The Venus Bushfires
Helen Epega (The Venus Bushfires) is a British-Nigerian composer, writer, synaesthetic artist, speaker and creative innovator whose work explores culture, identity, belonging and the ways we connect with one another through story, creativity and shared experience.
Working across music, opera, performance, visual art and emerging technologies, Helen creates multidisciplinary works that bring together people, ideas and perspectives in unexpected ways. Her practice is shaped by her experience of synaesthesia, through which she experiences sound as colour, and by a deep curiosity about what it means to be human in an increasingly interconnected world.
Helen is the creator and composer of Song Queen: A Pidgin Opera, the world’s first opera in Pidgin English. Since its premiere, the work has been celebrated for its bold fusion of African storytelling traditions and Western classical forms, opening up new conversations about language, identity and representation. Her wider body of work includes Of Earth and Quill, Sounds of Us UK, Where The River Holds Us and a growing portfolio of collaborative projects spanning performance, heritage, research and community engagement.
At the heart of Helen’s work is a belief that creativity can help us imagine new possibilities for ourselves and for society. Whether creating an opera, an immersive experience or a participatory artwork, she is interested in how culture can foster connection, empathy, curiosity and belonging.
Alongside her artistic practice, Helen is the founder of Well Tuned Human Ltd and creator of HiQuu®, a patent-pending multisensory infrastructure designed to create more inclusive and participatory experiences. Inspired by her lived experience as a synaesthete and informed by her Access as Creative Core™ framework, HiQuu® brings together creativity, accessibility and technology to explore new ways for people to connect, engage and belong. Through collaborations with universities, cultural institutions, researchers and communities, Helen continues to develop innovative approaches to participation across the arts and beyond.
Helen’s work has been performed, exhibited, commissioned and developed in collaboration with a wide range of cultural, academic and industry partners.
Recent collaborators and partners include London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London, Brunel University London, Thames Festival Trust, Tête à Tête: The Opera Festival, Wilton’s Music Hall and the Royal Albert Hall.
Alongside her creative practice, Helen is an active advocate for artists, authors, creatives and underrepresented voices. She serves on the Board of the Society of Authors and chairs its Risk Committee. Helen has advocated at UNESCO and the Houses of Parliament, contributing to important conversations about creativity, culture, inclusion and the role of the arts in society and wellbeing.
Helen is a Clore Emerging Leader and her work and commentary have been featured by the BBC, CNN, Reuters, The Guardian, The New York Times, France 24 and other international media.
Through all her work, Helen seeks to create experiences that invite people to listen more deeply, imagine more boldly and connect more meaningfully with themselves, each other and the world around them.