March 6 - April 17, 2023
Art Refuge is delighted to share our 3rd iteration of HOST, this time at the wonderful Morley College as part of Atelier Armonico’s Living Seams Project.
Many of these creatures and objects were made during Art Refuge’s psychosocial groups on the France-UK border in Calais: in the makeshift refugee camp known as The Jungle (2015-16); in a safe house for young refugees (2017-19); in a busy day centre, and in outdoor spaces alongside an emergency mobile clinic (2017-22). Others were made on this side of the English Channel in Folkestone, Kent (2021-22).
Emerging from a small ball of plasticine offered to people living in often hostile, precarious conditions to help them to de-stress, these delicate creations would be left in the care of Art Refuge, unable to be carried by their makers safely. The anonymous creatures and objects made in France have travelled with the Art Refuge team back to the UK in small containers in the back of our vehicle, to be stored safely. The animals and objects often linked people back to their home (Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Kurdistan, Sudan, Eritrea…) to memory, to childhood, to roots, sometimes to dreams.
Poignant that they have found other temporary homes alongside pieces made by people seeking asylum on this side of the Channel: in shops and galleries in Folkestone; in homes and schools in Bristol, and here at Morley College in a further iteration of HOST, curated by Art Refuge.
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