Shared Horizon
Workshops for refugees and asylum seekers
Supported by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation
YSP has a history of working with diverse communities from around the world including people seeking asylum and refugees. Previous projects have included ‘Meeting Point’ funded by the Baring Foundation, and the film ‘Expedition’ in 2006, a documentary about young Kurdish refugees on the brink of adulthood alone in a foreign country. Click here to download a clip of Expedition (please note you will need Quicktime 7 or above installed to view this film).
Shared Horizon is a programme supported by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation which welcomes and encourages young people seeking asylum, refugees and migrants to participate in creative activities at YSP. The aim of Shared Horizon is to emphasise the need to involve young people seeking asylum within the community and to provide positive ways to help this happen through broadening skills and encouraging wider engagement. The name highlights the similarities that we share as human beings, and by using the word ‘Horizon’, we are focusing on the distance, the future, and what lies ahead.
Holiday Club
An exciting summer programme of sculpture, installation and movement workshops, based on the current programmes at YSP. The holiday club aims to encourage integration between children and families in our local community.
Holiday Club 2009 was kindly supported by Asda Wakefield.
Community Workshops
A flexible series of summer community workshops for a wide range of groups to introduce sculpture in the landscape at YSP and encourage a new way of thinking and learning. These workshops are tailor made to meet the specific needs of individual groups.
After school clubs
YSP have recently finished a project with Cathedral High School in Wakefield, encouraging integration between British and students recently arrived in the UK. We will be starting a new school project in Autumn 2009, where students will have the opportunity to achieve Bronze Level Arts Award, a National qualification.
Youth Photography project
From October 2008 to February 2009 working in partnership with Wakefield asylum team, Wakefield Youth Development and Support Services and photographer Brian Cross from Artimedia, YSP has engaged 15 young people seeking asylum in positive activity. Aged between14 and 18 years old, and from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Gambia, Kurdistan and Senegal the group have attended regular photography sessions at YSP. The participants speak varying degrees of English and a wide variety of other languages. One of the main aims of the project has been to use photography as a tool to improve language skills, as well as celebrating their own mother tongue.
As a culmination of the project an exhibition of the work was displayed in the Visitor Centre Upper Space at YSP. The group enjoyed learning about photography, but also have welcomed simply coming somewhere new, meeting people and making friends. With support from CapeUK, and The Arts Council, some participants in the group have also achieved their Bronze level Arts Award qualification. YSP continues to work with the group, and other young people seeking asylum and Shared Horizon Photography Exhibition is now a touring show.
Winter solstice Experience
With funding from the Friends of YSP, on the 21st December 2008 YSP hosted a special Winter Solstice event for young people seeking asylum alone in the UK. Fifteen young people came to YSP to experience sunset in Skyspace; a stunning artwork by James Turell. Everybody was given a camera to photograph dusk’s last light within the chamber. Following their trip to Skyspace the group shared a festive 2 course meal in the YSP restaurant followed by an exchange of gifts donated by YSP staff. YSP will be hosting another winter solstice experience in December 2009.
Shared Horizon Events
Shared Horizon Private View
On the 24th April 2009 Mary Creagh (MP for Wakefield) opened the Shared Horizon Photography Exhibition, with over 60 guests attending the Private View it was a great success and saw the young people involved in the project presented with certificates of achievement and their own cameras provided by Wakefield Youth Development and Support Services.
If you have any comments or questions about the project, or would like to make a booking please email helen.moore@ysp.co.uk or telephone 01924 832540.