This event is inspired by the emotional depth, cultural significance and storytelling tradition of Fado.

FluentInBoth: Casa do Fado

Welcome to an immersive cultural experience where songs become memories and poems become confessions. Casa do Fado transforms the room at New Art Exchange into a symbolic house of feeling, centering language, culture, and community to create a space where audiences can connect through shared emotion, personal stories, and artistic expression.

Inspired by the emotional depth, cultural significance, and storytelling tradition of Fado, this event uses Portugal’s music of longing, love, loss, and saudade as a starting point to explore themes of heartbreak, nostalgia, migration, memory, silence, home, and emotional survival.

Our Headliner for this event will be The Sound Of Saudade, part of the Voices of Portugal project led by Portuguese singer Carmelia Mar, The Sound Of Saudade presents a contemporary interpretation of Portugal’s musical heritage. Blending the raw emotion of traditional Fado with the improvisation of Jazz, the warmth of Bossa Nova, and the soulfulness of Soul music, the performance creates a unique cultural experience that bridges tradition and innovation.

Alongside iconic Fado repertoire inspired by renowned Portuguese poets, the programme features original compositions exploring contemporary human, social, and cultural themes demonstrating the power of music and poetry to inspire dialogue and connect communities across cultures.

The ensemble features James Tartaglia (saxophone), Martin Tucker (piano), Roger Inniss (bass) and Chris Hilliard (drums).

This project is supported by the Embassy of Portugal in the United Kingdom and Camões Institute for Cooperation and Language, I.P., reflecting its commitment to promoting Portuguese language, culture, and artistic heritage to international audiences.

For the full experience, authentic food will be on sale by local Portuguese café, Boavista. After all, the emotion of Fado is best savoured when accompanied by traditional Bacalhau.

Description supplied by the event organiser.