What’s on in Glasgow this RFS 2017
Glasgow has a long history of welcoming and celebrating the contribution refugees make to our vibrant city, and every year refugee and local community groups come together to celebrate Refugee Festival Scotland with a range of diverse and exciting events.
The Festival celebrates the richness and diversity of Scotland’s communities. It offers people from different backgrounds the chance to get to know each other, to sample a little of each other’s cultures, listen to each other’s stories and discover what we have in common.
This year is no different, and Glasgow has a jam-packed programme. Here’s a look at some of our top picks in film, music, food, art and sport.
Art | 19 – 23 June
As I See It: Missing Statues Exhibition.
Glasgow has many statues. The Duke of Wellington sitting on a horse with a traffic cone on his head. La Passionara on the banks of the Clyde with her arms in the air. A group of Gorbals boys wearing oversized stilettos.
They are a celebration of the city’s heritage, a collective remembering and a projection of hope for the future. There are however, so many stories missing from the city’s landscape – people and events forgotten, erased, ignored.
Four groups across Glasgow (Terra Incognita’s Visually-Impaired Arts Group, The Women’s Creative Company, Young Carers at Glasgow South West Carers Centre and Govan Community Project)Working with visual artists Rosemary Cunningham, Charlotte Duffy-Scott, Jen Smith and Alice Dansey-Wright, and drama facilitators Victoria Beesley and Rosie Reid, each artwork reflects the passions, history and experiences of the group. have been working alongside visual artists to design and create four new statues for the city.
Visit the exhibition to see the finished artwork, share the passions, history and experiences of the group and celebrate a person or event not currently acknowledged in existing statues and monuments; connecting us to the city’s landscape, history, and each other.
www.facebook.com/TerraIncognitaArts
Film | 23 June
Join Global Justice Now and Take One Action for a special film trio exploring refugee experiences:
Making it Home – a film created from dialogue between refugee women in Maryhill, Glasgow and local women in Pilton, Edinburgh.
At Home in the World – a moving portrait of five children during their first year at a Red Cross Refugee School in Denmark.
Refugee Blues – an intimate portrayal of a day in the former camp at Calais, set to the verses of W.H. Auden’s 1939 poem of the same name.
Followed by a discussion panel and audience conversation to reflect on ways we can all support refugees, asylum seekers and migrants locally and globally.
Sport | 24 June
Join United Glasgow Football Club for Connect! Football Festival 2017 at Firhill Complex, a fun-filled family day to celebrate Refugee Festival Scotland. Head along on Saturday 24th to watch a Glasgow United match, get involved in the 5-a-side football tournament and enjoy music, entertainment and refreshments. Families and children welcome.
Music | 25 June
In celebration of Refugee Festival Scotland 2017, Glasgow’s acclaimed world music community choir Voicebeat hosts a free, family friendly event – a feast of unaccompanied harmony in many languages – amid stunning surroundings. Join them in Kibble Palace, Botanic Gardens, to celebrate the cultural connections linking people of many lands who now call Scotland their home.
Family Day | 28 June
Join Open Aye for a cultural cookery creative event! Cook out on open fires, bring a dish to share, take a photo walk in the woods, take part in craft activities or watch a film in a cinema yurt!
Everyone is welcome. Come and connect under the trees, for this special event supported by Urban Roots and Forestry Commission Scotland.
Food | 1 July
Street – طعام – A celebration of the Bazaar, the Market, the Marché, the Souq, the Pasar Malam, the Palengke and more. Join Küche at Ross Street Market for a taste of international cuisine. Market stalls run by refugee and asylum seeker chefs selling street food reminiscent of their own market and culture, celebrating the food, recipes and tastes of home.
Join us in Glasgow and across Scotland to connect with refugees this festival.
For more information visit refugeefestivalscotland.co.uk or contact festival@scottishrefugeecouncil.org.uk / 0141 248 9799
See you there!
