Create Without Borders aims to promote and celebrate the work of creatives with lived experience of forced migration. We do this by collaboratively creating digital and physical spaces that showcase work, facilitate partnership working, create paid opportunities and engage the local Lewisham community. We use the term creative in the broadest sense to include visual artists, musicians, filmmakers, comedians, chefs and more. Specifically we:
- Promote the work of refugee creatives to raise their profile and support the sale of their work
- Actively create opportunities for participation (and payment) by commissioning work for events and partner organisations.
- Work with refugee artists to identify barriers to creative practice and provide financial support to overcome these via a creative fund
Participation in the arts is no different to employment - opportunities often arise from your connections rather than experience or abilities; connections that refugees, building a new life in a new country, are less likely to have. Create Without Borders grew out of learning through the first lockdown when members of our group organised online fundraisers for local and grassroot groups, bringing together musicians, artists and others. We heard from many refugee creatives who were looking for spaces to share their work and find people they could collaborate with. Our local community and online events have provided a space for refugee creatives to build networks and form new collaborations, as well as creating paid opportunities.
As we build a growing, diverse audience, we have created spaces to foster relationships across different groups. For example, running a community arts exhibition showcasing paintings by refugee artists, performance by a refugee musician and catered by Refugee Cafe. This both showcased work and provided networking opportunities, which we anticipate will lead to artists being better supported, further paid work and the sharing of resources and knowledge. In an age of increasingly hostile rhetoric around refugees and migrants, it’s also critical to be countering this narrative. An effective way to do this is through platforms and spaces that recognise the skills, expertise and experiences of refugees and the way cultural exchange enriches community life. We have been able to work with lots of local groups in Lewisham and this project will strengthen these partnerships and offer perspectives on new ways of working in these challenging times.
