2026-27 Associate Leadership Programme

We’re excited to introduce our 2026/27 Associates Leaders. The Associate Leadership Programme brings together emerging and established artists/creatives with lived experience of homelessness from across the UK – generously supported by Linbury Trust, David Wise, Arts Council England, Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Albert Hunt Trust.  

They are committed to expanding their artistic practice, strengthening their confidence and leadership, and using creativity for connection, community building, and social change. From storytelling and music to visual arts and co-production, they are shaping new, ethical, and inclusive futures through their work.

They will spend a year with us on a part-time, professional development programme which includes a retreat; modular training in areas co-created by the cohort; a placement in an arts org; a creative budget and a showcase, with a golden thread of wellbeing and support throughout. Please see their biogs below (in alphabetical order):

Bahja Mahamed (London) is a videographer and photographer. She has founded MBU (Make Be You) to make films to support people, especially women who are living through abuse and oppression – and to be able to tell their stories. She wants to make people feel heard and to enable them to inspire others.

Carmen Cullen (Rochester) is an illustrator and painter who focuses on storytelling through portraiture and symbolism, incorporating elements of their environment, animals and nature. With a versatile art style, they often reference music, films and their childhood exploring the conflicting emotions of hyper independence and immaturity, themes of loneliness and the effects of trauma. Carmen seeks to create a sense of comfort and safety within their work, sometimes through humour, sometimes by reconnecting with childlike creative freedom and femininity.

‘gobscure’ (Newcastle) works in creative resistance across visual art and writing. They have toured brokenword shows spiralling out of their lived experiences of homelessness supported by Live Theatre Newcastle where they’re now Artistic Associate. ‘edgecity: monologues from the streets’ was given 3 nights of readings by Jason Williamson (Sleaford Mods) last autumn. Gold Award, non-fiction, 2025’s Creative Future Awards for an essay from ‘manyfesto: a memoir in essays’ they are currently writing. Live Theatre’s Artistic Director said of them: ‘One of our country’s most original artists’.

Jaana Parker (Farnborough) is a musician – her artistic practice is rooted in using music to build confidence, connection, and creative expression, particularly with people experiencing homelessness or instability. She accompanies community music groups, plays keyboard in a church band, and supports anyone with a musical interest — from choirs and plays to individual instrumentalists — by offering piano accompaniment that helps their ideas come alive. She also teaches piano, using simple structures and encourages to help learners find their own voice. She also loves writing and has written some articles about multiple disadvantage, addiction and homelessness.

Karl Brown (Manchester) is a multidisciplinary artist working across acrylic, watercolour, and graffiti, blending pop art aesthetics with a sense of nostalgia. His work explores the intersection of memory and modern culture, often carrying a subtle political undercurrent. Through layered textures and contrasting styles, he aims to challenge perceptions while keeping the work visually accessible and emotionally familiar.

MH Sarkis (London) works in textiles, CGI/film and electronics to create work that is interdisciplinary, experimental, and often interactive. It has an affinity for speculative feminism, typically grounded in real-world, cultural and relational experiences. Her practice often plays with the idea of women as subversive disseminators and [re]producers – figures who shift form in her work, emerging not always as literal bodies, but as glitching androids, coded textile objects, or portrayals of ecological collapse.

Noah Silverstone (London) an artist, writer and actor who specialises in political theatre, physical theatre and puppetry. Noah is writing his debut musical ‘Hermit Crab’ about teenage homelessness, and co-writing the play ‘Heim’ about the Shanghai Jewish ghetto in WW2. Noah also designs and builds fantastical puppets made from materials scavenged from the streets. For the past year Noah has been a Curatorial Fellow at London Museum – uncovering hidden stories of disability from London Museum’s archives, leading co-production sessions, and curating a display about disability and nightlife.