Journeys Festival International Portsmouth is an annual arts Festival that takes place across the city. The Festival curates, presents and commissions a varied programme of work created by artists who have lived experience of forced migration and that explores the refugee experience through artistic and creative encounters. Now in its fourth year, the 2019 programme includes an inspiring and stimulating mix of live music, visual and digital art exhibitions, interactive installations, discussions and workshops. ArtReach produces and develops Journeys Festival International Portsmouth in collaboration with extraordinary artists, community groups, charities, arts organisations, volunteers and partners. We would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who makes the Festival possible.

The Channel, by Isobel Tarr, was hosted at the People's History Museum as part of Journeys Festival International Manchester in 2019. The installation allowed you to connect with people indefinitely detained in UK immigration removal centres via the sculpture, which resembles an old fashioned phone box. Audiences were invited to listen to messages sent by real people in these centres throughout the week and respond to the individuals with their own questions and thoughts. The phone booth enabled the exchange of messages between Manchester and UK detention centres, which later formed a sound artwork. These ‘exchange’ times were delivered in collaboration with local community groups actively engaged in campaigning to end detention in the UK, where you can also learn and share ideas for breaking down borders in our communities. Video credit: Oliver Halstead

Reckoning With Refugeedom by Mei Yuk Wong (Hong Kong) is a textile installation and exhibition which appeared at Journeys Festival International (produced by ArtReach) in Leicester, Manchester and Portsmouth in 2019. An ArtReach commission in partnership with the University of Manchester and funded by The Arts and Humanities Research Council and Arts Council England. Fragments, Mei Yuk Wong's response to the Reckoning with Refugeedom research project, shares the hidden voice of refugees in history and offered us the chance to reflect on their stories in relation to experiences today. This new work has been created in response to historical petitions, letters and personal correspondence from 1919 - 1975 found in archives around the world. The work offers a snapshot into the lives and personal experiences of refugees and deals with the frustration that, at this point in time, we are unable to find closure within these stories. Through exploring this archival material, the artist and researchers have been left with many unanswered questions that they would have liked to ask the refugees directly. “In the end” Mei Yuk Wong, the artist, said “I have to admit that all these elements are only fragments. We won’t be able to see the whole picture. The images and audio that visitors encounter are broken pieces”. The fragmented nature of these stories is reflected in the installation through printed textiles embedded with transferred images from research and online materials including photographs of archives, letters, papers, notes, newspaper cuttings, and forms. The sound work which fills the space splinters this material further creating a multi-sensory environment. The audience is invited to reflect on the experience of the researcher in the archive searching for threads to follow. The work responds to archive material from around the world that has been discovered by Reckoning with Refugeedom, a research project led by The University of Manchester, Department of History. Hosted at PS Mirabel, an artist-run project and exhibition space in the centre of Manchester. Video Credit: Oliver Halstead

Journeys Live was a day of free, live entertainment celebrating talented artists from around the world, who now call Manchester home. Featuring a truly global line-up of live music, spoken word, performance, dance and food from emerging or established artists and community groups. There were crafty workshops for all the family and stalls to find out how you can help support refugees and asylum seekers. Travelling the globe without moving from Manchester and featuring Revive Women's Voices Banner Project, The Channel Installation by Isobel Tarr, Jali Nyonkoling Kuyateh a Gambian Kora Master. The day also had incredible food provided by Manchester City of Sanctuary, Letters to our Mothers and Fathers by Spoken Word artist Mandla Rae, Dance Away The Spiders by Sheba Arts, Manchester International Roots Orchestra and Women's Unity Choir which was a unique collaboration between The University of Manchester music students, Olympias Music Foundation’s Women’s Voices Choir and Amani Community Choir. Video Credit: Oliver Halstead.

Dance Away The Spiders explored repression, resistance, trauma and immigration from the perspectives of a group of young refugee women. This performance, which occurred at HOME in Manchester and Manchester Cathedral Gardens as part of the Journeys Live event, was a celebration of the participants’ home nations and different cultures. Using visual art, textile art, dance and movement, Dance Away The Spiders created a liberating performance. Dance Away The Spiders was co-produced by Sheba Arts and ArtReach. Funded by Arts Council England and The Woodward Charitable Trust. Video credit: Oliver Halstead

We're spending time with artists that have worked on the Journeys Festival International programme in Leicester, Manchester or Portsmouth. Next we're meeting with Mahroo Diba, a talented musician who plays classical guitar, harmonica, setaar (a classical Persian instrument) and sings. Mahroo writes her own music as well as performing traditional Persian songs and is part of local group Global Sounds Portsmouth. Mahroo is performing at Journeys Live in Portsmouth this year (2019) 12.00pm-5.00pm October 26 (Free event in Guildhall Square, Portsmouth).

PORTRAIT OF A CITY by Sibomana (Belgium/Italy) and Farhad Berahman (Iran/UK) ​ 5 - 30 AUGUST​ FREE / SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN AN ARTREACH COMMISSION FUNDED BY BID LEICESTER, THE NATIONAL LOTTERY COMMUNITY FUND AND SUPPORTED BY OPENREACH Portrait of a City turns Leicester into an outdoor gallery featuring images of individuals representing Leicester’s diverse community. International artists, Sibomana and Farhad Berahman, have worked together to create these vibrant portraits using photography and digital collage, which will be displayed on buildings and Openreach (green) cabinets across the city. ​ 5 - 30 AUGUST​ FREE / SUITABLE FOR CHILDRENna (Belgium/Italy) and Farhad Berahman (Iran/UK) ​ 5 - 30 AUGUST​ FREE / SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN

We're spending time with artists that have worked on the Journeys Festival International programme across the three cities of Leicester, Manchester and Portsmouth. Next we're meeting with Miriam Bean and learning about her Enharmonic project which will feature at Journeys Festival International Leicester 2019 19 - 25 August.