Exhibition. Free Entry
Refuge
June 7 - July 3, 2011
Joint exhibition to commemorate Refugee Week 2011
Featuring
'Waiting For' - a multimedia installation by Birgit Muller and Mike Moran
'Fragments From Another Life' - a photography exhibition by Rhonda Klevansky
'People and Change' - selected artworks from SDCAS asylum seekers
Event - Sunday June 26, 2011. 4pm-6pm. Free Entry*
Featuring
Artists Birgit Muller, Mike Moran, Rhonda Klevansky
Author Kamin Mohammadi, The Cypress Tree
Poem performed by John Constable
Screening of excerpt from the film Belonging: Voices of London's Refugees, courtesy of Evelyn Oldfield Unit
* Suggested donation at door £3. All donations will go towards Southwark Day Centre for Asylum Seekers (Registered Charity: 1064459) and Evelyn Oldfield Unit (Registered Charity 1044681)
This joint exhibition commemorates Refugee Week 2011, which runs from 20-26 June. Two distinct installations, by artists Birgit Muller, Mike Moran and Rhonda Klevansky, provide intimate insights into the dilemmas, choices and aspirations faced by asylum seekers, migrants and refugees. There is also a showcase of selected works by asylum seekers.
The launch event on Sunday 26 June features short talks by the artists; reading by author Kammin Mohammadi, an Iranian exile; sharing from an asylum seeker from Southwark Day Centre for Asylum Seekers and a short talk by Zibiah Alfred, a development worker from Evelyn Oldfield Unit.
To book your place, please use the form at the bottom of the page or call 02074079316
The launch event on Sunday 26 June features short talks by the artists; reading by author Kammin Mohammadi, an Iranian exile; sharing from an asylum seeker from Southwark Day Centre for Asylum Seekers and a short talk by Zibiah Alfred, a development worker from Evelyn Oldfield Unit.
To book your place, please use the form at the bottom of the page or call 02074079316
Waiting For
by Birgit Muller and Mike Moran
This piece is based on real
experiences about the situation asylum seekers find themselves in while waiting
for a decision by the Home Office. Nobody likes waiting, some
of us find it difficult to wait at a bus stop. Waiting for conveys what waiting
means for people during the asylum process. The decision by the Home Office can
be a decision between life or death, between staying or leaving. Including memories from the
past asylum seekers recount experiences of imprisonment and persecution in
their home countries. Not knowing when to be released, when to be interrogated
and possibly tortured is felt in a similar way to the insecurity during waiting
for a decision by the Home Office.
About Birgit Muller and Mike Moran
Birgit Muller and Mike Moran are
multi-disciplinary artists living and working in Bristol. Their works cover
photography, illustration, installation and video, bringing together interests
in ecology and human rights. Together they have worked on ‘Waiting for ‘ - a video installation
formed around asylum seekers’ personal experiences while awaiting decisions
from the Home Office. This was followed by ‘27kilos’ an installation work
focusing on the amount of C02 the average person produces in a day. They also run Particle Productions, an ethical video production company producing
films for the new technologies and sustainable energy markets
www.particleproductions.co.uk
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Fragments from Another Life
by Rhonda Klevansky
Artist statement: I
initiated this collaborative photo essay in order to augment the understanding
of refugees and asylum seekers as well as counter disparaging perceptions
created in newspaper headlines. When people flee their homes and
homelands because of persecution they are often lucky to escape with their
lives. Through the dignity of formal
portraits, I aim to illustrate the difficult dilemmas
and hardship that face those who are forced to, or feel compelled to, leave
their homes for a life of exile. I asked the sitters (who represent sixteen
countries) to include the only material possessions they were able to take when
they left their home countries. Each
sitter later annotated his/her portrait with a personal connection to the
objects – with sketches, poems, statements of hope or of continuing despair. In the ‘developed’ world we place enormous
emphasis on possessions - my hope is that the inclusion of these in the
photographs will establish a resonance with the viewer - giving him or her
something with which to identify.
About Rhonda Klevansky
Rhonda Klevansky, born
in South Africa, is a photographer, writer and documentary film maker.
She studied in South Africa at The University of Witwatersrand,
the Durban University of Technology, and is currently working on a Masters
Degree focusing on International Development at Duke University, USA. She is particularly interested in issues of
immigration, minorities, environment and development.
She has exhibited and/or has had photographs included in exhibitions at: the British Museum, London; the Horniman Museum, London; Canning House, London; The Angel Gallery, London; Diorama Arts, London; the Waterman’s gallery, London; St Mary’s Southampton, University of Winchester; Duke Medical Centre, Durham, USA. Her most recently video documentaries are “Welcome to My Paradise”, about the sand artists on the beaches of Durban, and “One Band Indivisible”, about a USA high school marching band. For more information on Rhonda, visit www.rhondaklevansky.com
She has exhibited and/or has had photographs included in exhibitions at: the British Museum, London; the Horniman Museum, London; Canning House, London; The Angel Gallery, London; Diorama Arts, London; the Waterman’s gallery, London; St Mary’s Southampton, University of Winchester; Duke Medical Centre, Durham, USA. Her most recently video documentaries are “Welcome to My Paradise”, about the sand artists on the beaches of Durban, and “One Band Indivisible”, about a USA high school marching band. For more information on Rhonda, visit www.rhondaklevansky.com
Kamin Mohammadi
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People and Change
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Evelyn Oldfield Unit
The Evelyn Oldfield Unit is an independent, membership-based, charitable organisation, with the aim to provide, develop and coordinate specialist aid and support services for established refugee and migrant organisations in order to increase their capacity and potential for meeting the needs of their communities. For more information on EOU and the work they do, please visit their website.
John Constable
Photo: Katie Nicholls
Southwark writer John Constable performs poems and songs from The Southwark Mysteries and talks about the amazing history explored in his Secret Bankside – Walks In The Outlaw Borough. For this event he will be performing a poem which touches upon the varied milieu of Southwark provided by the many migrants and refugees who have settled in this borough.
