Executive Director
IAP is led by founder Mhari Robinson (she/her), who is responsible for all areas of programme, operation and strategy. Mhari lives with her partner and daughter in a wee flat off of Leith Walk in Edinburgh.
Mhari produced performance projects and ran small theatre and dance companies for 10 years before she founded Independent Arts Projects in 2018. She has led the company since working with a range of independent artists to create thrilling performance projects for audiences across Scotland and beyond.
Previously, Mhari worked with Janice Parker Projects, Fire Exit, Royal Lyceum Theatre Company, A Play, a Pie and a Pint, and Wee Stories. She has toured work across Scotland, the rest of the UK, Ireland, Western Europe, North and South America. She has published texts, managed the production of complex film & audio projects as well as producing new theatrical works.
General Manager
Chloe Lyth (she/they) joined IAP in June 2025 as their General Manager. Chloe brings a deep-rooted passion for creativity and strong track record in community empowerment to their role as General Manager. Raised in a creative household Chloe developed an early appreciation for the role of the arts in self-expression, connection and social change.
With a background in community engagement, empowerment and organisational leadership, Chloe has supported a wide range of individuals, artists, facilitators, well-being practitioners and groups. Helping turns ideas into action and giving the opportunities to explore their creative work. Chloe’s approach centres on access, inclusion, care, and collaboration and these are the values they bring into every aspect of their work.
Associate Artist
K. Biff Nicolson (they/them) is an artist and facilitator who’s works with different people and places. Kirsty is committed to co-creating spaces where different ways of being can exist together. They are passionate about pleasure, play and neuro-queering spaces by and with neurodiverse, queer and trans folks.
They were part of the Sensory Collective an 18 month project which involved research, collaboration play, artistry, film making with different communities and people.
In collaboration with Lung Ha artists they have established a process lead, artist led model of artistic development that centres learning disabled and neurodivergent artists.
Kirsty is one half of the anarchic drag-clown duo Oasissy, named “one’s to watch” by The List. They are a mentor on the Shutup and King programme, sharing practice and support with emerging drag kings.
Kirsty also often works as an access support collaborator. Through this work they support other disabled and neurodiverse artists’ creative processes and access needs.
They have collaborated with Luke Pell and collaborators, Janice Parker and, Annabel Cooper, Lars Neupert, Melanie Jordan, Queen Jesus Productions, Surge, Birds of Paradise, Garvald Edinburgh, Amanda Noble, Anatomy, Craig Simpson, Nelly Kelly, Dive Queer Party, Queer Theory and more.
Biff started working with IAP in November 2021, and has been Associate Artist since October 2023.
International Producer
Sara Shaarawi (she/her) is a playwright from Cairo, based in Glasgow. Her work has been performed across Scotland and the UK, as well as internationally. She has written for performance in several contexts, including scripts for audio, making work with/for children and young people, and for nontraditional spaces. She often works in contexts that supports the creativity of various groups such as emerging writers, women and non-binary people, and people with migrant backgrounds and/or experiences of displacement.
She often organises events as well, particularly events connected to the Arabic speaking region, such Arab Arts Focus Edinburgh, Welcome to the Fringe, Palestine and Chill Habibi.
Sara joined IAP on 1 April 2026 as International Producer. Her focus is on the development of Welcome to the Fringe, Palestine festival in 2027.
Lead Artist: Sensory Workshops for Elders at Dixon Community
Joanna Young (she/her) is an independent choreographer currently practicing in Govanhill. Her work often involves a meditative and sensorial tone, intricate crafting and time to tune into the movements between people, places, and things. Interdisciplinary collaboration is at the core of Joanna’s work. Projects and practices emerge by listening and responding, which facilitates an inclusive, co-authored and participatory process. Joanna works in both rural and urban contexts, which have resulted in outdoor, gallery and site-specific installations; stage productions; film; and audio walks.
Recent collaborative projects include: ‘Conditions for possibility’ (a research project funded through a Creative Wales Award); ‘And all the men we saw today’ (Commissioned by Southampton university); ‘Unknown Places’ (Commissioned by Shropshire Inclusive Dance); and ‘Bodies of water’, made in collaboration with Saffy Setohy, Aya Kobayashi, and Nicolette Mcleod. .
In 2017 Joanna completed a Masters in Choreography (with distinction) from London Contemporary Dance School. Joanna regularly facilitates inclusive workshops in a range of education, community and health contexts. She is a visiting university lecturer specialising in expanded choreographic practices and theory.
Joanna was a founding member of Groundwork Pro (Cardiff), and is an associate artist at Interval (Bristol). She regularly collaborates with composer Jamie McCarthy and has worked with dance artists Deborah Light, Jessie Brett, Beth Powlesland and Ania Varez in a supporting role / rehearsal director / mentor capacity.
Our Team
We work with extraordinary people to create our programme of performance projects and events. Our team grows and contracts based on the projects we’re working on at the time.
Board of Trustees
The company is supported by a board of volunteer trustees:
– Roz Bell (she/her), retiree, former Head of Live Performance, Eden Court
– Marion Geoffray (she/her), Artist & Creative Practitioner
– Natasha Lee-Walsh (she/her), MD, Edinburgh Open Workshop (Chair)
– Leigh Mullin (he/him), Consultant/Technical Architect in Technology
– Michelle Rolfe (she/her), Producer, Birds of Paradise & Co-Dir, Stage Sight
– Ayo Schwartz (they/she), Head of HR, National Theatre of Scotland
We are always on the look out for new Trustees to join our board. If you’d like to request more information, do take a look at our trustee information pack.
