2025 was a significant year for our arts work in Wales and internationally. Through partnerships, exchanges, residencies and cultural programmes, we supported Welsh artists and organisations to build new connections, share their work and collaborate across borders. The highlights below offer a snapshot of the some of the key projects and partnerships that shaped the year.
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Wales Japan Year 2025
Wales is a nation of storytellers. From ancient poetry to bold contemporary voices, our creativity shapes who we are and how we connect with the world. We work to ensure our culture is preserved, supported and able to evolve for future generations. The Year of Wales And Japan continued this mission by sharing and celebrating Welsh creativity internationally.
Throughout the year, we partnered with Wales Arts International and the Welsh Government on the Wales–Japan Cultural Programme, which showcased over 20 projects across music, film, visual arts, literature, language, digital technology and performance.
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Sir John Akomfrah
The UK premiere of Listening All Night to the Rain, by internationally acclaimed artist and filmmaker Sir John Akomfrah, opened to the public on 24 May at the National Museum Cardiff.
This was the first UK stop following the work’s debut at the British Pavilion during the 2024 Venice Biennale, where it was originally commissioned by the British Council.
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Hay Festival 2025
Colleagues from Wales, Peru, Kenya and our literature team delivered a wide range of activities at Hay Festival in Hay-on-Wye in early summer 2025. With a packed 11-day programme, we were proud to support Hay Festival in bringing the world to Wales and in developing its overseas festivals. British Council Chair Paul Thompson, CBE, and FCDO Minister Baroness Jenny Chapman joined us for several events.
This year, we partnered with Literature Wales for the first time to support their work with the EU National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC), culminating in a visit to Hay Festival. We helped connect 14 European writers—who had taken part in a two-week residency in North Wales—with Hay Festival’s own "Hay Writers at Work". Writers joined from Germany, Estonia, Spain, the Netherlands, Latvia, Switzerland and the Faroe Islands. Many work in minoritised languages and collaborated on projects exploring ecology, the climate emergency, community and linguistic rights.
One writer reflected: “At a time when the world feels fragmented, programmes like this remind us that language is not a wall but a bridge.” The EUNIC writers attended with representatives from their embassies, many of whom told us how impressed they were by Wales and the festival, and expressed interest in returning.
We also signed a new three-year Memorandum of Understanding between the British Council and the Arts Council of Wales. It sets out partnership priorities for joint collaboration to support the sector, strengthen international connections around Welsh Government’s International Focus Years, and develop work on Welsh festivals (including Hay), showcasing and research.
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The Sounds of Nagaland in Wales
West Walian singer-songwriter Mari Mathias and Indian musician Seyievinuo Chuzho brought the sounds of Nagaland to Wales during a week-long UK tour. This marked the return leg of a musical partnership that began with Mari’s visit to Nagaland in 2024 to perform at India’s largest tribal heritage event, the Hornbill Festival, as part of Welsh Government’s Wales and India Year 2024.
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Breaking Boundaries Podcast
We launched season two of Breaking Boundaries in April 2025, hosted by award-winning musician Georgia Ruth. Following its 2023 debut, the series highlights Welsh artists and their international collaborators, building creative partnerships with New Zealand, France, Vietnam, Brazil and beyond.
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Ukraine Residency Programme
In October, we welcomed Ukrainian poet, literary translator and cultural manager Tania Rodionova to Wales for a residency at Tŷ Newydd Writing Centre in Llanystumdwy, Gwynedd. The residency offered her the opportunity to immerse herself in the peace and poetry of north Wales.
Hosted by Literature Wales and part of our UK-wide programme supporting artists affected by conflict, the residency provided valuable space for Tania to pause, create and reflect. She is one of nine artists from Lebanon, Yemen, Palestine and Ukraine taking part in residencies at leading cultural institutions across the UK. In Wales, the programme was supported by Arts Council of Wales / Wales Arts International, enabling artistic exploration and collaboration.
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FOCUS Wales
At this year’s FOCUS Wales festival in Wrexham, we supported the event’s growing international programme and helped strengthen connections between Welsh artists and global partners. The festival welcomed delegates from Ukraine, South Korea, Bangladesh and Iceland, alongside two delegations from Aotearoa/New Zealand. Together, Welsh and Māori creatives explored shared language heritage through musical collaboration.
Our Head of Arts, Elena Schmitz, chaired a panel on Global Perspectives: Peaceful Sharing of Culture Through Showcasing, which brought thoughtful reflections from our international guests, including powerful insights from Ukrainian colleagues on the role of cultural exchange in challenging times. We also hosted a reception to bring together the festival’s international strands, creating space for artists and industry professionals to connect and collaborate.
