The exhibition, produced by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and Panos Pictures, A Great British Welcome, shares the inspiring stories of refugees, asylum seekers, and host communities thriving together.
Over nine months, the acclaimed photographer Andrew Testa, who regularly contributes to the New York Times, travelled across the UK accompanied by Hunadda Sabbagh-Džemidžić and Sarah Hayward of the UNHCR. Hunadda and Sarah interviewed UK communities, organisations, and individuals for a series of online stories.
The exhibition can be seen for the first time outside of London until Friday, 28 June on Market Street which has a weekly footfall of over 300,000.
Leading Manchester and North West-based organisations, including the Boaz Trust, Refugee Action, North West Regional Strategic Migration Partnership (RSMP), Manchester City of Sanctuary, Rethink Rebuild, Manchester Refugee Support Network attended the reception. They were joined by guests from arts organisations, including Manchester Art Gallery, Commonword and Manchester International Festival.
Guest speakers made powerful and moving speeches.
Vicky Tennant, the UN Representative to the UK, spoke of the growing global challenge of forced migration.
In 2023, 110 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced from their homes due to persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations, and events seriously disturbing public order. Most people are displaced in their own countries or to neighbouring countries, most of which are in the poorer Global South. 2024 is on target to be the year with the highest number of displaced people ever recorded.
Councillor Joanna Midgley, Deputy Leader of Manchester City Council, outlined the city council’s commitment to making the city a welcoming place for refugees and asylum seekers through its ongoing work as a Local Authority of Sanctuary. Councillor Midgley congratulated Manchester Art Gallery for achieving its status as a Gallery of Sanctuary.
Cilla Baynes, CAN’s co-founder, our former Creative Director, and interim Creative Lead, outlined our long history of working with artists and communities that have experienced forced migration and the incredible achievements that people go on to make and contribute to the region and the UK.
Mahoobeh Rajabi, Artist, Creative Producer and Entrepreneur, who is featured in A Great British Welcome, concluded by talking about her experience as an Iranian artist who made the difficult journey from being an asylum seeker in the UK who was in danger of deportation and going on how to build a successful career after being welcomed into the UK’s creative sector.
Mina Mikhail Salama, a maestro of Coptic-Egyptian music, performed three solo pieces with Nay flute, oud, saz, and vocals. Before his arrival in the UK, he was a composer and multi-instrumentalist at the Cairo Opera House. He has since performed across the UK and internationally and composed and recorded music for the 2017 Disney film Aladdin.
Our section of A Great British Welcome shared how CAN supported Mahboobeh in rebuilding her creative career in the UK. She volunteered and then freelanced with us, then became one of our Creative Producer team. She has since worked with many arts organisations in the city: Manchester Art Gallery, The Whitworth, Manchester Museum, Commonword, HOME, and the University of Manchester and more widely in the UK. She co-founded the arts organisation, Dipact. Some of her work is in the Manchester Art Gallery’s collection.
As a pioneering arts organisation that welcomes refugees, asylum-seekers, and new migrants to our arts and creative programme, which has developed connection, belonging, and creativity to diverse communities for over 40 years, CAN was thrilled to be featured in A Great British Welcome and the accompanying online stories.
In addition to the CAN portraits, UNHCR’s A Great British Welcome exhibition portrays several communities throughout the UK that have welcomed refugees. These include Refugees Rock, a monthly bouldering session in Liverpool’s Climbing Hangar that brings refugees and local climbers together, and a tight-knit community on Scotland’s Isle of Bute, where resettled Syrian refugee Wafa and her two sons have become an integral part of local life.
Don’t miss the exhibition which you can see on Market Street near Footlocker and H&M.
Photo credits: Shirlaine Forrest and the UNHCR.
