Founded by local photographer Caroline Beale Johnson, Seeking Refuge is an ongoing initiative that works with people seeking asylum in the UK and people that have settled in Bournemouth. In ongoing creative workshops, including textiles and photography, people come together with the tools and support to tell their own stories however they choose to.
Part of the BEAF Arts Weekender, drop into TOSH on Saturday 12th October 11am-5pm & Sunday 13th October 11am-5pm and experience stories shared through photographs, cyanotypes and embroidery.
On Saturday 12th October at 2pm, you can also join the Threads ladies behind some of the work for an embroidery workshop (tickets sold separately here).
Visit and view:
About
"The idea for Seeking Refuge started when I read that by the end of 2019, there were nearly 26 million refugees in the world, with half being children. It’s such an important issue, but after Brexit, the way refugees were talked about in the media often created more confusion than clarity.
I wanted to change that and share the real stories of refugees, so I started a photography project titled Seeking Refuge, where I mentored six photographers and received a commission from BEAF (Bournemouth Emerging Arts Fringe) for their 2020/2021 festival. These six photographers built a trusting relationship with people who have settled in Bournemouth, and helped them tell their stories through photography, ensuring their voices were authentically represented. Now, providing people with the tools and confidence to tell their own stories however they want to underpins the whole project.
Our first installation, The Stories We Thread, showcases large cyanotype prints on fabric made by our group of refugee women and asylum seekers. Explore a tapestry of pieced together images, including plants from the UK, maps of people’s hometowns, countries and precious objects. Participants from the project’s regular group, ‘Thursday Threads’ worked collaboratively to sew all these images together, embellishing them with gold embroidery and thread to represent the stories and journeys of all those who have fled their homes and communities.
Following the success and the profound impact of this first project, the Threads group felt inspired to create a second installation that was just as meaningful. Enter A Seat at the Table.
A Seat at the Table is a communal Community and Activism work of embroidered plates of food, inspired by the countries of people seeking refuge in the UK who are currently staying in Bournemouth. The tablecloth at its longest is 11 metres long and represents food from 36 countries. Over many months, participants of our Seeking Refuge Project made it using disused hotel sheets. The Threads workshops were facilitated by local artists Beth Brickman, Heidi Steller and Maddison Collymore."
