes quite intensely) with the people involved. And though each project is sort of its own “thing”, somehow there’s this connection to other areas in my life and is also connected to the lives of others. Observing and seeing how other people work and interpret the world and work around them is an essential part of being a creative, and this for me is so enriching and rewarding.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
I’d like to start this saying: You are creative! As cliché as it might sound at first, I believe every person is creative and artistic, regardless of their field of work or study. Many people think they are “not creative” because they have “regular” or “boring” jobs. I think we tend to forget how much creativity we ARE, inherently, as human beings. Life itself is creative. The fact that we exist is creative. How we interact with people, how we see the world…come up with solutions, learn, deepen a skill, explore something new, or simply care for another being… In my experience, all these things fall under the umbrella of being creative.
We have to constantly train our bodies and minds (almost like an athlete). Lots of the job involves content creation and grant writing – and securing funding can be very emotionally consuming. We need to constantly apply for many of things that might not even come through; and we need to handle tasks that would typically be spread across a team – the singer becomes the artist, marketer, and manager.
What people might take as a hobby or something they do in their leisure time, for me, it is typically intertwined with my career development. All of this combined with flexible work hours can give this perception of a “glamorous” life, which in reality, is actually much more complex and nuanced – and in many ways, very similar to any other person.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.adanyadunn.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/redlightartsandculture
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adanyadunnofficial/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AdanyaDunn
- Other: www.redlightartsandculture.com
Image Credits
I have included the photographer credits in all the image titles