Our Guiding Principles

I would like to share a few more details with you about our initiative …
Immigrant Art was born out of my exchanges with activists in Denmark and Sweden about the role of art, social media, mobile phones and photographs in the lives of people who are leaving their home countries in the hope of finding safety, work and a life in Europe.

Through various activities, projects and collaborations, we aim to facilitate the incorporation of both voluntary and involuntary migrants’ artistic expression into the public domain of the communities and societies in which they live.

We believe that for integration to be successful, sustainable and organic, our projects must involve:

Cross-Cultural Collaboration   In the midst of the age of migration, residents of different communities from villages to cities are increasingly culturally diverse. Our projects will be led and attended by long-term and new residents of different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. We believe that integration involves change and adaptation by the ‘newcomers’, the ‘natives’, and also the socio-cultural environment itself.

Use of Public Space   Whether one has documents or not, human beings contained in a physical space are co-creators of that space and share a responsibility for its evolution. Our projects will maximize the use of public spaces: from city walls, parks and public transport, to public libraries, private enterprises and cultural hotspots, hubs and institutions. We believe that integration involves inter- and intra-action with like and unlike people both inside and outside one’s own community.

Inclusion and Acceptance   Art comes in so many forms, as do people. We aim to support and develop projects from a wide range of artistic disciplines, and people with a broad range of skills and skill levels. We also aim to strike a balance between projects that target particular migrant groups and projects that are all inclusive. We believe that integration involves the acceptance and celebration of difference, and the creation of a social space where each and every human being is included and accepted.

We are working with the formula:

ART	+	SOCIETY	=	INTEGRATION
political expression creative expression communication documentation memory pastime identity therapy		private organizations social environment spatial environment public institutions political spheres civil society		empowerment participation opportunity equality freedom access choice