Project Work
Banner Theatre
Birmingham, UK
Banner Theatre seeks to respond to the fact that arts, theatre and cultural work with and about refugees takes place against a background of misconceptions about refugees and issues of asylum generally and thus, questions of prejudice and discrimination central to their work. Banner Theatre describe themselves as 'one of Britain's longest established community theatre companies, with thirty years' experience of working with marginalized and disadvantaged communities.' Since 2002 Banner have been working on Local Stories/Global Times a programme of work which is devoted to exploring the impact of globalization on British communities. Migrant Voices in 2002 was followed by Wild Geese both of which are based on stories of exile and migration. These and their most recent production Strangers in Paradise Circus (touring from 2007) uses what Banner calls 'actuality', the recorded voices of those people who are affected by migration, which is mixed with live performance of specially composed songs to create the hybrid form of the video ballad.
Exodus (Greater Manchester Refugee Arts Partnership)
Manchester, UK
Exodus has emerged within a context where extensive funding for arts projects with refugees has been available since the late 1990s. These funds are available to project that place emphasis on the development of refugee artists and participation in arts activities with refugee communities. Participants are thought to benefit from the social interaction, language and skills development that participation in arts projects can bring and much of this work is couched in terms of integration and social cohesion. Set up in 2004, Exodus aims to demonstrate the impact of refugee artists and communities on the cultural landscape of Greater Manchester through developing partnerships with Greater Manchester's creative and cultural sector, artists and groups amongst refugee communities, and the wider Greater Manchester population. In this way it is hoped to demonstrate the positive contribution made by refugee artists as well as offer opportunities for expression and creativity to refugee communities generally. Projects have included two major outdoor performance festivals, Exodus Shorts film festivals, the Exodus Onstage theatre festival in 2006 and a series of live music events under the title of Exodus Live . Exodus partner organisation Community Arts North West also worked with Afrocats, a dance and performance group made up of young women refugees and local young women, to produce and perform Where is Home?
Ice and Fire/Actors for Refugees
London, UK
Ice and Fire is a theatre company 'that passionately believes art has a role to play in communicating one of the most pressing contemporary issues - the growing displacement of peoples from conflict zones' . It was founded in 2003 by playwright Sonja Linden, and recently added a new wing called Actors for Refugees who perform Asylum Monologues , an account of the UK's asylum system, told first hand by the people who have experienced it. With personal testimony at its core combined with public opinion, political statements and statistical fact, Asylum Monologues is a piece of theatre which is also a campaigning tool using verbatim accounts to educate and move the audience.
Virtual Migrants
Manchester, UK
Virtual Migrants draw parallels between the experiences of Britain's older migrant communities from the 1950s and 1960s with that of the newer arrivals in the 1990s. The company believes that by questioning what drives people to seek refuge in places like the UK, distinctions between conflict migrants and economic migrants begin to shift and reveal themselves as 'different shades of the same colour'. The company is a loosely affiliated group of artists working across the UK using largely multi-media techniques and music. Their work presents a hybrid with influences taken from participatory arts, digital art and installations often with a strong musical influence. They create films and multi-media pieces with young people who are concerned to explore aspects of refugee or migrant identities.
