Free exhibition showcasing art on refugees comes to Hartlepool’s Salaam Community Centre

Exhibition In Exile will showcase over 70 artworks on refugees and asylum seekers while also offering people the chance to try activities such as henna painting and calligraphy.

The free event is coming to town after a collaboration between The Big League, Poolie Time Exchange, Time to Help, Something Positive Solutions and The Dialogue Society.

Hartlepool will be the fourth place hosting the event, after Northumberland and Gateshead.

The exhibition is touring the UK and started in Newcastle on June 23.

Big League community development volunteer Fiona Cook has described the artwork as “quite poignant” and “evocative”.

The day will also offer a range of activities, including live music, henna painting, calligraphy, macreme and ebru (Turskish art of marbling) workshops.

Free refreshments will be provided as well.

"I think it’s not only the artwork, it’s the opportunity to experience different cultures,” Fiona said.

"The artwork is worth seeing. It’s very evocative and poignant.”

The cartoons shown in the exhibition are a selection from the 120 best cartoons originally selected from among 1,200 submissions to a global contest by humanitarian aid organisation Kimse Yok Mu (KYM) in 2016.

At the time, KYM was a member of the UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

But the cartoons themselves had to flee Turkey when the organisation was taken over.

They were brought to Newcastle by former KYM director and refugee Levent Eyüpoğlu – hence the name Exhibition in Exile.

Fiona has added she hopes the event will help people discover new interests and broaden their horizons.

"I think Hartlepool is becoming much more multicultural, people moving to the town, not only refugees and asylum seekers,” she said.

"For us it’s a great opportunity to show people, to broaden horizons and give those experiences and possibly new interests that they can follow.

"We hope to develop that. It’s just about celebrating multicultural.”

The free exhibition will be held at the Salaam Centre, in St Paul’s Hall, in Murray Street, on Saturday, July 2, from 10am till 4pm .