Sea of the Unseeable in collaboration with KRAN
It was a very special moment when we installed these beautiful artworks created by artist Jamshid Maylanchi and young refugees and asylum seekers supported by Kent Refugee Action Network (KRAN).
Throughout 2022 People United have been working with two Young Producers, Luwam and Mohammed, who have helped to create Sea of the Unseeable in collaboration with KRAN’s Youth Ambassadors and other young people supported by KRAN. Their dream was to make a beautiful piece of art in a public art space, driven by their own ideas and giving them voice. Together they have made that dream come true, with not one, but two striking pieces!
One was on public display at The Beaney House of Art and Knowledge in Canterbury for 6 months until 21st April 2023, and the other has found a permanent home on display at KRAN.
My hope is that this artwork helps people understand what refugees and asylum seekers go through in order to find safety. On the waves you can see our ideas of what care looks like for us, here and now, as we try to move forward as part of this place. Luwam, Young Producer, Sea of the Unseeable
The young people worked first with two brilliant artists, Catherine Chinatree and Jamshid Maylanchi and then went on to commission two pieces from Jamshid. They were the decision makers, ensuring the work represented their journeys, their fears, their hopes and their thoughts about care.
This is the centrepiece of People United’s Futures of Care programme, and our thanks go to Arts Council England for the Lottery funded project grant that made it possible.
We also want to thank everyone at KRAN, who have been the most inspiring partners over this past year, and to the team at The Beaney for their constant support and for helping to make it all happen.
I want people to look at this artwork and understand more about our experiences. I want people to be able to see that we are all humans, we have the same blood regardless. Even though African water is brown and European water is blue, they still meet. Mohammed, Young Producer, Sea of the Unseeable