Pots, Sandals and a Tent: Refugees leave their footprint on the European Capital of Culture

Cooking pots from refugees transformed into drums with cow and reindeer hide will be mounted on a trailer and played in schools and public places. Sandals ‑ mostly flip flops ‑ from the feet of refugees around the world will be laid around Turku in the form of paths. A tent woven together from pieces of cloth made by refugees will provide a venue for music, drama, poetry and debate. This ‘Pots, Sandals and a Tent’ project, a highlight of the Cultural capital’s spring and summer agenda, is intended to raise awareness of the contribution of refugees to culture and society in Turku and globally, explains its producer, Finnish documentary film maker, Kristiina Tuura.

“You can’t hold a European cultural year without the presence of refugees. The project stresses the importance of refugees telling their stories in their own  words”, says Kristiina Tuura. She is working closely on its design with Shiffra-ry, a small Somali women’s NGO in Finland. A heated debate is currently going on in the country, she says, on issues of asylum with the presence of refugees often perceived as negative.

In the project’s offices in central Turku, Annika Raittinen producer of the ‘Tent’ and Ida-Lotta Backman, a theatre director, are preparing to go to the Turku’s refugee reception centre for their weekly workshops. The refugees are making the long chains of beads which will adorn the tent. They are asked to choose beads, explains Annika Raittinen, which symbolise momentous events in their lives, both happy and sad.

Global contributions

Funded in part by the Turku 2011 Foundation which is implementing the Turku European Capital of Culture, the project has brought together a host of NGOs, individuals and associations working with refugees around the globe. The Finnish Refugee Council, for example, is organising and collecting the stories and objects from refugees in Finland, Uganda, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Thailand. ‘Bantu Beads’, a Somali women’s cooperative in San Diego, California, is making cloth and handicrafts for the six metre-long three-metre high tent to be erected in and around Turku from May 2011.

The refugee stories will be posted on the project’s website. They include that of Moses Kambale who fled from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to Uganda when he was just 10 years of age. He was taken by the Red Cross to a camp across the border, in Rukingiri: “I was staying in a refugee camp. I was given this saucepan on the first day in Matanda. I had never ever cooked before but I had to eat. It was great having something to eat after coming from the forest”, recounts Moses pictured with his pot. Refugees who contribute pots are given new ones. Akim Color, a Finland-based master drummer from Benin, will accompany the drum float around schools to teach his skills.

“The project will also launch an internet space where refugees can exchange stories and become a fan of the project or write about their own experiences with the assistance of local NGOs”, says Kristiina Tuura.

Debra Percival

For more see:

www.potssandalstent.info and: www.turku2011.fi/pata-sandaali-ja-teltta