As part of the Sound of Belfast Festival, Beyond Skin has curated and hosted two Safe Harbour concerts featuring artists who moved to Northern Ireland and from a diversity of host communities. The Sound of Belfast Festival is managed by our friends at Oh Yeah Music Centre Belfast.
Hosted at the Black Box Belfast the concert had representation of artists from Afghanistan, Iran, India, Italy, Poland, Syria, Ukraine, Zimbabwe, Northern/Ireland. Headlining the concert was Swar Ahmed and a music collective know as Navigators of Sound (story link). The event sponsor ambassador was Chloe Shannon (15yrs) from Integrated College Glengormley who also performed her debut song at the concert. (Download link). 85% of the audience where from minority ethnic communities (a mix of diverse host communities, people with English not a first language and people seeking sanctuary / refugee status). We thank all those who helped with access.
Although funding from Belfast Music City was allocated to the Sound of Belfast festival, £0 of the allocation was used for the Safe Harbour concert and we thank all the private donors, Bernard Nevill Family and Chloe and all those who attended for making this concert possible.
Performers: Swar Ahmed, Aldin Muhammed Jamal, Orla Rice, Slawomir Cichy, Conor Pelan, Luigi Cirillo, Mambokadzi Emelia, Agrippa Njanina, Saikat Bhattacharya, Arya Ahmadi, Volodymyr Herasymovych and Chloe Shannon.
Photos by Ali Syed
