Cambridge Refugee Week 2024
Community Arts Festival
Saturday, 22nd of June 2024
11.00- 16.00 Alison Richard Building (Sidgwick Site), University of Cambridge
16.00 - 17.30 followed by Uncomfortable Cambridge tour, starting at ARB
Coordinated by the Cambridge Refugee Hub, University of Cambridge
Join us for an engaging programme honouring and celebrating refugees with our partner CamCRAG. A family day, with musical performances, ceramic arts, visual arts and films and documentaries. It engages with the diversity of refugee experiences in an effort to uphold refugee rights. This day is in celebration of and with those in exile. The event is free and all welcome (including children).
Please also join us for our conference on June 20th 2024: Conference "Location: Global"
AGENDA
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Performances |
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11.30 - 12.30 |
Poetry & Music by Houman Yousefi, Haroon Yousefi & co. |
performance corner |
Poet Homan Yousofi is an award-winning poet, poetry translator, playwright, and short story fiction writer. He is co-founder of Inktrails creative writing company, with recent commissions for the V&A museum, BBC television, and international projects spanning several continents and perspectives. Haroon Yousofi is an Afghan journalist, poet, and satirist currently residing in London. His journey led from Persian literature at Kabul University, Russian literature at Moscow State University, teaching Russian literature at Kabul University, becoming Director of Television and Radio in Afghanistan, before eventually fleeing in 1990 as a refugee to the UK. From 1990 to 2010, Haroon served as a Producer at the BBC World Service Persian. |
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| 14.00 - 16.00 |
Amor Mundi followed by Museum Trail (15.00 - 16.00) |
performance corner
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Special performance of ‘Amor Mundi, an exciting new opera. The work is inspired by the German-American historian and philosopher Hannah Arendt, and her journey as a refugee. Combining classical Greek thinking and contemporary realities, it’s a poetic exploration of human migration and what it means to leave home. Creative Team: Zsuzsanna Ardó – concept/libretto | Patricia Auchterlonie – voice | Tom Jackson – bass clarinet | Sinéad O'Neill – staging | Melanie Pappenheim – voice | Matt Rogers – music | Benedict Taylor – viola |
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| 16.00 - 17.30 |
Uncomfortable Cambridge Tour, fundraiser for SolidariTee |
tour starting at the Sidgwick Site | The perfect introductory tour of Cambridge, this tour engages with local historical memory and highlights diverse stories in the beautiful city centre. Our tours provide newcomers with a good introduction to the city while going beyond the traditional narratives. We highlight histories of race, gender, class, and disability, while raising uncomfortable questions about the lasting legacies of empire. All our guides are university researchers who are passionate about the city, its people, and its diverse history. Please find the link here. Please donate to join. Proceeds from the event will be donated to Soli. | |
Art Workshops |
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| 11.00 - 12.30 |
Islamic Geometry Workshop by Elmira Zadissa & Ramona Zadissa |
workshop room (SG 2) |
Join us in challenging conventional norms and embrace a new form of intimacy through collaborative creativity and collective learning. We explore the hidden mathematical structures behind the intricate patterns of Islamic art, where mathematics, spirituality, and aesthetics converge seamlessly. In this hands-on workshop facilitated by Elmira Zadissa (She/Her) and Ramona Zadissa (They/Them), you'll have the opportunity to work collaboratively, engage in discussions that challenge the conventional narrative, questioning the norms of mainstream culture, and fostering an environment that values creativity and diversity. Max. 15 pax. |
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| 12.30 - 14.00 |
Afghan Music Workshop by Mirwaiss Sidiqi |
workshop room (SG 2) |
This workshop will provide information on Afghan music styles and scales as well as giving example of those by performing on relevant instruments (although I’m not a performer by profession). Information on the current situation of Afghan music and musicians will also be provided. Mirwaiss Sidiqi is an ex-country director of the Aga Khan Music Initiative in Afghanistan, graduate of Musicology from Kabul University, Visiting Researcher at Goldsmiths University of London. Born in Kabul in 1968, he is fluent in Farsi, French, English, German and Pashto. Max. 15 pax. |
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14.30 - 16.00 |
Eritrean Clay Workshop by Grmalem Kasa |
workshop room (SG 2) | In this workshop we will make an Eritrean style coffee mug. It represents Eritrean and Ethiopian culture in many ways. My name is Grmalem Kasa, I am from Eritrea but live and work in UK. I work with clay a part of my degree at UCA. Since my childhood I have always been interested in community and cultural identity and how it is expressed through creativity. We will together make coffee cup and talk about community, culture and coffee! Max. 15 pax. Bring apron or wear clothes that are not precious to you as well as a towel. |
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| For all workshops, children welcome, if accompanied by adults. | ||||
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Stalls |
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| 11.00 -16.00 |
Sales A grand sale of art at a range of prices by Cambridgeshire artists Jackie Duckworth, Maureen Mace, Marya Myronova, and Clare Padfield. Vintage clothing to suit all ages Raffle |
atrium & SG1 | ||
| 11.00 -16.00 |
Bits & Bites Syrian food by local chefs: a choice of tasty finger food Cakes: delicious homemade cakes to take home or sample at the festival |
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| 11.00 -16.00 |
Bessie from the Cambridgeshire Libraries |
Come and meet Bessie the Book Bike! Bessie is on a mission to promote reading and fun around Cambridge and beyond. You'll be able to listen to stories, browse and borrow books, join the library or renew your membership, and chat to friendly library staff who’ll be happy to let you know more about all the great things Cambridgeshire Libraries have to offer. We look forward to seeing you there! Coordinator: Ana Silva |
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| 14.00 - 16.00 |
We Refugees: A trail on seeking refuge in the ancient world |
Museum of Classical Archaeology |
Hannah Arendt’s essay – We Refugees – was published in 1943, after she and her family escaped to New York following the Nazi occupation of France. Arendt details the personal trauma of exile and forced migration and reads the refugee as a product of the limitations of the nation state. However, the exile, the émigré, the refugee, has a history much older than any particular mode of political organisation. This trail, available during a special Saturday opening, traces one part of this history by looking back to Greece and Rome. It draws connections between the experience of the ancient refuge seeker and Arendt’s experience in twentieth century Europe, showing how these worlds are, in some ways, fundamentally different, and, in others, hauntingly similar. |
