Artist Group 2025 Recipients

We are very excited to welcome Aderayo Adenekan, Andre Toni Anderson, Joy-Maria Onotu and Amy Lawrence,
brilliant artists who work with different styles and forms of the Caribbean & African diaspora. 

This is our first year running this 7-months long, programme for artists to connect, exchange experiences and perspectives.
Then collectively work on a project of their own design and creative vision.'

Aderayo Adenekan

I am a queer, Black artist with a diverse creative practice spanning dance, film, and writing, all of which are informed by my experiences at the intersections of identity. My creative practice can simply be described as ‘storytelling’, shaped largely by my experiences. I’m looking to explore identity, queerness, and race, creating pieces that are meant to be both thought-provoking and emotionally engaging.

Amy Lawrence

Amy is an artist, cultural worker and producer from Lancashire, based in Glasgow. Her creative practise is an approach to storytelling as a surreal and archival practise using multiple visual and experimental performance and choreographic outcomes within a ‘gathering’ practise. She enjoys working in challenging spaces such as outdoors at night and busy public spaces. Pointing at institutional frameworks in place and at play is central to Amy’s creative work alongside food and eating as a site for pleasure. Dance community has always been part of her social performance practise and Glasgow has so far been an abundant space for exploring and developing her movement and connections. 

Andre Toni Anderson

Andre Anderson is a theatre maker, performer and Dancer based in Dumfries in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Andre has a keen interest in multi-disciplinary performance, preferring to mix multiple genres at once to create multi-layered work.

Andre creates performances from an adaptive perspective; preferring to delve deep into the mechanics of the work brought forward rather than going for one style. This creates a sense of mystery and epic storytelling. Andre's main dance displine is contempary dance but has trained in other movment practices that infoms the way he like too move. 

Andre is interested in world issues and how they affect the individual, hoping to gain an understanding with his audience. By presenting relatable problems in an intimate style, the audience experiences stories in a deeply personalised way. Andre is interested in pushing boundaries, learning and developing constantly as a researcher – and hopes to reach wide audiences with his art.

Joy Maria Onotu

Joy Maria Onotu, a young Spanish born of a Nigerian and Congolese family is a professional dancer performer and choreographer with dance styles as diverse as Africa, dancehall and Latin American. She has been dancing sice the age of eight and has been heavily influenced by the Congolese, Commercial and Reggaeton. Since moving to Glasgow in 2007, Joy has performed in a number of events which includes: 

Pan African dance styles,

Performed,  University of Glasgow), Clan Macondo,African Achievers Award in London,

O2 Glasgow Mela,  Project X and Imaginate. 

Joy María has created her CIC company( Joy Afrolatin Project CIC), which focuses on empowering Children from the diaspora and has classes on every Saturday.