A CELEBRATION of the people of Coventry taking place at the same time as National Refugee Week kicks off today by Counterpoints Art.
Running until Sunday, June 20, It has been created as part of the UK City of Culture celebrations and with more than 30 partner organisations across the city including Positive Images Festival, Coventry Asylum and Refugee Action Group (CARAG), Coventry Refugee and Migration Centre (CRMC) and Counterpoints Arts.
Monday, June 14, at The Box, FarGo Village
No Direction Home – In association with Counterpoints Arts (Comedy)
A comedy night created by Camden People’s Theatre, Counterpoints Arts, and award-winning comedian Tom Parry, which offers support to aspiring comics from refugee and migrant backgrounds. The event will be hosted by Coventry-born comedian Stella Graham, supported by Yuriko Kontani, Edin Suljic, Yasmin Moradi and headlined by Shappi Korsandi, one of the country’s finest comedians.
Tuesday and Thursday, June 15 and 17 at The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum
Still We Rise Podcast Live Episodes 11 and 12 (Podcast)
Join Coventry Asylum and Refugee Action Group (CARAG) as its podcast, Still We Rise, is recorded in conversation with special guests in front of a small live audience. Over two nights, we will be in conversation with people at the frontline of UK immigration policy.
Nanjing – Performing Forgiveness (Theatre) – Wednesday, June 16, at Coventry Cathedral
Coventry University with Jude Christian
Coventry-born writer and director Jude Christian’s acclaimed play Nanjing explores themes of identity, displacement and conflict in a personal response to the 1937 Nanjing Massacre. It has been reconceived for 2021 as a piece of digital theatre with integral discussion.
Presented by Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations and Tamara Moore. Developed with support from Ovalhouse and created for NOW Festival at The Yard Theatre. Supported using public funding by Arts Council England.
Wednesday and Thursday, June 16 and 17, at WATCH Centre
Putting the Flags Out for Coventry Welcomes (Workshops)
Positive Images Festival with Chrysalis Craft and Hillz FM
A fun session for children and young people making decorative flag bunting and exploring different cultures.
Friday, June 18, at The Herbert Art Gallery and Museum
Inini and CARAG Zine launch
Inini and Coventry Asylum and Refugee Action Group (CARAG) support people seeking sanctuary in Coventry to tackle the challenges they face while trying to integrate into their communities. At this event, they will launch their new Zine, made up of articles wholly produced by artists seeking or who have sought sanctuary in Coventry including illustrator Majid Adin (Rocket Man, Hamid and Shakespeare).
Saturday, June 19, at St Peter’s Centre
The Bundle (Theatre)
Journeymen Theatre with Coventry Refugee and Migrant Centre
Based closely on the story of a real woman and her three young children, The Bundle theatre show follows Adilah’s domestic persecution and denial of human rights in Chechnya, her abduction and eventual fleeing to the UK, and her experiences of the hostile environment policy on arrival.
Saturday, June 19, at the Belgrade Theatre Coventry
REWIND (Theatre)
University of Warwick with Ephemeral Ensemble and Belgrade Theatre Coventry
Ephemeral Ensemble presents the universe of Forensic Anthropology, the study of human remains to discover how and when a person dies. Adapted from fact-based stories of resistance into a physical theatre performance, inspired by testimonies from refugees whose lives were affected by dictatorship in Latin America in the 1970s.
Presented as part of the University of Warwick’s Resonate Festival with Belgrade Theatre Coventry, proud to be a Theatre of Sanctuary.
Sunday, June 20, at Swanswell Park
Can You Hear Me, Now? (Outdoor arts)
Stand and Be Counted, in partnership with Belgrade Theatre Coventry and Coventry Refugee and Migrant Centre. Commissioned by Coventry City of Culture Trust.
Can You Hear Me, Now? is a celebratory, large-scale outdoor performance. It will be an immersive and joyous experience, made with and for the people of Coventry. Expect live music, dance, spoken word, storytelling and spectacle.
Stand and Be Counted, the UK’s first Theatre Company of Sanctuary, have been working with people seeking sanctuary in the City to create an urgent response to what it feels like to be silenced and how society can and must learn to listen. Supported by Arts Council England and Spirit of 2012.
Sunday, June 20 June at the Cheylesmore Community Centre
I am Kalam (PG): An evening of film, food and talk (Film)
Sahyadri Friends & Screening Rights
Screening of the acclaimed film I am Kalam (Nila Madhab Panda, 2011) which tells the story of a young boy inspired by the life of India’s president at the time to beat the odds of poverty.
She Cannot Walk Alone
Laura Nyehuye & Maokwo
Sunday, June 20, online – 7pm to 8.30pm
Coventry is reclaiming its streets. This event turns the spotlight on the streets of Coventry and what they look like through the lenses of a woman seeking refuge /a refugee/ an asylum seeker. How do we walk with her? #lAmHer #SheCannotWalkAlone
No Direction Home: Coventry Showcase (Comedy)
In association with Counterpoints Arts, Tom Parry and Stella Graham
Friday, Saturday and Sunday, June 25, 26 and 27
No Direction Home is a pioneering festival featuring stand-up comedians from refugee and migrant backgrounds, mentored by award winning comedian Tom Parry (Pappy’s; Badults; The Lost Disc) and Coventry Comedian Stella Graham. Professional comedians will be joining the group each night to deliver an unforgettable night of comedy. Headliners include Fatiha El-Ghorri (June 25), Rosie Jones (June 26), Nish Kumar (June 27).
Visit Coventry City of Culture at coventry2021.co.uk, Facebook page, Twitter page, Instagram page and the Coventry City of Culture 2021 YouTube page.
