Refugees take centre stage

You might be excused for thinking that refugee arts is on the margins of arts provision. Through its ‘Exodus’ programme, Community Arts North West (CAN) is determined to redirect some of the limelight to Britain’s newest communities, taking their stories and talent into mainstream venues. Exodus is a programme of participatory cultural production working with refugees and host communities across Manchester and Greater Manchester, spanning traditional and contemporary artforms. The programme has been going since 2005, and runs 20 participatory arts projects a year, an outdoor festival, live music events and a shorts film festival. Last year, it engaged with around nearly 500 participants and reached audiences in excess of 11,000.
 

Most of CAN’s work is delivered with a range of stakeholders, from mainstream venues through to local artists, independent arts organisations, refugee community organisations and others. The ability to reach mainstream audiences is crucial as we seek to raise awareness of the issues faced by refugees and asylum seekers.

‘Exodus Onstage’, a refugee theatre festival produced by CAN in November 2010, is a good example of a partnership between mainstream venues, independent producers, artists and others. The festival featured 12 productions, 10 of which were newly created, showcased at venues including The Lowry, the Royal Exchange Theatre and Contact. Two of the productions then went to London. Audience feedback reflected the power of the productions in communicating experiences that are often overlooked or misrepresented.

In addition to reaching different audiences, working with mainstream venues enabled CAN to achieve more profile for Exodus Onstage, including lots of media coverage. Given the negative press usually associated with asylum, this outcome is not insignificant. Venues benefited from being part of a diverse programme whose content was largely determined by grassroots communities. The cultural landscape of Britain is changing, and CAN believes that the change makes it richer and more exciting. We are proud to be working with partners that embrace that change.