Information & Programme
REFUGEE WEEK 2010~ Friday 11th – Saturday 19th June
ALL EVENTS ARE FREE
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Friday 11th June: 6.30pm
Launch of Art Exhibition
As well as Celebrating Sanctuary's stunning art work, this special Launch event includes music, poetry, refreshments and a chance to hear how Bristol is becoming a City of Sanctuary. Children will speak about the Conflict Resolution work they’ve been doing in art workshops.
At 7.30pm: In Conversation with the Artists – a chance to talk to the artists and discuss how refugees are portrayed and how they portray themselves and their world!

Sat 12th–Sat 19th June: from 11am (not open Sunday)
Celebrating Sanctuary art exhibition
4 floors of powerful art by and about asylum seekers. Contributors include Shula, Janet Roome, Wiracha Daochai, Fiona Kam Meadley, Ricky Romain, Terry Piper, Houri Ghamian, Heather Fallows, Ugyen Choephell, Tom King, the Bristol Bike Project and Bristol Refugee Rights Welcome Centre. Art speaks the words we cannot say!
Sat 12th June: 2pm–midnight
Zimbabwe Day
 Monday 14th June: 2pm
The Forgiveness Project workshop
2pm: Gumboot dance workshop with Cecilia Ndhlovu: for everyone who can jump up & down!
4pm: Film – Democracy Missing Presumed Dead – a frank look at the 2008 elections in Zimbabwe.
6pm: Delicious Zimbabwean food! (£5 a plate)
7.30pm: Talk Zimbabwe “Hope & Despair: the Inclusive Government of Zimbabwe” with Eddy Mushayanyama “UK Border Agency’s immigration & asylum policy towards Zimbabweans” with a panel of top legal and political experts.
10pm: Music and Dancing – Zimbabwean music with Fidelis Mherembi, Cecilia Ndhlovu & friends!
 Awareness, Education & Inspiration are the tools of The Forgiveness Project. It aims to help build a future free of conflict by healing the wounds of the past. The workshop is led by Sandra Barefoot, Director of Visible Thinking, and Camilla Carr. Camilla will share the story of being kidnapped in Chechnya for over a year, and how she & her partner Jon survived by creating a dialogue with their captors.
Monday 14th June: 7.30pm
Ireland and the Flight from Famine
(From Exile to Integration 1)

The Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s saw one million people starve to death – proportionately the most destructive famine ever. This evening of music, readings, history and debate examines the causes and consequences of the Great Hunger. Up to 2 million refugees fled their homeland – how were they received? What resonance remains for the famines of today?
Tuesday 15th June: 7.30pm
The Road to Babylon
(From Exile to Integration 2)
The long journey from Africa via West Indian slavery to the cold shores of Britain left many Afro-Caribbeans feeling like exiles. This event gives voice to the experience and feelings of Bristol’s black communities. Do they feel they’ve found their roots? Have they succeeded in building a rich & secure identity for themselves in today’s multi-cultural Britain?
Tuesday 15th June
Visible Thinking Schools workshops
Visible Thinking researches new ways of engaging children in learning. Their work has evolved non-verbal storytelling techniques
that improve children's learning, communication, well-being & musicality. Schools who have attended these Refugee Week workshops before have asked us to run the day again!
Wednesday 16th June: 2pm & 4pm
The Voice of Children
A workshop with Barnardo’s and Refugee Action
Why does Britain still lock children up in detention centres? How do we ensure that children are seen as children and supported accordingly? How do we promote positive outcomes for refugee and asylum seeker children?

The Voice of Children uses visual images and testimony to take participants on a journey that explores the needs and rights of refugee and asylum seeker children. Barnardo’s South West and Refugee Action Bristol are working in partnership on Refugee and Asylum Seeker Family Support (RASFS), an initiative to improve the outcomes for refugee children.
Wednesday 16th June: 7.30pm
Film: El Norte
(From Exile to Integration 3)
A screening of this award-winning film followed by a discussion about the plight of children as refugees. El Norte follows a young Mayan brother and sister, fleeing persecution in Guatemala, and chasing the elusive dream of a better life in the U.S.
"El Norte tells their story with astonishing visual beauty, with unashamed melodrama, with anger leavened by hope. It is a Grapes of Wrath for our time." Chicago Sun-Times.
Friday 18th June: 3–11pm
Spotlight on Iran
An evening devoted to the culture and politics of a country of huge sophistication, antiquity and importance. Iranian food, film, music, poetry, costume, dance – and discussion of the current situation both in Iran and for Iranians here in the UK. Highlights include the launch of Shahram Khosravi’s book Illegal Traveller, the silent film Grass, and an exhibition of photos of the recent unrest in Iran. Organised by the Iranian community in Bristol.
Thursday 17th June: 7.30pm
A Taste of Darfur
Bristol’s newly-formed Darfur Association brings you an evening devoted to the culture and current plight of their homeland. A chance to get behind the headlines, and to try a taste of the music, food and culture of Darfur. Hear and discuss what has driven Bristol’s Darfuri community to seek sanctuary here, and how they are settling in.
Saturday 19th June: 7.30pm
From Exile to Integration
A final Symposium
This symposium brings together the experiences of refugees and others who have made their homes in Bristol. How are they received? How can they be helped to become valued and contributing residents of our city? The event brings together many of the themes and issues of the week, and clothes them in personal testimony. A central focus will be the way forward for Bristol as a City of Sanctuary. An evening to reflect, debate and celebrate!
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Celebrating Sanctuary Exhibition is Curated by Kay Chard, all events are free
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Refreshments are available all week in the Pierian Centre basement café.
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The Pierian Centre, 27 Portland Square, St Pauls, BS2 8SA
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For more information contact 0117 924 4512
CLICK HERE FOR EMAIL LINK
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Come and join this jamboree of powerful and provocative events!