Journeys Festival International 2020 – ArtReach

Journeys Festival International is an annual arts festival that takes place in Leicester, Manchester and Portsmouth.

The festival curates, presents and commissions a varied programme of work created by artists that explore the refugee experience and global cultures through artistic and creative encounters. In 2020, for the first time, the Leicester, Manchester and Portsmouth Festivals combined programming to bring three weeks of digital creativity, online content and world-class cultural experiences. LIBERTY EU presented the following elements in this year’s festival:

In Conversation with Magid Magid was a series of 3 online talks with European-based guests who are involved in human rights activism and politics, exploring the current challenges facing Europe. It was a core part of Journeys Festival International 2020’s digital programme, with one conversation being released in each chapter of the festival. The conversations are available to watch online.

As part of Journeys Festival International we presented an exciting teaser of a newly commissioned animation, exploring pan-European friendship and collaboration, and the shared experience of the refugee situation in Europe. By looking closely at how we can connect and share cultures following coronavirus and Brexit; artist Majid Adin worked with European animators to realise a responsive animation. Award-winning interactive arts studio, Invisible Flock, will be collaborating with our artists to present the finished animations in a stunning outdoor projection in 2021 as an Outdoor Digital Commission.

As part of Journeys Festival International we presented an exciting teaser of a newly commissioned animation, exploring pan-European friendship and collaboration, and the shared experience of the refugee situation in Europe. By looking closely at how we can connect and share cultures following coronavirus and Brexit; artist Majid Adin worked with European animators to realise a responsive animation. Award-winning interactive arts studio, Invisible Flock, will be collaborating with our artists to present the finished animations in a stunning outdoor projection in 2021 as an Outdoor Digital Commission.

Freedom of Movement? was an exhibition and digital performance, part of the Processional Theatre strand of LIBERTY EU, which had to be translated into an online artwork due to Covid-19. The work showcased multidisciplinary migrant artists’ responses to the idea of ‘freedom of movement’. The piece was a reflection on people in Europe’s change to their freedom of movement due to national policies to slow the spread of Covid-19. For many people this was the first time their personal freedom of movement had been limited in this way. This caused unfamiliar feelings of fear, frustration and isolation. But for people experiencing forced migration due to fleeing war and persecution in their home countries, this was the situation they have had to live with every day and for many it can last years, sometimes decades. Journeys Festival International and Zimbabwean artist Mandla Rae explored this comparison during lockdown by connecting young artists based in Europe, who face travel restrictions due to their immigration status, with UK based creatives to create new digital artworks that were shared online during Journeys Festival International.

Graffiti, Art and Protest in Iran was a virtual experience that recreated the water channel where one of Tehran’s most notorious street art crews, the ELF crew, made their work. As audiences navigated the space they examined the street art created by Parham and his crew and heard the stories behind its creation and destruction in Parham’s own words. This immersive experience was designed for a desktop or laptop computer. This artwork was created as part of the Liberty Art Commissioning strand.

Sun Up, Rain Falls, River Rises were three audio narratives written by Phosphoros Theatre, as part of the Inside Out LIBERTY EU commissioning strand, which were created for audiences to listen to at sunrise, after the rain and when they were walking by water. The narratives were accompanied by three new compositions by Mira Siegel which responded to and completed each narrative. The work asked audiences to imagine the world through the eyes of a young unaccompanied asylum seeker as they reminisce about their home country. Tune in to Sun Up, Rain Falls, River Rises here.

• Sun Up, Rain Falls, River Rises

Images from Freedom of Movement?, curated by mandla rae from Journeys Festival International 2020.