Refugee artists’ festival returns in three cities

Published: 15 September 2021
Reporter: Steve Orme

Squidsoup’s Where There is Light Credit: Mikal Ludlow

A festival created by “artists exploring the refugee experience and global cultures”, which went fully digital for the first time in 2020, is to return in three cities during ten days in October.

Journeys Festival International will be held in Leicester, Manchester and Portsmouth and will include performances, exhibitions and workshops. Most will be free or will be subject to a small donation.

Lorna Fulton, creative director for ArtReach, the arts development agency which is producing the festival, said, “even though programming festival activities in all three cities at the same time brings new challenges, we want to engage a broader audience by making the same artworks accessible in all three cities.

“This will give both the artists and audience members the possibility of exploring the artworks in more depth and increasing their impact by showcasing them in the Midlands, the north and the south of the country.”

An immersive sound and light installation, Where There is Light, by Squidsoup, “captures the voices and stories of sanctuary-seeking communities in Leicester, Portsmouth, Coventry and Hull, asking questions of connection and transformation in these current challenging times”.

Reckoning by choreographer and storyteller Akeim Toussaint Buck uses contemporary dance, animation and spoken word to weave the stories of generations of displaced people into a performance piece.

The festival will run from Friday 15 until Sunday 24 October. Further information is available at the Journeys Festival International web site.

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