June City of Culture Highlights
Coventry Moves
On Saturday 5 June, the Trust’s launch event Coventry Moves begins at 8am as a city-wide celebration of Coventry’s year as UK City of Culture 2021.
Coventry Moves will be a playful and engaging introduction to Coventry, its stories, and its people, and will be an opportunity for every home in Coventry to be part of our year as UK City of Culture. It is a day-long programme of activities around the city (such as performances, displays and processions) which will be captured on camera and shared online and via TV and radio. Although events will pop up across the city throughout the day, this is a moment that has been designed to be enjoyed from home, online and on the radio.
Plan your Coventry Moves day, and make sure you’re tuned in all day for the must-see moments.
Composer Dan Jones. Credit Garry Jones Photography
Coventry Moves Together
The day culminates in Coventry Moves Together, a chance for the people of Coventry to take part in a once-in-a-lifetime experience from their own homes and in their own communities.
This takes place at exactly 20:21 to mark the end of Coventry Moves.
Local and community radio stations will be playing unique strands of a brand-new piece of music by composer and sound artist Dan Jones – only when the music is played with neighbours can the full track be heard.
The Festival unites researchers for a series of events on the theme of 'Sanctuary.'
Resonate Festival
Our own Resonate Festival shifts focus in June to a series of events that explore the theme of Sanctuary.
Throughout the month, we’re exploring together what it means to provide sanctuary and how it feels to need sanctuary. Research across the university has highlighted the importance of sanctuary as a concept, told its histories, and contributed to policies for its future.
Our second Resonate roadshow is curated by the Borders, Race, Ethnicity and Migration Network and brings together researchers from across the university for a series of engaging events that tie in with Coventry Welcomes Week. These include:
Re/Making Home (17 June): A Zoom event to launch both a new report about the experiences of Syrian refugees resettling in the West Midlands and an online art exhibition on the theme of Home which includes visual artwork created by people from Coventry and the surrounding area who have lived experiences of sanctuary. The event will include a Q&A with author of the report, Professor Vicki Squire, as well as contributions from guest speakers and some of the artists.
Coventry as Global: Rethinking Migration, Belonging and Sanctuary (18 June) A conversation between Coventry activists, academics and representatives who will come together to reflect on the complex history of migration, governance and asylum in the city, and explore the consequences for its many communities. Panellists include Kindy Sandhu (Councillor, Earlsdon), Lorraine Monela (Coventry Asylum and Refugee Action Group), Reem Doukmak (Coventry Refugee and Migrant Centre).
REWIND (18 June, 7.30-9pm): Alison Menezes (School of Modern Languages and Cultures, University of Warwick) with the Ephemeral Ensemble and The Belgrade Theatre. Ephemeral Ensemble is adapting fact-based stories of resistance into a physical theatre performance, inspired by testimonies from refugees whose lives were affected by dictatorship in Latin America in the 1970s, and young adult migrants whose lives have been affected by current conflicts in Latin America. This 30-minute largely non-verbal work-in-progress will be followed by a post-show discussion.
We are Searching for Life (21 June): Join Dr Dallal Stevens (School of Law, University of Warwick) for an online screening of a short film of a poem created by artist Salma Zulfiqar working with refugees and inspired by the Crossing the Mediterranean Sea by Boatresearch project. We will also explore stories from people who moved from their home countries to seek safety in Europe, and there will be an opportunity for discussion of the issues raised in the wider context of asylum and migration.
Building Community Resilience Amid the Pandemic: A Research-Art Response (22 June): 2020’s Re-integrate project funded by the University Partnership digital exhibition project Coventry Creates, explored through drama the integration experiences of newly arrived and host communities under Covid19. This online event will showcase the output from subsequent art workshops and explore the integration and resilience experiences of refugees and the host community as we come out of lockdown.
Exploring Coventry’s Linguistic Landscape (25 June): Join us online to explore the linguistic diversity of Coventry. The Migration, Identity, and Translation Network (MITN) unites with Rosalind Harvey, translator and City of Culture International Changemaker, to showcase their work exploring migration, languages, and translation in the cultural life of Coventry. An interview with Rosalind discussing her short film exploring linguistic diversity in Coventry Market and the lives of its stallholders will be followed by a public Q&A.
Everyone’s Coventry: An online exhibition showcasing the writing talents of young people aged 16-19 who are seeking sanctuary in Coventry. In conjunction with Coventry College, where many of the participants are attending ESOL classes, these young people have produced poems, recipes, short stories and diaries that reflect their range of cultures and migration experience. We will also be joined by Umar Teerab, speaker and former ESOL student, who will share his story of seeking sanctuary in Coventry and helping young people across the city.
Share your experiences of the festival by using the #ResonateFestival hashtag in your social media posts and help us spread the word.
