Our initial staging of our Room to Breathe exhibition at the Migration Museum at The Workshop in Lambeth in 2018/19 served as a setting for a series of six residencies by London-based migrant artists. The residency programme and the art studio space in which it took place was curated by visual artist and educator Dima Karout.

Our artists-in-residence were chosen through an open call process. Each of the selected artists was invited to the art studio within the exhibition as their studio for around one month, during which time they worked from the studio, producing artworks, engaging with visitors and hosting a series of participatory workshops. As part of the residency programme, Assunta Nicolini, Andrew Steeds and Dima Karout created an online publication in the form of interviews with resident artists that we published on the Migration Museum’s blog. On this page, you will find links to these articles/interviews, as well as introductory articles about each artist – see below.

The residency series culminated in Borderless, a final group exhibition in summer 2019 curated by Dima Karout, displaying artworks created by all of our artists in residence.

Below, you can find a summary of the residency programme – the first such programme undertaken by the Migration Museum, with links to interviews with each of the artists, including information on the educational workshops and participatory activities that each artist created in their art studio space during their residencies, as well as information on Borderless, the final group exhibition, and Create, Curate Communicate, a talk with the curator and artists, which took place in June 2019.

Dima Karout: The Art Studio as a Room to Breathe

Dima Karout, Artist and Curator in Residence (1 November–2 December 2018)

Workshops:
Meet the Artist – Dima Karout Every Sunday in November 2018
Fingerprints woodcut and linocut workshop – by Dima Karout Saturday 10 November 2018
Connect the Dots workshop – by Dima Karout Saturday 24 November 2018

 

Habib Sadat: Second Artist in Residence During Room to Breathe

Habib Sadat, Artist in Residence (6 December 2018–13 January 2019)

 

New Art Studio: Art Therapy with Asylum Seekers and Refugees

New Art Studio, Artists in Residence (17 January–24 February 2019)

Workshops:
New Art Studio drop-in workshop Every Saturday from January 19 until February 23 2019

 

Ceyda Oskay: Textiles and Lullabies

Ceyda Oskay, Artist in Residence (28 February–31 March 2019)

Workshops:
Drop-in sessions with artist-in-residence Ceyda Oskay Every Sunday between 3 March and 31 March 2019
Pillow-making workshop with Ceyda Oskay Saturday 23 March 2019
Family T-shirt making workshop with Ceyda Oskay Saturday 30 March 2019

 

Shorsh Saleh: Weaving Identities 

Shorsh Saleh, Artist in Residence (4 April–28 April 2019)
Blog/interview with Shorsh Saleh

Workshops:
Flying-carpet weaving workshop with Shorsh Saleh Sunday 14 April 2019 and Saturday 27 April 2019
Drop-in sessions with artist-in-residence Shorsh Saleh Every Saturday between 6 April and 27 April 2019

 

Belén L. Yáñez: Being in Movement is Being Alive

Belén L. Yáñez, Artist in Residence (2 May–2 June 2019)

Workshops:
Free drop-in sessions with artist-in-residence Belén L. Yañez Saturday 4 May
SEEDS – Collage workshop with Belén L.Yáñez Saturday 18 May 2019
Awakening, Sweet & Sour – Participatory performance Thursday 23 May 2019

 

Borderless – Final Group Exhibition

Exhibition dates: 6 June–28 July 2019

TalkingART Lates: Curate, Create, Communicate

This public event, hosted by Dima Karout and featuring many of the artists who participated in the programme, was held on Thursday June 13 to officially launch the exhibition Borderless and to present and reflect on the residency programme as a whole.

Future plans

The Migration Museum hopes to stage further residency programmes for artists in the future. Sign up to our mailing list and follow us on social media to be the first to know about any future residency plans and open calls.