A new poetry project has given a voice to asylum seekers living in Margate.
Undertow secured funding from Artcry to work with 35 young men who live locally, and in a workshop at Marine Studios they spoke about their experiences. They told of being forced from their homes by war and violence, spoke of Margate as a safe place, and shared their hopes for the future.
Poet Dr Kat Lewis has written a poem titled Statement of Asylum: Remix using their words. It will be projected onto a prominent Margate building this Friday 21st June, at sunset – 9.30pm. Viewers should gather on Margate Steps for the best view.
Margate has a history of welcoming refugees. Rowden Hall on Lewis Crescent was just one of a number of local hostels that took in Jewish children sent by their parents to Britain under the Kindertransport project in the 1930s.
Cypriots came to the UK in the 1950s and 1960s, many seeking to escape the political situation in Cyprus, founding the Greek Orthodox Church here in 1964. Many stayed as refugees after the Turkish invasion and occupation in 1974. Their celebration of the Blessings of the Seas has become a popular local event.
In the 1990s, people fleeing the Kosovan war took refuge in Margate, staying alongside people who had been forced out of Afghanistan by the Taliban. Their story was told in Hannah and Hanna, a play by John Retallack, and inspired the film Margate Exodus, best remembered for the burning of Anthony Gormley’s giant Waste Man on the Dreamland site in 2006.
Councillor Aram Rawf, well known for his work with local charities, fled Iraq after being tortured by Islamic extremists attempting to recruit him as a suicide bomber in 1999. He was placed in temporary accommodation in Margate, where he learned to speak English, leading to a job as a translator at the Port of Dover in 2002. He was elected as a local councillor in 2019.
Statement of Asylum: Remix was created by Undertow, in response to the recent story about refugees living in Margate being removed to the Bibby Stockholm prison barge. It was supported by Artcry, an organisation that funds and supports artists to create bold political work, with funding given in seven days to enable fast action.
Alongside the projection, a series of prints are being made, which will be exhibited locally, with copies given to local archives to ensure the young men’s voices are preserved.
For more information visit http://www.withtheundertow.com/
