Introducing Firoozeh Firoozeh Fozouni is an exile poet, visual artist and musician from Iran. She has published six books and presented her work in numerous exhibitions and concerts in Iran and Manchester. She has lived in Manchester for 7 years. Firouzeh grew up in a household with a love of the radif, the canon of Iranian classical music. Her musical interests stem primarily from her grandfather, who was a player of setar alongside being an army colonel. She remembers him only from her childhood but knows he played with the celebrated musician Abolhasan Saba. She has also been told by family and friends that when leading musicians visited the house, they preferred to listen to him play rather than play themselves. He had some beautiful instruments – setars and tars – made by the leading luthier, but after the revolution, the new political authorities attacked the family home. Firoozeh’s family was tainted in their eyes, having had a high-level job, and thus connected by association with the Shah. Their most valuable possessions were destroyed. “They took all of our things, among which were the setar and tar that we had a memory of my grandfather. I can’t tell you how much it affected me, it upset me so much, also my father. We cried so much. But they are just instruments, why break them? All these things led me to want to know more and more about these instruments, to understand how precious and valuable they were to my grandfather. Although he was an army colonel, how much he loved setar. I have some photos, I have been told that all the great musicians of the time – Saba, Ahmad Ebadi, the singer Eskari – they gathered in the garden. He had a beautiful house, with a garden and pool, trees. They sat there and played music until late." "My father knew the dastgahs (musical modes) well, and he played when he was younger but he didn’t continue. My mother’s family – all of them – were singing in tahrir, they know the radif, singing and playing. Before the revolution my mother played tar, I have pictures of her. But with the revolution everything changed. My mother didn’t continue, for example, with music. She is a wonderful poet, Safourah Mahjoubi, she published four books. But after the revolution she would have been censored, she couldn’t go anywhere with poetry. But anyway, yes, I grew up in an artistic family.” Firoozeh herself had a very long and thorough training in Iranian classical music, including the canonical repertoire known as Radif. “I studied in university of music in Tehran, first with Sedigh Tarif, who was my first tutor in the Radif as a singer. I was his student for five years, we did all the dastgahs. After that I wanted to continue to learn about another style of singing. So I studied with Mohsem Keramati another great master of radif for singing for two years. Then I went to another master again, Mahmoud Sadri. I explained “please I want to study with you… it’s a different way“. We have three singing methods, with different details. He said “I don’t have anything to tell you, you have studied”. I asked again and he said I could study with him but I would be his classmate. This was altogether nine years of study, during the time I was going to classes for setar as well. I worked with Masoud Shoari, Erfan Gangei and Vahid Bassam. I also studied with a woman, Roohangiz Tofigh, she had been a student of Ahmad Ebadi. It was so interesting for me as a woman.“ Firoozeh came to the UK in 2013, following a very dangerous journey through many countries. She left Iran to save her life, without any time to plan where she could go, except an idea that Europe could be possible. “I was forced to come here because of my work. In Iran we don’t have any freedom of speech, freedom to play music or sing. I was coaching traditional singing, but everything that I did was forbidden. They made a lot of problems for me, I couldn’t stay more, it was so dangerous for me, it wasn’t safe. I didn’t choose to come here at the time. I didn’t decide … but they attacked my home while I was out. The neighbours called me… they said “don’t come home”. The people who follow Iran’s news know it’s really normal that they can arrest you and kill you without any evidence. I knew what had happened for me." Firoozeh's creative work develops in three areas - music, literature and visual media. She writes in Farsi, and some of her poetry is to be published in English with support from Common Word. All her work is intended to speak about, and for, people suffering in Iran. “My work is not about business or being famous. I think I have responsibility about the world. I want to create something different, as much as I can to be natural from my heart, with the things that I want to share with people across the world. Sometimes I write it down as a poem, sometimes I play with music, sometimes I’m painting or making a collage, or sculpture with metal or stone. For me it’s a different part of art. I want to be original to be part of myself rather than to follow, or repeat another’s work. Sometimes I try to play some of my poems. It’s very meaningful. It’s my message to the people. My voice is the people’s voice because now I am here and I am safe. I feel I should do something for the people who can’t say or do anything." All of my work is about human rights, women’s and children’s rights, peace, above love, about how the people should be united and change their world. Almost like a protest against the government authorities in Iran, because they don’t allow women to do anything, for example I can’t sing there. I was a singer. For a long time I went to the best class to study for years. I did long long courses, it took time to learn everything about our ancient traditional music. I was even teaching , I had a student, but still I couldn’t sing… everything was hidden. If anybody knew I sang it would have been a big problem for them, I would have been arrested." "There are many artists in Iran. Some can tolerate the authorities and they can work with them, they stay there. I never worked with them, never. When they kill artists, they kill poets, the kill writers, how can I work with them?“ It was very hard building up a life in Manchester, but Firoozeh has found some opportunities, and appreciates the possibilities opening up. “When you come here unexpectedly in middle age, you start from under zero. After 35 years as an artist in different fields… how hard it is to prove yourself! People don’t know you. I had a lot of really hard situations but I never gave up. With a positive mind I started to do something – making a contribution, not for money." "I had a number of performances, just me as soloist. It’s not easy to find the right band to match my work. Classical instruments should be matched with others. It’s not really easy. Just recently I presented my poems, and I sang as well as part of ‘Still I Rise’ at the Manchester Art Gallery. There were 20 international artists, we started from the ground floor, and gradually every artist performed her work. It was a journey, we came upstairs, where I played setar and sang. I have also performed at HOME. So, really great organisations have invited me and it has been a good experience. I have been fortunate that people like my work and know me, it has been good to collaborate with such great organisations.“