E250 - Each Life Sacred // The Power of Art, Music, and Hope with Anouska Beckwith, Charlotte Mabon and friends

“As a humanity we do know that each life is sacred and yet what is it that happens to our minds, our upbringing, the narratives we are fed that we get to a place where it’s more than okay to murder and massacre?” Charlotte Mabon

E250 – Each Life Sacred // The Power of Art, Music, and Hope with Anouska Beckwith, Charlotte Mabon and friends

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About this interview:

If your heart has been broken open by what’s unfolding in Gaza, you are not alone.

This episode is a place to bring that ache; a collective tapestry of grief, courage and the power of art to keep our humanity alive.

Each Life Sacred was born from the choice of not looking away, from witnessing the unimaginable suffering of children in Palestine and feeling the weight of helplessness that so many of us have carried. Out of that grief, something luminous emerged – a call to create, to gather, to weave art and action into one.

Holding the creative vision of this offering are artist Anouska Beckwith and singer-songwriter Charlotte Mabon, who have brought together twenty-two musicians and six artisans to create an album and fundraiser that turns sorrow into service and beauty into a bridge.

In this conversation, we sit with their stories and with the voices of many of the contributing artists: Ayla Schafer, Kieran King (War Child), Taz Babiker, Matthew Barley, Naomi Greene, Johnny Flynn, Nick Barbachano, Olivia Fern, Ya’Acov Darling Khan, Anika Nixdorf, Lauren Noa (Little Whale), Petra Palumbo, as well as Leor and Souli from Ripples Collective each sharing how this project became a vessel for tenderness, courage, and collective care.

May this episode remind you, in a world that can be fractured and heavy – that each life truly is sacred.That grief can be alchemised into beauty. That art can still be an act of resistance.
And that, together, we can create spaces where love has something to do, somewhere to go, and someone to reach.

“There’s a kind of grief that comes with witnessing so much suffering. And this felt like a way of responding to that, not through words or politics, which are also valid and important, but through something more elemental – music and prayer.” Taz Babiker

100% of the proceeds of the crowdfunder will go to War Child whose teams are in Gaza now creating safe spaces for children to play, learn, and access psychological support. Donate here.

Anouska Beckwith is a multidisciplinary artist, creative director and fine art photographer based in Somerset, UK. Her work bridges art, activism and mysticism, exploring the deep bond between nature and the feminine. She uses her creative vision to reveal the sacred beauty of our world and our shared responsibility to protect it. Founder of the female artist collective World Wide Women, she has exhibited internationally, including at the Saatchi Gallery, Christie’s, and in London, New York and Paris.

Charlotte Mabon is a singer-songwriter whose voice carries devotion, soulfulness, and subtle grace. With poetic lyrics that move through hope, despair, grief, longing, and love, her music gently opens the heart and reminds us of the sacred thread running through all things. She wrote the song Each Life Sacred, which began this project.

Ayla Schafer is a multilingual ‘world folk’ singer-songwriter and visionary artist known for her poetic songs in Spanish, English, and Proto-Celtic. Her music expresses a deep relationship with earth consciousness and ancestral wisdom, creating sacred, heart-opening encounters that inspire a remembering of who we truly are.

Kieran King is Head of Humanitarian Programming at War Child, which works in thirteen countries to protect, educate and stand up for the rights of children affected by conflict. He leads emergency responses and develops the organisation’s ability to reach children most acutely affected by war. With over 15 years’ experience, he has previously worked for Save the Children and the Mine Advisory Group.

Taz Babiker is a Sudanese-British singer-songwriter based in Devon. His music bridges Arabic and English influences, weaving themes of love, belonging, and the sanctity of life into intimate, devotional soundscapes.

Matthew Barley is internationally known as a cellist, improviser, arranger, and Artistic Director of Between The Notes. His musical world focuses on projects that connect people in different ways, blurring the boundaries that never really existed between genres and people.

Naomi Greene is a French-American singer-songwriter and harpist who performs with an electric harp and sings in both her mother tongues. Her music blends alternative, experimental and pop influences, from Los Angeles to Paris. You may have heard her in Armani’s “My Way” campaign or performing with La Femme and Laurent Voulzy.

Johnny Flynn is a singer, composer, musician and actor. He has released five albums and composed for film, TV and theatre, including work for period instruments at the Globe Theatre. His recent acting projects include Hangmen, True West, Emma, Beast, Stardust and The Dig. His latest album The Moon Also Rises was written with Robert Macfarlane.

Nick Barbachano has dedicated much of his life to building community through ritual, music, prayer and celebration. His music explores the mystic nature of the human condition, reflecting a journey from philosophical contemplation to prayer. His poetic songs call for gratitude and celebration of all that we have.

Olivia Fern is a singer-songwriter whose music speaks to themes of longing, loss, and connection to the Earth. Based in the Lake District National Park, her work is rooted in nature and evokes a sense of the unseen yet tangible beauty within all things.

Ya’Acov Darling Khan is the author of Jaguar in the Body, Butterfly in the Heart – the Real-Life Initiation of an Everyday Shaman and co-founder of Movement Medicine with his wife, Susanna.

Anika Nixdorf is a German-English multidisciplinary artist based in Devon, UK. Working across painting, cyanotype and ceramics, she explores transformation, spirituality, and the feminine through vivid, symbolic imagery. Influenced by art psychotherapy and shamanic traditions, her work bridges the earthly and the ethereal, the personal and the collective.

Lauren Noa, known as Little Whale, is a U.S.–Sweden–based ceremonial musician and recording artist who uses sound as a bridge for healing and remembrance. She weaves music, prayer, and meditative sound into songs that bring ceremony into everyday life.

Petra Palumbo is a homeware designer celebrated for her distinctive approach to pattern, colour and storytelling. Through her brand, she creates patterned homewares for joyful living, blending heritage craftsmanship with contemporary design. Her work is rooted in sustainability, sentiment, and the beauty of everyday rituals.

Leor and Souli are part of Ripples Collective, a group of Palestinian and Israeli non-violent activists, artists, and heart-led humans working together through connection, strength and love to embody another possibility. You can hear more of their story in Episode 230 on Sacred Activism, Liberation and Peace.

To find out more about Each Life Sacred and donate, visit crowdfunder.co.uk/p/each-life-sacred

To connect or work with Amisha, visit amisha.co.uk

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