Although we have posts on some of the Refugee Week in the City, we thought we’d post a summary of highlights here.
The city ‘painted’ itself orange in recognition of the week. Here is our iconic centre with an orange hue:
Our group’s main events were an ‘Art Trail’, the ‘Community Superpower Project’ and our stall in the foyer of Storyhouse. The ‘Art Trail’ was made in conjunction with Bishops’ Bluecoat Church of England High School where the words for the trail (relating to the experience of seeking sanctuary) and the art works were produced. We expanded the definitions of the words which could be read via a QR link to our website and the trail was launched by Chester’s Town Crier! We’d like to thank the school and the 17 venues around the city that showed the works – Chester Market, Picture House Cinema, Chester Cathedral, High Bar Coffee, Storyhouse, St Peter’s Church, the Rainforest Shop, the Rainbow Tea Rooms, the Unity Centre, Grosvenor Museum, Lush, Oxfam, British Red Cross, Lee Louise, Wesley Church Centre, Chester Fairtrade Shop and last, but not least, the SHARE shop where completed forms were collected ready for the prize draw. This really was a city-wide collaboration!
The theme of Refugee Week this year was ‘Community as Superpower’ which leads us on to our ‘Community Superpower Project‘. We produced A4 posters showing a message of solidarity with those seeking sanctuary – ‘we are using our community superpower to support those seeking sanctuary from war and persecution’ – and, on the other side, were a series of six ‘myth busters’. We offered people the chance to take a photo of themselves holding the poster for their own, or for our, social media as an act of solidarity. We were delighted with the response from individuals, groups and organisations. The list is huge but just some of those who joined in were Hoole Baptist Church staff, City Walls Medical Centre, Theatre Porto, Chester Fairtrading, Chester and Wrexham Amnesty International group, the Plum, Cheshire West and Chester Council, Chester Roar basketball team, Bodhi Yoga, Chester Green Party, Dr Waheed Arian, Chester University, Upton Community Choir, Chester Cathedral, SHARE, Chester Friends of Palestine, Chester libraries….If you’d like to see more head to our instagram page @chestercityofsanctuary
During Refugee Week we were delighted to be able to award not one but two ‘Place of Sanctuary’ awards. As described in previous posts, both Chester University and Theatre Porto in Ellesmere Port were successful in their applications. Congratulations to both. The University also had an exhibition ‘Seeking Sanctuary’ as part of the ‘Festival of Ideas’ and Theatre Porto during Refugee Week showed a performance, a school art exhibition and a ‘Home Cooked with Love’ event as previously posted.
Chester Cathedral was the venue for many events linked to Refugee Week, often under the beautiful instillation from Peter Walker – ‘Peace Doves‘ – made in collaboration with local residents.
One of these events was the ‘Wings of the Sky’ performance written by Richard Wiseman, composed by Matt Baker and performed by young people from different backgrounds, a Ukrainian opera singer, and an Iranian percussionist all living locally with additional community involvement based around the Plum Project, Chester. The Cathedral also organised a poetry event, a Ukrainian dance performance, ‘Reclaiming the Narrative’ discussion event, ‘Refuge Island‘ dance performance and a Refugee Week Evensong Service. As I’m sure you’ll agree, a great programme at the Cathedral.
Other events in the city included Dr Waheen Arian at the Chester Literature Festival, the film ‘Mediha’, a community BBQ and a display at both the Wesley Church Centre and Chester Fairtrading.
All in all, an inspiring and positive Refugee Week, thank you Chester!