On my radar: Cate Le Bon’s cultural highlights

Le Guess Who?

This music festival in Utrecht is approaching its 20th year. I’ve been lucky enough to go as a performer and a punter over the past decade, and there’s a unity and a collective joy to it that is really palpable. It’s dedicated to musical diversity and platforming the unheard. One of my highlights was watching Faiz Ali Faiz, the Pakistani qawwali singer, in 2023; it brought me to my knees. It’s a sanctuary for adventurous music and it feels like every year the goal is to be better, not bigger. I find that hugely inspiring.

Miista

This is a London fashion label that I’ve been aware of for about 10 years that puts out these long-lasting, timeless designs. Their clothes and shoes are strange, unique. They’re pricier than high street clothes, but they’re adaptable and intended to be worn in lots of different ways. I have some of their shoes that I’ve worn a lot on tour. There’s something reassuring about how slow-building and considerate they are as a business; it’s a welcome antidote to fast fashion.

Worthy of the Event by Vivian Blaxell

I picked this up in a bookshop on Broadway Market, east London, and was sold after reading the first page. The opening line reads: “My vagina disappoints me.” Blaxell is a trans essayist from Australia and the first essay starts with her transition in the 1960s. Another is about arson at a Japanese temple. They are beautiful, strange, often disorienting flights through human existence, with Blaxell as your guide; and she’s empathic, funny, smart and philosophical. The writing feels alive. It’s a ride.

Aki Kaurismäki

This past year, I’ve watched a lot of Aki Kaurismäki movies. I hadn’t heard of him before, and I became obsessed with him as a director and as a person. He’s an incredible creative force. Most of his movies – the most recent is Fallen Leaves – are beautiful, sympathetic portrayals of lonely people in Finland. His style is very minimalistic, but there’s compassion in everything he does. Shadows in Paradise, about a relationship between a binman and a woman who works in a shop, is the first of his films that I watched. It’s a lovely entry point to his work.

Bute Park, Cardiff

This has become a favourite place of mine over the past year. I found myself back in Cardiff somewhat unexpectedly and got myself a little dog. Now I go to Bute Park daily and feel connected to it in a way that was lost on me when I was living here in my twenties. When people come to visit, I’ll take them to the park and show them all my favourite trees; the tulip tree is a highlight. And there’s a really lovely cafe that’s a meeting point for the park community. It’s a really special place.

Palestinian Bedouin Psychedelic Dabka Archive by Atef Swaitat and Abu Ali

The Palestinian Sound Archive has a wonderful show on NTS Radio that celebrates Palestinian culture, which is an act of resistance to the dehumanisation of the Palestinian people. It’s how I discovered this album [available on Bandcamp], a collection of 1970s field recordings. It is meditative, cyclical, dance-y music. I don’t understand the language but the sentiment translates, and it really moves my heart.

Photographs Jo Hale/Redferns/Getty Images, Maarten Mooijman, Alamy, Majazz Project/ Palestinian Sound Archive