Behjat Omer Abdulla’s, hauntingly beautiful drawings engage with the tragedies families experience when they become refugees. During the event audiences were invited to take part and to reflect on their own positioning, ethical responsibility towards refugees and how this affects their own identities.
Below you can view how visitors felt about and reflected upon the influence that these drawings had on their perceptions of the refugees’ experiences. Overall more than 130 visitors posted comments and photographed alongsided the drawings, reflecting on acts of witnessing and empathy, but also feelings of shame.
To find more about Behjat’s work and the reception during the event watch this video:
The Conversations
Shopping for citizenship: A conversation at the Citizenshop
Nele Vos’s interactive installation, The Citizenshop, is also part of the ‘Who Are We?’ project at Tate Exchange. Agnes asked Nele what kinds of issues The Citizenshop was meant to highlight.
Listen now ❯Shopping for citizenship: A conversation at the Citizenshop
The New Union Flag project: from an object of agitation to a space for communication
Moving away from the red, white and blue to a new flag, representing a new nation.
Read now ❯The New Union Flag project: from an object of agitation to a space for communication
Co-creating and mushing up identity with visitors to the New Union Flag project
Take the opportunity to reflect on aspects of audience participation and co-creation – this time young children.
Watch now ❯Co-creating and mushing up identity with visitors to the New Union Flag project
Beyond the Babble: A conversation about the art of listening
‘Beyond The Babble’ is an interactive and participatory audio focused installation. It explored questions of identity, belonging and the fragile nuance of power-shifts around the impact of voices may have -- beyond the noise which perhaps social media create.
Listen now ❯Beyond the Babble: A conversation about the art of listening
Participant voices & interactions Beyond The Babble
Listening to the voices Beyond The Babble
Listen now ❯Participant voices & interactions Beyond The Babble
From A Distance
From a Distance: A conversation on the ethics of representing the refugee crisis between Umut Erel and Behjat Omer Abdulla
Read now ❯From A Distance
On a Wing and a Prayer: A case study
Abdul Rahman Haroun walked from France to the United Kingdom. On A Wing And A Prayer is a response to that journey.
Read now ❯On a Wing and a Prayer: A case study
Reactions and reflections to On a Wing and a Prayer
Audiences, academics and the artist reflect on the video installation.
Watch now ❯Reactions and reflections to On a Wing and a Prayer
Dialogues Across Borders
Abdul Rahman Haroun walked from France to the United Kingdom. On A Wing And A Prayer is a response to that journey.
Watch now ❯Dialogues Across Borders
Homo Economicus, the East India Company and industrial espionage
A conversation between artist Laura Malacart and Open University researcher Sara de Jong on the intersections of identity and citizenship with economic history and language.
Read now ❯Homo Economicus, the East India Company and industrial espionage
Thinking Outside the Box
Lisa Pilgram and Alena Pfoser in conversation with visual artist Laura Sorvala discuss how story-telling techniques can be used to tease out questions of belonging and community and how outputs can challenge simple ideas of ‘us’ and ‘them'.
Read now ❯Thinking Outside the Box-
Using art and creative methods to interrogate identity, citizenship and migration
A programme at the Tate Modern, titled Who Are We?, brought together academics, artists and activists to explore migration, citizenship, identity and belonging. The programme was collaboratively curated by a consortium comprising The Open University, Loughborough University, University of Warwick and Counterpoints Arts, an arts organization whose mission is to support and produce art by and about migrants and refugees. The programme generated a great deal of interest and involved the participation of a large and diverse audience. Dip into the programme and discover more about this, more about Counterpoints Arts, and more about a similar collaboration between the OU and the Migration Museum Project.
Read nowUsing art and creative methods to interrogate identity, citizenship and migrationLevel: 1 Introductory
-
The Who Are We? project
How artists and academics can work together to develop new avenues for exchange and influence
Read nowThe Who Are We? projectLevel: 1 Introductory
-
How can I learn from Who Are We?
There's much to discover - here's a starting point
Read nowHow can I learn from Who Are We?Level: 1 Introductory
-
From Conversations on co-production to participants’ engagements
Introducing the participatants in the projects, and exploring their ideas and motivations
Read nowFrom Conversations on co-production to participants’ engagementsLevel: 1 Introductory
-
The ethics and politics of the migration and refugee crisis
We've shared some of the Who Are We project - but this isn't the first time the OU's academics have come together with artists. Discover some earlier collaborations.
Read nowThe ethics and politics of the migration and refugee crisisLevel: 1 Introductory
-
Dive deeper with these extra articles
If the themes and art of Who Are have made you hungry for more, here's some other articles to explore
Read nowDive deeper with these extra articlesLevel: 1 Introductory
Newsletter
Be the first to post a comment
We invite you to discuss this subject, but remember this is a public forum.
Please be polite, and avoid your passions turning into contempt for others. We may delete posts that are rude or aggressive, or edit posts containing contact details or links to other websites.