'Anti-Racist Action in Arts & Wellbeing: Arts, Refugees & Mental Health' - Resources
Resources from our 'Anti-Racist Action in Arts & Wellbeing: Arts, Refugees & Mental Health' roundtable
Delivered in partnership with Counterpoints Arts, Flourishing Lives, and the Anti-Racist Action Group (ARAG) in Arts & Wellbeing, the roundtable focused on: the arts, refugees & mental health, hearing from the lived experience of people seeking asylum in the UK, and sharing case studies that included a range of different approaches to supporting refugees and asylum seekers in arts & wellbeing services.
Here are the resources that were shared during the session:
- The Slides and Additional Resources from the roundtable, with kind permission from Counterpoints Arts. These slides are available to access on a time-limited basis (for 2 weeks). If you share any of the images in the slides, please be sure to credit the artists appropriately.
- Counterpoints Arts – https://counterpoints.org.uk
- You can download a copy of the Creatively Minded & Refugees report here – https://baringfoundation.org.uk/resource/creatively-minded-and-refugees/
- Kazzum Arts – https://www.kazzum.org
- Inini Initiative- https://inini.co.uk
- Babylon Migrants Project – https://www.babylonproject.co.uk
- Compass Collective – https://www.compasscollect.com
- Quote from Guardian article referred to during the discussion: ” If a plant were wilting we wouldn’t diagnose it with “wilting-plant-syndrome” – we would change its conditions. Yet when humans are suffering under unlivable conditions, we’re told something is wrong with us, and expected to keep pushing through. To keep working and producing, without acknowledging our hurt.” – https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/sep/06/psychologist-devastating-lies-mental-health-problems-politics
Many thanks again to Daniela Nofal and Lara Deffense (Producers, Counterpoints Arts) for designing and facilitating the session, and to Tom Green (Senior Producer, Counterpoints Arts) for all of his help in bringing the session together. Huge thanks to the Speakers Last Mafuba, Ali Ghaderi, and Mhairi Ghayer for their invaluable insights and contributions to the conversation.
Many thanks also to the members of our Anti-Racist Action Group (ARAG) in Arts & Wellbeing Services for their help and guidance in the strategic planning and implementation of our inclusive practice workshops, training and roundtables: Leandra Box (Programme Manager at The Race Equality Foundation), Connie Bell (Cultural Producer, Theatre Director & Founding Member of Decolonising the Archive), Christine Goodall (Network Coordinator at the HEAR Network), and Will Nicholson (Co-Founder and co-facilitator of the Southwark Culture Health and Wellbeing Partnership).
About Counterpoints Arts
Counterpoints Arts is a leading national organisation in the field of arts, migration and cultural change. Our mission is to support and produce the arts by and about migrants and refugees, seeking to ensure that their contributions are recognized and welcomed within British arts, history and culture. Central to our mission is our belief that arts can inspire social change and enhance inclusion & cultural integration of refugees & migrants. We work across all art forms and collaborate with a range of people and partners, including artists, arts/cultural and educational organizations and civil society activists.
About The Anti-Racist Action Group in Arts & Wellbeing:
The Anti-Racist Action Group in Arts & Wellbeing is a group of representatives from arts, wellbeing and race equality charities – including Flourishing Lives, HEAR Network, Race Equality Foundation, Decolonising the Archive, and Southwark Culture Health and Wellbeing Partnership – who partner with ethnically and culturally diverse organisations, facilitators, community groups, participants and people to share their knowledge, expertise, learning and lived experience to support the wider arts and wellbeing sector to explore anti-racist action, and develop wider engagement in the arts and mental health. The aim is to facilitate conversations, deepen understanding and identify opportunities for change.
This roundtable was the fourth session in a series of workshops and roundtables kindly funded by The National Lottery Community Fund which will support Flourishing Lives and the Anti-Racist Action Group to explore a range of topics, issues and anti-racist actions over the next 2 years to help advocate for inclusive practice across the arts and wellbeing sector. .