Edita Marelic has always been interested in the political issues of otherness, both while living in Croatia and here in the UK. The experiences of alienation and insecurity are conveyed in her work mainly by addressing the urban environment, both its beauty and banality. The landscapes she depicts represent atmospheres of desertion and implicate feelings of fear and loneliness. However, in her work she also tries to move away from a feeling of entrapment by appreciating and expressing the distinctiveness and beauty of these settings, as part of negotiating a new feeling of belonging. She emphases the sense of the 'bright side' by aspiring to introduce humor to her work. She will be exhibiting a painting 'Frightened Stations Gathered Together for Mutual Support'.

Gonkar Gyatso's work is a reflection of his life in exile. Traditional Tibetan art and the debates on hybrids of cultures and identity have been very influential in the way that his artistic practice has evolved. His primary medium is fabric: brocades from his home town in Tibet and reconstructed shirts, made from originals from charity shops in London's high street. He has also worked with painting, screen printing, photography, furniture and other mixed media to explore his interest in the issues of social and cultural diaspora. Gonkar has exhibited widely in the UK and around the world, including Tibet and India. His recent piece 'Soft Touch', made specifically for the Leave to Remain exhibition is a pun on the phrase, so often used by the media and increasingly the public, when describing Britain as an easy target for the asylum seekers. Gonkar also showed the 'Untitled' series at the Leave to Remain exhibition.

Jesus Panadero-Huerta has shown his recent documentary 'Welcome to London' whose complex objectives include redefining the concept of 'refugee' from exiled artists' perspectives, analyzing the discourse that has evolved to express the shared human activities within the communities where socio-cultural inclusivity is taking place. Through this documentary Jesus intends to raise awareness of the 'multi-ethnic/cultural/linguistic' nature of this group of people to the public, looking on how refugee artists are influenced by the communities where they live and work. The documentary features refugee artists from around the world, who now live in London, speaking about their experiences and opinions.

Margareta Kern has been exploring the meaning of conflict and harmony through her work, ever since she left Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992. She has used various artforms to express her curiosity, attempting to understand not only the culture she is living in now, but also the culture she left. As well as curating the project, Margareta has exhibited the installation titled 'Standard Class Opinions'. Together with Alex Rotas, who has assisted her with the project, she has taken train journeys, across the UK, and has asked random passengers on the standard class carriages 'what are their views on asylum seekers coming to Britain'. Their answers together with thier portrait photos, were assembled in a site-specific installation, that is partly left for the viewers to complete. To see Margareta's other work please visit margaretakern.com

Mentor Chico Gaibor's work is a reflection on the life he left behind in Ecuador, and a new life he is building here in the UK, since arriving in 1997. He paints in oil and acrylic on canvas, cardboard and glass. Mentor studied fine art at the University Central of Ecuador, graduating in 1993 with a diploma in painting and engraving. He was appointed art teacher in Quito at Leonardo Vinci college from 1993 to 1997. Studied photography at Morley College, London 2002. Mentor has had many exhibitions in Ecuador, Spain, Malta and UK. At the most recent Leave to Remain exhibition, Mentor has shown a series of his paintings on the youth of London, stereotyped by the tourists, but now seen with a different eye. To view more of his work, please visit www.world-art-gallery.com

Mircea Roman is a sculptor who has exhibited widely since his graduation in 1984 from BA- the Fine Art Institute 'Ion Andreescu' Cluj-Napoca, Romania. At 'Leave to Remain' Mircea has exhibited a sculpture piece titled 'Descending from the wall' I. This sculpture is part of a large installation called 'The Corridor'.
'The person is shackled to the wall and trying to come undone, to break loose, to be free. As today 'freedom' means to think like everybody else, to look like everybody else and to act like everybody else, we realise that the wall is within us all. Thus we have to struggle with our discerning powers and dignity in order to reach spirituality.'

Mohsen Keiany work draws on the richness of the culture he left behind in Iran. His paintings are strongly inspired by Persia's rich Sufi mystical tradition, in combination with modern forms such as surrealism and expressionism. He tries to present the essence of Sufism by capturing music and esthetic dance (Samah) through colour and texture.
In his painting 'Harmony of the Earth' he tries to show the harmonious relationship of all earthly creatures: humans, animals and natural forms such as plants and rocks. The figures represent the ecstasy of the Sufi mystical idea, "We all were made from earth and will become earth." To find out more about Mohsen Keiny's work please click on the link: www.mohsenkeiany.b0x.com

Raymond Yap has based his work on his experience of obtaining a visa to stay in the UK over the past 10 years. He describes a state where he was frequently in the state of limbo, he was not in control of his destiny, transfixed by the power of a little rubber stamp. The technique of embossing the paper to leave a permanent mark, echoes both the stamping of the passport and his own internal trauma. The work 'Subliminal Threshold' is made up of eleven, or more, individual pieces suspended by bulldog clips against a black background. The installation contains elements of the history of his passport, interposed with the emotional experiences of crossing borders.

Rebwar Saed draws strongly on his Kurdish heritage and his experience of being in exile ever since he left Iraq. He is an active member of the Kurdish community here in London and has exhibited widely across the world. For 'Leave to Remain' Rebwar has prepared a series of paintings that deal with 'environment': 'Historical studies draw out the big events in society, not the daily events in people's lives, which remain ignored. In this initiative, via the art of painting, we shall recover some of this historical omission. The colours become the judges in reconstructing history to accommodate daily events. Colours serve as blueprints of the fact that ordinary human beings are victims of this negligence. Victims cry out for help and yet we do not hear. They look at us for sympathy and yet we do not see. In this initiative the disregarded souls meet the lost days. They tell us that it is time for the fruits to ripen.' To see more of Rebwar's work please click on the link www.kurdishart.net

Suzana Tamamovic has throughout her artistic practice been attracted to the unwanted, unused, rejected, dirty, unattractive side of things. And although for the last few years her work has somewhat drifted from exploration of her experience of exile proper, into an even more complex experience of integration into a new culture that one can never truly belong to, the underlying feeling throughout has been one of search for ones place, somewhere to belong.
Objects that appear in 'People tell me to cheer up, it could be worse' have this nature too - they are found objects mostly, some inherited from the space itself, others adopted by their new surroundings. Together with words they create an atmosphere that's full of reflection, sadness, anger and hope - it's the unmistakable atmosphere of her experience as a refugee.

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