Led by ArtReach JOURNEYS is a pan-European project which has developed from key project strands of Journeys Festival International, a festival produced by ArtReach that celebrates the artistic talents of refugees and asylum seekers, sharing refugee experiences through great art and culture. The JOURNEYS Project is co-funded by the European Union through Creative Europe.
The aim of JOURNEYS is to support refugee integration by delivering artistic strands that - substantially raise the profile of the activity and its positive impact (for refugees and host communities); influence policy and the way local communities perceive migrant arrivals; enable the experiences of refugees to be effectively shared through artistic creation and presentation; and enable artists and cultural practitioners to learn and develop their practice in response to new and different approaches and artwork being presented by refugee artists.
JOURNEYS PROJECT STRANDS: Look Up - a high profile outdoor art exhibition presenting visual art work from refugee artists on a large canvas in each city.
The Container Theatre Project - supporting the creation of pop-up theatre performances and the making and screening of short new moving image productions to share refugee stories.
JOURNEYS Seminars - bringing together artists, with refugee support groups and the wider public, to explore
ideas and issues arising from the arts activity and its themes.
David Hill (ArtReach Director) said: “2016 has seen Journeys Festival International develop substantially to reach new audiences and create outstanding new work delivered by a range of refugee artists working in performing, visual and digital arts. With Creative Europe funding for JOURNEYS in 2017 we can now look forward, with the continuing commitment of Arts Council England through Ambition for Excellence, to developing exciting, challenging and wide-reaching pan-European work in 2017.”
Christoph Jankowski, Head of Culture, England & Culture Advisor, Creative Europe Desk UK “It’s great news that UK-led projects have been awarded this funding. The number of applications received - over three times as many as expected - indicate that refugee integration is an area about which the creative sector feels particularly passionate. It’s heartening to see such a desire to promote understanding between cultures and to see international creative partnerships stepping up to engage with big international issues.”
JOURNEYS IN NUMBERS:
● One of three UK led projects selected for funding by Creative Europe, in a special 2016 Call for refugee integration using culture ● One of only 12 projects selected from 274 applications for the Creative Europe funding ● 4 Partners organisations: ▪ Museo Dei Bambini (Explora) in Rome ▪ Altonale Festival in Hamburg ▪ CESIE in Palermo ▪ Trafo House as Associate Partner in Budapest ● 7 European cities involved ● 33 Seminars will be delivered ● 50 Artists ● 65 New Artworks ● 60 Local cultural and community partners ● 11 new performances ● 6 Moving Image Works ● 525 Refugee Participants ● 388,145 Total Audience Numbers
JOURNEYS TIMELINE OF EVENTS:
Museo Dei Bambini in Rome
● 1 – 21st April: Look Up, outdoor visual art exhibition of Sibomana’s Children of the Sea ● Saturday 1st April: Diversity as Wealth workshop with graphic journalist and screenwriter Takoua Ben Mohamed ● Sunday 2nd April: Colour Journey Art workshop with artist and activist Sibomana creative response to Children of the Sea exhibition. ● Saturday 1st April & Sunday April 9th: The Container Theatre Project, Play on the beach Body and theatre workshop with ArteStudio ● Friday 21st April: JOURNEYS Seminar. project inauguration of photography exhibition dedicated to the project. ● Friday 21st April: 11am Facebook Live Stream from Museo Dei Bambini Link to the website here. More images from the event can be seen here. Credit: Luigi Narigi (AGF) and Explora JOURNEYS Europe video can be seen here. Credit: Luigi Narigi (AGF) and Explora
Trafo House in Budapest (Associate Partners)
● 15th, 16th, 10th, 23rd - 24th May: The Container Theatre Project and JOURNEYS seminar events, Water/Radio is a debate theatre that puts the audience in a thought provoking situation. If there was persistent drought in Hungary, how would you escape? What opportunities would there be for you? See more here. ● 15th – 31st May: Look Up, outdoor visual art exhibition of three artworks on trams that travel throughout Budapest. Included: - Two artworks from Nikos Papadopoulos’ Plasticobilism series: Internationally acclaimed diorama photography series using Playmobil figurines to send a challenging message about the refugee crisis. - Jamal Jameel’s The Beholder: A series of assisted self-portraits taken of the Manchester, UK refugee and asylum seeker community by Jameel, an Iraqi refugee.
CESIE in Palermo - Link to the website here.
● 16th - 25th June: Look Up, outdoor art exhibition of work by 6 refugee women, facilitated by local artist Luca Delfino. ● 20th - 23rd June: The Container Theatre Project, presentation of the a short film created by Jean Paul Barraud and 8 young refugee participants. The participants will write, act, edit and produce the film which focusses on the multiculturalism in Palermo and refugee artists. ● 20th and 23rd June: JOURNEYS Seminar, two seminars that will showcase the short film produced by Jean Paul Barraud, being the starting point for a debate around refugee and asylum seeker awareness, integration in society and using art as a way for migrants to participate in the local community.
Altonale Festival in Hamburg - Link to the website here.
● 16th June – 2nd July: Look Up, outdoor art exhibition of Escape and Hope by Anja Behrens and members of the local refugee and asylum seeker community. The series is comprised of abstract art works and focuses on the fears and hopes of refugees. Exhibition place, Platz der Republik, Hamburg. Facebook Live stream of Look Up will be on Saturday 17th June at 1pm. ● Saturday 17th June 6PM: The Container Theatre Project, European Society is a choreographed dance performance inspired by parkour and free-running. Performed by refugee participants (age 18- 25) the performance aims to discover international movement, dance and music influences from the participants countries and translate the commonality of these. Performing Place, Platz der Republik, Hamburg. ● Monday 19th June 6PM: JOURNEYS Seminar event discussing the integration of refugees and asylum seekers. There will be a Facebook live stream of the seminar session. Place, Platz der Republik, Hamburg.
Journeys Festival International in Leicester - Link to the website here.
● 16th August – 03rd September: Look Up, outdoor art exhibition featuring British Journal Photography’s Photographer of the Year, Daniel Castro Garcia and his photography series entitled Foreigner: Migration into Europe 2015-2016. ● 16th August - 03rd September: The Container Project, a shipping container in Orton Square will be transformed into an innovative project space hosting virtual reality experiences with Rekrei who have created digital preservations of the Mosul Cultural Museum. The outside of the container will become a mural, painted by graffiti duo Nomad Clan. ● Sunday 19th August: Facebook Live Stream of Look Up exhibition, presented by an ArtReach representative. ● Thursday 24th and Wednesday 20th August: JOURNEYS Salon seminar events [TBC]
Journeys Festival International in Manchester - Link to the website here.
● 2nd – 15th October: Look Up, outdoor art exhibition featuring United for Change and refugee artist participants. ● Tuesday 10th and Thursday 12th October: JOURNEYS Salon seminar event following the performance of #JeSuis by Akash Odedra Company at Contact Theatre ● 2nd – 15th October: The Container Project, a shipping container in Manchester city centre will be transformed into an innovative project space hosting virtual reality experiences with Rekrei who have created digital preservations of the Mosul Cultural Museum. The outside of the container will become a mural, painted by graffiti duo M-One.
Journeys Festival International in Portsmouth - Link to the website here.
● 18th – 29th October: Look Up, outdoor art exhibition featuring a local artist and illustrative portraits of the local refugee and asylum seeker community. ● Friday 21st October: JOURNEYS Salon seminar event following the performance of #JeSuis by Akash Odedra Company at New Theatre Royal. ● 18th - 29th October: The Container Project, a shipping container will be placed in Portsmouth Cathedral Gardens and transformed into an innovative project space hosting virtual reality experiences with Rekrei who have created digital preservations of the Mosul Cultural Museum. The outside of the container will become a mural, painted by graffiti artist N4T4.
Further Information:
Please follow the link here to go to the JOURNEYS webpage. Creative Europe Media Desk Press Release Here.
MEDIA CONTACT ArtReach Emily Harris, Marketing and Communications Manager 0116 261 6882 / [email protected]
EDITORS NOTES
Proudly produced by ArtReach, Journeys Festival International (www.journeysfestival.com) is a multi-art form platform that celebrates the artistic talents of refugee and asylum seekers, sharing their stories through great art and culture. Journeys Festival International is a development from ArtReach’s refugee arts Festival first created for Leicester in 2013. Journeys Festival International is now established in the cities of Leicester, Manchester and Portsmouth, UK. In 2017 the festival will produce strands of activity supporting refugee integration as part of JOURNEYS European project. JOURNEYS is funded by Creative Europe and in partnership with of Explora (Museo Dei Bambini) in Rome, CESIE in Palermo, Altonale Festival in Hamburg and with associate partners, Trafo House in Budapest.
Journeys Festival International is funded with support from the National Lottery through Arts Council England’s Ambition for Excellence, Creative Europe and Leicester City Council.
Journeys Festival International, Leicester 21st August – 03rd September 2017 Leicester Partners: City of Sanctuary, The British Red Cross, Curve, Soft Touch Arts, After 18, Inspirate, Leicester Print Workshop, Phoenix, Attenborough Arts Centre, The Mighty Creatives, Leicester City Council, LCB Depot, New Walk Museum, The Y theatre
Journeys Festival International, Manchester 01st – 15th October 2017 Manchester Partners: Manchester Museum, The Whitworth Art Gallery, Contact Theatre, Community Arts North West (CAN), In Place of War, Manchester City Council, Royal Exchange Theatre, University of Manchester,
National Football Museum, Curious Minds, Brighter Sound, HOME, Rethink Rebuild, City of Sanctuary, Regional Asylum Activism Project, Music Action International, Manchester Refugee Support Network, Pathway Arts
Journeys Festival International, Portsmouth 19th – 29th October 2017 Portsmouth Partners: Artswork, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth Festivities, Aspex Gallery Portsmouth Cultural Trust, Guildhall, New Theatre Royal, British Red Cross: Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Surrey, Portsmouth Cathedral, University of Portsmouth, Friends Without Borders and The People's Lounge
ROOTS is the JFI official advisory group, formed of 10 members of the local refugee and asylum seeker community in Leicester. Meeting every 4-6 weeks, the ROOTS group helps us with accessibility, programming and ideas of the development of the festival in 2017 and for the future.
ArtReach (www.artreach.biz) is a dynamic cultural development agency and creative producer with a twenty year track record of helping to drive and support high quality arts initiatives. ArtReach makes great art possible and accessible, connective art with grass roots and diverse communities to forge creative engagement. Founded by current Director, David Hill, ArtReach is based in Leicester and works across the UK and internationally. ArtReach delivers festivals, performance commissions, public art, capital arts projects, strategic development and organisational support to the arts. In 2017 it will be developing Journeys Festival International (www.journeysfestival.com) for delivery in three UK cities with specific activity being delivered through the JOURNEYS European project to Rome, Palermo, Hamburg and Budapest. ArtReach also produces Night of Festivals (www.nightoffestivals.com) and will present Night of Festivals in Hounslow and a special Night of Festivals South Asia in Leicester from 17th – 19th August 2017.