The international women's day at Melahuset 

Thanks to their energetic live performances, thought-provoking lyrics and Southeast Asian musical heritage PAVNA has become a rap name to keep an eye on. It wasn't until 2019 that she started writing her own songs and decided to pursue a rap career. Her music has received recognition from several major music profiles in Norway, her debut song "Regarde Moi" was listed on NRK P3X and after her first concert she was already referred to as a crowd-mover. Through her thought-provoking lyrics and dynamic creativity, PAVNA wants to give listeners the same "friend" she herself found in music.

With a love of hip hop and neo soul LINNIA offers poetic lyrics that deal with themes such as escape, immigration, racism, identity and love. Her music is a journey through several continents, but is particularly influenced by her Middle Eastern roots. In 2023, she released her first EP with songs in English, Kurdish and Tamil and in collaboration with musicians such as Ibou Cissokho, Solo Diarra and Athisayian Suresh.

Artist, producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist NADIA ESSAH creates deep, soulful and minimalistic R&B. After many songwriting camps, a lot of mansplaining and a lack of a producer who understood her soundscape, she started producing herself. In the summer of 2023, she released her debut EP "Mood Swings: nostalgic" and her music is characterized by groovy beats, jazz chords and lyrics straight from her diary. At Melahuset, she will perform in trio format and it will be a concert you don't want to miss.

Singer, poet and storyteller SARAH CAMILLE has a distinctive expression that plays between different worlds, languages and expressions. With warm vocals, she conveys wondering and storytelling lyrics in Norwegian, Creole, French and Swahili and in a soundscape that moves in the borderland between folk and jazz. With her on stage, she has Jørn Erik Ahlsen Alkanger on guitar, Sidiki Camara on percussion, ngoni and balafon, Jo Berger Myhre on bass and Tuva Færden on fiddle, vocals and lyre.

DJ collective REBELLE COLLECTIVE consists of MissFusion, DJ Kazi and ANNA, and has been going strong since 2020. Drawing on African and Caribbean sounds, the trio mixes and experiments with a wide range of genres, ensuring good vibes on the dance floor with their raw blend of dancehall, afrobeats, amapiano, "soca with a pinch of hip hop", house and electronica.

Tamil-Indian MEENA KANDASAMY is a writer, feminist and activist, and the fight against oppression characterizes her writing - whether she writes novels, poetry or translates literature. In her poetry collection "Tomorrow Someone Will Arrest You", which came out last year, she shows how the political is personal, with poems addressing everything from family life to issues of caste, the refugee crisis and freedom of expression.

ROZERIN ALGUNERHAN is co-leader of the Kurdish Democratic Community Center. She has been active in the Kurdish community since she was 14, and has focused a lot on women's liberation, democracy and peace work related to the Kurdish cause. In the last year, she has also worked on the performance BAQORBAN together with Pia Maria Roll and Sara Baban.

KHANSA ALI is deputy chairperson at MiRA - Resource Center for Women with a minority background.

SEHER AYDAR is a member of parliament for the party Rødt. She has a background from the feminist organization Kvinnefronten and has been former leader in Agenda X.

CATHRINE LINN KRISTIANSEN is the leader of the feminist organization Kvinnefronten. 

The evening's host is SHILPI BHATNAGAR. She is a social worker, has a master's degree in Community Security and crisis management and spends much of her free time doing volunteering work. She also has a background as a performing artist within Indian dance, and both dance and music are an important part of her and have strengthened her as a woman, something she tries to pass on to other girls and women through her Indian dance classes and performances.

Organizers: