SUNDERLAND Culture is supporting a busy week of activities to celebrate Refugee Week (June 15-21) in the city.
The organisation is backing the work of the Friends of the Drop In for Asylum Seekers and Refugees (FODI), based at Bridge House, Bridge Street, and Sunderland City Council, in raising awareness of the issues faced by refugees and asylum seekers on Wearside.
FODI aims to improve the mental health and well-being of the asylum-seeking and refugee community in Sunderland by reducing their social isolation and promoting their integration into the wider community.
The week begins on Monday (June 15) with a Walk of Sanctuary around the city, with the Bishop of Durham, the Right Rev Paul Butler, giving walkers an on-line blessing before they leave Sunderland Minster at 10am. Walkers will be led by church groups, in pairs, for a socially distanced five-mile procession across the community carrying the Refugee Week banner.
Chair of Sunderland City of Sanctuary, Chris Howson, will also complete the 14.2 mile walk accompanied at various stages by members of the refugee community and representatives from voluntary groups and organisations in the city that support asylum seekers and refugees
The theme of this year’s Refugee Week is ‘Imagine’ and other activity will include the online screening of specially-chosen films, a drawing project, the creation of a Sunderland Coronaquilt, online arts activities and the sharing of stories.
Jennie Lambert, Public Engagement and Learning Manager at Sunderland Museums & Heritage Service, said: “We’d like to thank FODI for the opportunity to be part of Refugee Week, which we’re delighted to do. We’ll be promoting FODI’s virtual art projects to our audiences and bringing together a selection of project work that has taken place over the past 18 months.
“One of the films shown will be the making of ‘Adrift,’ a fairytale for children which toured the country earlier this year and was shown at Arts Centre Washington in February. Another film which will be broadcast online will be ’15 Days’ by the artist Imran Peretta. The film is a personal account of conditions in ‘the jungle’ refugee camp at Calais during and after its clearance.
“This Arts Council Collection film was chosen to support the theme ‘Imagine’ to help us imagine walking in the shoes of others facing great uncertainty. Sunderland Culture is a partner in the National Partners Programme with Arts Council Collection, bringing world class British modern and contemporary art to the city.
“Other films and stories made by refugees and asylum seekers in Sunderland as part of last year’s Who Do You Want to Meet project will reveal the amazing imagination and creativity of communities living in our city. This project was part of the city’s Great Place Programme, funded by Arts Council England and National Lottery Heritage Fund.
“Families will also be able to try different art activities from Journeys Drawn, an exhibition of drawings of refugee experiences from the House of Illustration, which was shown at Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens last year.”
Gentoo is co-ordinating the making of Sunderland’s own Coronaquilt, with people asked to share photos, collage and drawings on the theme of ‘rituals of the everyday.’ Send your images, on paper or cloth, sized 21cm x 21cm, to billy.broad@gentoogroup.com. This activity is part of a national Coronaquilt project organised by Art Refuge UK.
Meanwhile, women’s community organisation Sangini, has invited people to join in ‘Lines of Migration: Let’s Draw Together,’ a project inspired by the poem Imagine by Guarionex Delago. Participants will receive paper and materials and draw part of a picture to post on to another person, reaching four people for each drawing. To find out more contact projectsangini@gmail.com.
Sandra Watt, Project Manager at FODI, said: “We’re delighted Sunderland Culture are supporting our Refugee Week programme. It’s so important we have a meaningful cultural element to our activities and it’s great to have the Sunderland Culture team so closely involved.”
Refugee Week is a UK-wide festival celebrating the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees. Founded in 1998 and held every year around World Refugee Day on June 20, Refugee Week is also a growing global movement.
Keith Merrin, Chief Executive of Sunderland Culture, added: “The Refugee Week activity in Sunderland gives us the chance to turn the spotlight on the stories, struggles and achievements of the refugee communities here on Wearside and around the world.
“I’d like to thank FODI and their participants for being part of our programme and sharing their powerful and personal stories. The content we’re sharing and promoting responds to their stories. Some of that content has been created by the Sunderland refugee community – other content is from renowned artists through Arts Council Collection.”
For more information, or to download the activities, go to www.sunderlandculture.org.uk or follow Sunderland Culture on Twitter (@SundCulture), on Instgram (@sunderlandculture) or Facebook. More more about FODI, go to http://www.fodisunderland.org