Support Studio 2: Migrant Arts Community

Aim

S2 is a therapeutic arts project, offering a creative space to work collaboratively and build community with young migrants & asylum seekers

PROJECT ACTIVITY

Studio 2 is a 3-month pilot project which aims to develop a multidisciplinary, community arts group for up to 15 young adults with insecure immigration status. The space will be facilitated in collaboration with RARA - a creative collective and workspace in Hackney - alongside an art psychotherapist and two migrants’ rights sector workers. Studio 2 offers people living in resistance to the hostile environment with a place of solidarity, creativity and collective empowerment. The project will bring together learning from both therapeutic community models and community-building practices.

PROJECT NEED

A study commissioned by the Mayor of London estimates more than 133,000 people under the age of 25 in London are without secure immigration status (University of Wolverhampton 2020). This group face severe barriers to higher education, healthcare, housing and work, despite many having lived in the UK for more than half of their lives. This is due to policies aimed at making life in the UK as difficult as possible for those with insecure status (‘the hostile environment’). Young migrants and asylum seekers experience high levels of discrimination and exploitation; many report being treated as less deserving of dignity and humanity than British citizens. With the covid crisis, many would benefit from a supportive space to create, explore and work collaboratively. 

IMPACT

By running Studio 2 in the spirit of a cooperative, each participant co-develops the community, enabling experiences that are more democratic, holistic and anti-oppressive. We hope Studio 2 can be an empowering space for participants: building individual and collective confidence. Alongside ongoing studio-based art-making, RARA members, external practitioners or participants can lead occasional, one-off workshops or skills-sharing sessions, according to the interests of the group. 

FUNDING 

The project is entirely volunteer-led: most of the funding will cover the cost of travel expenses for participants and volunteers, as well as arts materials and some minor running costs (e.g. food items). We hope to hold an exhibition at the conclusion of the project and donors (of any amount) will be invited to join us.

PROJECT LEADS

The project will be coordinated & facilitated by: 

Cat (Art Psychotherapist)

Abdullahi (Volunteer Coordinator of the Young Citizen’s programme at Coram)

Sarah (Hackney Migrant Centre Volunteer Coordinator & RARA member)

This project successfully funded on 12th March 2022