Co-creating archives of solidarity

Hande Cayir (SOAS), Zerrin Özlem Biner (Collège de France), Özge Biner Derdoy, David Herd (University of St Andrews), Leyla Neyzi (University of Glasgow), Thomas Parkinson (University of Kent) and Sabine Strasser (University of Bern)

How can we forge meaningful solidarity between citizens and people seeking sanctuary in a time marked by rising populism, restrictive border regimes, and systemic precaritisation? As part of the UKRI-funded project Archives of Solidarity: Precarity, Creativity and Shared Future Making Across Closed Borders led by Dr Zerrin Özlem Biner (SOAS), our team has explored these urgent questions through creative and participatory methods.

In April and May 2025, we ran a three-week workshop series bringing together citizens and non-citizens to engage in creative writing, border ethnography, oral history, and audio-visual filmmaking. Rooted in the ethos of co-creation, these workshops aimed to centre unheard voices, question dominant narratives, and think collectively about what solidarity can mean in everyday life.

This multi-voiced session will share our workshop experience and open up a dialogue around community, cultural, and academic forms of solidarity. We will screen short films created by young participants and reflect on what we learned through this process—from both the challenges and the moments of mutual care and joy that emerged.

We also aim to invite some of the workshop participants to join us in this session, to further the co-creative spirit and to honour the lived experiences that shaped this work. This session will contribute to discussions around cultural and educational practices of solidarity, with relevance to scholars, students, activists, and community groups alike.