'Feathers for Srebrenica': Huddersfield & Dewsbury

Continuous
fundraising

Arts workshops and a commemorative event in Huddersfield and Dewsbury fostering unity through remembrance of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide.

£9,306 Raised of £9,259

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The idea

FEATHERS FOR SREBRENICA is a community-driven arts project remembering the Srebrenica genocide of 1995. Fostering unity through creativity and focused on Huddersfield and Dewsbury, we offer 10 inclusive creative workshops for all ages, uniting refugees from all backgrounds and local residents. Participants engage in activities like printmaking, music production and creating banners that intertwine the scenic beauty of Kirklees and Bosnia. Inspired by the local Bosnian community, the programme explores themes of displacement and resilience, promoting mutual understanding. The project culminates in a dynamic commemorative event on the 11th July in central Dewsbury.

What we'll deliver

Bring over 40 refugees and local people together in 10 arts workshops
Create 4 visually arresting banners
Compose a dynamic soundtrack inspired by Bosnia and Kirklees
Create a coherent, moving event to commemorate Srebrenica 1995
Involve and train 10 volunteers

Why it's a great idea

• To provide an accessible platform for participants of all ages to express themselves creatively, fostering confidence and self-esteem.
• To deepen cultural understanding by intertwining the heritage and stories of Kirklees and Bosnia, enriching the local community’s appreciation of diverse backgrounds.
• To promote resilience by exploring themes of displacement and recovery, empowering participants with shared narratives of strength and hope.
• To raise public awareness of the Srebrenica genocide, encouraging reflection and a commitment to preventing future atrocities.
• To draw attention to the importance and fragility of the natural environment in both Kirklees and Bosnia, and positive actions we can take.
• To showcase the artistic talents within the community, celebrating creativity as a tool for remembrance and unity.

Steps to get it done

Completion of event to commemorate Srebrenica 1995
Completion of 10 arts workshops
Completion of a banner
Completion of a music piece that integrates recorded and live sound, with accompanying movement

Location

By 6 million + Charitable Trust

Creative Arts projects with an extended family of ... Learn More

About

Partner donations

This project has
received funding from
Growing Great Places fund for organisations

Updates

Invitation to commemoration event: Feathers for Srebrenica.1 day ago

Thank you so much for your support. The project has now started and we have had two excellent and enjoyable workshops in Dewsbury (banner printing) and Huddersfield (music) with a banner workshop in Dewsbury tomorrow. We are happy to invite you to the final event on July 11th at 2pm in Dewsbury at Longcauseway Church Hall. Please let us know if you are coming - [email protected]

Daily project poem for 31 days on video - go to to the 6 million+ Facebook page1 week ago

The project has started! Go to https://www.facebook.com/6MillionPlus to follow what is going on. Here you can find Adam Strickson, 6 million+ artist, reading a poem a poem on video every day (from yesterday) for 31 days. until our commemoration on July 11th. The poems are from his sequence 'Noisy are the Birds': each poem connects a bird that can be found in Bosnia and West Yorkshire with a man or boy murdered in Srebrenica in 1995. He begins with the woodpecker, and today it was the turn of the dipper.

1 Donation worth £401 week ago

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Kare Stansfield - £1,500
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https://www.6millionplus.org

Creative Arts projects with an extended family of refugees and local communities. We exchange and express stories of the Holocaust, genocides and contemporary persecution. We challenge discrimination of any kind and work towards a kinder future.

The Story of 6 million+

In 2005, Kirklees Council initiated a project to collect over 6 million buttons to illustrate the industrial scale of the Holocaust and other genocides. The public collection began in West Yorkshire, but word soon spread and many of the buttons were collected regionally, nationally and even internationally. Leeds based artist Antonia Stowe designed the installation for Huddersfield Art Gallery. 6 million+ had a huge impact on visitors and toured nationally for the next five years to places including Ripon Cathedral and Brent Cross Shopping Centre in London. The project involved thousands of young people, community groups and individuals in the process of collecting buttons and thinking about genocide and discrimination. The installation included a film featuring conversations between Holocaust survivors and asylum seekers and poetry written in response.

A group of individuals involved with this work, with new people on board too, are continuing the creative arts and educational work as an independent charitable trust (launched in June 2014) and developing international exchanges and local projects, especially in Dewsbury and Batley in collaboration with Creative Scene. We are currently responsible for Holocaust Memorial Day in North Kirklees and run arts projects with professional artists, local people and refugees online and face to face (when possible) throughout the year. We have achieved some fame for our 'Weeping Sisters' procession of giant figures who commemorate the Holocaust and other genocides; we make them with local people and refugees. Under lockdown, in summer 2020, we completed 'Small Contentments' with 70 participants from 14 countries; the film resulting from this project that commemorated the 25th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre has been seen by over 10,000 people. January 2021 sees two creative lockdown projects; a virtual Holocaust Memorial Day collaboration, supported by Bradford and Kirklees Councils, and 'Collect your belongings', an online shadow puppetry, writing and drama project with our family of participants that will continue until March. We rely on our own fundraising to carry out our work.

Project Owner: 6 million + Charitable Trust The Project Owner takes legal responsibility for receiving and spending the funds raised and ensuring the project is delivered.