'The end of programme conference will take place on 3rd and 4th July 08 exploring the power of participatory arts and the contribution of refugees and asylum seekers to the cultural life of the East Midlands' - Click here for the conference flyer -
 Click here for conference programme. - The conference is now fully booked

Click here to see some photos of the Conference

The AHRC has awarded Maggie O’ Neill and Phil Hubbard (Loughborough University) £20,529.00 for ‘Making the Connections’  - a regional network based upon the principles of participatory action research (PAR) and participatory arts. This network will examine the transformative role of arts and culture  in fostering integration and belonging for new arrivals in the East Midlands. The network seeks to build upon the strong regional work of the Arts Council East Midlands, regional community arts organisations, academics in regional Universities, artists, practitioners, policy makers and diasporic communities by creating a programme of workshops and seminars in order to:

• enhance the lives of recent arrivals in the East Midlands
• stimulate high-quality inter-disciplinary research and the production of art works
• facilitate connection, communication and feed into public policy and
• contribute to public awareness of the  issues facing new arrivals

The programme was launched on the 26th of April (supported by the Arts Council East Midlands). The aim of the launch was to identify the potential for collaboration between the arts, academics, policy makers and those working with newly-arrived migrants, with a view to identifying themes and areas in the East Midlands to act as focus for 10 workshops over the next 24 months led by stakeholders across the voluntary, statutory, university and arts sector.  Funding for workshops/seminars will be distributed by the grant holders.