Long Journey Home is an East Midlands-wide network that recognises the important role the arts can play in breaking down barriers, challenging stereotypes, empowering the disenfranchised and enriching the cultural wealth of society as a whole.

We work with artists in exile and those communities that have recently arrived in the region from all over the world, fleeing persecution and poverty; each individual with a story to tell and every group bringing with them different tastes and sounds and fresh ways of seeing. Over the last few years we have also broadened our remit to include migrant artists from the European Union and other parts of the world.

Since 2004 we have given advice and support through professional development training, mentoring, performance, workshop and employment opportunities to a broad mix of highly skilled professionals and talented amateurs from Kurdistan, Iran, Turkey, the Congo, Angola, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi, the Yemen and Romania. Their skills and talents cover the full range of art forms from visual artists, graphic designers, musicians, singers, filmmakers, poets, storytellers, journalists, photographers, actors and theatre directors.

We are centrally involved in organising annual Refugee Week Festivals in both Nottingham and Derby, and continue to organise art exhibitions, music concerts, as well as supporting artists wanting to work in schools and in community settings in Nottingham, Leicester and Derby.

The vast majority of the music performances, exhibitions and films that have been produced have been of the very highest quality with each and every artist having developed their skills and grown in confidence over the past 6 years. We also believe there is enormous potential for some amazing artistic collaborations and projects with the range of artists that we have been working with that has not been fully exploited yet.

If you are an artist (or know of any artists) living in the East Midlands whose roots lie outside the UK and who could benefit from our support then please contact:

Stuart Brown
Regional Co-ordinator
M: 07891 701133
E: stuart@longjourneyhome.org.uk

Gaylan Nazhad
Artists In Exile Co-ordinator (Nottingham)
T: 0115 978 2463
E: gaylan@city-arts.org.uk

Karina Martin
Long Journey Home Derby Co-ordinator
E: karina@longjourneyhome.org.uk