Living Seams

LIVING SEAMS is the recording, collation and conservation of the memory, hopes, stories and oral history of refugees in Kent between 2000-2021 including those who were previously refugees and the unique role and experience of the local communities who embraced them

Exploring these histories and stories and the impact of these experiences as a legacy of memories, images, and heritage, this project will enable recollection of unheard histories from these communities, building a legacy of memories and stories, most never recorded.

Oral history is person-centred and helps enhance identity, dignity, and self-esteem in times of change. Using creative references including music, dance and visual arts, the project is exploring these stories to unlock a wealth of history connected to exile, working with past refugees to East Kent with a qualified Oral historian and current refugees with ArtRefuge and Lewisham Refugee and Migrant Network.

Alongside, young volunteers from Woodpecker Court, an Education facility in Eyethorne, are being trained by an oral historian to record and film the recollections of local residents who supported refugees, particularly those from the Kent coal mining community.

All the work created will be showcased in a travelling exhibition to be shown alongside a unique production of the ballet Zaubernacht by composer Kurt Weill, devised in collaboration with current refugees, informed by their experiences and stories.
Without this preservation of history, the heritage, economic and social contribution all those involved have made will be forgotten.

our

partners

This unique collaboration led by Atelier Armonico, brings together the knowledge and experience of seven partners - Art Refuge, Woodpecker Court. Lewisham Refugee and Migrant Network, Dover District Council, JW3, Kent Mining Museum and Morley College.

Art Refuge

uses art and art therapy to support the mental health and well-being of people displaced due to conflict, persecution and poverty, in the UK and internationally.

Our ongoing programmes take place in the UK and northern France while we are involved in shorter term projects, exhibitions and research projects in other settings. www.artrefuge.org.uk

Morley

College

was founded in 1889, to provide lifelong educational opportunities for diverse communities in London. Established in Waterloo by Emma Cons an artist, social reformer and suffragette determined to make a good life accessible to all, Morley is one of the UK’s oldest and largest specialist providers of adult education.

The Kent Mining Museum

is an NLHF funded new museum which opened in 2022. The museum shares the under told story of the Kent Coalfield from the first discovery of coal to the closure of all remaining pits in 1989, through the words and experiences of the community themselves. The Kent Mining Museum is run and managed by the Kent Mining Heritage Foundation charity.

Woodpecker

Court

is a Specialist Post 16 College based in the heart of the East Kent Coalfield, in Eythorne. We deliver programmes of outdoor based learning for the most vulnerable of young people unable to access mainstream further education

Dover
District
Council

provides services to the people who live, work and study in Dover, Deal, Sandwich and the surrounding areas. White Cliffs Country supports the local visitor economy and promotes our vibrant, world-class destination as a great place to visit, live, learn, work, and invest.

JW3

is the first and only Jewish Community Centre and arts venue of its kind to exist in UK. Our mission is to increase the quality, variety and volume of Jewish conversation in London and beyond.