Cultural Director Artistic Director Creative Strategist
Architecting Cultural Diplomacy Across Continents
Leveraging a decade of experience as Founder and Artistic Director of ACT: New Nordic Voices—Denmark’s transnational theatre company—I now serve as Cultural Director for the Consulate of the United Republic of Tanzania in Denmark, translating grassroots cultural leadership into state cultural diplomacy.
My work spans performance, spatial scenography, and cultural diplomacy—reimagining classic texts as theatre and immersive installations, while building long-horizon cultural collaborations across the Nordics, East Africa, and North America.
ACT: New Nordic Voices is the transnational theatre platform I founded and continue to lead as Artistic Director; my work today extends beyond the company into a broader cultural and state-linked context.
“I take the heavy stone of Europe—cathedrals, Ibsen, Blixen, Strindberg, Canth—and liquefy it into sensory experience.”
ACT: New Nordic VoicesFlagship: THE DREAMERS — From Zanzibar to MilanReach: Nordic Region Africa North AmericaMethod: Immersive theatre Installation Scenography150+ artists 46 nationalitiesDenmark Sweden Finland Norway Kenya Tanzania Canada USA
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A calmer way into the work
The site now has dedicated pages for projects, writing, and patrons—so the homepage can remain an entrance, not a corridor.
Projects & Works
Flagship installations, productions, timelines, and current platforms.
Creative leadership, producing, and cultural diplomacy shaped through complex international work. My practice brings together performance, spatial storytelling, and institutional collaboration to create cultural projects that connect artists, institutions, and audiences across continents.
What I do
I serve as Cultural Director for the Consulate of the United Republic of Tanzania in Denmark, and as Founder and Artistic Director of ACT: New Nordic Voices.
My work spans cultural diplomacy, theatre, and spatial scenography, with projects and collaborations across the Nordics, East Africa, and North America.
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In 2016, ACT debuted at Baltoppen LIVE with a Danish premiere of The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare—produced by me, with me in the lead role as Shylock.
In 2025, I hosted Nobel Laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah for a private literary salon, in collaboration with the Tanzanian Consulate in Denmark.
I’m also a retired DJ—though I can’t promise the remix is gone for good.
What I Bring
I founded ACT: New Nordic Voices to widen who is seen and heard on Nordic stages. Since its 2016 debut with William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, the company has brought together 150+ artists from 46 nationalities across Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Kenya.
“Here, literature is not only represented; it is spatialised and encountered—through scenography, sound, scent,
light, materials, and atmosphere.”
Institutional Engagements
Selected collaborations and public cultural partners.
Consulate of Tanzania (Zanzibar), Denmark
Royal Norwegian Embassy, Copenhagen
Royal Swedish Embassy, Copenhagen
Consulate General of Denmark in New York
European Union
Danish Agency for Culture and Palaces
Nordic Culture Fund
Nordic Culture Point
Danish Embassy in Kenya
Theatre Academy — University of the Arts Helsinki (Uniarts Helsinki)
Flagship projects
Current and developing works across Denmark, the USA, and Kenya.
InstallationDenmark → USA → KenyaNordic Classics Reimagined
SEVEN GOTHIC TALES — THE GLOBAL PROJECT
Supported in part by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Danish Ministry of Culture.
In partnership with Karen Blixen Museum, Rungstedlund, Denmark and the Consulate General of Denmark in New York.
THE DREAMERS — From Zanzibar to Milan — by Michael Omoke
A transformation of Karen Blixen’s “The Dreamers” (from Seven Gothic Tales, 1934)— transfigured into an immersive spatial labyrinth.
The first chapter in a long-term sequence translating all seven tales into multisensory installations.
Project Structure:
Syv Fantastiske Fortællinger — En Sanselig Genkomst til Danmark
A Literary Return to America
A Sensory Return to Kenya
Seven Gothic Tales — A Literary Return to America (USA)
Source text — opening of The Dreamers (1863)
“On a full moon night of 1863, a dhow was on its way from Lamu to Zanzibar, following the coast about a mile out. She carried full sails before the monsoon and had in her a freight of ivory and rhino horn. This last is highly valued as an aphrodisiac, and traders come for it to Zanzibar from as far as China. But besides these cargoes the dhow also held a secret load, which was about to stir and raise great forces, and of which the slumbering countries which she passed did not dream.”— Karen Blixen, The Dreamers (Seven Gothic Tales)
TheatreGlobal
SILENCED NO MORE
A suite of cultural productions and public dialogue addressing SGBV, FGM, and mental health stigma—combining performance, workshops, and civic partnership.
Supported by the European Union, Danida, the Danish Agency for Culture and Palaces, and the Danish Embassy in Kenya.
Credits: Set design: Emilie Lykke Bisgaard · Photo: Anis Dhiman · Graphic design: Ida Marie Krog · Costume / styling: Mia Fasmer Schønemann
Production stillProduction stillProduction stillWorkshop / rehearsalPortrait — black & whiteWatch videoPortrait — Michael OmokePortraitNordic Culture Point / New Nordic Voices (video)Credits (program extract)Cast & team (program extract)Portrait still
Production stillProduction stillProduction stillTalk / audience engagementSilenced No More — Nairobi · Kisumu · Mombasa (Kenya). Photo: Saiba Sehmi.Production still▶Partnership / portrait
Silenced No More — Nairobi Kisumu Mombasa (Kenya). Photo: Saiba Sehmi.
New Nordic Voices — Helsinki Copenhagen Stockholm
Selected production stills and moments from the Nordic circuit.
Production stillProduction stillProduction stillProduction stillACT: New Nordic Voices — production still.ACT: New Nordic Voices — production still.ACT: New Nordic Voices — production still.Production still
New Nordic Voices — Helsinki Copenhagen Stockholm.
Selected works & milestones
A compact record of productions and leadership work.
Flagship installation of Seven Gothic Tales — The Global Project. Tri-continental installation pathway (Denmark → USA → Kenya). An immersive spatial labyrinth inspired by Karen Blixen’s “The Dreamers” (from Seven Gothic Tales)—into an operatic labyrinth of chambers carrying secret cargoes.
Work-in-Progress
Hedda Gabler in France
A reimagining of Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, set against a secretive, sealed world in France—the moment before exposure.
International platform supported by the Nordic Culture Fund — research, development, and partnerships across continents.
2023
Silenced No More (Kenya)
Funded by the European Union, the Danish Agency for Culture and Palaces, and the Embassy of Denmark in Kenya. Staged For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf by Ntozake Shange across Nairobi, Kisumu, and Mombasa, alongside public dialogue and youth engagement.
after August Strindberg’sMiss Julie(1888). Nordic debut as a playwright—premiered at Folketeatret (Copenhagen) and at the University of the Arts Helsinki (Uniarts Helsinki). Nordic Classics Reimagined.
MISS JULIE’S HAPPY VALLEY — ORIGINAL PRODUCTION SOUNDTRACK
Composer: Fredrik Hjulmand
Folketeatret, Copenhagen, 2021
Select a track to begin.
2021
Miss Julie’s Out of Africa
Project framework—workshops and seminars built around Miss Julie’s Happy Valley.
2019
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf
By Ntozake Shange—first staged in the Nordic countries by ACT; premiered in Helsinki, then toured Denmark and Stockholm; later re-invited to Nordic Culture Point (Helsinki).
By Henrik Ibsen (adapted by Arthur Miller)—produced in Ballerup, in Nordic collaboration with Nordic Black Theatre (Oslo) and Södra Community (Malmö), alongside ACT’s Denmark-based ensemble. Nordic Classics Reimagined
By William Shakespeare—producer and lead actor (Shylock). ACT’s debut production at Baltoppen LIVE (Denmark).
View full timeline
2016
Founded ACT: New Nordic Voices
Company leadership and artistic direction. Debut production: The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare.
The Merchant of Venice — William Shakespeare (c. 1596–1598) ACT debut production · Baltoppen LIVE (2016)
2002
Professional debut as an actor Servant of Two Masters (Carlo Goldoni) — Phoenix Players, Nairobi.
Role: Silvio. Directed by Phoenix Players founder James Falkland.
Goldoni (1707–1793): an 18th‑century commedia dell’arte landmark. Servant of Two Masters (1746).
Phoenix Players, Nairobi — archival still (2002).
2001
First play written, directed & performed Sitting On Me — premiere at Nairobi Baptist Church, Nairobi (Kenya). (Later: 2002 — Kenya National Theatre, Nairobi — Mavuno Festival.)
2001–2016
The “gap years” are explored in the forthcoming memoir-poem Post Gothic Perfume.
Partners & Support
Institutions, collaborators, and funders connected to the work.
Institutional hosts & collaborators
University of the Arts Helsinki (Uniarts Helsinki) · Danish National School of Performing Arts · Folketeatret (Copenhagen) · Karen Blixen Museum Denmark · Icelandic House (Copenhagen) · Caisa — International Cultural Centre (Helsinki) · Intercult (Sweden) · CKI — The Danish Centre for Arts & Interculture . De Kreative Kontor . KU.BE Frederiksberg, ACT Kenya
Funders & diplomatic support
Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs · Danish Ministry of Culture · European Union · Danish Agency for Culture and Palaces · Danish Consulate General in New York · Embassy of Denmark in Kenya · Nordic Culture Fund · Nordic Culture Point (Nordic Council of Ministers) · Royal Swedish Embassy (Denmark) · Royal Norwegian Embassy (Denmark) · Danish Embassy in Helsinki · Svensk-Danska Kulturfonden · Den A.P. Møllerske Støttefond · Tuborgfondet . Arts Council Norway, Consulate of the United Republic of Tanzania in Denmark, Kenya Embassy Stockholm
Premiere: 2001 — Nairobi Baptist Church, Nairobi (Kenya). Later: 2002 — Kenya National Theatre, Nairobi — Mavuno Festival.
A political satire set in Nairobi at the turn of the millennium. A young man makes a private bargain for power—and returns years later as a polished public figure on the edge of national leadership. But the higher he rises, the more he “sits on” everyone beneath him: staff, allies, truth, and finally his own home. As religion, patronage, and intimidation become tools of control, the cost lands where it always lands first—inside the family—until a public ambition becomes a private catastrophe.
World premiere: 25 Aug 2021 — Folketeatret, Copenhagen (Denmark). Also staged: Finland (in collaboration with Uniarts Helsinki).
August Strindberg’s Miss Julie reimagined through Kenya’s “Happy Valley”—the colonial settler enclave around Lake Naivasha. Over one night, Julie and Jean negotiate desire, class, and power inside a world built on land and labour, where intimacy becomes a weapon and escape is an illusion.
ACT: New Nordic Voices develops long-horizon cultural work across theatre, scenography, research, and transnational exchange in the Nordics, East Africa, and beyond.
The Patron Circle is intended for those who wish to stand close to the work as private patrons, institutional partners, or strategic supporters of its artistic and cultural development.
Support may contribute to artistic development, research, mobility, production capacity, documentation, and the organisational continuity required to sustain ambitious work over time.
All contributions are made to ACT: New Nordic Voices (CVR 35935177) and support the organisation’s artistic and developmental work.
Private patrons & institutions
A partnership deck is available on request for those interested in private patronage, institutional partnership, or strategic support.
