In Motion is our transformative 18-month artist development programme for original music creators at pivotal points in their careers. We support music creators to design and embark on the next chapter of their creative and professional journey, providing the space, personalised support, funding, networks and skills development to realise their ambitions, culminating in a final creative project for public release.
In this Q&A, we speak to In Motion 2026 creator Belinda Zhawi, a literary & sound artist based in London (UK) & Marseille (FR), author of Small Inheritances (ignitionpress, 2018), and experiments with sound/text performance as MA.MOYO. Her works have been featured on various platforms including NTS, Boiler Room & BBC Radio.
Her debut album, a collaboration with Duncan Bellamy (Portico Quartet) was released under the moniker BZDB (AD93, 2024). Her debut solo EP is Viva Voce Vol.1 (Accidental Meetings, 2025); she’s currently working on her first full poetry collection.
Are there any particular themes, ideas or questions that you find yourself returning to in your work?
I return to questions around Afro-diasporic memory, spirituality and the body as archive. I’m interested in how voice can carry and transmit memory beyond language, through breath, rhythm, and how sound can hold forms of knowledge that are not fixed or easily articulated. I often come back to ideas of ritual, repetition and improv as ways of accessing and reworking.
“I’m interested in how voice can carry and transmit memory beyond language, through breath, rhythm, and how sound can hold forms of knowledge that are not fixed or easily articulated.”
What’s your relationship with improvisation, and how does it shape your work?
Improv is central to how I work. It’s both a method of generating material and a way of staying responsive in the moment. I use it to develop voice, text and sound together, often working through live recording and iteration rather than fixed composition. It allows me to access something more instinctive, but it’s not unstructured. I edit and shape the material afterwards, so there’s a balance between openness and intention. It also helps me think about listening as an active process.
Who or what are your dream collaborators—past, present, or future?
Stella Chiweshe, for her relationship to mbira, voice and spiritual transmission; Elaine Mitchener, for her approach to voice and experimental composition; Toni Cade Bambara, for her grounding language and political imagination; and ESKA, for her openness across genre and vocal form. More broadly, I’m drawn to collaborators who are interested in working across disciplines and forms.
“I’m particularly interested in developing how voice, text and sound can operate as environment rather than performance, and in building the technical and compositional skills to support that shift.”
What are you looking forward to most about In Motion?
I’m most looking forward to having dedicated time and support to expand my practice. I’m particularly interested in developing how voice, text and sound can operate as environment rather than performance, and in building the technical and compositional skills to support that shift. I’m also looking forward to the critical dialogue within the cohort, and to being challenged by other artists working across different approaches to sound and composition.
Sound and Music is a PRS Foundation Talent Development Network Partner supported by PPL.
In Motion 2026 is made possible with the generous support of Arts Council England. PRS Foundation, The Cockayne Foundation and Sound UK.
Learn more about MA.MOYO
Meet the In Motion 2026 creators
Learn more about In Motion