The Momentum Delegate Programme kicks off in Edinburgh today, Wednesday 7 August, acting as a central hub from the world-leading Festival City to connect key cultural players from across the world with the wider Scottish and international cultural sector.
Dancers at the Fringe, credit Claudine Quinn, Festivals Edinburgh.
Every August during the Edinburgh Festivals the capital of Scotland becomes a global celebration of culture and creativity, with citizens of the city and the country joined by artists and audiences from all over the world.
At Momentum, a cohort of producers, government agencies, funders, stakeholders and programmers from invited countries will join a tailored programme of networking and meetings with creative practitioners, policymakers and educators in Scotland. The collaborations established will enable long-term relationships, platforming Scotland and its artists and art organisations on the world stage and further cementing Scotland’s international cultural reputation.
Led by Festivals Edinburgh, in partnership with Creative Scotland and British Council Scotland, with additional support from City of Edinburgh Council and Event Scotland, the hub will open its doors from Creative Scotland’s Edinburgh headquarters at Waverley Gate.
On behalf of Momentum partners, Julia Amour, Director of Festivals Edinburgh said: “The Edinburgh Festivals are distinctively Scottish yet profoundly international, and we’re delighted to welcome cultural representatives from around the globe to our Momentum programme, where we will help them build relationships with our festivals and the wider Scottish cultural sector.”
The 36 delegates arriving are from Viet Nam, Sweden, South Korea, the MENA region (Middle East & North Africa), Türkiye, Mexico and Poland – as well as two artform delegations for Literature and Visual Arts. Information on each area, its delegates and sessions are available on the Momentum website.
Since 2011, Momentum has brought over 700 international delegates to Edinburgh during the buzz of the city’s August festivals. These have contributed to multiple collaborations, most recently:
Scottish Dance Theatre (SDT) connected with Ciało/Umysł, an international contemporary dance festival in Warsaw, developed from a meeting set up by the Momentum team last year. After the initial introduction, with support from the Momentum follow-up fund, SDT Artistic Director Joan Clevillé visited Poland for Ciało’s dance platform.
SDT’s Senior Producer, Robyn Jancovich-Brown said: “The visit enabled SDT to get a sense of the scene, visit venues, make more connections in the area, and, critically, really understand the cultural and political context in which the artists and organisations are working. We’re now talking about next steps and exploring plans for an artistic exchange programme in autumn 2025, in which Scottish and Polish dancers will be able to work together.”
Stanza Poetry Festival Artistic Director Ryan Van Winkle met Manuela Moser from the Cúirt International Festival of Literature from Ireland at Momentum 2023.
Ryan said: “Initially Manuela and I had some great chats just about being new in our roles and the challenges of directing festivals. We stayed in touch, sharing ideas about poets and writers, and then agreed to partner on a grant application. That enabled us to have an extra event at Stanza last year, in collaboration with Cúirt International Festival of Literature, called Companion Planting. An artist and an author visited from Ireland to talk about strategies of support and examined ‘care’ within collaborative artistic working practices. This was a perfect fit with Stanza's theme last year. It's rare to see a project happen that fast; I felt lucky to encounter Manuela, and get something going so quickly.”
Background
Creative Scotland is the public body that supports culture and creativity across all parts of Scotland, distributing funding provided by the Scottish Government and The National Lottery. Further information at creativescotland.com. Follow us on X, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Learn more about the value of art and creativity in Scotland and join in at www.ourcreativevoice.scot.
The British Council is the UK’s organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. It supports peace and prosperity by building connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide. We work with people in over 200 countries and territories and are on the ground in more than 100 countries. In 2022-23 we reached 600 million people.
Festivals Edinburgh is the high-level organisation, created and driven by the directors of Edinburgh’s 11 major international festivals, to take the lead on their joint strategic development and work to sustain their leadership role locally and globally.
Media contact
Olivia Carr, Media Relations & PR Officer (Interim), Creative Scotland
+44 7970 962 322