The 5th international meeting took place Oct2019 in Lisbon, Portugal.

Our primary output on this meeting was to attend and participate in The Universe(s) of Refugees: Rethinking Forced Migration International Conference in the spectacular grandeur of  The National Library of Portugal.

We were able to present our work on our Track Project among significant academics, politicians, change makers, writers, educators and students…all who are either working to support the huge migrant influx to their shores, or who are supporting the narrative from negative to positive and to ensure the very individuals who choose to leave their homes are looked after.

As the only creative practitioners on the panel, we were humbled by the want for more information, to understand our practice, to appreciate the challenges we faced in our delivery and to accept that the creative practice has a place in the academic/research realm.

As our last meeting as a group, and to draw the project to an end we met up at Impact HUB Lisbon which has afforded itself a space in a part of Lisbon accessed by the young, up and coming creative communities. The building itself is rather inaccessible and can only be reached by cab, then a walk across cobble stone, then lots of stairs. There is no lift for those needing assistance so plan your trip accordingly.

Here there was the opportunity for us as a group to collectively share in our outputs (as we always do at these sessions), think of legacy work (if applicable) and begin the process of wrapping up the 2-year working project.

Its been a pleasure to be involved…full of interesting conversations, understanding new ways of working, new relationships forged and happy to report that our initial working idea of a visual platform (Instagram) has worked so well for our project. We have brought a simple, yet effective format to the collective, many of whom we hope will utilise in their future creative programmes.

We would like to thank: Erasmus+, British Council, Midland Actors Theatre, Migrant Help UK, Rivers of Gold, Kavi Bhavnani, Lisa Bruce…but most importantly, we would like to thank every single person who has participated, shared their story/journey with us, opened up themselves to each other and helped shape our Track Project.

The Track Project Instagram page will remain live for another year – please join in if you wanted to – we would love the creative community to grow. Likewise, if anyone is working with a group of Refugees, Asylum Seekers, Recently Arrived communities or individuals, and is seeking a creative output…get in touch if this could be an output that suits.