The festival aims to celebrate migrant contributions while paying tribute to their difficult experiences.
[For PAPERS magazine]
Ikon Gallery's third annual Migrant Festival returns tomorrow with a combination of online and in-person events after it’s cancellation last year due to Covid-19.
The four-day festival, taking place at the Birmingham-based gallery, will feature visual art, music, film and performance events celebrating refugee and migrant contributions to the UK and Birmingham while also bearing witness to migrant hardships.
“The festival is such a mix and so is the impact,” said Linzi Stauvers, Head of Learning at Ikon.
“From joyful music performed by refugee and migrant musicians, curated by one of our longstanding partners Celebrating Sanctuary Birmingham; to serious and often very personal conversations about the experience of migration.“
Annual event, ‘Soapbox’, taking place on Sunday, is a usual favourite, Stauvers said, during which individuals and groups supporting migrants in the Midlands will host a series of quick-fire presentations, including responses to 2021 Refugee Week theme “we cannot walk alone”.
The presentations, chaired by Saima Razzaq, Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Birmingham Pride, will be hosted by speakers and groups including the Women’s Baobab Project, an organisation for asylum seeking women, and End Deportations Birmingham, a local campaign group fighting against the deportation of UK migrants.
“This is a cornerstone of our festival,” Stauvers said. “A chance to hear from people who are making a real difference.”
Other live events this year include a performance from Guinea-Bissau musician Nifeco Costa with his group, Babock Djazz, a roundtable discussion between female migrant artists, and a Sunday afternoon concert with Anglo-Persian group, Ava.
While cancelling last year's festival was a “difficult decision" according to Stauvers, the gallery is keen to progress this year.
Various online events, including a screening of Keith Piper’s 2021 film, 'A Ship Called Jesus, will be hosted on Zoom across the four days in the festival's first year of hosting exclusively digital performances.
“We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to welcome audiences back to some live events whilst continuing to present digital events as part of the festival,” Strauvers said.
“We hope everyone enjoys this year’s programme.”
Find out more about what’s on here.
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