united by THE power of art
Producers Ibrahim (left) and Grmalem at work on the project
By Roya, Media Ambassador
More than two years since our first project with People United (the award-winning Sea of the Unseeable), we’ve been enjoying working with them again.
The ground-breaking project (as yet unnamed) sees four of our young people (YP) co-designing a new public artwork on the topic of refugees and asylum seekers. The YP - Grmalem, Ibrahim, Basera and Mata - have been given the title of producers and are forming a co-design studio with acclaimed artists Catherine Chinatree and Yomi Sode. The YP are being assisted and supported by People United’s Josie Carter (Creative Producer) and Chloe Osborne (Creative Collaborator).
The installation will be displayed on a billboard in Payers Park, Folkestone, and will be unveiled tomorrow (Tuesday 21 May). The name of the project will be announced at the unveiling.
People United believe in making art collaboratively, with the overall aim of shifting the balance of who holds the power to make art for the public realm. Chloe explains: “It is clear that the expertise lies with people who have lived experience of navigating the border and the UK asylum processes. The question that we’re aiming to explore is about who gets to decide what public art is and how it is created.”
Grmalem, who is in his final year of a fine art degree at Canterbury’s University for the Creative Arts, believes art is a crucial communication tool as it exceeds linguistic barriers.
He says: “I feel a range of emotions when I express my lived experiences into my art, but it has never made me unhappy. I can say the same for this project.
“Before it started, I would have just thought about the art but there is so much more and I’m grateful to have learnt so much, including management skills, finance and venue liaison.
Grmalem believes the project will change public perception surrounding refugees and asylum seekers - which is his main aim in taking part.
“It will greatly benefit our young people by doing this, plus through the workshops, they will be able to enjoy the benefits of art such as processing complex emotions, which I do in my own work.”
Fellow producer Ibrahim admits he knew nothing about art: “But now I value what it brings to people’s lives and the many complex ways that it communicates messages.
“Art is important to young people as it can be a hobby that allows them to learn about beauty in different cultures and societies - I have enjoyed learning about this myself.”
Ibrahim says taking part in the project has been wholly positive: “We have been really well supported by People United’s Josie and Chloe, and Catherine and Yomi - it has been a great experience.”
And like Grmalem, he believesthe project will help show the truth about refugees and asylum seekers and “make the public think positively about us.”