REFUGEE WEEK
Refugee Week is a UK wide festival that celebrates the great contribution made by refugees to UK life and promotes understanding of why people become refugees. Every year hundreds of arts, cultural and educational events are organised across the UK. Refugee Week 2005 will be taking place from 20th – 26th June this year. For further information on the Refugee Week events please visit www.refugeeweek.org.uk

INSOMNIA, 19-26th June 2005, 11am-6pm
Private View: Saturday 18 June, 6pm-9pm
Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Warf, South Bank, London

Dzenana Hodzic, Untitled, aluminium mounted print, 2005

Emma C Wilcox, The Field, gelatin print, 2005

Insomnia is an exhibition of visual art, performance and writing, organised by the British Red Cross in aid of Refugee Week 2005.
Led by the idea that art is one of the most powerful tools which various individuals and groups have used across the globe and throughout centuries to reinvent collective and individual identities and fight against colonialism, racism, and demeaning stereotypes, this project reinforces the idea that art is not a by-product or a way of reflecting society, as it is still often assumed, but an integral part of social, political and cultural construction.

Using insomnia as an analogy for the inability to access a place of security, rest and recuperation, this exhibition aims to provoke thought and discussion around similar experiences – our intention was to create a space where some of these stories could be materialised and through their different forms hopefully receive a wider resonance and recognition. We also hoped that by creating a thematic framework that does not necessarily insist on the political, we would be able, first of all, to allow artists and participants to define their “status” in their own terms, and secondly, to encourage new audiences to use their own experiences in order to relate more closely and empathically to the experiences of refugees.

Exhibition brings together the works of a number of refugee and non refugee artists and writers operating within different cultural contexts and artistic forms.
ARTISTS: Fari Bradley and Maryam Hashemi, Alexandra Carambellas, Adam Chodzko, Dzenana Hozic, Cheryl James, Sophie Lascelles, Carlos Jasso, Karin Ludmann, Sophio Medoidze, Monica de Miranda, Sara Preibsch, Jacqui Rodger and David Grange, Anna Sherbany, Leonor da Silva, Suzana Tamamovic, Emma C Wilcox, Zory
PERFORMANCES BY: Rabab Ghazoul, Elena Jovanova, Leibniz, Katherina Radeva
READING BY: Susie Boyt, Bel Mooney and others

Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf, Bargehouse Street, South Bank, London SE1
Information: 020 704 5692 www.coinstreetfestival.org www.redcross.org.uk/insomnia

way from home: Misha Myers To launch Refugee Week 2005 in Plymouth, UK, public officials will be paired with refugees to take a special walk conceived by live artist Misha Myers as an opportunity for self-representation, understanding and dialogue about their experiences of living in the city. Refugees are invited to map a route from a place they consider home to a nearby special place. Following these maps as a guide, the pair will take a walk in Plymouth, transposing the landmarks of the city to the map of home. The walks will commence at 2PM on 20 June from Plymouth Arts Centre to be followed by a discussion. The maps created through this event and an interactive multi-media version of past maps will be on display at the Plymouth Arts Centre until 16 July 2005. You can also find the instructions to make your own walk and to interact with these walks online at www.wayfromhome.org   'way from home' is one of a series of projects made in dialogue with refugees and refugee support organizations in Plymouth, UK, employing contemporary art practices of wayfinding, mapping and walking as ‘homing devices’ –creative processes which explore new social geographies, relations, spaces of belonging and home, and new terms and conditions for emplacement.   This project has been supported in various stages through funding from Arts Council of England, AOL Innovation in the Community Award, Performance Research Journal and Dartington College of Arts. For further information contact Misha Myers at m.myers@dartington.ac.uk

White Space Gallery, Axminster
In support of the Refugee Week
20 June - 10 July 2005
Margareta Kern and Ricky Romain

In this unique artist run gallery space, both Margareta and Ricky's work will be shown alongside each other. Both artists explore themes of immigration, alienation and questions of space and place, and have come together to show their work in support of the Refugee Week 2005.

Margareta Kern interviewed random passengers traveling in standard class train carriages, asking about their views on asylum sekers coming to Britain. These answers are shown alongside portrait photographs of the passengers. But while part of the installation is static, the other part is left for the viewer to finish, in a match-the-comment-to-the-person game-like process.
The site of engagement being a train, which is moving from one place to another; those engaged talking about people who are constantly on the move, searching for a stable place; those 'others' being labeled asylum seekers...all of this creates a curious theatre, upon which the story about place, home, space, and the judgment of one upon the other's right to that space, unfolds.

Ricky Romian works with a variety of mediums, usually on canvas, paper or occasionally on board. 'My work has changed significantly since I began painting. My earlier work was concerned with making imaginative and symbolic connections to my relationship with classical Indian music, to the natural world, and to my Jewish heritage. In later years I have focused my attention on one particular subject - it is that of statelessness and alienation. This is connected to my concern for the desperation of asylum seekers who are not granted refugee status and consequently have nowhere to go. I have no political solutions to offer. It is as if I can offer sanctuary to such people on my canvases and therefore help their situation symbolically.' Ricky Romain will be showing his new work.

White Space Gallery, 1 West Street, Axminster, Devon EX13 5NU, T 01297 35807

images: left Ricky Romain, In Remembrance of Daniel Pearl, 2004; right Margareta Kern, Standard Class Opinions, detail, 2003

MULTI-STORY Sat 18 June - Wed 20 July Street Level - Photoworks (Glasgow) multi-story features work created by asylum seekers from over 15 different countries living in North Glasgow. The exhibition, containing photographs, personal stories, songs and video, created in conjunction with a series of classes teaching digital and new media technology, offers an inside perspective on life as an asylum seeker. The classes were held at the community resource centre in the YMCA building, North Glasgow, which houses around 240 recent arrivals over its 31 floors. In conjunction with the multi-story exhibition a web site, www.multi-story.org, has been established which features work, including video and digital imaging, created by the group. multi-story.org can be navigated in six different languages - Arabic, English, Farsi, French, Somali and Turkish. The site celebrates positive aspects of Glasgow's growing ethnic communities that are being established through the refugee population. Street Level Photoworks, 26 King Street, Glasgow G1 5QP T: +44 (0)141 552 2151 F: +44 (0)141 552 2323 E: info@sl-photoworks.demon.co.uk

image: view from 28th floor, Springburn, Glasgow www.multi-story.org/blue_frms.htm

Leprachorn Sunset by Delaine Le Bas

DELAINE LE BAS, ROOM Transition, London 4 June – 3 July 2005 Delaine holds a unique position within contemporary art, her work continues to defy categorisation, she makes work by any means necessary 'with whatever comes to hand' to create a present day pik-n-mix patchwork of ideas, a biographical bricolage which encompasses film, painting, drawing and sewing. Delaine consciously subverts and utilises her Romany heritage and this stops the work from being merely decorative. Opening Hours - Friday – Sunday 1-6pm Transition 110a Lauriston Road, London E9 7HA www.transitiongallery.co.uk transition@huntergather.com

Srebrenica Now Salon des Arts, London 8 - 17 July 2005 Residents of Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, have created a unique photographic record of their lives to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the massacre by Serb forces in which more than 7,000 men and boys died. Srebrenica Now is an exhibition of these photographs plus a debate, concert and films. The photographs have been taken by Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) families and friends of those killed, as well as Serb refugees from other parts of Bosnia. Their pictures bear moving witness to life in the town now, ten years after events that shocked the world. Srebrenica Now is the result of a collaboration between the Dutch Bosnian NGO Werkgroep Nederland-Srebrenica, the London-based Srebrenica Justice Campaign, the refugee support group BH Community UK, the Refugees and The Arts Initiative and Bridging Arts. Salon des Arts, 191 Queensgate, London SW7 5EU, Open: noon to 6pm daily Email info@bridging-arts.com or call 0794 12 52 444 . www.srebrenicanow.org.uk/

Photo by Philippa Harrison/Civil Presence Project

Closing the Door? The Jewish Museum, London 23 March - 21 August 2005 To mark the centenary of the Aliens Act, the Jewish Museum's exhibition Closing the Door? explores how immigration has affected British life over the last century and provides a fresh look at the controversial issue. It will illustrate how migrant and refugee communities have struggled and survived, despite the restrictions on their right of entry, and how they have enriched and enhanced British society. The exhibition displays reflect the rich variety of cultures that flourish in Britain today as well as case studies highlighting the experiences of the individuals who have made their own difficult journeys to settle here. Documents, photographs, textiles, religious objects, cooking utensils and musical instruments are among the many colourful exhibits. Paintings and sculpture by first and second generation artists such as Chris Ofili, Edori Fertig, Qu Lei lei, Sula Chance, Raksha Patel (image above), Amal Ghosh and David Breuer Weil explore the themes of identity and migration. The exhibition is accompanied by a wide-ranging programme of talks and discussions, and creative workshops for children. The Jewish Museum, 129-131 Albert Street, Camden Town, London NW1 7NB Opening Hours: Monday to Thursday 10am-4pm, Sunday 10am-5pm T 020-7284 1997 For further information please visit the web-site www.jewishmuseum.org.uk

Raksha Patel, Portrait of Psyche 2001, Acrylic on canvas

THE WAITING ROOMS
GP Surgeries, London, Sept 2004 - September 2005
24th April until July 2005, The Goodinge Health Centre

ARTISTS: GEORGE BERBERIAN (Armenia/UK), MOHAMMED BUSHARA (Sudan/UK), MARTHA ELSESSER (Colombia/UK), MARIANA GORDON (Romania/UK), MIRYAM SANJARI (Iran/UK), MARGARETA KERN (Former Yugoslavia/UK) and SUZANA TAMAMOVIC (Bosnia and Herzegovina/UK). CURATORS - ASAKO YOKOYA for 198 GALLERY and CARYNE CHAPMAN CLARK

The Waiting Rooms Exhibition brings the work of seven artists, based in the UK, who have a first hand experience of exile. Artists were asked to respond through their work, specifically to the context of GP waiting rooms. The result is an exciting exhibition of diverse new work which will generate discussion around the themes of exile, place and belonging.

Caryne Chapman Clark, founder of Artists in Exile and Dr. Paul Kelland of the Shoreditch Park Surgery collaborated on a concept for touring a visual arts exhibition to particular doctors surgeries in London that have a large patient population of asylum seekers and refugees.
The exhibition will remain in each surgery waiting room for 2-3 months before moving on to the next one.
WHERE: The Goodinge Health Centre, North Road, London N7 9EW, T:0207 619 6699
For further information on the Waiting Rooms exhibition, please contact Caryne Chapman Clark: caryne@tantraweb.co.uk

Leave to Remain artists Margareta Kern and Suzana Tamamovic, have collaborated on a new piece of work for the exhibition. Titled ‘Drift Away’, the work is exploring issues of time, waiting and that particular state of mind that one enters while waiting for something - ‘drifting’, filling in time with 'things to do', assembling and reassembling, pressure and release.
For more information about the work and to make and send your own paper boat please visit the web-site www.driftaway.iofm.net

Drift Away, Suzana Tamamovic and Margareta Kern, 2004/05

'From Refugee to Freedom' Arts, Culture & Politics for Young Refugees
Watermans' Art Centre, London
Monday 20 June 9.45am - 4.30pm

Watermans are proud to present three events to coincide with this year's Refugee Week 20 - 26 June. For more information on any of these three events please check the Watermans web site

From Refuge to Freedom will provide a forum to explore the role the arts can play in assisting young refugees and asylum seekers to integrate into their new communities.
The seminar will feature presentations and discussions facilitated by experts from the refugee and asylum seeking community and artists & arts organisations with direct experience of working with young recent arrivals.

*Cinema Screenings* Fri 17 June - Thu 23 June Private (15) Check Watermans web site for screening details watermans.org.uk
Private is based on the real-life story of a well-to-do Palestinian family unfortunate enough to live between Israeli settlements and an Arab village. One day, seemingly from nowhere, Israeli soldiers move into their home for “security reasons”. The family father, Mohammad, refuses to leave, subjecting himself and his family to an uneasy occupation, and splintering family loyalties.

Please contact Nadia Nervo (Watermans Acting Head of Participative Arts) if you would like further information about any of these Refugee Week events on: Watermans, Acting Head of Participative Arts, 020 8232 1033, nadia@watermans.org.uk
For further information please visit www.watermans.org.uk/refugeeweek05

TRAJECTORY at SPACE
Scheme runs: August 2005 - August 2006. Deadline for Applications: 8 July 2005. Application packs available to download from www.spacestudios.org.uk from 25 May 2005 onwards.
Trajectory is an intensive peer review and mentoring scheme targeted specifically at London-based mid career / established artists, developed by SPACE in association with Artquest. Eight selected artists from a cross section of the visual arts sector will be offered a year-long individually tailored programme of support including participant led workshops, networking opportunities and mentoring with leading professionals from arts and non-arts backgrounds. Further information: Camilla Brueton 020 8525 4345 or camilla@spacestudios.org.uk

FLIGHT PATHS ARTS IN EDUCATION TRAINING for REFUGEES & ASYLUM SEEKERS at LYRIC
* Are you an artist (dance, drama, music, story telling, visual arts)?
* Unemployed or under employed (under 16 hour per week)?
* Interested in working in schools?
* Resident in Greater London?
This highly regarded arts-in-education training programme can offer you an introduction to arts in education including specialist curriculum
and classroom knowledge, practical guidance on working with children and young people, and guidance on planning and evaluation. Training will take place between 15th September and February 2006 and will involve approximately 10-14 days.
To apply, please complete the Application Form and return by 21 July 2005 to:
education@lyric.co.uk (Education Department, Lyric Hammersmith, King Street, W6 0QL 08700 500 511). To receive an application form please contact the Education department education@lyric.co.uk
All information provided will remain confidential and will be used exclusively for the purposes of recruitment of the Flight Paths Training
05-06.

‘Leave to Remain’ provides visibility to issues of forced migration and related socio-political matters, by featuring the work and projects of contemporary artists who are displaced or whose work deals with displacement.

Leave to Remain aims to create new spaces for critical discussion concerning these matters.

Edited by Margareta Kern. Your suggestions & comments can be sent to margareta@leavetoremain.org