Virtual Migrants

art, digital media, performance exploring race, migration, environment, global justice

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January 8, 2014 by koojchuhan

Refusing The Refused video featured on ASHA website

The Virtual Migrants short film Refusing The Refused, by Kooj Chuhan in collaboration with ASHA (Asylum Support Housing Advice), is featured on the ASHA website in their new video section of critically important films about the asylum system.  Check the videos out at www.ashamanchester.wordpress.com .

Refusing The Refused is a film about asylum destitution, which was premièred at Z-Arts centre during Refugee Month 2013, and is reproduced here to view as follows:

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October 29, 2013 by koojchuhan

Re-Presenting Refugees: discussion starting points

audience+mazThe discussion focus on 30th Oct 2013 is around representation, definition and mobilisation. Here follows a list of questions which Kooj is using as starting points:

– to what extent do or should the arts practices under a ‘refugee’ umbrella represent a distinct sector, what are its identifying characteristics and what can this achieve?

– what are the limitations or problems with such initiatives?

– how does such work support and progress wider discussions around support for refugees and human rights?

– the way people seeking refuge are treated continues to move towards tighter restrictions, reduced sympathy and rights, greater destitution, racism and xenophobia. Is art at its limit in being able to influence such developments, or does our game need to change?

– what kind of a sector is it or should it become – a loose movement or an organised set of voices?

– is there a challenge to established modes of practice that such work presents, and in what ways?

– what kinds of practice might be of particular importance in developing such a sector?

– presentation of arts works in relation to refugees can often label themselves and dig their own corner of predictable narratives and styles – which in turn can stereotype themselves. In what ways can arts practices avoid such predictability?

If anyone has any responses to these, feel free to add your comments by clicking on ‘reply’.

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October 18, 2013 by koojchuhan

“Life Without Papers” wins Best Writing Award (cross-post from ASHA blog)

The following was originally posted on ASHA’s blog at http://ashamanchester.wordpress.com/  on October 17, 2013 by tonyopenshaw :

The blog project, “Life Without Papers”, created by Len Grant, features stories of undocumented migrant families and young people. Undocumented migrants have nothing. They are not allowed to work. They have no right to state benefits nor to a place to live. They are unseen and potentially the most vulnerable group in the UK today.

Undocumented (or irregular) migrants include those trafficked into the sex trade or for domestic servitude; they include visa overstayers; those whose asylum applications have been refused and others who have been subject to failures in the immigration system. All of these may originally have come to the UK legally.

‘Illegal immigrants’ – those imagined to have entered the country in [Read more…]

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September 13, 2013 by koojchuhan

90 degree citizen exhibition: Re-Presenting Refugees event 30th October!

Re-Presenting Refugees event 30th October!

90 Degree Citizen
an exhibition by Virtual Migrants + performance / discussion events

on show at the Manchester Museum 10th October – 17th November 2013
90DC-A5flyer-back
migrant art – alternative connections – cultural boundaries
A rare exhibition of work by a new wave of visual artists whose experiences include life as refugees in the UK, and engaging with objects from The Manchester Museum

Special event:  Re-Presenting Refugees panel discussion with ‘Passenger 12’ multimedia performance  + special guests incl. international artist Humberto Velez, Denise McDowell the director of Greater Manchester Immigration Aid, and Iranian artist Flora Alexander
Wednesday 30th October, 6.00 – 9.00pm
plus: at 5.00pm a talk + preview of the “Committed To Represent” pop-up exhibition
FREE: please register at www.re-presentingrefugees.eventbrite.co.uk

view the trailer

Full details of the event

Exhibition full details here!

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May 30, 2013 by koojchuhan

Black Youth, terrorism and the moral blindness

The following is an short extract from an article by Lee Jasper taken from http://www.obv.org.uk/news-blogs/black-youth-terrorism-and-moral-blindness (submitted 24 May 2013). I thought it important at this fairly critical time to be passed on and more widely read.

The brutal killing of the young British solider Lee Rigby on a British High Street in Woolwich South London by religious fanatics was deeply shocking. The fact that such a savage and grisly attack can take place on a busy British street in broad daylight has left the nation numb with shock and bewilderment.

This was a 21st century murder, broadcast almost live in real time and instantly transmitted across the world. The images we’ve seen on the front page of our newspapers, and on our television screens were horrific and bloody.

The question haunting everyone now is how can seemingly ordinary couple of black British guys from South East London end up committing such an act?

The personal tragedy for the murdered young man and his family seems almost to have been overshadowed by the complete dominance in the print media of the murderers whose pictures were plastered on every front page. I refuse to name them here in a small act of personal solidarity with the family.

One can only imagine the pain and grief his immediately family must be going through. They are now condemned to be forever reminded of the graphic nature of his death suffering a living hell with a memory that will be forever etched into their minds.

Watching the news over the last couple of days, I was struck by a number of issues that I think are important. The overwhelming majority of the news has focused on analysing the story from the perspective of terrorism and utilising the usual array of largely white and Asian Muslim experts and representatives.

Given the men themselves are black and of Nigerian origin this struck me as slightly odd. The dominant news narrative seems to almost wish they had been Asian and in that desire has simply labeled them ‘Muslim’ fitting them in to a convenient and stereotypical category that reflects and allows for simplistic and naive commentary.

Of course what is missing from the debate and in some sense, is the huge elephant in the room, is the fact that these young men are African, they are black British men and largely unknown to many they are part of the largest single ethnic minority group in London according to the 2011 census. That is an important aspect of this story, and I will tell why I think so.

The fact is that the real lived experience of British black communities suffering the damaging effects of societal racism is a narrative that is largely missing from the mainstream British news agenda and completely absent from the Government’s agenda. I am not for one moment seeking to suggest, in any way, shape or form, that these grotesque murderous act are justified. I am, however, suggesting that a minority of young black British people, be they of African or Caribbean descent, many of whom suffer deep economic exclusion, deep political marginalisation and acute social demonisation from wider society, can be particularly susceptible to both violent criminality and sometimes, radical conversion by religious fanatics.

…

Our communities endure a youth murder rate that is unacceptable. Intuitively, instinctively British black communities know and understand that if the victims of killings were white middle class youth, there would be a national outcry.

Society remains largely silent in the face of such carnage but erupts in outrage when a white solider gets killed. Horrific, and symbolic as the killing of this young soldier was, there were similarities in its barbarity of the recent murder of Daniel Graham, who was chased by a gang and stabbed multiple times on a London bus or that of Andrew Jaipual of Islington stabbed between 20-40 times? Both in broad daylight.

The reality is that the number of black young people in the UK who have been brutally murdered over the period of the last 13 years exceeds the number of British soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan during the same period. What many in Black communities feel is that we are often facing an internal war generated by long term poverty, alienation and unemployment.

As the nation begins to reflect on the causes of the terrible events this week, the racism and rabid Islamaphobia of the English Defence League will feature large. And whilst the EDL and the BNP openly espouse their bigoted views without true leadership from mainstream political parties and beyond, many Britons will be silently sign up to at least a watered-down version. Such effects could take us back to the 1970s.

If as a society we are to tackle some of the root causes of violent extremism, and criminality, we will need to tackle both our moral duplicity home and abroad, but also begin offer real opportunity and hope to many more of our young men and women, Black and white.

Lee Jasper

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May 16, 2013 by koojchuhan

VIRTUAL MIGRANTS WITH GMIAU AND ASHA PRESENT TWO NEW WORKS FOR REFUGEE ART EXHIBITION

at Z-ARTS 6th-29th June 2013, including Launch Event at 6pm on 6th June

CommittedRepresent_B+W_s

refusingTheRefused_s

Exhibition opening times are 5pm – 9pm weekdays, 10am – 4pm Saturdays, closed Sundays.

Committed to Represent
An exhibition of photography and texts as a series of portable panels by the Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit, in partnership with Virtual Migrants
How does the legal work of the GMIAU help refugees to rebuild their lives?  What motivates the caseworkers? How do refugees respond to the challenges that the asylum system throws at them?
This exhibition is a celebration of the work that caseworkers do and a testament to the courage of refugees and people seeking asylum.
Design and direction by Kooj Chuhan. Research and text by Ursula Sharma.  Photography by Mazaher.

Refusing The Refused
A short film created for ASHA (Asylum Support Housing Advice) from footage of a training workshop on Asylum Destitution on 22nd February 2013, a Virtual Migrants production by Kooj Chuhan
Destitution effectively means poverty and mental suffering at a chronic level, and this workshop involved a range of strong and emotive presentations and dialogues on the experience of destitution among people seeking asylum, the legal and wider political framework for this, and what kinds of support and action can be possible.
ASHA helps asylum seekers whose applications have been refused and fully determined, and whose status renders them homeless and destitute.

Both of these pieces of work are still ‘in development’.  They involve intersecting elements of documentary, community portraiture, campaigning and education.  This is an integral part of Virtual Migrants’ critical practice in artistic, media and cultural work.

Accompanying these works is an exhibition of paintings by Elizabeth Kwant, titled Tracing Presence.  This comprises a series of large-scale portraits developed during her Artist’s in Residence with The Boaz Trust, a charity working to help destitute asylum seekers in Manchester.

6th-29th June at Z-arts, 335 Stretford Road, Manchester M15 5ZA
An exhibition to coincide with Refugee Week 17-23 June 2013

www.virtualmigrants.com

www.gmiau.orgwww.ashamanchester.wordpress.com
www.z-arts.org

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April 5, 2013 by koojchuhan

Performed News at the BME Climate Change Conference

This short, simple and direct performance was used to start off the BME Communities and Climate Change Conference.  It was devised and scripted by Kooj Chuhan (Virtual Migrants), and performed by Kooj Chuhan and Michelle Ayavoro:

 

Part of the BME Communities and Climate Change Conference organised by Manchester BME Network in partnership with its members, MC-UK, Creative Hands and Salford Refugee Network, Manchester, 22nd March 2013.  Here are some extracts from the conference just to give a brief flavour of some of the presentations:

 

kooj+michelle_performance01

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IMG_0736

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November 13, 2012 by koojchuhan

CRUDE KILLINGS: climate, race, poverty – event on 28th November 2012

CRUDE-KILLINGS-headerImg

DISCUSSION, PERFORMANCE + BOOK LAUNCH
a free event by Virtual Migrants, Weds 28th November 6 – 8pm

BEHIND OIL: Multi-billion dollar corporate oil activities are almost entirely hidden, sanitised, absent from history and consciousness.
We think we know about oil, but we don’t. Its not just what we use it for, more than that its about extreme power and control by companies and states over our lives, minds, environment, culture, economies and austerities…

at International Anthony Burgess Foundation, 3 Cambridge Street, Engine House, Chorlton Mill, Manchester M1 5BY
Book your place at www.crudekillings.eventbrite.co.uk (registration is strongly advised to be sure of entry)

Virtual Migrants present the latest of their ‘Passenger’ events using live music and spoken word, plus a panel discussion in response to Platform’s new book The Oil Road.The Oil Road, quotes BP – the fourth largest company in the world – describing their operations as “Safe, Silent & Unseen”, but we need both to “see” and to “hear” at whose expense are their billions of dollars of annual profits.This event by Virtual Migrants with support from Platform will explore the themes of the book and ask, “How does the sanitisation of difficult, violent processes and imperialist histories inform the fight for climate justice today?”The panel includes:JAMES MARRIOTT – Platform & co-author of the book
ANNA GALKINA – Platform
JAYA GRAVES – Southern Voices
DEYIKA NZERIBE – Hulme Green Party
MARC HUDSON – Steady State Manchester
ARWA ABURAWA – Manchester Climate Monthly
KOOJ CHUHAN (chair) – Virtual MigrantsThe ‘Passenger’ performance will involve Virtual Migrants’ artists:SAI MURRAY (poetry/spoken word)
AIDAN JOLLY (music)
TRACEY ZENGENI (vocals)
TANHA MEHRZAD (multimedia projection/poetry)www.virtualmigrants.comPlatform (London) are a social justice organisation combining Arts, Activism, Education and Research. For more info on The Oil Road and their work including the campaign for justice in the Niger delta, Remember Saro-Wiwa see http://platformlondon.org/.*****************************************************a preceding event at the same venue as a part of “The Oil Road” launch in Manchester is:MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES

– film screening by MANCHESTER FILM CO-OPERATIVEJennifer Baichwal’s compelling documentary of photographer Ed Burtynsky’s voyage of discovery in today’s industrial China.Tuesday 27th November, doors open 7.30pmAdmission £3 waged/£2 unwagedwww.manchesterfilm.coop
CRUDE-KILLINGS-flyer

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August 15, 2012 by koojchuhan

Iran, Mosaddeq, BP Oil, Tate Gallery, climate destruction and the CIA-MI6

Another excellent article by Rahnuma Ahmed connecting BP oil corruption with the CIA-MI6 intrusion into Iran in 1953 where they overthrew the democratic regime led by then Prime Minister Dr Mosaddeq and replaced it with their puppet dictator. One of the points made by Ahmed relates to the current challenges to BP by artists and activists about:

“…the “social legitimacy” which high-profile cultural organisations such as Tate Gallery bestow on big oil companies by entering into partnerships. They distract attention from their “impacts on human rights, the environment and the global climate.” True, but no mention of Mosaddeq and BP’s role in the 1953 coup. An oversight? Or, a callous indifference about the nation’s imperial history, one which continues in the present?”

This seems like one very clear example of UK climate activists focusing on issues that can more easily win support from their ‘obvious’ sympathetic contingents, yet ignore the hard political edges of imperialism. Is this something Virtual Migrants might pursue with the forthcoming book release of “The Oil Road” by Platform?

http://www.shahidulnews.com/2012/08/13/part-i-fifty-ninth-anniversary-of-cia-mi6-coup/#more-12698

Iranian prime minister Mohammad Mosaddeq (1951-1953), popular and democratically-elected, overthrown in a coup orchestrated by the CIA and MI6 because he wanted to nationalise Iranian oil

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May 17, 2012 by koojchuhan

BUY THIS (v3) + RUNNING ORDER : video installation + performance

Virtual Migrants presents
BUY THIS (v3)  +  RUNNING ORDER
video installation  +  performance
climate justice, race and migrant-refugee voices

at the Creative Corner Café, 14 Milton Grove, Whalley Range, Manchester M16 0BP, UK
a part of 
Chorlton Arts Festival.  Admission free.

‘Buy This (v3)’ installation – Thursday 17-Saturday 19th May 2012, 10am-7pm except Friday to 9.30pm

‘Running Order’ live performance – only on Friday 18th May 2012, 7.30-8.30pm.


Running Order performance (Passenger 10)
a Virtual Migrants performance by artists Tracey Zengeni, Sai Murai, Razia Mohamed, Aidan Jolly, Tanha Mehrzad and Kooj Chuhan
Connecting the climate with US wars, UK policing and the refugee experience is a challenge for aspiring radio presenter Amira.  A semi-improvised performance full of songs and poetry from contrasting geographies including Zimbabwe, Iran and the UK, performed in dialogue with the audience and accompanying the ‘Buy This’ video installation. ‘Running Order’ is the latest in the ‘Passenger’ series of events, involving the installation as an integral component.
7.30pm, Friday 18th May.
Admission free – come early to be sure of a seat

 Buy This (v3) video installation
a Virtual Migrants video installation led by artist Kooj Chuhan
Refugees and ‘third-world’ migrants bring with them intimate and undervalued knowledge about climate change.  ‘Buy This’ juxtaposes such voices on one screen against another, over-saturated with colliding imagery of wars, colonial struggles, environmental upheaval and UK racism, overlaid with scrolling news messages. An exploration of how environmental change is integral to the economic and political forces bringing about human displacement and racial inequality, and a continuation of the “Centre Cannot Hold” project discussing climate imperialism and the violent commodification of humans and the environment.

Thurs 17th–Sat 19th May 2012, 10am-7pm on Thursday and Saturday, 10am-9.30pm on Friday 18th.

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