Migration is not a new phenomenon; however, the current refugee crisis has drawn
attention to a situation of greater proportions than those we have known so far,
which is complex and urgent.

HAMI has looked for ways to deal with it. However, rarely or never did its reflection and planning involve the cultural sector. In this context, many culture professionals have been expressing their concern and disquietness regarding this situation.

They have also been questioning their role as professionals and that of the cultural organisations they work for in our society’s efforts to include people who are forced to migrate or to seek asylum outside and far from their countries.

Those who work in the cultural field believe in the power of Culture to transform lives, sharing knowledge; promoting inclusion, dialogue, tolerance and respect; and contributing to social cohesion.

Our starting position is that art delights, moves and surprises, but that it also plays a unique role in questioning and imagining different ways of how we can live together. Artists and creative practitioners we work with do this by exploring in many different ways people’s everyday experiences, challenges, histories, dreams and aspirations, helping make visible and audible what’s often invisible or silent within policy and equally inaccessible via community consultation.