Refugee Week 2020: #WatchAFilm
Refugee Week - SIMPLE ACTS
DAY #2 - Watch a Film
Today's Simple Act is an invitation to #watchafilm that enhances your #understanding of or #appreciation for fellow humans who have been forced to seek refuge and #asylum. Whether the film sheds light on the hostility and #racism inherent in systems that were originally built to preserve asylum as a universal human right, or whether it shares the glorious #talents and #voices of those who continue to survive despite it, you can be certain that it is deserving of your attention.
We have two films to offer you today:
The first film is of a performance we gave in January 2019 as part of Southbank Centre's #SoundState at the Queen Elizabeth Hall #QEH. It centres around Flight for Freedom, a poem written by one of our Young Leaders, J. His powerful words are set to music performed by members of Play for Progress, and features collaborating soloists Alice Zawadzki, Misha Mullov-Abbado, and Rob Luft and members of Aurora Orchestra.
The #magic of such live performances can only be felt in pale comparison when seen on film, but we hope you take away the power of these combined voices which show and share a dialogue of #mutual #trust, deep #respect, #presence, and #cooperation through the language and poetry of #music. Much of what you hear was improvised - each player (and all audience members) were welcomed and invited to be honestly themselves, with all the strengths and vulnerabilities that they brought into the performance space as they felt and explored J's words. As a result, although we didn’t know what precisely would happen when we rung out those first few chords, you can hear how the presence of minds and hearts of all involved gathered, connected, and transformed throughout.
Video: https://youtu.be/-zgTThNy5pI
The second film we have to offer to you today shares a glimpse into the weeks of work that went into creating the Tree of Life Mural, a piece that anchors our "Roots and Branches Exhibition" at The Museum of Croydon.
As described by Associate Artist ATMA, who lead the project: “Over the course of several weeks in January 2020, I delivered workshops based on pure and free creation and self-expression with the young people of Play for Progress. Pencils, markers, paper, time and fun marked our time together. We focused on creating patterns celebrating one's roots and branches which expanded through the joy of drawing and colouring. For me, the process of getting to know, work with, and guide the talents of the young people, who delivered a large number of moving artworks, was enriching and deeply meaningful. Some of them discovered a real passion for visual arts. From this entire body of work, a selection of colours, symbols, concepts, patterns & emotions was extracted to become the essence of our Tree of Life Mural."
We hope that this film brings positive attention to the extraordinary artistic and musical talents of the young people within our community, the power and beauty of their creativity, and the vital importance of putting ‘creating together’ at the cornerstone of #community building.
Video: https://youtu.be/lmZAyqwyUM0
