Festival 31 & Refugee Week 2020
It's Refugee Week (15-21 June) and we're proud to be working in partnership on Festival 31 (31 days from 15 June) in partnership with Culture Liverpool and Sola Arts
Together we have commissioned 10 artists, a mix of artists with lived experience of being an asylum seeker and refugee, emerging artists and established artists working with refugee and asylum seekers. The stories, films and performances allow us to explore the world through the eyes of others.
This year's commissioned artists are:
Adrian Mejia - VIDA In The Time Of Corona
A mini documentary detailing Adrian’s personal experience as a gay asylum seeker living with virus symptoms.
Becky Downing - 31 Letters In My Alphabet
Becky’s piece represents some of the voices, languages and accents that make up the rich range of dialects in Liverpool.
Bisakha Sarker - Splash
Bisakka presents a number of 31-syllable poems in a Zoom film.
Dorota Modlinger - Mandala of Hope and Dreams – New Moon Ritual
A live online performance in which Dorota creates a visual interpretation of dreams, signs and symbols.
Kali Chandrasegaram - Move’in A Charm
Kali brings together 31 hand artists exploring 31 magical charms complemented by an original soundtrack.
Karen Wynne - dis/mis
Using a mobile phone camera, Karen’s film follows a short journey through her community on bike and on foot.
Nesrin Yousef - The Will Of The Universe - Unexpected And Out Of Our Control
A poem and song reflecting where Nesrin and her cousin are currently up to in life, the artist in Liverpool and her cousin starting anew in Germany as a musician and singer.
Nina Edge - The Fall
Nina’s short film evokes the feeling of being deeply rooted in this land, whilst at the same time completely up-rooted and wilted by the UK’s prevailing cultural norms.
Noel Urbain - ISOMBE, A Burundian Recipe
Noel gathers ingredients from different countries, including leafy greens and beef, to prepare a version of the traditional Burundian recipe ISOMBE.
Rania Alkhllo - Hope
Rania’s video captures 31 different people expressing their hope for the future in their own way and language.
Artists Discussion and Q&A on Monday 29 June at 4pm
Chaired by Ngunan Adamu from BBC Radio Merseyside Upfront Magazine
Join us and SOLA Arts as we host a discussion with artists in residence from this year’s Festival 31, exploring two themes:
What does creativity mean for connecting people of refugee and wider backgrounds?
Refugee Artist/Artist of displaced background/Local Artist/Artist: How do we self-identify?
This is open to an audience and there will be Q&A opportunity. Tickets can be reserved via Eventbrite here.
More information on Festival 31 can be found here
A Light Story
Our own project with refugee families from Syria and El Salvador is underway too. Led by Rebecca (our Creativity & Social Change Director) & working with SOLA Arts, it is a puppetry project taking inspiration from a traditional Syrian story ‘An advice for a camel’ It is inspired by Missing Light which Mark Arends’ company Make Do and Mend brought to the Everyman in 2018.
As Rebecca explains:“To our mutual surprise and delight we discovered a shared love of puppetry. It has gone on to be a vehicle for us to connect with each other and more widely, to learn from each other and share our cultural identities which has brought joy in challenging times.”
Mirvat, one of the mothers involved has shared how important the project if for the families:
“Our children are refugees and are in need of support to help them overcome their sorrows and memories of the war and missing our families in the home country. They found in this project a place for their mental and physical wellbeing. They enjoy the activities and working as a group. It is a good place for social interaction and meeting families from different countries and sharing our ideas, our cultures and traditions. It's a good place for my children to develop their hobbies and improve their art skills in the hands of expert people and facilitators. Thanks to Sola Arts and Everyman Playhouse “
During lockdown, the group have been working with Laura Pullig from SOLA Arts on props for their story, weaving rugs for the camel man’s house, trees for the setting and working with Eilidh Bryan on shadow puppets for part of the performance.
We'll be sharing more soon.