The Ikon on Westside is presenting a four-day programme of visual art, music, film and other performances called The Migrant Festival later this month.
This will be the third annual festival to celebrate the contribution of refugees and migrants to Birmingham and the UK, and to highlight the hardships and sacrifices involved.
The 2021 festival takes place from 19 to 22 August and will present digital and live events including:
- performances by musicians curated by Celebrating Sanctuary Birmingham;
- a soapbox event featuring quick-fire presentations from individuals and groups supporting migrants in the Midlands;
- talks with artists including Keith Piper with Robert Beckford and Osman Yousefzada with Sathnam Sanghera; and
- a series of family events and guided tours.
This year’s festival is closely linked with Osman Yousefzada’s major new installation called Infinity Pattern 1 at Selfridges Birmingham.
The work has been co-commissioned by Selfridges and the Ikon along with an instore exhibition and art trail.
Along with new film, poetry and screenprints by Yousefzada, this features three Birmingham artists whose work has all been informed by the experience of migration: Hira Butt, Farwa Moledina and Maryam Wahid,
The Migrant Festival 2021 has been organised to coincide with the Ikon’s exhibition called A Very Special Place: Ikon in the 1990s, and will be supported by Brindleyplace, the Freelands Foundation, the Paul Mellon Centre and Selfridges.
For more details, visit www.ikon-gallery.org.
ENDS
