Migrant women becoming ‘stronger together’ through the arts: Creating Ground

Abstract

In this article we introduce Creating Ground, a not-for-profit organisation that works with women from migrant backgrounds to promote intersectional anti-racist cross-cultural awareness, learning and sharing across different communities in South East London through collaborative arts and educational projects. We reflect on our use of participatory arts, social action and training to bring migrant women together, improve wellbeing and create change for these women at a personal and a community level. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown periods we were forced to move much of our activities and support online. We share how being together in such a difficult time helped us to become stronger together and decide to take action to change intersecting unjust situations that the women encountered in their everyday lives. The women shared common experiences around the negative impact of the hostile environment, and we used this policy as a starting point to decide to tell our stories through the arts (specifically using metaphors in film-making and participatory theatre), and to campaign. We present the campaigns we are working on: poor condition of temporary accommodation for families, and we discuss how our use of creative arts and participatory methods allow us to have agency and power to become leaders, create change and tell our stories from our perspectives. Being a migrant is only a small part of our intersectional identities. We are much more. We are so many things and among everything we are leaders, change makers and stronger together.