Event - World Refugee Day webinar
Professor Rachel Tribe, Careif Trustee, was invited and chaired a panel as part of an event organised by Veronica Franklin Gould, President of Arts for Dementia to mark World Refugee Day in June.
The other chairpeople were Alexandra Coulter (Director of the National Centre for Creative Health) and Professor Cornelius Katona (Medical and Research Director of the Helen Bamber Foundation and the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ lead on Refugee and Asylum Mental Health).
The topic of the webinar was ‘Refugees and the arts’. Speakers for the first session included:
Christopher Bailey, Arts and Health Lead, World Health Organisation
Almir Koldzic, Director and Co-Founder, Counterpoint Arts ‘Creatively Minded and Refugees’
Daniela Nofal, Counterpoint Arts
Bobby Lloyd, Chief Executive of Art Refuge
Sheila Hayman, Co-ordinator of Freedom from Torture’s, Write to Life project.
There was a musical interlude from The Unknowns, Hear Me Out’s refugee band who performed their composition entitled ‘Hope for Humanity’.
Following this, the following presenters spoke about their work, these were:
Sara Green, Founder and Executive Director, Art for Refugees in Transition, New York
Dr Hanan Khalil, Associate Professor of Neurological Rehabilitation at Qatar University, speaking on Physical therapy for refugees in Qatar
Lis Murphy, Creative Director and Ramsey Janini, Creative Producer of Music Action International’s Crisis Choirs led by refugee musicians for new arrivals at drop-in centres
Johanne Hudson-Lett, Artistic Director, Hear Me Out,
Phoebe Shaw, Communities Programme Manager, Untold Stories Project, Artcore, Derby
Kunle Adewale, Creative technology for refugees in Bosnia, Ireland and Sheffield.
The final session on the Projekt Europa academic partnership project was led by Maria Aberg, Artistic Director, Projekt Europa, with Dr Francisca Stangel, drama for refugees workshop facilitator, and Dr Angeliki Varakis-Martin, Lecturer in Drama & Theatre at the University of Kent.
Bringing together organisations
It was a very successful event with people participating as speakers and delegates from 16 countries. Amisha Palmer, the Greengross Arts for Brain Health Changemaker Conversation Co-Ordinator and Nigel Franklin, Arts for Dementia Associate, managed the technological aspects of the event. Veronica Franklin Gould is hoping to organise a follow-up event in due course.
Commenting on the event, Professor Rachel Tribe said:
“World Refugee Day always provides an opportunity to highlight the mental health issues faced by millions of people around the world. This was a fantastic event that brought together many organisations and people who are using art to make a real difference to the communities in which they work."
