Moving & Belonging
The Moving & Belonging Art Project was realised in collaboration with St Georges International School and the JNRC throughout the 2022 - 2023 academic year.
The Moving & Belonging Art Project allowed students and participants from the JNRC to share, commune and learn from each other whilst creating together. It culminated in the production of two collaborative collage artworks, in the process of which the participants in the project had the opportunity to discuss around the theme of Moving and Belonging, and what these two motifs mean to them.
This project aimed to sensitise the young students to the plights of refugees and asylum seekers. To give them a foundation from which they can continue to learn about migration without preconceptions, empowering them to more easily decifer what information is accurate when it comes to the miriad of different narratives that are spun, allowing them to have a more grounded understanding of the individuals behind migration and the structure of international protection.
Because of the young age of the students, between 8 and 11 years old, we chose to center the discussion about migration and refugees around individuals rather than institutions or international dynamics to make it more concrete and less abstract. Although we recognise that whereas migration is a route pursued by millions of individuals to seek safety, their experience is very much governed by international and national structures and laws.
We believe that this project will be, for the students involved, the begining of a long journey of interest in the issue of migration, refugee and asylum seekers rights in particular. Indeed, we hope that it will inspire them to continue to seek the education and insights necessary to understand the complex but incredibly relevant topic of migration in all its complexities.
AT SCHOOL
The students met up once a week to work on different activities related to the project, all the while learning about different aspects of migration.
They created small handcrafts that they sold at their school fair with all proceeds going to the JNRC. The students also made preparatory works for the main artworks that would be assembled with the whole Moving & Belonging group. They collected images which related to the theme and which made them reflect on their own journeys of moving and belonging given that nearly all of them had lived in multiple different countries in their lives.
THROUGHOUT THE YEAR
The first meet up was held in the JNRC, the students got an introduction into the concept of migration and international protection;
why do people leave their home?
What are the conditions which pushed them to leave and what were they seeking to find?
We addressed preconceptions about refugees and through the insight of two of our guests who were able to talk to the students about their first hand experiences, the students had a more tangible and less abstract way to engage with the subject.
The students visited the center and saw the work that the JNRC does in action.