Living Here Young Refugees Art Project

A ground-breaking arts project for young refugees and asylum seekers in South London.

Living Here is an Oval House project using participatory arts with young refugees and asylum seekers. Through Living Here Oval House works in schools with high numbers of young refugees and asylum seekers and with young people out of school offering young exiles a range of artistic and social opportunities. The project uses powerful participatory arts methodology, offering young people the creative tools to express themselves and the opportunity to create new way of working that addressing their concerns and allow them a key role in influencing and guiding the work.

Oval House works in partnership with London Borough of Lambeth Ethnic Minority Achievement Department to identify partner schools and set priorities for the project.

These are quotes from participants in the Living Here project:

It was the best time ever!! Do it again! I really enjoy it. I feel happy… in another world happy, free and EQUAL.

Performing was one of the best times of my life.

I like making drama it is special for me.

When I make drama I forget my problems I felt good about what I made, it was a good work.

Making the photo collage was good for me because I made a message to people about how we feel in London.

World Arts Day was better than winning the FA cup

Aims

• Providing a safe, secure and non-threatening space for young people to be creative, build confidence, self-esteem and develop their fluency in English

• Providing an enjoyable and uplifting experience

• Allowing young people a voice through the arts so that they can express themselves to their peers and the wider community

• Offering artistic approaches that do not rely on a common language

• Find creative ways of building new social networks

• Offering young people valuable opportunities to take on leadership roles and influence the development of the project

• Building close relationships with existing and new project partners such as schools and social services to establish a joined up approach that can provide young people with an increased network of opportunities

Deputy Head of Charles Edward Brooke School says:

Our students have loved going to Oval House and value the huge efforts made by workshop providers to create magical spaces in the most unpromising of classrooms in school. I have seen art work/dramatic pieces of real quality and skill emerge from these sessions. The social networking that has taken place has been a major strength of the projects. Opportunities to meet students from other schools have been very valuable.

What we do

• Oval House has three long-term artistic residencies in schools with high numbers of young refugees and asylum seekers.
• We offer young people a range of artistic and social opportunities that are developed both in school and in their own time.
• Professional artists deliver weekly drama and visual arts workshops to support young people in the early stages of settling in London and explore artistic processes that do not rely on spoken language.
• Two or three times a year we host events that bring young refugees from different schools together to explore the arts and build new social relationships.
• Oval House acts in an advisory capacity to arts and non arts organisations running seminars, training events and giving talks about using the arts with young refugees.
  

Quote from the New York League of Professional Theatre Women seminar:

Those in attendance learned so much from your commitment, passion and creative ideas, which you employ to motivate those with whom you work. It is a testament to the power of words and ideas in the theatre.

Additional Information

Using the Arts with Young Refugees and Asylum Seekers, written by Stella Barnes Head of Arts in Education at Oval House

• Artswork guidelines
• Artplan Training

Supported by The Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Fund and The Baring Foundation.