Creativity and community: designing effective arts engagement programmes 

Ratna Jan Bibi (Robin Hood Health Foundation), Edina Husanovic (University of Brighton), Angeliki Varakis-Martin (University of Kent), Kaveh Abbasian (University of Kent), Anna Oggero (PROJEKT EUROPA) , Francisca Stangel (independent), Ismael Nchoutnsu Nsangou (University of Kent)

Creative workshops can be powerful tools to help understand and share the experiences of those seeking sanctuary. However, such workshops require very careful planning, from securing the funding necessary to make them happen, to choosing an appropriate venue and facilitator, to recruiting participants, embedding trust, and safeguarding the legacy. 

This session will hear from two projects that have successfully navigated this space to produce impactful, meaningful and powerful workshops. The Art for Belonging project, part of the wider work of the Hera initiative in Brighton, used music, drawing and storytelling to explore sanctuary; In Canterbury, the University of Kent hosted PROJEKT ENCOUNTER, a preexisting programme from PROJEKT EUROPA, developing it further using masks and film-making to create a collaborative community grounded in solidarity. 

It will start by hearing from both of these projects to understand how they came about, how they worked in practice, and what the outcomes were. This will lead to a discussion to identify some of the practicalities that future organisers of such workshops would have to consider, such as questions of trust, resources, participants’ needs, safeguarding, co-creation, context and location. Those attending the session will be encouraged to engage with the presenters and with each other in talking about those elements that are most relevant to them, and steps that can be taken to prepare for them. 

The session will finish with a brief creative exercise, to give participants a practical experience of activities that were used in one of the projects. There will then be an opportunity, at lunch (13:30-14:00) to either: 

  • Continue these activities, with the space to explore them further; 
  • Watch the co-produced film that resulted from PROJEKT ENCOUNTER.

Ratna Jan Bibi (Robin Hood Health Foundation) is a Creative Programmer for RHF, which runs the Hera Project. 

Edina Husanovic (University of Brighton) is a researcher, educator and a multimedia artist, and a Lecturer in Arts and Media at the University of Brighton. She has worked on the Hera Project.

Angeliki Varakis-Martin (University of Kent) is a Lecturer in Drama and Theatre whose research focuses on masked performance and its contemporary applications. She has published widely on the use of masks in modern productions of Greek drama and has been engaged in practice-based projects exploring their creative potential.

Kaveh Abbasian (University of Kent) is a scholar and filmmaker. His works have been screened in film festivals and exhibitions worldwide, and he is the former director of programming for the London Kurdish Film Festival.

Anna Oggero (PROJEKT EUROPA) is theExecutive Producer at PROJEKT EUROPA a charity dedicated to transforming narratives around migration and displacement by supporting, developing, and producing the work of migrants and migrant artists in the UK. As a freelance creative producer, Anna has worked on critically acclaimed productions across the UK. Her practice is rooted in telling migration stories and is driven by a deep commitment to equity and systemic change in the arts.

Francisca Stangel (independent) is a clown, theatre maker and applied theatre practitioner. She has worked with refugees, asylum seekers and migrants, and is a company director of award-winning Acá Theatre. 

Ismael Nchoutnsu Nsangou (University of Kent) is a sanctuary scholar, originally from Cameroon. He is currently studying drama at the University.