We sang, we danced, we laughed, we lobbied, we were even moved to tears but most of all we celebrated the spirit of our communities in all their diversity and together had a ball!
Celebrating and lobbying for change
This year, the arrival of Refugee Week Scotland was over shadowed by the devastating news that a group of around 80 asylum seekers will face destitution due to recent changes adding to the significant number of refused asylum seekers already destitute in Glasgow.
Refugee Week became a platform to lobby for change and highlight issues like these. This message was clear throughout the week and underpinned all of our celebrations, yet it meant even more to come together and celebrate in this difficult time.
A few of my favourite moments
With the plethora of events on offer, pin pointing any one particular highlight is incredibly difficult – but here’s a few of mine:
Refugee Week Scotland kicked off on the 18th June with our launch event at the Tron. We were wowed with uplifting and spirited performances from Waverley Care’s Voices of Hope Choir, Maryhill Integration Network and Albscott dancers and musician Jethro Kinavuidi.
We were off to a great start but the fun didn’t end there as we made our way over to the Old Fruitmarket for our first ever Refugee Week Scotland Opening Concert. The venue filled up to capacity as Glasgow’s Randolph’s Leap took to the stage, followed by Pictish Trail and finally King Creosote, playing with his full band.
The dancing begins
As if these acts weren’t enough the young people from the Guardianship and Chrysalis groups nearly stole the show with their joyous dancing and cheering! King Creosote said he had never had such a response to his music; he was thrilled! And their joyful exclamations were even noted in one of our glowing reviews by the Scotsman. As was the showing of our 2011 Courage film in another review by the Herald.
Our Tron programme continued with a stunning and moving rehearsed reading of Some Other Mother by Alison Julia Taudevin, picking up 4stars in the Scotsman.
Glasgow Girls the Musical
Cora Bissett shared excerpts of her musical production Glasgow Girls, inspired by the real ‘Glasgow Girls’ of Drumchapel High School whose campaign to save their school friend from deportation captured the attention of even Jack McConnell. We even got to hear from the real Glasgow Girls, Emma, Amal and Ignesa and by the end the audience were all converted to ‘Glasgow Girls’.
SambayaBamba kept us moving till the end
Our Tron programme came to an end on Saturday night with a wild finale from SambayaBamba that simply dared the audience to stay in their seats – by the end 70 per cent of us were dancing on the stage – what a finish!
Food fight – watch out!
Throughout the week I attended many other events across the city. On Wednesday I made my way over to Cranhill Development Trust for a moment’s peace theatre company’s Playing with Food. Welcomed into the theatre with the words ‘Set the temperature to warm and welcome’ and a friendly cup of tea, I then played witness to a raucous food fight between the participants!
Serenaded at Stereo
Thursday night I dashed over to Stereo for Scottish Music Centre’s Tech Tuesday Gig and after only catching the end of the performances I was then treated to a rap serenade by some of the performers (blush J).
Discovering Glasgow – and inspiring communities
Over the week and the last two weekends I’ve visited parts of the city I have never even seen before – attending many of our Community Celebration events. Visiting these community events had such an incredible impact on me; I never imagined I’d meet so many inspiring people from all over the world.
At every event I was greeted with world food (much of which I had never tried before), good conversation (even picking up greetings in new languages!) and always the warmest of welcomes! The array of activities taking place and talent was amazing!
Still time to experience
While our main 2012 celebrations are rounding up, there’s still a few events and exhibitions happening this month. You can still catch our beautiful Spirit Photography exhibition at Trongate 103, there until 22 July. Check our events calendar to find out about other events and exhibitons happening this month.
What were your highlights?
So what was your highlight of Refugee Week Scotland? We want to hear from you. We hope you enjoyed the week; watch this space for more Arts and Cultural events and activities.
