Rend is a writer of both fiction and non-fiction. She is passionate about words and fascinated by the power of stories to open minds and shift perspectives. While much of her work speaks to young people in the Arab world, she explores themes with universal resonance. Her current novel-in-progress is supported by the ELF Seddiqi Writers’ Fellowship.

Fergus sings in a Gaelic choir. He began with Còisir Lunnainn to improve his language skills, but soon became its conductor and later president – helping lead the world’s oldest Gaelic choir in competitions across Scotland. Together, they celebrate the full range of Scottish Gaelic song, from ancient psalms to love songs and more.

Andriy creates digital artworks that combine photography, illustration, drawing, and collage. He approaches art as a space for curiosity and experimentation, crafting surreal, layered images that transform everyday scenes into something more unexpected and thought-provoking.

Hiba is a filmmaker. Her practice traces the personal and material echoes of political histories through displaced objects, personal memory, and acts of smuggling – of books, images, and meaning. Working across film, installation, and writing, she constructs quiet, layered works that hold contradiction: the domestic and the geopolitical, the intimate and the archival, the visible and the withheld.

Hellen is the co-founder of Imagining Peace, a global initiative that explores alternative narratives of memory and belonging. As a curator and researcher, she brings this vision to her wider work on the politics of heritage, archives, and representation.

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Shahd is a storyteller and podcaster. She produces long-form audio documentaries in Arabic and English that explore identity, memory, and meaning. Often months in the making, these podcast episodes are a space where she remains both a storyteller and a listener – always curious, always moved.