Counterpoints Arts And Southbank Centre Mark 25th Year Of Refugee Week
Refugee Week is set for 19 - 25 June 2023.
By: Stephi Wild May. 23, 2023
The Southbank Centre in partnership with Counterpoints Arts, the leading national organisation in the field of arts, migration and cultural change, are marking 25 years of Refugee Week with exciting new commissions from award-winning artist Murugiah and poets Vanessa Kisuule, Rachel Long, Momtaza Mehri and more. There will be short film screenings with the Arab Film Club; conversations and talks with Radical Ecology; music and dance workshops and an opportunity for artists to present their work in a supportive showcase. There are events for all interests and ages, and many of which are free.
This year's Refugee Week explores what compassion means in today's political, social, economic and cultural context. It looks at how we can grow compassion by doing small, everyday acts that have the potential to affect and support people outside our immediate circles of friends and family.
These events are part of a wider festival taking place across the UK, in partnership with Counterpoints Arts.
Visit the Southbank Centre Refugee Week page for full information
FREE EVENT | ART & EXHIBITIONS | Murugiah: Compassion
8 June - 6 July 2023, Riverside Entrance Foyer, Level 1. Free.
Compassion is a new and exciting artwork created by award-winning artist Murugiah. He's developed it in collaboration with a group of young asylum seekers from Compass Collective. The piece is inspired by the artwork of young pupils across the UK featuring messages of welcome for refugees and those seeking asylum around the world. By celebrating what connects us, Compassion shows us that our actions really can change the world. This artwork has been commissioned by Choose Love, Counterpoints Arts and Students Rebuild for the 25th anniversary of Refugee Week.
https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/art-exhibitions/murugiah-compassion?eventId=950766
FREE EVENT | COURSES & WORKSHOPS | Mix & Move: Women for Refugee Women
Friday 23 June 2023, 12pm, The Clore Ballroom, Level 2, Royal Festival Hall. Free.
Led by the community group Women for Refugee Women, discover vibrant poetry, dances, stories and food from their lives. Women for Refugee Women empower refugee and asylum-seeking women to speak out, become leaders and advocate for change. Through English lessons, drama and other activities they support women to build their confidence and skills. Their network helps to combat the isolation faced by women seeking asylum and creates pathways for women to rebuild their lives with dignity.
FREE EVENT | GIGS | Singing Our Lives
Sunday 25 June 2023, 11.45am, Queen Elizabeth Hall Foyer. Free.
Singers, instrumentalists and poets share their responses to the theme of Compassion – and give you a chance to join in the singing. Singing Our Lives, now in its seventh year, is produced by Together Productions and brings displaced people, sanctuary seekers and local communities from around the UK to compose new music and perform together. The project unites amateur singers and performers, professional musicians and writers from around the world in a unique coming together of cultures, disciplines and traditions. This performance marks the finale of Refugee Week, and culminates in a thrilling mass performance of a Singing Our Lives original composition.
https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/gigs/singing-our-lives?eventId=951085
FREE EVENT | TALKS & DEBATES | Migrant Futurism: Kenmure Street
Sunday 25 June 2023, 1.30pm, Queen Elizabeth Hall Foyer. Free.
This panel brings together community activists and organisers to reflect on the power of the Kenmure Street protest, two years on. The panel features Mohammad Asif and Pinar Aksu, who were active throughout the day, alongside Sami, an organiser in the anti-raids network. It's moderated by film-maker, activist and founder/director of Radical Ecology, Ashish Ghadiali. This event is part of the launch of Migrant Futurism, a long-term curatorial strand of research and public programming led by Radical Ecology, in collaboration with Counterpoints Arts and the Southbank Centre.
FREE EVENT | GIGS | Amani Collective Showcase
Sunday 25 June 2023, 2pm, Riverside Terrace, Level 2, Royal Festival Hall. Free.
This is a chance to experience a slice of the vast diversity of African music, with acclaimed lead singers and instrumentalists Papa Sam Alafia, Emmanuela Yogolelo, Tshepe Thsepela, Herve Vika and Fade.Other genres that feature include Afro-fusion and agwaya, rumba and mutwashi.
https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/gigs/amani-collective-showcase?eventId=944555
FREE EVENT | PERFORMANCE & DANCE | About Us! Artists' Scratch Showcase
Sunday 25 June 2023, 2.30pm, Level 5 Function Room, Green Side, Royal Festival Hall. Free but ticketed.
Whether or not you're ready to embrace the name 'artist', if you're making work or thinking about it, this event is for you. Sign up on the take part tab to present your work (or work in progress) and engage in discussions with a room full of like-minded artistic experimenters. Music, film, comedy, drama, improv, visual art, fashion and everything in between is welcome! Full running orders to be updated when the presenters have been selected.
TALKS & DEBATES | Migrant Futurism: Françoise Vergès
Sunday 25 June 2023, 3pm, Purcell Room at Queen Elizabeth Hall. £7.50.
The renowned decolonial activist and theorist delivers a key-note presentation reflecting on the context of the UK's Illegal Migration Bill. In this talk, Vergès draws connections between forced migration, climate breakdown, gender violence and systemic violence to insist on the need to develop and enhance international solidarity in the face of these interconnected planetary crises. Migrant Futurism interrogates cultural strategies, in the context of displacement, for the imagination of just and sustainable futures.
FREE EVENT | COURSES & WORKSHOPS | West African Dance Workshop
Sunday 25 June 2023, 3pm, Riverside Terrace, Level 2, Royal Festival Hall. Free.
This family-friendly workshop and performance features West African percussion and dance with Imani Jendai and Tagne Tebu. The workshop is designed and delivered by Imani Jendai, an exceptional and dynamic performer and choreographer with extensive knowledge of many different dance styles. Born and raised in Cameroon, Tagné Tebu is a multi-talented multi-instrumentalist, band leader, music director and composer who has worked with musicians from many different cultures and musical backgrounds.
FREE EVENT | LITERATURE & POETRY | Migrant Futurism: Angela Camacho
Sunday 25 June 2023, 4pm, Queen Elizabeth Hall Foyer. Free.
Angela Camacho fights for the rights of indigenous and Latinx communities and works to amplify the struggles of indigenous, trans and womxn activists in the Global South. Her practice is guided by the principle of becoming a good ancestor. This event is part of the launch of Migrant Futurism, a long-term curatorial strand of research and public programming led by Radical Ecology, in collaboration with Counterpoints Arts and the Southbank Centre. Migrant Futurism interrogates cultural strategies, in the context of displacement, for the imagination of just and sustainable futures.
PERFORMANCE & DANCE | Short Films Screening
Sunday 25 June 2023, 5pm, Purcell Room at Queen Elizabeth Hall. £5.
Watch exceptional short films from around the world, made by refugee and asylum-seeking film-makers, and curated by Sarah Agha, founder of the Arab Film Club. Each title is either written and directed by a refugee film-maker or draws on real life experience to tackle the theme in some way. This showcase proves the power of cinema, as each film-maker succeeds in humanising both struggle and injustice with their art. The programme includes projects from BAFTA-winning film director Hassan Akkad and Counterpoints Arts' Pop Culture & Social Change Producer, Laith Elzubaidi.
https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/performance-dance/short-films-screening?eventId=944569
FREE EVENT | GIGS | Songs to Heal and Empower
Sunday 25 June 2023, 6.45pm, Queen Elizabeth Hall Foyer. Free.
Samia Malik celebrates the launch of her new album, Songs to Heal and Empower – music that extends and subverts the traditional Urdu Ghazal form. Malik's powerful original songs are written in Urdu and English, and explore contemporary issues around identity, race and gender. The music combines soaring Eastern melodies, electronics, tabla and deep bass grooves, and is supported by live visuals of Malik's original art and translations. Malik has collaborated with world-class artists including celebrated Indian dancer and activist Mallika Sarabhai and 'sitarist to the stars' Baluji Shrivastav OBE.
https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/gigs/songs-heal-and-empower?eventId=944573
FREE EVENT | GIGS | Rainbows Across Borders
Sunday 25 June 2023, 7.30pm, Queen Elizabeth Hall Foyer. Free.
Listen to a performance by the Rainbows Across Borders community choir, a voluntary self-help group for LGBT asylum seekers fleeing persecution. Working with Music Action International, this community choir writes and performs their own songs with messages of compassion, identity and belonging. The choir provides a secure and safe space for members to share experiences as LGBT asylum seekers and to mutually build confidence whilst making music together.
https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/gigs/rainbows-across-borders?eventId=951087
LITERATURE & POETRY | Notes on Compassion: Words, Music and Us
Sunday 25 June 2023, 8pm, Queen Elizabeth Hall. £10.
We're bringing together poets and musicians to share their responses on Compassion, helping us create a safe and shared space of community in which to unpick what compassion means in today's political, social, economic and cultural context, and how important it is to extend it beyond our own networks. There's performances from AWATE, Vanessa Kisuule, Rachel Long, Momtaza Mehri and Sukina Noor and an original choral performance from Woven Gold.
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