Kerieva's playing at Celebrating Sanctuary
On Sunday, 19 June, Celebrating Sanctuary London, the annual free festival which launches Refugee Week (20-26 June 2011), returns to the South Bank with a profusion of new talent, including the dazzling Krar Collective from Ethiopia, one-man folk orchestra Rory McLeod, young virtuoso vena player Hari Sivenesan, the glittering harp collaboration “Home is Where The Harp Is” and nu-skool Roma singer Kerieva
Now in its 12th year Celebrating Sanctuary London, celebrates the art of refugee communities in the UK, and once again its three stages – the Book Slam at Celebrating Sanctuary Yurt, the all cooking, dancing and eating Hot Shoe Cafe Stage in the Sunken Gardens and the Sanctuary Collaborations Stage down by the Riverside – will be pulsating with the sounds of live music, the flow of spoken word, the sizzle of food and the rhythms of dance – the cultural fruits of sanctuary.
The Sanctuary Collaborations Stage down by the Riverside brings together:
the amazing folk artist, traveller & troubador extraordinaire, Rory McLeod who is committed to the cause of Sanctuary for Refugees;
collaborations such as the Celebrating Sanctuary commissioned “Home Is Where The Harp Is” featuring harpists Cevanne Horrocks-Hopayian on celtic lever harps (Armenia/UK), Temesgen Tareken on krar (Ethiopia), Kadialy Kouyate on kora (Senegal), Solveig Thoroddsen on medieval wire-strung clarsach (Iceland);
seasoned virtuosos Krar Collective from Ethiopia who rocked the BBC Radio 3 stage at last summer’s WOMAD festival; refugee talent currently detained in Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre, working with pupils from Harlington Community School – Music in Detention; a new collaboration for Celebrating Sanctuary from BBC Radio 3′s World Roots Academy- a string and percussion quartet created by Sri Lankan Veena player Hari Sivenesan.
The Acoustic Yurt features a BookSlam meets Celebrating Sanctuary London mix of cutting-edge literature, spoken word and acoustic music from across the spectrum of the UK’s refugee communities. The line-up includes words from Aoifa Mannix, Nikesh Shukla, Garth Cartwright, Deborah Stevens and Shane Solanki and music from Jazzstosic, Duo Andelous and Adib Rosatam (Check out Bookslam’s current podcast here http://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/book-slam-podcast/id259740031)
The Hot Shoe Cafe Stage in the Sunken Gardens features an afternoon that dishes up the tastiest talent you’re going to find at any festival this year. Expect large portions of food, dance, theatre, music, cooking and more food from a line-up that includes:
DanKira Dance Ensemble from London’s Ethiopian Community; Woven Gold, featuring refugees from extreme cruelty;
Lucy Angell’s unstoppable dance workshop for Parents and Toddlers featuring mothers and toddlers from the nia project, an independent charity providing safe accommodation, advocacy and support to women and children in London.
Plus away from the stages there will be the Refugee Village with:
Musical installation inside and around a UNHCR supplied Refugee Tent;
A Human Library where you can borrow a human ‘BOOK’- a unique opportunity to learn about the person behind that refugee label. (Organised by Refugee Council / Holocaust Educational Trust; for ‘Books’ brochure email RW10@refugeecouncil.org.uk);
Amnesty International’s Umbrella Decorating workshop in preparation for World Refugee Day Umbrella Parade which will be met and escorted into the festival by the young people with the umbrellas they have decorated;
Other onsite workshop activity will include a forum on forced migration and exclusion lead by University of East London Mother and Toddler Dance and a demonstration/performance from a London-based Refugee Women’s Refuge.
Sunday, 19 June 2011, 2 – 7pm
Bernie Spain Gardens, Upper Ground, South Bank, London SE1 (adjacent to Oxo Tower Wharf), train/tube: Blackfriars, Southwark, Waterloo
FREE ADMISSION
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