CALL FOR ARTISTS - LOOK UP, PORTSMOUTH 2018 Look Up is a high-impact series of temporary artistic interventions in key public locations across Portsmouth, produced by ArtReach as part of Journeys Festival International. This year, between 19-28 October 2018, we are inviting an artist working with video or digital art to exhibit on screens across the city, celebrating migration and cultural sharing. Journeys Festival International aims to celebrate and highlight the extraordinary and powerful artwork, music, creativity, culture and experiences that refugee artists bring to the UK. It works across a wide range of creative media and disciplines and aims to bring the exceptional talent of local,

Wednesday 20 June was World Refugee Day. ArtReach through Journeys 2018 organised events in Leicester, Manchester and Portsmouth, and it was a great success! Read more about these inspirational events and see some great pictures below! #WorldRefugeeDay Refugee Week 2018 continues until Sunday 24 June and you can find all the events here. SUSPENDED LAUNCH Wednesday evening saw the launch of Suspended at Leicester Cathedral. Suspended is an art installation by artist Arabella Dorman composed of hundreds of items of clothing discarded by refugees upon their arrival on the island of Lesbos. Mohammed Yahya, a Mozambican-born rapper and spoken word artist, performed his unique brand of soulful and

The 20th of June is World Refugee Day. 6 refugees integration projects co-financed by the Creative Europe programme join forces organising 13 events in 7 cities. The events and related projects actively involve refugees and migrants in the cultural production promoting cultural integration, co-creation, collaboration and professional development of artists with refugees and migrant background. You can find all the events here. ArtReach through Journeys 2018 is producing events in Leicester, Manchester and Portsmouth for World Refugee Day. Simo Lagnawi in concert Wednesday 20th June, 8pm - 10pm Edge of the Wedge (The Wedgewood Rooms) 147b Albert Road, Portsmouth PO14 0JW Join us for a speci

Refugee Week is on 18-24 June 2018. ArtReach through Journeys 2018 has a full programme of events to celebrate Refugee Week in Leicester, Manchester and Portsmouth. Join us in celebrating the contribution of refugees in the UK by attending music, talks, exhibitions and coffee shop conversations. Check our full programme below and join us! Refugee Week in LEICESTER: Celebrate Refugee Week at New Walk Museum, with lots of free activities on Sunday 17 June. ArtReach facilitates a re-labelling of the World Arts collection. See full details here. MIGRATE exhibition is coming to LCB Depot in Leicester 17-23 June 2018. See the full event page here. Don't miss the Exhibition Launch on Monday 18 June

For Refugee Week, buy a ticket and donate one for a refugee! As part of Refugee Week, if you buy a ticket for any show at Curve Theatre or Upstairs at the Western in Leicester during Refugee Week on 18-24 June 2018, you can donate £5 to allow a local refugee or asylum seeker to see a show! The British Red Cross and ArtReach through Journeys 2018 have launched a ticket campaign that will allow you to buy a ticket for any show at Curve Theatre or Upstairs at the Western during Refugee Week on 18-24 June 2018 and to donate £5 towards a show ticket to enable Refugees and Asylum Seekers to attend great cultural events in Leicester. Local refugees and asylum seekers will be invited to attend Uncle

Ahead of Refugee Week (18-24 June 2018), Leicester Arts and Museums Service organises a day of events at New Walk Museum on 17 June to celebrate Leicester’s refugee community. A full programme of celebrations includes music, dance, workshops, a recipe book and a fashion show, as well as family-oriented activities. This year, ArtReach and Leicester Arts and Museums Service have developed a new project that gives refugees an active voice in the museum. Facilitated by ArtReach through Journeys 2018 and the museum's Outreach Officer Linda Harding, the project invites members of the local refugee community to visit the museum and re-write the current labels in line with their understanding and ap

"The war in Syria is now in its seventh brutal year. In recent months, the world has witnessed the bombardment of East Ghouta, a suburb just outside the capital Damascus, reminding us again that the devastation has no end in sight. According to the UN, the war has caused the largest migration of people since the Second World War, resulting in a refugee crisis that is truly catastrophic. Millions of people have fled their homes seeking safety. For so many, perilous journeys have only led to the dead-end of refugee camps that have sprung up across Europe. Living in the UK, we aren’t exposed to the refugee crisis in the same way that our neighbours on the continent are. Being an island, we are

"What an amazing day! Curators and conservators from the museum joined us in the session today; their presence meant we were able to gain very detailed information about the collections and about individual objects. We found out how the various collections had been gathered and how some of the objects in the collections related to each other. The visit to the storage area, usually out of bounds to members of the public, was particularly thrilling. We all felt excited to get so close to such fragile and ancient objects, being able to touch them and look at them up close was a really special experience for us all. Objects were selected today. We were, therefore, able to embark upon the artisti

"Ancient Objects New Writing is a project between Manchester Museum and ArtReach and will form part of Journeys Festival International in October 2018. 4 accomplished artists, who are refugees living in the UK, will each chose an object from the Manchester Museum collection and produce a new piece of writing in response to the selected object. These works will be displayed in libraries across Manchester in September. In October, the artists will present the work as part of Journeys Festival International Manchester. The artists who will be working on the project are Mahboobeh Rajabi, Firoozeh Fozooni, Abas Eljanbi and Vahid Davar Ghalati. The project will be led by me – Amy Bonsall. This fir