Anti-Slavery Refugee Art Project 2018-19
Can you help?
If you missed out on supporting this project the first time around, it’s not too late to add your support by making a donation. I am fundraising to raise a further £682 to hold a community event on 15th February 2019 at Dover Smart Project in Dover, Kent.
Thanks to the support of a National Lottery Arts Council England grant and crowdfunding support already received Anti-Slavery Refugee Art Project is now up and running and I have successfully run 7 participatory art workshops with the charity Migrant Help UK.
The free to attend community event in February 2019 will conclude the project. Local residents, community groups, and NGOs and charities working with refugees and vulnerable migrants will be invited to come along. It will be a celebratory event with live Roma music, an exhibition of the artwork produced as part of the project and a Syrian buffet feast to enjoy.
Would you like to help pay for a Roma musician with a story to tell about migration to play Slovakian Gypsy Blues on the evening? Or would you like to help pay for a Syrian refugee chef to cook a delicious Syrian buffet? The £682 I aim to raise will cover the costs of hiring the gallery and will support these individuals to earn a living from their profession, in the UK.
The event will be open to all and it will be an opportunity to reflect on the powerful, positive impact creative expression can have on health and wellbeing, whilst also raising awareness about the human and social consequences of human trafficking and modern slavery in the UK.
Read on to learn more about the project or click here to make a donation. Thank you!
Community Event at Dover Smart Project
On 15th February 2019 at Dover Smart Project, from 6-8pm, I will launch an exhibition to share an artwork that will celebrate the creative journey that the participants have embarked on through the course of the project. Alongside the exhibition there will be live Roma music and a Syrian buffet feast.
Anti-Slavery Refugee Art Project is a participatory art project for asylum seekers and survivors of modern day slavery and human trafficking in Kent who are supported by the charity Migrant Help UK. Human trafficking and modern day slavery are two of the fastest growing international crimes.
I generated this project to provide participants an opportunity to express their individuality and feel a sense of community through engaging in a collective experience. Over the course of seven workshops participants have experimented with paint directly onto artist’s linen and canvas and with collaging and sewing found fabrics. The workshops have proven to be lively, productive and enjoyable. Five participants have attended the project: a man from Lithuania, who introduced us all to the duduk and the folk music of the Caucusus, and a single mother and her three young children from West Africa. Together we have created a series of vibrant, expressive visual works. For example, in the images above, you can see a beautiful hand sewn fabric collage made by one of the participants which depicts the sun setting over the sea. We have been working with colourful scraps of fabric that I have found washed up on my local beach. These potent yet anonymous scraps of cloth have made a good starting point for experimentation and exploration working from the imagination.
Anti-Slavery Refugee Art Project is funded by a National Lottery Arts Council England grant.
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GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/antislaveryrefugeeartproject
joy c martindale 