About: Born in Kenya to parents of Indian origin, Shamez spent his coming of age in Flemingdon Park, a haven for global immigration in one of the most multicultural cities in the world. With the tumbling of the Berlin wall in 1989, his love of humanities and thirst for experience led him to eschew formal education and instead travel, live and work abroad for most of his 20s, most notably in Paris, Berlin and Wrocław.

 

Amlani parlayed a summer job as a busboy in a restaurant to a lifetime career, having birthed French bistro La Palette in 2000 and live music venue Drom Taberna in 2018. The former became the launch pad for activist organizations like Streets are for People! and The Urban Repair Squad that came with a mandate to reclaim public space from car culture to show that another world is possible. The latter has become a culture hub for musicians and music fans yearning for diversity, connectivity and new directions. 

 

Shamez loves creating opportunities for strangers to meet and exchange ideas and you can often hear him expound the virtues of Venture Communism behind the bar, on the stage or in front of a camera.