My name is a Nabihah Iqual, otherwise known as Throwing Shade.
I'm a DJ, producer and NTS radio presenter from London.
I've lived here my whole life, and I love this city,
but things seem to be changing.
Last year, a massive 323,000 people emigrated from Britain,
and with spiralling costs of living, contrasting with better qualitiy of life elsewhere
it's easy to see why.
I'm visiting Lisbon and Leipzig,
two sities with burgeoning music and art scenes.
I want to see whether they can offer me the same kind of life as London does,
but in a more affordable way.
Will I ever relocate there permenantly?
Just arrived in Leipzig, and it's obviously it's a lot colder than Lisbon.
The first time I was here was to play a live show,
after the release of my first record
which actually came out on a Leipzig based label called Ominira.
I had a really good time out in Lisbon, such a great city and
it seems like there's loads and loads going on there,
I met so many cool people.
I think I could live there probably,
I think it would be cool to go out and just soak up a bit more of
the music scene, and it would be cool to do some kind of collaboration
Leipzig kind of feels like the epitome of a German city
It's a lot bigger than Lisbon, the roads are wide,
I can't see any hills anywhere.
I'm just looking forward in general to meeting some people here,
and finding out a little bit more about what goes on in the city.
I'm at the Spinneri, which used to be Europe's largest cotton mill
and now it's been converted into loads of different artist's studios and galleries.
I'm here with one of the artists in residence, Ryan,
who's come all the way from Australia.
Ryan, what made you come to Leipzig for the residency here?
A lot of painters I love are here in Leipzig, and East Germany,
historically, as well as the contemporary scene
so I just wanted to be here!
What do you think it is about Leipzig that attracts
such a strong community of artists?
- It might be that it's slightly smaller, compared to somewhere like Berlin,
It's a bit more laidback, so it's...
it has a different kind of rhythm, and
it's much more, kind of, hospitable to kind of a working rhythm
like a personal working rhythm
This place is so huge, and it's full of so many studios and galleries
and I really love the sort ethos, and work ethic that exists here
There's a lot of support when it comes to collaborations and working together.
Artists can work here and also exhibit their work in gallery spaces
in the same complex.
You've got to remember that this is just one space in Leipzig
that houses artists, and there's a lot more going on around the city
which I still need to find out about.
The sheer scale of artists working together across the city en masse
is really overwhelming.
I've never experienced a creative community spirit like this.
and it's something to be inspired by.
People here seem really focused, determined and collaborative.
You don't get that in the noise of the bigger cities.
Pretty different from Lisbon and London in that respect
but it's not just the community spirit that's a draw here - it's the affordability.
I'm going to meet a graphic designer called Albrecht,
who's going to show me around his setup.
He's producing great work without spending loads of money
and I want to find out how.
Maybe you can talk a little bit about what you do in the city here?
- So I came here to study at the Academy of Visual Arts, Leipzig.
I recognised really really quick that I like it here a lot.
- Is it easy to make enough money?
-It's not so easy to make much money, but you don't need much money, so it's okay.
What sort of rent do you have to pay on studios?
My room hosts two people
and it's really in the inner circle of the city
we pay less than €300 for 230-240 square metres
- Wow - jealous!
Yeah, not imaginable for London.
No way, no way!
The perfect situation will be that I have a cheap flight to Leipzig,
and go sometimes for a month, or something like this, to do projects around the world.
The artistic community have been super friendly during my visit here,
but people in Leipzig's music scene seem more reluctant to speak to me.
In our next episode, I'll be trying to track down Leipzig's club culture.
It's so underground it's almost impossible to find if you're not already part of the scene.