CAN and HOME celebrated 2019's Refugee Week with a packed programmme of art, culture and creativity.
As part of our acclaimed, pioneering Exodus programme and our ongoing partnership with HOME, 2019’s Horizons Festival ran between Saturday 15 June – Friday 21 June and featured seven days of exciting and thought-provoking performance, dance, music, theatre, visual art, cinema, and discussion.
The contemporary arts and family-friendly festival showcased the talents of the extraordinary refugee heritage artists who have made the North West their home as well as artists from the national and international art scene. Many events were free making them more accessible to excluded communities.
The 2019 festival theme was “Lift The Ban” which responded to the national campaign calling for the end to the ban which makes it illegal for sanctuary seekers to work. The law leaves people without income, meaning they are destitute, homeless, or at risk of homelessness, and reliant on support from charities and voluntary organisations. People cannot contribute to the British economy or fully integrate into society. The festival was connected to a coalition of organisations including Refugee and Asylum Seeker Voice, Refugee Action, and Asylum Matters.
“Great to feel the depth of support for Lift the Ban amongst the people of Manchester – thank you to CAN and HOME for all you are doing.”
The festival programme:
Saturday 15 June – Welcome to the UK
1pm – 5pm Sanctuary Souk Global Marketplace
1pm – 2pm Storytelling Workshop with Emmanuel Bajiiji
1pm – 2pm Cultural Dance Class with Magdalen Bartlett
1pm – 3pm Horizons Short Films
2pm – 3pm Circus Skills with Masresha Wondmu
3pm – 4pm Sub-Saharan African Singing and Percussion Workshop
3pm – 4pm Incredible Week for the Banks Theatre Performance by RAPAR
4pm – 5pm The Free Association Discussion Group
5pm – 6pm Lift the Ban Creative Workshop
6pm – 6.20pm Public Launch with speeches by Mustafa Alachkar, Ana Lucia Cuevas, Katherine Rogers, and Anne Louise Kershaw
6.20pm – 7.30pm Music performance by Kurdish duo, Afrinis
6.30pm – 7.45pm Manchester International Roots Orchestra & Amani Choir Double Bill
7.30pm – 10.30pm DJ Mayeva
8pm – 9pm A Story of a Place – Book Signing and Talk
8pm – 9.30pm Welcome to the UK Theatre Production
Sunday 16 June – Crossing Borders
12pm – 12.50pm An Enduring Struggle For Justice – Exhibition Tour
1pm – 2pm Creative Memory of the Syrian Revolution: Exhibition Tour
2.30pm – 3.45pm The Travelling Heritage Bureau Film Screening
4.30pm – 8pm Cohere Installation
5pm – 6pm Cohere Performance
6pm – 7pm Abstract is the Wind; Art and Music Installation
Monday 17 June – Free to Dance
7pm – 8pm Sir Pe Talwar Dance Production
8pm – 9pm Mulembas D’Africa Dance Performance and Workshop
Tuesday 18 June – DECLARATION
10pm – 4pm Shared Space: A Learning Lab
6pm Island of Hungry Ghosts Film
7pm – 8pm DECLARATION! Performance
8pm – 9pm Displacing the Displaced: Human Rights, Refugees, and Migrant Justice Discussion
8.45pm – 9.30pm Young Amani Music Performance
Wednesday 19 June – Female Resistance
6pm – 7.45pm The Echo of Pain of The Many Screening and Discussion
8pm – 9.30pm WAST Nightingales Choir
Thursday 20 June – Love is my Religion
7pm – 8pm Seyed Ali Jaberi and the Hamdel Ensemble Musical Performance
8.45pm – 9.45pm Sarah Yaseen Musical Performance
Friday 21 June – Global Rave
7pm – 11pm DJ Irfan Rainy
8pm – 10.30pm Global Rave with Blanchard De Plaizir and Psyfunktions
