For the last nine years Doris has been collaborating with Bristol City Council Refugee and Asylum Services, Refugee Action and Bristol communities from many parts of the globe to create an annual, intercultural arts event to kick start National Refugee Week celebrations in Bristol. The next Celebrating Sanctuary day will take place at the usual location, Queen Square, Bristol on Sunday 19th June 2011 from 1.30pm - 7pm.
As always there will be music and dance from many countries, including The Lani Singers from West Papua, St Pauls Reggae orchestra with Dennis Rollins, Zakhele - high energy youth from South Africa, Zavaolo from the Ivory Coast, Polish traditional dancing, Iranian and Tibetan music as well as stories, nomadic homes, henna, face painting, mandala making, international games, art workshops, Zimbabwean drum and song workshops, global village stalls with beautiful handcrafted artefacts, Chilean food, Tibetan tea and much more besides.
This year again we will have ‘Off The Cuff” again with local performances, poetry, local musicians, talks and discussions and other, as yet unconfirmed, artists.
The day will be full of information by, for and about Bristol’s refugee and asylum communities. There will be lots of opportunities to meet each other, time to hear gems of music, join in creatively and bask in the sense of harmony and love that happens when people gather together to respect each other and enjoy our differences.
- Refugees have made an enormous contribution to the social, cultural, economic and political life of the UK in last 60 years, and this should be celebrated
- Since 1951, the UK has provided protection to those fleeing war and persecution. Refugee Week highlights the importance of upholding and further building on this proud tradition.
- In escaping war and building a new life in a strange country, refugees acquire a great amount of courage, resilience and creativity. With these invaluable skills, refugees can play a vital part in shaping our new Britain.
- It is through simple, everyday actions that we can make a big change to the way British people and refugees see and interact with each other.
Bristol has recently been declared a City of Sanctuary! For more information about this see www.cityofsanctuary.org
We’d like to thank everyone who comes and makes it such a lovely, happy day.
“Your car is German. Your vodka is Russian. Your pizza is Italian. Your kebab is Turkish. Your democracy is Greek. Your coffee is Brazilian. Your movies are American. Your tea is Tamil. Your shirt is Indian. Your oil is Saudi Arabian. Your electronics are Chinese. Your numbers Arabic, your letters Latin. And you complain that your neighbour is an immigrant? Pull yourself together!”
