Waking with Thaeer

As part of our day of waking in May, photographer John Perivolaris walked in Nottingham with the Kuridsh artist-refugee Thaeer Ali, tracing an imaginary route from his home to somewhere meaningful to him. Thaeer has given permission to reproduce these powerful photos and Thaeer's words. See: http://tinyurl.com/4lfrn2

Walk of suffering

As part of Refugee week, the former chair of Derby Refugee Action Emmanueal Neba Fuh is walking from Derby through the East Midland and then on to Number 10 to present a million signature petition to highlight human rights violations in Africa. Doign the walk barefoot draws attention to the conditions which many Africans have endured in nations where corruption and effective dictatorship have led to widening disparities in wealth, fear and hunger which have driven processes of displacement. On the walk he has been joined by local activists and supporters, including members of the Making the connections network. see: http://www.derbyforafrica.org/Barefoot_Walk_to_London_About.aspx for more details - and hopefully the national press too.

Women and migration

The ninth and final workshop in the Making the Connections series saw Maggie and Laurie (Cohen) organise a day on the theme of women and migration. The morning set the scene with presentations by Usha Sood (on the law as it effects, and can sometimes work for asylum women); Marsha Meskimmon on the work that art can do to challenge stereotypes of sexuality, gender, nationality and ethnicity; Ruth Lister on the challenges of global citizenship and Hildegard Dumper on the numbers of women asylum seekers. The afternoon offered five workshops coordinated by local arts groups and activist groups working with women asylum seekers, allowing participants to discuss (and experience!) ways in which arts can be used as a means of challenging the forms of oppression, exploitation and destitution that effect many asylum seeking women. The outcome, to be published on the Making the Connections website as a Manifesto for Women's rights within the Asylum system. A good day, and a nice way to round off our network series in Refugee week. Two weeks and counting until the Final Conference!

A sense of belonging

On Friday 16th May, simultaneous walks began in Leicester, Nottingham and Loughborough involving recent arrivals and asylum seekers to the East Midlands, walking with co-walkers including local key workers, council officials and public servants. Each of the 7 walks involved asylum seekers using a map of a walk that they used to make in a place they called home to navigate the city in which they now find themselves. Tacking between the near and far, past and present, the walks brought issues of belonging and identity into sharp relief. The walks will act as the springboard for future arts initiatives as well as providing a basis for writing on the dislocation of new arrivals.

We wish to thank all walkers and co-walkers, as well as the regional arts organisations who facilitated the walks, and Misha Myers for co-ordinating the post-walk discussions.

WOMEN AND MIGRATION: art, politics and policy

An AHRC ‘Making the Connections’ Regional Network Workshop
Loughborough University FRIDAY 20th JUNE 2008

The ninth event in the Making Connections: arts, migration and diaspora series will be held in The Business School, Loughborough University, on Friday 20th June 2008, during Refugee Week.

This workshop focuses upon ‘women and migration’ within the broader context of the asylum-migration nexus and the relationship between women’s experiences as asylum seekers, refugees, or migrants and questions of culture, law, citizenship, and politics. What is clear from the available research is that women face many barriers - including a gender biased asylum system - with their voices and experiences usually mediated by others (journalists, advocacy groups, researchers), and are rarely heard. Culture is an essential aspect of our identity and the available research tells us that women migrants bring a great deal to culture and communities. It is hence vital we create the spaces for women’s voices to be heard and the opportunities for women to achieve their potential.

Speakers from a variety of sectors (arts, social policy, media and law) will focus on outlining the important role that the arts and the media have in ensuring women migrants have a voice. Speakers include Marsha Meskimmon (women and art); Usha Sood (women and the law); Hildegard Dumper (research on women’s experiences of the asylum-migration nexus) and Ruth Lister (women, poverty and citizenship).

Presentations and workshops will be led by a range of organisations including the Nottingham African Women’s Empowerment Forum (NAWEF), the National Institute for Access to Continuing Education (NIACE), The Long Journey Home, Nottingham Trent University and Paragon Law. There will be an opportunity for all delegates to engage in discussion, and explore how the issues raised can be taken forward practically through the creation of a Manifesto for the region on ‘What Women Want’

The event is FREE and Buffet Lunch and Refreshments are provided. We also want to provide plenty of opportunity for discussion and debate, so places are limited. We are happy to assist with transport costs for unwaged delegates. If you’d like to attend, please contact Richard Bessell on R.Bessell@lboro.ac.uk Tel: (01509) 223383 by May 30th at the latest.

Final conference announcement

'Hidden Voices'

Eighth workshop - February

By all accounts a big success - and thanks to Andrew Lake and especially the Dreamers Youth Group, Loughborough

The workshop was the launch of the ‘Hidden Voices’ publication, which endeavours to record the development of the ‘Dreamers’. Dreamers is a Leicestershire Youth Service project providing support and informal educational opportunities for young asylum seekers and refugees aged 13-25 years.

At the core of this publication are the personal reflections of youth worker Andrew Lake who established Dreamers in May 2002. For 4 years Andrew recorded his conversations with young asylum seekers in his professional diaries. Extracts from these recordings form the basis of much of this publication

The publication can be downloaded here, and a full workshop report will follow in due course