arts festival

suitcase stories

Moderator: Cheryl Hamilton

Suitcase Stories is a traveling live performance series that features foreign and U.S.-born residents sharing refugee and immigrant stories. In this performance, four tellers from the RIT project and from the Boston area expose audiences to the complexity of immigration and refugee integration through their compelling stories. The performance is followed by a lively discussion between the tellers, Cheryl Hamilton, director of the program, and the audience.

policy making through theater

Moderator: Marina Lazetic

Theater Director Vahdat Yeganeh and young artists from the Boston Experimental Theatre share their recent project The Last Dream, a play by children of Temporary Protected Status beneficiaries (TPS) from El Salvador whose parents are at risk of deportation. This online workshop offered the audience an opportunity to learn about the creation of policy-oriented theater and about the use of art in advocacy for policy change. José. Palma, spokesperson and coordinator for the National TPS Alliance, also joined the discussion.

images of home through paintings

Moderator: Karen Jacobsen

For over a year, Thomas Cartwright, a Cape Town-based artist, has worked with a group of seven people from refugee backgrounds affiliated with the RIT project to paint on canvas visual representations of home. In this session, Thomas and the RIT persons who worked with him introduced the artwork and discussed with the audience of the ways visual art can convey the emotions put into defining home.

community building through dance and music

Community leaders and artists from the Angkor Dance Troupe, a Cambodian American community-based art organization from Lowell, MA, discuss the use of traditional dance and music for community building and outreach. They share examples of collaborative initiatives that strengthened their integration in the city of Lowell and discuss with the audience the use of performing arts as a cohesive factor for the community.

making and using narratives

Author and playwright David Valdes discusses the meaning and importance of narratives in refugee integration through his recent play, "Downtown Crossing," which speaks directly about refugee and immigrant experiences. This online workshop offers the audience tools and tips to draft their own story and brings a fresh perspective on the social and political use of narratives.