Steve Garrett explains why the time is right to draw attention to the contribution that the arts, culture and the media can make towards the integration of displaced people into our communities.
With many parts of the world experiencing ongoing wars, economic collapse and environmental crises, increasing numbers of people are seeking to relocate to a place where they can feel some sense of hope and security for themselves and their families. The resulting process of displacement is a theme and an experience which is having an increasing impact on the cultural landscape of many countries: sanctuary-seekers struggle to find a balance between preserving their own culture and adapting to that of their new home, while host countries find their own culture influencing, and being influenced by, the new arrivals.
A cultural contribution
In recent years the British Council has become increasingly concerned with how the arts and culture can contribute to development, as well as being of value in their own right. In this context it seems appropriate that they are sponsoring A Sense of Place, a four-day conference taking place in Cardiff in November. The conference will aim to investigate, question and shed light on concepts of displacement and integration in Europe through the intellectual focus of the role of the arts, culture and media. The event is being planned in the context of heightened public suspicion, fear and intolerance in relation to the displaced people who arrive on our shores, and against the backdrop of a re-examination of human rights and immigration policies in Europe.
People with direct personal experience of displacement and seeking sanctuary will be central to the event and associated programmes, which will provide exposure to creative work that values displaced people as individuals and as skilled members of the community. It will also draw on the rich legacy of both professional and community arts in Wales and elsewhere in Europe, and create an opportunity to focus on common threads and address a whole range of key questions: to what extent are artists with experience of displacement contributing to the evolution of innovative artistic expression and practice? How does the displaced artist re-encounter or redefine his or her identity within this process? What place do, and could, the arts have in constructing social policy and practice around immigration? How do different cultural norms challenge or enrich societies in host countries? How do organisational cultures and institutional frameworks need to evolve to reflect the changing map? What is actually meant by integration and who are the key players? How do societies adapt to new arrivals, and what can they gain? Do the arts have a legitimate contribution to make to debates around national identity and displacement? To what extent are the mass media forming public opinion, as opposed to responding to public opinion? How does the global proliferation of the media facilitate or subvert true representation and active citizenship around issues of displacement and integration? What is the role of arts-in-education in the integration process? Under what circumstances can participation in the arts be a key to breaking down barriers and overcoming prejudice?
A welcome in Cardiff
Cardiff is a natural host for a conference of this nature, being home to one of the first multi-cultural communities in the UK and now a major UK dispersal point for asylum-seekers. In addition, there is a long tradition of community arts in the city and surrounding valleys, and one of the UK?s leading media and journalism schools, based in the city, is well placed to carry out research into press coverage, press attitudes and press freedoms. It is now important to consider how this experience at a city level is relevant to the wider European and global picture of displacement and integration, and to provide a forum for taking these issues forward.
Steve Garrett is Director of Cultural Concerns and Event Manager for A Sense of Place, which will take place from November 24?27. For further details and information on how to register
e: info@asenseofplace.org.uk
w: http://www.asenseofplace.org.uk or http://www.culturalconcerns.org.uk