Earlier in June we were thrilled to curate and host a collaborative and experimental performance & research event The Migrant Institute: performing (non)belonging and post-Brexit imaginaries focusing on UK-based migrant theatre and performance-makers and the activist aesthetics emerging from their artistic practice.

Watch Lara Parmiani’s (LegalAliens Theatre) performance workshop HERE 

The conversations centred on artistic and scholarly approaches of belongingness amidst multiple crises: Brexit, environmental crisis and the current Covid-19 health emergency.

Watch the group discussions at: #1, #2, #3, #4

Our discussions were guided by four inspiring position papers by Prof. Bridget Anderson (Migration Mobilities Bristol), Prof. Vicky Angelaki (Mid Sweden University), Prof. Myria Georgiou (London School of Economics), Dr Alison Jeffers and Ambrose Musiyiwa (University of Manchester). We were delighted to have the authors with us at this online event!

Read & download the Intervention papers HERE 

Connecting theatre-makers, academics and cultural workers, the participants shared their experiences of migration and creative practices on crossings, belongings and interruptions.

Watch the wrap-up debate HERE

 The reflective dialogue and practice-led workshop also resulted in a short collaborative poem authored by multiple participants via online chat.

Read and download the collaborative poem HERE

We are grateful for the Brigstow Institute (Bristol) for funding this ideas exchange!

We hope to take The Migrant Institute project further and opening up new creative spaces for recognition: mapping, debating and sharing new perspectives in various regional and national settings internationally in the coming years.

For more information on upcoming events and initiatives please contact us at: the.migrant.institute.uk@gmail.com

[Gif created using Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash]