GLASGOW: The Old Hairdressers, Renfield Lane, Glasgow G2 5AR

Iranian singer-songwriter Farzane Zamen is joined by Yemeni poet and filmmaker Sawsan Al-Areeqe and local musician Jen Fairgrieve in a multi-cultural celebration of words and music.

Artist Protection Fund Fellow Farzane Zamen is Iranian with Azerbaijani heritage. She has written and recorded in varied styles that include the Farsi songs of her homeland as well as progressive electronic music, shown off in her EP “Z Bent” (soundcloud.com/farzanezamen). In this concert she will present her own songs, as well as Persian and Azerbaijani folk songs.

The Artist Protection Fund (APF) is an initiative of the Institute of International Education, and is supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The APF makes fellowship grants to threatened artists from any field of practice, and places them at host institutions in safe countries where they can continue their work and plan for their futures. APF artists face or have recently fled from immediate, severe, and targeted threats to their lives and/or careers in their home countries or countries of residence.

Sawsan has benefited from APF host institution support at the University of Glasgow. Farzane’s APF hosts include the Centre for Contemporary Art and EarthSouNZ.

APF Fellow Sawsan Al-Areeqe recently completed her Fellowship residency at the University of Glasgow, where she finished work on her fourth poetry collection, Expired Death. Sawsan’s short films have been awarded in the 2010 British Council’s Zoom Film Contest, the 2012 Meknes International Film Festival, and the 2014 Teba Short Films Festival, and her work has been screened in other worldwide festivals including “Discover Film” in London and the Liverpool Arabic Film Festival. Sawsan’s Arabic poetry will be presented with projected translations.

Jen Fairgrieve is a local musician who has recently decided to give up her day job and devote her days and nights to her love of writing and performing. Jen is a singer songwriter from Glasgow, and recently left a job working with people with mental health challenges in order to focus on music. Jen has sung in several choirs since a young age, including the RSNO Chorus. She has been a soloist at many events over the years and also played flute with the City of Glasgow Wind Orchestra. Although Jen is mainly a singer and guitarist, she also plays keyboard and flute, and is a regular on Glasgow’s vibrant open mic scene.