Check out the Events Calendar for a full list of events that took place across the UK!
Refugee Encounters
16 July - Royal Festival Hall, London
Refugee Week and Refugee Council hooked up with the South Bank Centre, to organise a very exciting event as part of their Literature Festival 2008.
Refugee Encounters was hosted by well known author and Book Slam presenter, Patrick Neate.
The event explored how encounters between new and host communities influence their views of one another and the world around them. The participating authors included: Vesna Maric, a witty voice from Bosnia, whose amazing book-memoir will be published by Granta in spring next year; Xiaolu Guo, a Chinese writer whose book “A concise Chinese-English dictionary for lovers” has been one of the best selling books this year; and Choman Hardi, a well established and greatly respected Kurdish poet. Music on the night was provided by Abdullah Chhadeh, a Syrian virtuoso who after spending his childhood in a refugee camp in the Golan Heights, has gone on to become the Arab world’s most innovative and exciting qanun player.
This event marked the beginning of a longer term partnership between Refugee Week and the Southbank Centre.
Refugee Week Comedy Night
20 June - Tron Theatre, Glasgow
After the Massive success of his recent sold out performance, BBC 1’s Live at the Appollo Stephen K. Amos brought his dazzling stand up show to Glasgow for Refugee Week. “Where do you start describing a performer who should really be given six out of five? It’s pure cheek numbing, tear inducing entertainment”. ***** The Scotsman
Organised by the British Red Cross in aid of Refugee Week.
Celebrating Sanctuary London
15 June, Bernie Spain Gardens, South Bank, London
Celebrating Sanctuary was a day long festival which gathered together established and emerging refugee musicians, dancers and artists to celebrate the positive cultural contribution of refugees to the UK.
The 2008 headliners were Noisettes - an exciting 3 piece whose mesh of punk, funk and the blues has gained them a reputation as one of Britain's rowdiest live bands. Other acts confirmed included Angelina and The Gypsy Punks, Muka (featuring Eddie Noiman), Los Desterrados and loads more!
The festival also introduced the Spoken Word stage in partnership with Book Slam, and provided a platform for some of London’s most exciting new writing.
More info: www.myspace.com/celebratingsanctuary
Asylum Dialogues
'I honestly used to say – send 'em all home. They shouldn't be here. It's an English country. They take all our money. Then this woman turned up to clean my office and turned the world upside down.'
Drawn from real life conversations, Asylum Dialogues explores the everyday encounters between asylum seekers and British people, encouraging us to challenge our own preconceptions.
iceandfire creates compelling theatre making real and relevant the impact of human rights issues on our everyday lives. Asylum Dialogues was performed by members of their national outreach network, Actors for Refugees, whose first production Asylum Monologues was been seen by more than 8,000 people all over the UK.
More info: www.iceandfire.co.uk/actorsforrefugees
unplanned afternoons does refugee week: the unplanned summer solstice party
21 June - Brick Lane, London
FREE The long-running music and charity shindig, Unplanned Afternoons threw a special party on the summer solstice to celebrate Refugee Week 2008. The event took place at the fabulous Corbet Place venue off Brick Lane in East London and was the biggest Unplanned Afternoon in its three-year history.
The day featured authentic Afghan food, graffiti artists and a great line-up of eclectic Unplanned Afternoons DJs, playing for free. There was no charge to get in but, as always at Unplanned Afternoons, donations were collected in aid of Refguee Week.
The line up included Prolix, Spencer & Ruby Rocks, StyleFree [Simon Nash], Ogrizovic, The Cardinal, Arnold Trubshaw, Max Reindhart and Rita Ray.
More Info: www.unplannedafternoons.com
Life After Iraq
13 June – 26 October - St Mungo Museum of Religious Life & Art, Glasgow
Free
Commissioned by Scottish Refugee Council, Life After Iraq shows the work of award-winning photojournalist Angela Catlin and writer Billy Briggs, who travelled to Syria to document the plight of some of the millions of ordinary Iraqis living there who have fled the conflict in their homeland.
The exhibition provided an intimate insight into Iraqi refugees who have made it to Scotland in a quest for safety.
When: 13 June – 26 October, 10:00 -17:00 (Mon, Thurs & Sat) / 11:00 - 17:00 (Fri & Sun)
Where: St Mungo Museum of Religious Life & Art, 2 Castle Street, Glasgow, G4 0RH
More info: www.glasgowmuseums.com
Refuge In films
19 -22 June - South Bank, London
For the second year running, New Generation presented Refuge in Films, a film festival dedicated to raise awareness about refugees and migrants issues. Entirely developed by a group of young refugees, the festival gave the voice to young people, and addressed issues of representation of refugees and migrants in the film industry.
The grand opening of Refuge in Films 2008 included a reception and the screening of the film: “Sling Shot Hip Hop” by Jackie Salloum (2008), which was official selection for the Sundance Film festival 2008. The film follows the life of young hip hop artists from Palestine.
During Refugee Week, Refuge in films presented a programme of films about immigration and refuge at the British Film Institute, and also organised different visual workshops for young people.
More info: www.nuevageneracion-uk.org
The Land of Green Ginger
19 - 22 June - The Old Ticket Hall, Paragon Station, Hull
This mass participation art project explored spaces of encounters between refugees who have moved into Hull and their host communities. The situations aimed to promote mutual understanding and the possibility of sharing views and dreams for the future.
The project aspired to unveil what is particular and what is universal in their different cultures, creating an artwork that encourages new types of rapport amongst those involved, including the public. The project revealed skills and knowledge of each community which could be shared and exchanged between each group to learn from one another.
The project drew on Hull’s heritage and used the skills and crafts of refugees and local people to present a joint work of art, which the whole city could take great pride in.
More info: hannah@ourflour.com 
Border Words
9 - 19 June - Borders Bookshop,Oxford Street, London
In partnership with Borders bookshop, Exiled Writers Ink ran four book groups during Refugee Week.
Each book group focused on a book by a refugee-exiled writer and attendees were given the opportunity to meet the writer. Help was offered to asylum seekers and refugees with the cost of buying the books. The writers involved were:
Hamid Ismailov on The Railway
Yang Lian on Riding Pisces
Haifa Zangana on Women on a Journey between Baghdad and London
Sulaiman Addonia on Consequences of Love
More info: jennifer@exiledwriters.fsnet.co.uk
Refugee Week @ the Victoria & Albert Museum
16 – 22 June - V&A, London
21 June - V&A Museum of Childhood, London
The V&A was proud to present, for the very first time, an exciting programme of FREE activities and events for adults, children and families, in celebration of Refugee Week. Events were held across three locations - at South Kensington, Blythe House, and at the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green.
Highlights included:
- My V&A: Unique tours of the museum, led by refugee guides, using objects in the galleries to tell their personal stories.
- World Crafts: Designing a Somali Pattern and learn to write the Ge’ez alphabet
- Discovering objects made by refugees within the Museum’s collections, with talks from curators at the V&A South Kensington and at Blythe House
- Exciting performances by refugee groups from around the world - including mime, dance, drums and song
- Storytellers from Ethiopia and Palestine
- Community mural, and how to make a football from a banana plant
More info: www.vam.ac.uk/moc
