Virtual Migrants

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

  • HOME
  • About
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
  • events
    • Migrant Frontiers
  • Exhibitions
    • 90 Degree Citizen
      • Introduction
      • RE-PRESENTING REFUGEES: discussion, performance, exhibition
      • Artists
        • Amang Mardokhy
        • Flora Alexander
        • Iseult Timmermans
        • Maya Chowdhry
        • Mazaher
        • Tracey Zengeni
      • Stephen Welsh (Manchester Museum)
      • 90 Degree Citizen – feedback please!
    • Committed To Represent
      • Introduction
      • Exhibition Photos
      • Gallery: exhibition panels
    • Buy This – installation art
    • Exhibitions history (from the Blog)
  • Performance
    • CONTINENT CHOP CHOP
    • Performance History (from the blog)
  • Blog

  • Breathe!
    • Breathe!
    • Gallery |Breathe! |Photographs
    • Breathe! Information and Resources
    • Breathe! reconnect: recover: reclaim social space
  • Interplay Now
    • Original call out
  • CONTINENT CHOP CHOP
    • The Documentary
    • Gallery Continent Chop Chop – Photographs
    • Remembrance Wall
    • Tour Dates + Tickets
    • NNIMMO BASSEY award-winning African climate activist
    • A5 Flyer for Continent Chop Chop
  • 90 Degree Citizen
    • Feedback please!
    • RE-PRESENTING REFUGEES
    • Artists
      • Amang Mardokhy
      • Flora Alexander
      • Iseult Timmermans
      • Mazaher
      • Tracey Zengeni
  • Centre Cannot Hold
    • About
    • Buy This – installation art
    • Articles (re. climate and race)
      • Article: Climate Change and Race
      • Article: Tolerating Mass Murder
      • Tolerating Mass Murder – Full Paper
  • Other
    • arts
    • climate
    • imperialism
    • linked activity
    • media
    • news
    • project info
    • race
    • refugee
    • reports
    • research

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’.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Print

October 23, 2013 by Maya Chowdhry

90 Degree Citizen – exhibition and rehearsal snapshots

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Print

October 18, 2013 by Maya Chowdhry

RE-PRESENTING REFUGEES: discussion, performance, exhibition

90 Degree Citizen exhibition project:
Special Event on Weds 30th October, 6pm – 9pm, at Manchester Museum

>> ‘RE-PRESENTING REFUGEES’ panel discussion <<
>>
‘PASSENGER 12’ multimedia performance <<
>>
‘COMMITTED TO REPRESENT’ exhibition premiere – open to view from 5pm <<

audience+maz_IMG_2284_cropWide_v2_se

A range of key speakers and artists explore critical issues around art, displacement and refugees.  As a dynamic movement, alternative practices and perspectives, cultural resistance or affirmation, political and historical contexts.  Open to the public on the eve of the Platforma national conference on arts and refugees.  A Virtual Migrants event www.virtualmigrants.net .

Discussion begins 7.20pm – panel includes:

Flora Alexander – Iranian visual artist based in Glasgow
Yusra Warsama – poet, playwright and actor from Somalia
Tom Green – director of Platforma national network of arts and refugees
Humberto Velez – international visual, media and performance artist
Isobel Bowler – legal case worker at GM Immigration Aid Unit
Iseult Timmermans – artist and creative producer with refugee groups at Street Level Photoworks
Discussion chaired by Kooj Chuhan – artist and cultural producer; founder of Virtual Migrants and director of 90 Degree Citizen

Multimedia experimental performance: part 1 begins 7pm with part 2 after the discussion – includes artists:

Sai Murray (writer, poet, spoken word)
Maya Chowdhry (performer, writer, multimedia and interactive artist)
Aidan Jolly (composer-songwriter and musician)
Tracey Zengeni (vocalist)
Mazaher (VJ projections)
Elmi Ali (writer, poet, spoken word)
Pat Mackela (drums and percussion)

Committed To Represent – exhibition premiere with talks about the work at 6pm including special guest Mavis Makhaza from Gtr Manchester Immigration Aid Unit and WAST (Women Asylum Seekers Together):

Portable panels of photography and text, portraying the people behind the labels – our unsung heroes the legal immigration caseworkers and those who have needed their support. Created by Kooj Chuhan, Ursula Sharma and Mazaher, as a partnership project between GM Immigration Aid and Virtual Migrants.  This is a pop-up exhibition only on show until 1st November in the Kanaris Foyer at the museum.

This event is a part of the 90 Degree Citizen exhibition, on show from 10th October – 17th November at Manchester Museum, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL

FREE to attend, but please register at www.re-presentingrefugees.eventbrite.co.uk

The café will be open during this event for food and drinks.  Light refreshments provided.  All timings are approximate.

logo Banner funders

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Print

October 9, 2013 by Maya Chowdhry

90 Degree Citizen – installing the exhibition

4bAmang Mardokhy arrives at Manchester Museum to install his paintings for 90 Degree Citizen – 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.

“I have come from Kurdistan, north part of Iraq. Since the early start of my art experience, I also have learned how to live and express the sufferings of [Read more…]

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Print

October 7, 2013 by Maya Chowdhry

UPDATE: Special Guests and online video – 90 Degree Citizen exhibition: Opens 10th Oct 6pm at Manchester Museum

WAST_logoSPECIAL GUESTS ANNOUNCED: Mavis Makhaza from GM Immigration Aid Unit and WAST (Women Asylum Speakers Together), plus Tony Openshaw from ASHA (Asylum Support Housing Advice) will speak about their work in relation to the exhibition

stephen welsh - youtubeNEW VIDEO INTERVIEW NOW ONLINE: Stephen Welsh, the Curator of Living Cultures at Manchester Museum, on museum collections and 90 Degree Citizen in the context of Victorian colonialism and ethnography

Thursday 10th October, 6pm, Manchester Museum, here are full details of the Opening Event from our website. Free, but register here

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Print

October 7, 2013 by Maya Chowdhry

Stephen Welsh (Manchester Museum) discusses 90 Degree Citizen by Virtual Migrants

Stephen Welsh, the Curator of Living Cultures at Manchester Museum, discusses museum  collections and 90 Degree Citizen in the context of Victorian colonialism and ethnography in this short video

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Print

September 16, 2013 by Maya Chowdhry

Committed To Represent – exhibition celebrating immigration caseworkers, refugees

Committed To Represent - exhibition celebrating immigration caseworkers, refugees

How does the legal work of the GMIAU (Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit) 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.

An exhibition of photography and texts as a series of 12 portable panels by the Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit, in partnership with Virtual Migrants.  This exhibition is available for borrowing or hire (if you have available funds), and a speaker can be provided if desired.  The panels can be set up to accompany any relevant event, activity, cultural or artistic programme involving an audience.  Please contact us or contact GMIAU directly via www.gmiau.org .

An exhibition celebrating immigration caseworkers, refugees and people seeking asylum

A gallery showing all of the panels is available to view right now at www.virtualmigrants.net/committedtorepresent/gallery , and photographs of the panels exhibited in various venues can be seen at www.virtualmigrants.net/committedtorepresent/exhibitionphotos.  These will give a good idea of what the exhibition is and how it can be presented.

Design and direction by Kooj Chuhan / Metaceptive Media. Research and text by Ursula Sharma.  Photography by Mazaher.  Committed To Represent – exhibition celebrating immigration caseworkers, refugees and people seeking asylum in 12 portable panels.  Here is a quick overview of some places it has been shown at, followed by a statement from GMIAU.

Gallery

Photos of the launch at Z-Arts, June 2013 (CLICK on a photo to view them in full scale):

IMG_1693_s
IMG_1708_s
IMG_1717_s

This was also shown as a pop-up exhibition, produced with Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit, on Weds 30th October to Friday 1st November.  Part of 90 degree citizen a rare exhibition of work by a new wave of visual artists whose experiences include life as refugees in the UK engaging with objects from The Manchester Museum.  A few photos of the exhibition at the Manchester Museum (CLICK on a photo to view them in full scale):

90 Degrees
90 Degrees
90 Degrees

On Wednesday 30th October at 5.00pm there was a talk + preview of the “Committed To Represent” pop-up exhibition.  A video of this including the powerful speeches by Isobel and Mavis will be put up online soon.

The Committed To Represent exhibition was also shown at the Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit’s Annual General Meeting on Saturday 25th January 2014 (CLICK on a photo to view them in full scale):

IMG_2723.s
IMG_2716.s
IMG_2722.s

Statement from GMIAU at their 2014 AGM:

We are in very turbulent times. During the past 12 months legal aid has been removed for most immigration cases and the government is ‘consulting’ on the next set of cuts which will include further restrictions on access to the law, including judicial review and appeals, and the insidious ‘residency test’. The Immigration Bill has been introduced and if it get passed as it is it will include duties on landlords and banks to check the immigration status of potential tenants and customers. Immigration will once again be top of the political agenda in the run up to general election in 2015 and none of the public debate about immigration is positive. This makes it even more difficult for the people that GMIAU is here to support and represent – not just in a legal sense but also to stand up against the injustice and discrimination that is the reality of many peoples day to day lives.

We need our supporters more than ever. We need to work together to steer the organisation through these challenging times, to make sure not only that we survive but that we’re stronger and louder than before in our defence of access to justice and human rights. Please come and join us on the 25th need to be doing over the next year and beyond to make sure we stay at the forefront of creating a better and more positive contribution to the lives of people in the North West who need immigration legal advice and representation.

Committed To Represent - exhibition celebrating immigration caseworkers, refugees

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Print

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!

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Print

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

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Print

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.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Print
  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
This website mostly features our work from 2013 onwards, for previous work go to: www.virtualmigrants.com

Connect with Us

  • View VirtualMigrants’s profile on Facebook
  • View VirtualMigrants’s profile on Twitter
  • View virtualmigrants’s profile on YouTube

on sale: EXHALE box set of DVD & CD

on sale: EXHALE box set of DVD, audio-CD, booklets – socio-art exploring asylum/refuge

5 years of video, music and digital art engaging with asylum and migration in a new world order, now on sale

Follow this Blog

Enter your email address below and click "FOLLOW" to receive receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

SUBSCRIBE to occasional email news about our projects and events:

Follow us on Facebook

Follow us on Facebook

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets
Fossil Funds Free

Virtual Migrants refuse to take any oil, coal, or gas corporate sponsorship for our cultural work.

  • HOME
  • About
  • events
  • Exhibitions
  • Performance
  • Blog

Pretty Chic Theme By: Pretty Darn Cute Design

 

Loading Comments...