the team behind BORN::FREE
belinda::zhawi | she/her
founding creative director
Belinda Zhawi is a Zimbabwean literary and sound artist based in London, author of Small Inheritances (ignitionpress, 2018), & experiments with sound/text performance as MA.MOYO. Her work has been featured on various platforms including The White Review, NTS, Boiler Room & BBC Radio. She’s held residencies with Triangle Asterides, Serpentine Galleries and ICA London.
Belinda co-founded BORN::FREE in 2014 alongside writer and filmmaker Chima Nsoedo. Together, they ran BORN::FREE Fridays, a regular night platforming LDN’s emerging literary and performance talent.
For BORN::FREE, Belinda has initiated partnerships with the British Council and the ICA to facilitate an intercultural exchange between British and South African writers and performance poets; she also leads on BORN::FREE’s education work, programme planning and curation, and company management.
malakaï::sargeant | they/them
co-creative director
malakaï is an artist, producer and educator working across literature and live performance. A Barbican Young Poets alumnus, malakaï co-founded and was Artistic Director of producing theatre company The S+K Project between 2014-19. Aged 21, malakaï was appointed Associate Director at Theatre Peckham, where they were responsible for cultural programming, nurturing young artists and developing new writing.
As a theatre director and dramaturg , they have recently presented performance and installation work with the likes of the National Gallery with UAL, Chichester Festival Theatre, Bush Theatre, Royal Court and Guildhall School of Music and Drama. malakaï is currently undertaking an MA in Black British Literature at Goldsmiths University of London.
For BORN::FREE, malakaï leads on fundraising, programme planning and curation, initiating and managing strategic partnerships, financial planning and budgeting.
davida::afriyie | she/her
events producer
Davida is a SW London-based writer, performer, facilitator and creative producer of Ghanaian heritage.
Having worked in the events and hospitality sector for a number of years, Davida is currently growing her portfolio as a producer and project coordinator in roles at the Unicorn Theatre in Southwark and Boundless Theatre in Croydon.
With a background in participatory arts, community activism and nationwide campaigning, she has worked with organisations such as the Advocacy Academy, Hersana and Battersea Arts Centre to lead on activity to engage audiences and participants with pressing social issues.
As BORN::FREE’s Creative Producer, Davida works with the Creative Directors to coordinate the logistics for all events and education activity. It’s her job to ensure that productions run to schedule, to budget, and that artists, audiences and participants are having a lit time.
naya::aka::kwarm | they/them
education producer
naya. (they/them) is an afroqueer multimedia artist and producer from North London.
Primarily using moving image and prose, their art seeks to create collages of work that trouble narrative forms, distort time and intensify confusion. They are currently part of the ICA Creatives film collective.
Their practice as a producer focuses on cross-art form productions, prioritising accessibility and amplifying Black, queer, disabled and nueroexapansive artists. They have previously worked in as a producer for venues and organisations including Bernie Grant Arts Centre, Theatre Peckham, Mountview Academy and the Southbank Centre.
As Education Producer, naya manages our partnerships with education partners and facilitators, as well as the 100 Creative Agents of Climate Change project.
sea::osuji | they/them
production manager
Sea is a Nigerian-British creative producer and live audio engineer working across the West Midlands and London.
They work across a range of venues and organisations such as B:music, the North Birmingham Alliance, Talawa Theatre Company and We Don’t Settle. As well being experienced in producing broadcast media including scripted and unscripted content, Sea is an emerging events producer; they have worked on Black Girls’ Camping Trip and produced one-off events at Theatre Peckham, London and YARD Arthouse, Birmingham which interrogate diasporic cultural ties and imagining new ways of healing. They spent the year working with different artist and community groups on the 2022 Birmingham Festival and Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony.
As BORN::FREE’s Production Manager, Sea leads on the technical delivery across live and digital events – acting as a bridge between performing artists, musicians, the venue and the rest of the team.
fat::lip | they/she
resident DJ
fat lïp is a multidisciplinary Dj and saxophonist from London of Jamacian and Grenadian descent.
They aim to celebrate the sounds of the Black Global Diaspora blending different musical genres of Caribbean and African origin to celebrate the music of the black diaspora,homeland and beyond to honour and acknowledge the whole community. The ultimate aim is to bring about a discussion on the state of the black diasporic identity centered in how music connects us all.
They are also the founder of VEXED, an online archive to document diasporic stories and art.
tezeta | she/they
education assistant
tezeta is, first and foremost, an apprentice of life – learning what it means to be alive as a human being and to share the earth and universe with all that we share it with. At present, that looks like being a part-time software developer, a full time poet, an aspiring pole dancer, servant of theatre, educator, devoted auntie– any/all of is subject to drastic change as the universe wills.
tezeta was part of BORN::FREE’s inaugural Writers’ Collective in 2023, and has returned to support administratively and creatively in sessions with the second cohort of the Collective.
nate::ricketts | he/him
resident MD
Nate Ricketts is a drummer and percussionist from North London.
He regularly tours the UK and Europe with Black artists and collective such as Afronaut Zu, Pan Nation UK & Steamdown.
Nate coordinates the Veranda House Band as Musical Director, working with our Production Manager to lead rehearsals and sound checks – as well as working with performing artists to create and improvise original scores around their pieces.
BORN::FREE is powered by is powered by community; a team of freelance artists, audiences, participants and volunteers – including Sohna Ceesay, Adoudu Olukoga & Gloria Akpoke.
Production photography by Theodorah Ndlovu.
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BORN::FREE honours and continues to celebrate the life of our beloved friend, poet & editor Gboyega Odubanjo (1996-2023).