Refugee Weeks in Other Countries
Dance for refuge. Photo: Counterpoints Arts / V&A
People who have chosen to, or been forced to migrate will always be "others" in their new community—bearers of a different culture, language, and appearance. However, many countries have initiatives that use the universal languages of art, music, food, and sport to show that the labels of "migrant" and "refugee" hide real and familiar human stories, experiences, and aspirations.
Point of Displacement Festival also turns to those universal languages to spark up a dialogue and encourage mutual interest between cultures. New events with a similar agenda continue to emerge across the world—some of them are presented in the selection below.
Point of Displacement Festival also turns to those universal languages to spark up a dialogue and encourage mutual interest between cultures. New events with a similar agenda continue to emerge across the world—some of them are presented in the selection below.
Refugee Week UK
Where: Various cities across the UK
When: The week of June 20,—World Refugee Day—running since 1998.
Idea: The Week promotes a culture of welcome, explains forced migration and the social and cultural role of refugees in the UK.
Format: Refugee Week is an umbrella festival that is not limited to any particular format or space, allowing any organization or individual to hold or join an event or activity. Events range from arts festivals, exhibitions, film screenings and museum tours to discussions and football tournaments.
Refugee Week 2020: In 2020, Refugee Week UK will be held from June 15 to 21 and— for the first time in its history—as an online event. This year's theme is "Imagine." The festival invites participants to step beyond the current moment and try and imagine new ways to care for our planet, transcend borders, and protect human life.
The organizers of the festival suggest eight "simple acts": imagine; watch a film; read a book about exile; tell a joke; take a tour; thank your climate justice hero; share a song; and join the movement. All of the acts can be performed online, taking the form of a social media post, an online meeting, or a personal email.
When: The week of June 20,—World Refugee Day—running since 1998.
Idea: The Week promotes a culture of welcome, explains forced migration and the social and cultural role of refugees in the UK.
Format: Refugee Week is an umbrella festival that is not limited to any particular format or space, allowing any organization or individual to hold or join an event or activity. Events range from arts festivals, exhibitions, film screenings and museum tours to discussions and football tournaments.
Refugee Week 2020: In 2020, Refugee Week UK will be held from June 15 to 21 and— for the first time in its history—as an online event. This year's theme is "Imagine." The festival invites participants to step beyond the current moment and try and imagine new ways to care for our planet, transcend borders, and protect human life.
The organizers of the festival suggest eight "simple acts": imagine; watch a film; read a book about exile; tell a joke; take a tour; thank your climate justice hero; share a song; and join the movement. All of the acts can be performed online, taking the form of a social media post, an online meeting, or a personal email.
Refugee Week Australia
Where: Various cities across Australia
When: Every year on the week of World Refugee Day. The Australian Refugee Week was one of the first festival-type projects centred on interaction with migrants and refugees. The first week ran in Sydney in 1986, and later became a national event.
Idea and format: Australian Refugee Week is in many ways similar to the UK festival. Its mission is to educate the host community: explain who refugees and migrants are, why they come to Australia, what difficulties they face, and what they contribute to Australian society. Events are organized in collaboration with migrants to make their own voices heard. The umbrella structure allows anyone to organize events. Separate projects across Australia share the same theme, suggested by the organizers each year.
Refugee Week 2020: This year's theme is "Welcome" and the festival is taking place online. For example, the project Share a Meal, Share a Story will be continuing its cooking workshops online. Joining a meeting, participants can learn to cook various national dishes and listen to the stories of refugees.
When: Every year on the week of World Refugee Day. The Australian Refugee Week was one of the first festival-type projects centred on interaction with migrants and refugees. The first week ran in Sydney in 1986, and later became a national event.
Idea and format: Australian Refugee Week is in many ways similar to the UK festival. Its mission is to educate the host community: explain who refugees and migrants are, why they come to Australia, what difficulties they face, and what they contribute to Australian society. Events are organized in collaboration with migrants to make their own voices heard. The umbrella structure allows anyone to organize events. Separate projects across Australia share the same theme, suggested by the organizers each year.
Refugee Week 2020: This year's theme is "Welcome" and the festival is taking place online. For example, the project Share a Meal, Share a Story will be continuing its cooking workshops online. Joining a meeting, participants can learn to cook various national dishes and listen to the stories of refugees.
Refugee Week Berlin
Where: Berlin, Germany
When: June 18 to 24, 2018
Idea: Organized by writer Christoph Braun and artist Monika Dorniak, Refugee Week in Berlin was not so much a festival as an art project. The main idea behind the Week was to employ art to explore topics ignored by the mainstream media and help refugees share their experiences with a broad audience.
Format: At the centre of the Berlin project was the exhibition The Vivid Unknown that featured installations, performances, sculptural and photographic works as well as a series of workshops, and explored the contemporary anthropocentric world, where climate change and wars push people to abandon their homes for the unknown.
One of the big events of the Week was the photographic show Journeys created by Çağlar Tahiroğlu in collaboration with refugees and migrants, who were invited to tell their stories choosing one object from their home as a starting point. The idea of home (meaning a feeling of belonging more than a geographical location) and imagining it through certain objects was also the theme of an art therapy workshop for refugees and migrants, where they recreated their homes in artworks. The workshop was open to everyone regardless of their artistic skills and their works were exhibited in The Vivid Unknown.
When: June 18 to 24, 2018
Idea: Organized by writer Christoph Braun and artist Monika Dorniak, Refugee Week in Berlin was not so much a festival as an art project. The main idea behind the Week was to employ art to explore topics ignored by the mainstream media and help refugees share their experiences with a broad audience.
Format: At the centre of the Berlin project was the exhibition The Vivid Unknown that featured installations, performances, sculptural and photographic works as well as a series of workshops, and explored the contemporary anthropocentric world, where climate change and wars push people to abandon their homes for the unknown.
One of the big events of the Week was the photographic show Journeys created by Çağlar Tahiroğlu in collaboration with refugees and migrants, who were invited to tell their stories choosing one object from their home as a starting point. The idea of home (meaning a feeling of belonging more than a geographical location) and imagining it through certain objects was also the theme of an art therapy workshop for refugees and migrants, where they recreated their homes in artworks. The workshop was open to everyone regardless of their artistic skills and their works were exhibited in The Vivid Unknown.
Refugee Food Festival
Where: Refugee Food Festival started in Paris and over the past four years has spread to fifteen cities across the world, including New York, London, and Cape Town.
When: Every year since 2016, around World Refugee Day
Idea: According to its organizers, Refugee Food Festival is a culinary and solidarity project. It started during the so-called "migration crisis" with an ambition to counter the miserable and anxiety-provoking rhetoric about refugees, overcome stereotypes and start speaking one language suggested by the love of cooking.
Format: City Restaurants open their doors to migrant chefs inviting them to create a menu, cook, and interact with customers. Throughout the year, the organizers of the festival help refugees with projects in catering and train them to become cooks as part of SÉSAME program, creating opportunities for the professional development of refugees and their integration into the local community through their skills and knowledge.
The project started at La Résidence—a Paris restaurant acting as a springboard for refugee chefs. Every six months the restaurant invites a new chef, allowing them to express themselves, test their recipes, and polish their skills. In 2018, the La Résidence chefs were Nabil Attar from Syria and Magda Gegenava from Georgia, who then opened their own restaurants in Orleans and Paris.
Another participant of the project—Muzaffar Sadykov of Uzbek origin and born in Kyrgyzstan—arrived in London in 2012. Through the Refugee Food Festival in June 2019, he became the chef of Pique-nique restaurant in London, where he cooked the traditional Uzbek dish called plov, and went on to open his own street food chain OshPaz.
When: Every year since 2016, around World Refugee Day
Idea: According to its organizers, Refugee Food Festival is a culinary and solidarity project. It started during the so-called "migration crisis" with an ambition to counter the miserable and anxiety-provoking rhetoric about refugees, overcome stereotypes and start speaking one language suggested by the love of cooking.
Format: City Restaurants open their doors to migrant chefs inviting them to create a menu, cook, and interact with customers. Throughout the year, the organizers of the festival help refugees with projects in catering and train them to become cooks as part of SÉSAME program, creating opportunities for the professional development of refugees and their integration into the local community through their skills and knowledge.
The project started at La Résidence—a Paris restaurant acting as a springboard for refugee chefs. Every six months the restaurant invites a new chef, allowing them to express themselves, test their recipes, and polish their skills. In 2018, the La Résidence chefs were Nabil Attar from Syria and Magda Gegenava from Georgia, who then opened their own restaurants in Orleans and Paris.
Another participant of the project—Muzaffar Sadykov of Uzbek origin and born in Kyrgyzstan—arrived in London in 2012. Through the Refugee Food Festival in June 2019, he became the chef of Pique-nique restaurant in London, where he cooked the traditional Uzbek dish called plov, and went on to open his own street food chain OshPaz.
One Journey Festival, USA
Where: The festival started in Washington, then spread to San Francisco and Charlottesville, and in 2020, it was going to take place in New York, Philadelphia and Seattle, however, all events have been moved to the next year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
When: one day in June since 2017
Idea: One Journey is a local initiative started by two immigrants Vanda Berninger and Wendy Chan to inform the public about of the global migration crisis and raise the visibility of refugees, their contribution, and their skills to the host society.
Format: In Washington, the one-day festival takes place at the Washington National Cathedral, which hosts African and Asian dance workshops, a craft and small enterprise fair, a Take Action stand, where around 30 NGOs offer practical advice on supporting refugees and migrants, and an international food court.
When: one day in June since 2017
Idea: One Journey is a local initiative started by two immigrants Vanda Berninger and Wendy Chan to inform the public about of the global migration crisis and raise the visibility of refugees, their contribution, and their skills to the host society.
Format: In Washington, the one-day festival takes place at the Washington National Cathedral, which hosts African and Asian dance workshops, a craft and small enterprise fair, a Take Action stand, where around 30 NGOs offer practical advice on supporting refugees and migrants, and an international food court.
World Refugee Day in Greece
Where: Athens, Greece
When: June 20 and 22, 2019
Idea: Greece does not have a regular festival, but a variety of events are organized across the country for World Refugee Day. In 2019, the Greek Forum of Refugees and the UN Refugee Agency organized two events We Create Together—We Live Together and You, me and those that came after—We are all citizens to encourage solidarity and peaceful coexistence.
Format: Events in the program We Create Together—We Live Together on June 20, 2019, included a screening of short films, discussion Through the eyes of the protagonists about photography and refugees, and musical performances by artists from the African and the Albanian communities. You, me and those that came after— We are all citizens ran on June 22 and included a panel discussion on the access of refugees to the labour market and the issue of homelessness, as well as a fashion show by the refugee and migrant communities.
When: June 20 and 22, 2019
Idea: Greece does not have a regular festival, but a variety of events are organized across the country for World Refugee Day. In 2019, the Greek Forum of Refugees and the UN Refugee Agency organized two events We Create Together—We Live Together and You, me and those that came after—We are all citizens to encourage solidarity and peaceful coexistence.
Format: Events in the program We Create Together—We Live Together on June 20, 2019, included a screening of short films, discussion Through the eyes of the protagonists about photography and refugees, and musical performances by artists from the African and the Albanian communities. You, me and those that came after— We are all citizens ran on June 22 and included a panel discussion on the access of refugees to the labour market and the issue of homelessness, as well as a fashion show by the refugee and migrant communities.
Refugee Fest, Malaysia
Where: Kuala Lumpur. In 2019 it also took place George Town, Penang Island.
When: Three days in June, every year since 2016
Idea: The Refugee Fest was started by journalist and documentary maker Mahi Ramakrishnan and offers refugees an opportunity to show their skills and crafts and interact with the host society.
Format: The festival balances discussions of serious social issues with an interest in the creative self-expression of refugees. In 2019, it featured several events devoted to human trafficking, including a discussion and the documentary film BOU (Bride) on the trafficking of young Rohingya girls from Myanmar, who are sold as child brides to men in Malaysia. At the same time, the festival featured drama workshops, photographic exhibitions, music, and poetry events that allowed real human experiences to be expressed through creativity.
The Refugee Fest is a unique platform for interactions between Malaysia's numerous ethnic groups. The festival finishes with a night of live music featuring performances by Syrian, Malaysian, Afghan, and Iranian artists whose styles transcend cultures and national borders.
When: Three days in June, every year since 2016
Idea: The Refugee Fest was started by journalist and documentary maker Mahi Ramakrishnan and offers refugees an opportunity to show their skills and crafts and interact with the host society.
Format: The festival balances discussions of serious social issues with an interest in the creative self-expression of refugees. In 2019, it featured several events devoted to human trafficking, including a discussion and the documentary film BOU (Bride) on the trafficking of young Rohingya girls from Myanmar, who are sold as child brides to men in Malaysia. At the same time, the festival featured drama workshops, photographic exhibitions, music, and poetry events that allowed real human experiences to be expressed through creativity.
The Refugee Fest is a unique platform for interactions between Malaysia's numerous ethnic groups. The festival finishes with a night of live music featuring performances by Syrian, Malaysian, Afghan, and Iranian artists whose styles transcend cultures and national borders.