Photo Credit: Vasile Burla

September 7, 2026

Five Voices, One Luton: Introducing the 2026 Young Revolutonaries.

Five Luton-based young creatives will be bringing their ideas, perspectives and artistic practices to life as part of the latest cohort of Young Revolutonaries. This year’s cohort spans illustration and animation, combined arts, painting and sketching, interdisciplinary practice and creative storytelling, reflecting the breadth of talent and imagination that exists across Luton.

But rather than telling you about them ourselves, we want you to hear from the Young Revolutonaries in their own words. Who exactly are these young artists? What inspires them? What does their creative practice mean to them? And how do their ideas connect with the people, places and experiences that shape Luton?

Kevon Anokwawe

“Hello! I’m Kevon, an illustrator and animator who creates dreamlike art about human experiences. My art style tends to combine detailed linework with shadows and contrast to create an otherworldly atmosphere where I can tell all sorts of unconventional stories.

I think visual art is the perfect medium for storytelling. As a child, comics and manga taught me a lot about telling complex and moving stories in only a handful of pages. It’s something I try to replicate in all of my art. I want to be able to convey a complete story in as little as one image.

Luton can seem so overlooked despite having so many interesting stories to tell. I’ve always been drawn to fantasy worlds that seem just like ours but are hiding something beneath the surface; sometimes Luton feels like that world. Mundane from afar but hiding something strange and magical if you’re willing to look inside.

As part of the Young Revolutonaries, I’d like to explore Luton as a setting and see what unique stories might come of it. I want to rediscover my hometown and envision it in a whole new light”.

Instagram: @octoartstuff

Sharmin Ahmed

“Have you ever wondered about the mysterious lives behind every door or what lives beneath the cracks of our pavements? Whether fairies truly exist within our midsts or the origins behind that one stuffed bunny you found abandoned on the curb?

Hi, I’m Sharmin, a creative practitioner who dabbles in oil pastels, digital art and prose fiction. I seek to explore the little nuggets of stories that can be found in this town by using the Young Revolutonairies program to bring the community together in a collaborative effort to unearth and display these stories for everyone to see.

Storytelling, you see, is an art form I adore in all forms, sparked from my days of watching cartoons and anime on daytime TV, both of which I’m still very much engrossed in, to reading novels and comics to playing video games. I’m excited by this opportunity Revoluton has provided me and I can’t wait to learn how to host workshops and create art to encourage the community to take a second look at their surroundings and discover the potential stories you can find from just meandering around the town”.

Elisha Anthony

“Hey, my name’s Elisha and I am super happy to be involved with the Young Revolutonaries programme!

My creative practices come in the form of painting, sketching, tattooing, and handicrafts.

I am often inspired by nature, decorative architecture and travel, but all creative art forms bring me sparks of ideas and creativity.

In this collaboration, I will be creating a mural! I hope to create a piece of art that inspires young people to follow their passions and dreams. Creativity comes from within, so I hope to inspire people to trust and explore inner callings and not be afraid to do something different!

I look forward to meeting and creating with new people – to make a fun, collaborative idea become a reality!”

Instagram: @elisshasspace

Rhett Logan

“Luton has spent a long time trying to prove that we are just as talented and culturally rich as the rest of the country, and the world. I want to see what happens after the proving.

Since returning to Luton in 2021 after graduating in BA Graphic Communication, I seem to have taken the role of some kind of psychopomp of life. My practice is manifold as an interdisciplinary artist exploring writing, design, music and my desire to experience arts and culture is similarly insatiable. In searching voraciously for what Luton has to offer, I’ve discovered that we have vast and vibrant creative communities who largely don’t know the others exist. A network of nodes with no lines drawn between them. Maybe I’m the missing link. Maybe it’s my job to connect.

Revoluton have been doing the necessary work to provoke and activate a dreaming people and with their resources as a Young Revolutonary, I will work with artists and creators from, in, and connected to Luton, to create what is possibly our widest document yet of a distinctly Lutonian art. Something avant garde, experimental, leftfield, surreal, transgressive, radical, eclectic and above all else, interesting. Lutonica, if you will. Maybe you’re the missing link. Maybe it’s your job to create”.

Instagram: @anakdotorg

Chris'Shane Bhatti

Chris’Shane’s project Sounds of the Underground: Resistance in Existence is a celebration of Bury Park through music, food and shared stories. Inspired by community radio, sound-system culture and Pedra do Sal, the project will bring people together for a public listening party shaped by songs, recordings, film and memories contributed by local residents.

By exploring what Bury Park sounds like, Chris’Shane hopes to challenge the tired narratives placed on the area and reclaim public space through joy, culture and collective listening. Beginning in Bury Park, the project will also explore how the idea could travel into other spaces and communities.

A Luton native creative activist and community practitioner, Chris’Shane creates work around identity, migration, belonging and resistance. Their practice brings together sound, storytelling, theatre, food and conversation to create welcoming spaces where overlooked voices can be heard and people can connect—ideally with a good playlist and something decent to eat.

Instagram: @vat3rmelon

Together, this year’s Young Revolutonaries offer five different ways of seeing, making and telling stories. While their creative practices are distinct, each has explored ideas around identity, belonging and connectedness to Luton. Through their projects, they’re creating new ways for people to see themselves, connect with one another and celebrate the many stories that make Luton what it is. We can’t wait to see where their ideas take them.

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