Momentum

A summary of last year's Momentum (pdf)

Momentum 2025 report

Three stories of international collaborations catalysed by Momentum.

Momentum case study - Haven EAF

Momentum case study - Lublin

Momentum case study - Wonder Fools Theatre SAN

If you are engaging with Momentum for the first time and want to know more, our information session for the Scottish arts sector (recorded in June 2025) contains useful information on how it all works, and how to make the most of interacting with the programme. Keep an eye out for information on our 2026 edition.

British Council Scotland is committed to maintaining and growing Scotland's international connections and contribution across the arts, education and society sectors. We are part of the British Council, the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We create friendly knowledge and understanding between the people of the UK and other countries. We do this by making a positive contribution to the UK and the countries we work with – changing lives by creating opportunities, building connections and engendering trust.

Creative Scotland is the public body that supports the arts, screen and creative industries across all parts of Scotland on behalf of everyone who lives, works or visits here. They enable people and organisations to work in and experience the arts, screen and creative industries in Scotland by helping others to develop great ideas and bring them to life.

Festivals Edinburgh is a strategic umbrella organisation focused on over-arching areas of mutual interest. Its sole focus is to maintain and develop the value of the Festivals’ and the Festival City’s leading position locally and globally, via major collaborative projects and strategic initiatives.

Hilkka-Liisa Iivanainen (she/her)
Tampere Theatre / Tampere Theatre Festival

Hilkka-Liisa (Hili) Iivanainen is a Principal Director at Tampere Theatre in Tampere, Finland and works across curating, programming and international development at Tampere Theatre Festival. Tampere Theatre is a repertory theatre, which creates new plays, adaptations of classics and musicals for a broad and diverse audience. Hili directs productions and is part of the artistic executive team, focussed on new production development and programming. Tampere Theatre Festival is an annual, international theatre festival. Hili’s curatorial focus is on contemporary plays and performances. 

Lotta Nevalainen (she/her)
Circus & Dance Finland 

Lotta Nevalainen is the head of international development at Circus & Dance Finland. She manages international relations and promotion, artistic development projects, and offers advice to artists on their projects, with a focus on strengthening collaboration and networks as well as increasing the visibility of Finnish circus arts. Lotta has worked in the performing arts internationally in diverse work roles for over twenty years. She has participated in several selection and curatorial committees for the circus festivals and performing arts showcases and is a board member at the Theatre Museum in Helsinki. 

Veera Suvalo Grimberg (she/her)
Danskompaniet Spinn

Danskompaniet Spinn is a small company with big ambitions. Norm breaking and inclusive, it works with disabled and non-disabled dancers.  Veera is the founder and Artistic Director.  Spinn’s repertoire ranges from narrative performances for children to outdoor events and completely abstract creations.  The company engages sharp choreographers, and invests in original music and visually enhanced costume design, with the company’s diversity always producing creative solutions.  Audio descriptions, sensory workshops and relaxed performances are areas of special interest. Spinn is part of two important networks of inclusive dance companies and festivals: Nordic Inclusive Dance Network (NIDN) and Spark.

Jens Smith Wergeland (he/him)
Davvi Centre for Performing Arts

Jens Smith Wergeland is Director of Davvi – Centre for Performing Arts, a centre for the independent performing arts in Northern Norway. Davvi’s strategy is grounded in risk-taking and community-building practices, strengthening the social role of performing arts by centring northern, Sámi and minority perspectives and ensuring that art can be developed and experienced across geography. Jens leads strategic development, programming and partnerships, with a focus on building structures that support artistic exploration, fair working conditions and long-term sustainability for artists. His international practice emphasises exchange across borders, particularly within Arctic and peripheral contexts.

Angela Albrano (she/her)
Libro Aperto Festival

Angela Albrano has worked across cultural programming, education, and audience development, collaborating with festivals, public institutions, schools, universities, and cultural organisations across Italy for the past 20 years. Angela’s practice focuses on creating meaningful cultural experiences, particularly for younger generations.

As Artistic Director of the Libro Aperto Festival, she oversees the festival’s artistic vision, content development, and strategic partnerships, contributing to the growth of an international cultural event dedicated to young audiences. Alongside this role, Angela teaches Italian Literature at secondary-school level and is pursuing doctoral research at Università degli Studi di Salerno, investigating how cultural festivals can encourage youth engagement and cultivate lasting cultural communities.

Dr Choman Hardi (she/her)
Hardi Cultural Centre 

After 26 years of displacement, Dr Hardi returned to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq to teach English and gender studies at the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (AUIS), where she founded the Center for Gender and Development Studies. In response to ongoing conflict, shrinking civil spaces, backlash against gender studies, and limited opportunities for creative practice, Dr Hardi co-founded the Hardi Cultural Center (HCC) with her husband, Aras Fatah.

HCC is an independent, non-profit space dedicated to social justice, creativity, critical thinking, and community building. Dr Hardi leads on programme development and expanding interdisciplinary activities connecting local and international artists, writers, and scholars. The HCC seeks UK partnerships through residencies, collaborations, and knowledge exchange.

Mayura Maniyamkode Srayamskumar (she/her)
Mathrybhumi Printing and Publishing

Mayura Maniyamkode Srayamskumar is a Director at Mathrubhumi, one of South India’s leading media houses. She spearheads Mathrubhumi.com, Kappa Digital, Mathrubhumi Books and Club FM. Mayura also started Kappa Originals: a South Indian music label that focuses on original music production by independent artists, and founded Kappa CULTR, a vibrant music and cultural festival.  She is an active member of the Digital News Publishers Association, and on the Board of Directors of the International News Media Association South Asia Division Board.

Mayura is the festival director of the Mathrubhumi International Festival of Letters, India’s renowned literary gathering. 

Aan Mansyur (he/him)
Makassar International Writers Festival

Aan Mansyur is Director of the Makassar International Writers Festival, an annual literary festival that has been running since 2011. It connects and facilitates critical dialogue between writers, artists, cultural and book industry practitioners, activists, journalists, readers across generations, and community groups from various backgrounds. MIWF won the International Excellence Award from the London Book Fair as the Best Literary Festival 2020.

Aan serves as a facilitator for the National Talent Management for Arts and Culture programme, specifically in the field of Literature. He facilitates and curates programmes with partner institutions both at the national and international levels to develop and promote Indonesian writers. He is also a published author who has won several national awards.

Felipe Martínez (he/him)
Bogota International Book Fair

The Bogotá International Book Fair (FILBo) - organised by the Colombian Book Chamber, a trade association bringing together publishers, distributors, booksellers, and printers in the country - was founded in 1988. It’s the most important cultural event in Colombia and one of the most significant book fairs in the Spanish-speaking world.  In 2026, FILBo hosted writers from 30 countries across all five continents. It aims to provide an international platform for the circulation of books, authors, rights, and translations. 

Felipe coordinates the fair’s official programme, invites and liaises with national and international guests, shapes panel discussions, and defines the event schedule. 

Emma Ofosua (she/her)
All African Women Poetry Festival

Emma Ofosua is a West African writer, cultural curator, and freestyle poet whose work centres on identity, memory, and the resilience of African women. She is founding director of the All African Women Poetry Festival, which platforms poets from across Africa and the diaspora, and serves as Managing Editor of Hadithi Magazine. As creative lead of Tuniq Africa LBG, Emma champions cultural entrepreneurship and structural development for African women writers. 

She authored I Wish You Courage in the Night Season, and her poem Reclamation, published in Decolonial Passage, was nominated for Best of the Net in 2024. Her international practice spans partnerships across Sub-Saharan Africa and the diaspora. 

Yu Qui (she/her)
Archipel Press

Yu Qiu (Yu) is an editor at Archipel Press, an independent literary press based in Shanghai. Working within a small team, she focuses on international literary fiction and narrative non-fiction in translation. Archipel is committed to long-term relationships with authors, translators, and agents, building a list that includes writers such as Sally Rooney, Yiyun Li, Colm Tóibín, and James Baldwin.

In her role, Yu acquires rights, edits translations, and oversees projects through to publication. She also contributes to Archipel’s international work with Chinese writers.  Alongside her editorial work, she is a translator and is currently translating Glyph by Ali Smith. She is particularly interested in literary exchange and collaborative forms that extend beyond the page.

Orlando Maaike Gouwenberg (she/her)
Sonsbeek art projects

Sonsbeek art projects is an international platform for art in public space based in Arnhem, the Netherlands. Founded in 1949, shortly after World War II, it is the oldest recurring large-scale public art exhibition in Europe. Centered in Park Sonsbeek, it has hosted groundbreaking editions that have shaped the international discourse on contemporary art, while maintaining a strong connection with local audiences. Sonsbeek fosters a space where knowledge production, experimentation, and engagement with diverse publics come together.

Before taking up her role as director of Sonsbeek, Orlando’s practice included curating multidisciplinary projects across contexts, programming film for the International Film Festival Rotterdam, and leading an international residency program in New Orleans.

Ranjit Hoskote (he/him)
Public Arts Trust of India (PATI) 

Ranjit Hoskote is a poet, cultural theorist, translator and curator. He is a member of the Public Arts Trust of India (PATI) and Curator of the first edition of its new annual arts festival, SITE Jodhpur (January-March 2027)

His poetry collections include Vanishing Acts: New & Selected Poems 1985-2005 (Penguin, 2006), Hunchprose (Penguin, 2021), and Icelight (Wesleyan University Press, 2023). His translation of the seminal 18th-century Urdu poet Mir Taqi Mir’s work has recently appeared as The Homeland’s an Ocean (Penguin Classics, 2024). Hoskote curated India’s first-ever national pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2011) and was co-curator of the 7th Gwangju Biennale (2008). He is a member of the Editorial Board of the Murty Classical Library of India, published by Harvard University Press, and a founding fellow of the Georgetown Global Dialogues program at Georgetown University. 

Eyimofe Ideh (she/her)
+234Art Fair 

Eyimofe Ideh is a Lagos-based curator and Lead Curator of the +234 Art Fair, an annual platform dedicated to promoting emerging Nigerian artists across disciplines including fine art, sculpture, photography, and digital art. The fair presents work from over 500 emerging artists annually, fostering public engagement, market access, and deeper understanding of Nigeria’s evolving contemporary art ecosystem.

In her role, Ideh develops large-scale curatorial frameworks that prioritise visibility, artist development, and accessible storytelling. Her practice spans both independent and collaborative projects, with a growing international focus. Her international art fair presentations include Investec Cape Town Art Fair (2025), Abu Dhabi Art (2025), and participation in RMB Latitudes CuratorLab (2025).  Her work centres on connecting local artistic practices to broader global dialogues, with a focus on underrepresented voices and evolving cultural identities.

Zehra Begum Kisla (she/her)
Yapι Kredi Culture Arts and Publishing

Yapι Kredi Culture Arts and Publishing is one of Turkey’s leading cultural institutions, located on Istanbul’s busiest pedestrian avenue. Free and open to the public seven days a week, it is committed to making art and culture widely accessible. Its programme brings together contemporary exhibitions, publishing, public events, and an important modern and contemporary art collection. 

Zehra is the sole in-house curator of Yapι Kredi Culture Arts Gallery, leading on exhibition planning, public programmes and collection care, and managing the production and delivery of a multi-year program. She also co-curates a spoken-word series staged at the building’s entrance that brings literature, performance, and public engagement into the flow of the city. Before returning to Istanbul from New York, she curated projects in New York, Vienna, and Paris.

Bojana Piškur (she/her)
Museum of Modern Art, Ljubljana

Bojana Piškur is a senior curator at the Museum of Modern Art in Ljubljana, Slovenia and holds a PhD from Charles University, Prague. Her curatorial and research work focuses on the Yugoslav and post-Yugoslav context, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the evolving concept of the “East(s)” in relation to art, culture, and politics. Since 2019, she has curated and co-curated the Southern Constellations exhibition series at institutions including Moderna galerija, Asia Culture Center in Gwangju, The Mosaic Rooms in London, and the Qattan Foundation in Ramallah. 

In 2025, she participated in the latest edition of the Kyiv Biennale at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw with her research project “East of East.” Her work explores how histories of political and cultural resistance can reshape contemporary understandings of power, identity, and solidarity.

Ieva Saudargaite (she/her)
Takeover Beirut

Ieva Saudargaite is a transdisciplinary artist working at the intersection of photography, architecture, and material research. She is the founder and director of the artist-run Takeover project space, established in late 2022. The space is a platform which provides space for both local and visiting artists to exhibit their works, host performances, or to hold workshops, and is also a meeting point for members of the artistic and creative community. 

Sara Szostak (she/her)
Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle

Sara is a curator at the Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle (CSW) in Warsaw, one of Poland's leading institutions for contemporary art. CSW's programme centres on experimental, interdisciplinary practice - spanning exhibitions, film, performance, residencies, and publishing - with a commitment to artistic risk-taking, critical discourse, and international collaboration. 

Sara develops and curates exhibitions, public programmes, and facilitates artist-led projects, with a particular focus on new media, video art, and experimental exhibitional formats, often exploring the intersections between art, technology, and speculative thinking. Recent projects range from Retina and Parquetry (2026), a solo exhibition with Piotr Bosacki, an artist working across animated film, drawing, musical composition, and literary text, to IF/THEN (2025-26), a major group show with 23 international artists working across gaming, LARP, and experimental narrative forms.

Anna Akkash (she/her)
Spaces for Cultural Intersection 

Anna Akkash is Programmes and Artistic Director at Spaces for Cultural Intersection, a Syria-based organisation working across six interconnected programs: community theatre, regional exchange and networking, documentation and audio drama, intangible heritage and storytelling, training and capacity-building, and digital archiving and research. The organisation’s ethos centers on cultural exchange, artistic collaboration, and the use of arts as a space for social recovery and safeguarding collective memory.

Anna leads the design and implementation of interdisciplinary cultural programs and artistic projects, with a focus on theatre, dramaturgy, and research-based performance. Her international practice includes collaborations with partners across the Arab region and Europe, fostering cross-border dialogue, knowledge exchange, and sustainable artistic networks.  Anna Akkash is a dramaturg, theatre director, and writer whose work is rooted in documentary theatre as a critical and political practice, engaging with memory, testimony, and the construction of narrative.

Jan Goossens (he/him)
L’Art Rue

L’Art Rue is an independent artist-led organisation in Tunis, founded 20 years ago by Tunisian choreographers Selma and Sofiane Ouissi. At the heart of L’Art Rue, which has its headquarters in the Medina of Tunis, is a year-round programme of multi-disciplinary artistic residencies, for Tunisian and international artists. Every two years this programme leads to Dream City, a festival of new work, whose 10th edition in October 2025 reached an audience of 30000. L’Art Rue also has substantial educational and civic programmes. 

Jan is co-artistic director, which includes strategic development and fundraising. Jan has worked with L’Art Rue for 10 years and has also run theatres, festivals and cultural programmes in Brussels, Marseille and Kinshasa, DRC.

Khaled Elayyan Salem (he/him)
Sareyyet Ramallah

Khaled Elayyan is the Executive Director of Sareyyet Ramallah in Palestine, the Founder and Director of Ramallah Contemporary Arts Festival, and the Artistic Director of Sareyyet Ramallah Dance Company.  Sareyyet Ramallah is an independent Palestinian community development organisation established in 1927, which runs diverse programmes and activities, including a contemporary dance company and dance festival.

Elayyan previously worked as the Director of the Popular Art Centre, the Executive Director of Al-Kasaba Theatre and Cinematheque.  He has directed several Palestinian festivals and is one of the founders of the Masahat Dance Network. He was a member of the advisory board of the Palestinian Cultural Fund and is currently a member of the advisory board of Filmlab Palestine, and a board member of Al-Kasaba Theatre & Cinematheque. 

Mona Soliman (she/her)
Wasla for Arts

Mona is the co-founder and General Manager of Wasla for Arts, an Egyptian company supporting the development of the performing arts scene across the Arab region. Wasla’s work focuses on accessibility, collaboration, and creating practical support systems for artists, including platforming and capacity-building programmes.

Mona leads strategy, project development, and partnerships, working closely with artists, cultural organisations, and international partners. Her practice includes facilitating international collaborations, supporting performance distribution, and designing training programmes for emerging performing arts managers.  Mona has worked across festivals, NGOs, and independent initiatives in Egypt and internationally. Her work focuses on building connections, supporting artists’ sustainability, and strengthening the cultural ecosystem through more inclusive and collaborative approaches.

Osama Ghanam (he/him)
Damascus Theatre Laboratory

Osama Ghanam is a theatre director, playwright, translator and academic.  He is the founder and artistic director of the Damascus Theatre Laboratory (DTL) which was founded in 2010 with a mission to establish a creative and independent space for artistic and empirical research for aspiring theatre professionals in Syria that motivates them to produce their own shows.

At Damascus Theatre Laboratory Osama has produced local adaptations of works by writers including Samuel Beckett, Mark Ravenhill, Franz Kroetz, Dario Fo, Harold Pinter and Tennessee Williams, as well as his own play Shams and Majd.  His works have been staged in Damascus, Beirut, Tunisia, Germany and Belgium. 

As well as plays he has translated Patrice Pavis’s Routledge Dictionary of Contemporary Theatre and Performance. He has a PhD in Theatre Studies from Paris 8 University and teaches at the Higher Institute of Theatre in Damascus and at Saint Joseph University in Beirut.