For the third year in a row, THEMUSEUM is pleased to present its annual Refugee Art Show, which will be on display from June 3 to June 21, 2015. The installation coincides with World Refugee Day, which is observed every year on June 20.
Visitors who view the artwork will see beautiful and powerful images that tell personal stories. It will also give visitors the opportunity to learn about global issues, and see how seemingly foreign issues are also present within our own communities, and the Waterloo Region as a whole.
This year’s installation is being done in collaboration with Immigration Partnership and Community Coalition on Refugee and Immigrant Concerns (CCORIC).
Immigration Partnership works with new immigrants, including refugees, throughout the Waterloo Region; their goal is to help them settle and integrate themselves into new communities, and build successful lives for themselves and their families.
The CCORIC is another community-based organization that advocates on behalf of immigrant and refugee issues.
All of the art displayed this year will follow the theme “I am a refugee, what do you see?” The artists who submit work to go on display all have, at some point, been refugees themselves, or a member of a family that includes refugees. As of now, one artist has been announced: Hadi Rahimi.
The art will be displayed on the third floor of THEMUSEUM, in the Christie Screening Room. The Refugee Art Show will also run in conjunction with other events throughout the Waterloo Region during the month of June.
A small reception will be held at THEMUSEUM on June 3 as a kick-off for the opening of the Refugee Art Show, and as a launch for other regional events coinciding with World Refugee Day that will take place throughout the month of June.
Artists who are interested in participating can contact THEMUSEUM’s Nicole Reindl at Nicole.Reindle@THEMUSEUM.ca. Artists are also welcome to attend the first planning meeting, which will be held at THEMUSEUM (10 King St. West, downtown Kitchener) on April 29 at 5:00pm.