Women / Refugee
Women-only craft group at Arnolfini is a safe place for all
As you walk into the reading room on the second floor of the Arnolfini, you will be greeted with smiles and chatter all around.
A small room filled with around 15 woman, congregating in groups of twos and threes with some just having met for the first time that same day.
Now they are bonding over the art of knitting, jewellery-making and various other creative joys.
is needed now More than ever
What began as a group for refugee women is now a safe space where women and children can attend every Friday to acquire a new skill and learn about other people’s lives.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CgEVvmJNc_M/
“I feel I have found a new friends and even new family,” Fatima Abiji, one of the group’s first members, tells Bristol24/7.
Fatima is responsible for finding new woman to join the group. After moving to England in 2013 from Morocco, she explains that it is so much to Craft + Conversation than creating.
She points out different people conversing and explains that some of the women do not speak much English, but are still able to connect through creating and teaching.
This Friday 17 June, join Bristol Refugee Festival’s ‘craft and conversation’ where women from all backgrounds are welcome to come along, have a cup of tea and get crafty.
11am to 3pm. Free drop-in at Arnolfini. https://t.co/WxmNAWog6sFull programme at https://t.co/EZoA3CTDyO pic.twitter.com/tCIq1rkvVN
— Arnolfini (@ArnolfiniArts) June 14, 2022
Initially an eight-week project with the Bristol Refugee Festival and Arnolfini, Louis Barton and her team were tasked with creating a different workshop each week including clay-making and crochet.
The original project was to provide a safe space for refugee woman and allow them to meet other people who have gone through similar experiences.
Now it is a place where any woman can come if seeking a safe space, to learn a new skill or just to have a chat.
Olga and Natalia emigrated to the UK earlier this year from Ukraine and look forward to the different crafts every Friday
Lois initially found members of the group by looking in a collection of hotels in Bristol which house asylum seekers.
Olga and Natalia, who met attending English lessons after arriving from Ukraine earlier this year, are busy making dream catchers when they tell me the joy this group brings them, with one saying “it’s very good for my mental health, I have made so many forever friends”.
Fatima added: “Other places can be isolating but here there are people from all religions, countries and backgrounds who we can all learn from.”
The craft and conversation group is held in the reading room on the second floor of the Arnolfini every Friday from 11am to 1pm.
All photos: Maddie Clarke-Newell
Read more: The ‘sisterhood’ providing a safe space for refugee woman in Bristol
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