16th June 2007 ~ Private View :

“Very moving”.

“Great, I liked it a lot!!!”

“Loved Forgiveness Exhibition especially and Mo Onamai. All excellent.”

“Very important exhibition – educational and informative. Thank you so much!”

“A very moving experience. Thank you.”

“I’m going to come back and do it properly! Very moving.”

“Such a great experience, highly recommended.”

“Particularly loved the Forgiveness Project – such a lesson to us all – and the film by Taban Othman (very moving).”

“I am very happy to have been here today. I saw many great art works. Also I would like to thank these people who gained and provided this house. They have done very great things.”

“A beautiful day of warm connections, passion and expression through pictures and people with heart.”

“Wonderful Forgiveness Exhibition. Very inspiring.”

“Thanks so much for this opportunity for sharing love and understanding. Let’s hope bringing out Knowle West children here to share in this project will make a change!”

“Thank you for providing a professional venue for the young people of Bristol to display their work and show they care about the whole world”.

“Very moving – beautiful – striking- disturbing – opening – challenging and very moving. Thank you.”

“Thank you for reminding me again of the level at which we need to live our lives – the connected human level.”

“Good balance between the trauma of having to leave ‘home’ and the positive aspects of finding refuge. The film was traumatic to begin with, but worth sitting through that for the fantastic Saddam Shoe sculpture – and ideas of hope.”

“Very impressive mixture of quality in the cultural realm with heartfelt compassion. The work of the people involved at every level of the Pierian Centre echoes the best of the American Underground Railroad.”

Monday 18 th June 2007 ~ Gong Bath, Trafficking Discussion and Butterfly Project

“Is Ugyen’s poem available?”

“Lovely meditation session and a very moving exhibition. Thank you to all involved.”

“I was really pleased with it all and I hope that it will keep going well. Thank you so much.”

“Very moving, excellent exhibition.”

“Loved the sound meditation – please do it again, it raises your state of consciousness! I nearly fell asleep. Also, the Forgiveness collection was fab, very moving, especially after having just been gonged!”

“So moving, so very special. Thank you.”

“F-word is a very important and deeply moving exhibit. Thank you for sharing it.”

“Very shocking and sad stories. Lovely artwork. Should be seen by all!”

“Very interesting intro to trafficking and how it fits into asylum process!”

“Disappointed that I can’t stay for the discussion after such interesting introductions. Thank you.”

“Very important contribution to Refugee Week – Thank you.”

“Very informative but especially coming from the heart.”

“A stimulating and thought provoking evening. Thank you – a privilege to be have been here.”

“All very interesting – thanks for putting on these talks.”

“It was all very informative and very interesting!”

“Good to have an opportunity to learn and engage.”

“Very informative and worthwhile coming to – and a beautiful building!”

“Thank you for hosting a thought-providing session on trafficking – will be back to take a closer look at the exhibition! But I already have much to take away.”

“All your help and energy into spreading awareness of this topic is much appreciated.”

“Really good debate, very welcoming in fantastic centre.”

“Excellent presentations, I was particularly interested in the Forgiveness Exhibition. Good luck with the rest of the week and beyond.”

“I particularly liked the Forgiveness and reconciliation exhibition which brought tears. But all very good, interesting and hopeful. Thank you.”

“A wonderful centre.”

“Thank you for the great opportunity and the strength this has given me.”

“Lovely space and a good place for exhibiting work! Hope it continues!”

“Great exhibition – thank you.”

“Very informing with some brilliant exhibits.”

“Hard to find words as yet – The Forgiveness Project has moved me greatly and brings hope. It will take time to find a further response.”

“I was very moved by the exhibition; it gives a sense of hope that there is a place, a home, a voice for refugees with such integrity.”

“Thank you on behalf of BRAVE for the enjoyable environment we have experienced when using the centre for training and away days. Also, on a personal level, thank you for your valued mentoring.”

“Interesting and thought provoking.”

“Lovely to see you after 5 years. What a change.”

“A fabulous record of 5 years effort and success.”

“I don’t know what to say…The Forgiveness Exhibition was overwhelming and made me cry several times. Human experience and grace. The oppressive and contrasting treatment of refugees and people who have suffered and committed atrocities communicated with such honesty and depth.

In this country of liberty, oppression.

In the name of peace, violence.

In the wake of atrocity, forgiveness.

In the face of adversity, courage.

With love and compassion.”

“I was passing by and managed to stay for half an hour. I am really glad I did.”

“Beautiful, profound exhibition. Very touched by the Forgiveness Project.”

“I wrote lots downstairs but one word I forgot was: innovative.”

“A wonderfully calming reception – thank you.”

“Always great; always feel special. Don’t know how you keep it up but we are glad you do. Here’s to more!”

“Always a pleasure to do business with June and The Pierian Centre.”

“What a wonderful place! A pleasure to be here.”

“Very inspiring exhibition!”

“Just wonderful – a vision realised at 5 years!”

“Wonderful evening – great exhibition.”

“Oh you GORGEOUS creative creatures.”

“Happy Birthday – Pierian Centre… all the best people have birthdays in June!!”

“This is a TRULY creative and varied exhibition in so many ways. The room of Forgiveness was VERY provocative – I will be mulling over what I feel about it for some time. Thank you Pierian Centre for this!”

“The exhibition was (is!) a really great combination of useful information as well as the beautiful, moving art. Behnaz – I love your pictures! Also agree with the above, the Forgiveness room was very thought-provoking and astounding. Thank you.”

“Please make the Forgiveness room a permanent installation here or somewhere in Bristol – so powerful.”

“Absolutely amazing – great job again.”

“Fantastic – another great refugee week. Well done on all your work.”

“Wonderful house, wonderful exhibition. Great to celebrate Zimbabwe.”

“Enjoyed the Forgiveness Project.”

“The Forgiveness Project – amazing, inspiring, moving.”

“What fantastic energy the whole exhibition brings – thanks so much.”

“Very enjoyable and interesting day. I enjoyed the gumboot dance!”

“Ditto the above! Especially the gumboot dancing!”

“The Forgiveness Project – incredibly powerful and moving – thank you.”

“Very positive experience – never heard of the Forgiveness Project before – it was very moving, thanks.”

“Gumboot dance – great fun!”

“Arm the MDC? Can the Crown Agents help? How many people will die before something is done?”

“I hope that the elections of 2008 would see the end of the Mugabe regime and a rebirth of Zimbabwe as a free and prosperous day – let’s hope that the change comes much sooner – world leaders wake up to this and act now to end this awful regime.”

“My congratulations to the Chairman for his skill in maintaining a very good debate – thanks for the wonderful food.”

“Very informative, I hope the elections in 2008 will bring your people the promises they so rightly deserve.”

“Thank you for an opportunity to learn more about the problems in Zimbabwe and for the hospitality. I hope that all that ‘inner strength’ of the Zimbabweans will remind them they’ve done it before and can do it again.”

Saturday June 23rd 2007 ~ Somali storytelling

“A very moving exhibition. Particularly the Forgiveness Room.”

“Absolutely fantastic exhibition! It makes you stop and think, and gives visitors the space to reflect on the turbulent world around us. I hope it comes back every year.”

“Congratulations! A very moving exhibition. It is very powerful to read stories written by refugees themselves. I have also enjoyed very much the visual expression of very difficult and painful experiences and to remember once again that art can heal!”

“Have never been here before…had taught English to Somalis but not as well as they entertained and hosted this excellent evening.”

“A wonderful evening – full of soul! Thank you. I am sure this place is needed by the community. Thanks a lot.”

“Thank you for the lovely evening, I hope you enjoy as much as I did.”

“I especially enjoyed the storytellers’ impression of a hyena.”

“It is very enjoyable environment to feel it is my first time and am certain will be the beginning of many to come.”

“Many thanks to everyone who has been involved. Wonderful event. Thanks!”

“Lovely to see inside a different world – should be more of this, more readily and widely accessible.”

“Salaam Alekum! So very special to share in the wonderful Somali culture. Will be practicing my dance moves! Thank you.”

“What a privilege to see inside a little part of Somali culture – what infectious joy!”

“I am very happy, and enjoyed the Pierian Centre inside and also Somali tradition.”

“Great evening – would have like a complete traditional tale – maybe if a children’s story – without translation but lots of animals!”

“Keep the funding going for events like this. It was an evening of happiness.”

“I did not know there is such a nice centre in Portland Square.”

“Very joyful, I learnt a lot, would like to learn more. Thanks for sharing.”

“I enjoyed learning about the Somali culture! Thank you for your warm and generous welcome.”

Sunday June 24th 2007 ~ Closing Ceremony

“A really moving display that is well presented and made me think about the issues. Really well displayed and beautiful.”

“An inspirational exhibition presenting some really tough issues, sensitively and thought provokingly. I’ve come away feeling inspired. Great space too!”

“It was such a wonderful contribution to the end of Refugee Week. We are so blessed, and privileged to be here. I have learnt so much, and the compassion to forgive does move one forward. Well done, and many thanks to all those involved in refugee week, refugees, organisers, artists and attendances.”

“Thank you so much – this has touched me deeply. I am reminded of how privileged we are in this country. We are so blessed by having so many people from different cultures with the richness that they bring, and to see the realities of the world. I have learnt a lot.”