Our project DESIRE MAPS is part of the caravan assembly international showcase at Brighton Festival 12-14th May 2024.

This three-day biennial event is showcasing the best in theatre and performing arts from across England.

We’re thrilled to be part of such a fantastic lineup - come join us in Brighton!

We are so thrilled to announce our 2024 programme!

Over the next 12 months, we’ll collaborate with Bristol Old Vic, Theatre Royal Plymouth, New Diorama, DASH Arts, Falmouth International Festival, Rich Mix, Coney and the University of Kent to deliver a packed programme celebrating international creative talent across the UK.

“Our unique programme creates a huge range of opportunities for migrant artists to shine and share their stories with audiences across the UK - and beyond.

This year we’ll reach more artists and audiences than ever before, collaborating with communities and organisations around the country to create diverse, bold and generous theatre for today.”

- artistic director Maria Aberg

THE PROJECTS:

DESIRE MAPS is an interactive map making performance in which audience members are invited to reimagine the geographical journeys of their ancestors. A collaboration between PROJEKT EUROPA, Coney and visual artist and video designer Akhila Krishnan, DESIRE MAPS is an experiment in participation looking at migration, climate crisis and the intersection between personal history and global events.

SONGS OF SOLIDARITY is a music theatre project based on protest songs from around the world in collaboration with Dash Arts. This music theatre project will be co-created with refugee and migrant musicians - a cross-cultural gig theatre performance based on protest songs from all corners of the world.

PUNCH is a co-created project in partnership with Bristol Old Vic, working with participants from Empire Fighting Chance, an award-winning boxing charity located in Bristol. Led by Lithuanian artist Igne Barkauskaite, PUNCH takes audiences on a journey through the vibrant streets of Easton, drawing inspiration from the true-life experiences of young people in Bristol.

PRACTICE LAB is a year-long peer-to-peer skills exchange programme with twice-monthly free workshops by and for migrant theatre makers, offered in partnership with Rich Mix in London. We’re looking for workshop leaders - read more here!

CABARET MIGRANT is a series of scratch night presentations of new work at New Diorama in London, and a brand new opportunity for migrant artists to share and showcase their work with audiences and peers. Each evening will be hosted by a leading migrant artist. Callout for artists opens later in 2024!

PROJEKT ELEVATE is our micro-commissioning scheme in partnership with Theatre Royal Plymouth. We will commission 3 migrant artists and support them to develop an ambitious idea for co-created work. Callout opens May 2024!

PROJEKT EMPOWER pairs 10 emerging first generation migrant theatre makers with 10 of the country’s most successful migrant artists in a 6-month mentorship programme designed to build a community of support and inspiration across the country. The mentors are: Ako Mitchell, Ana Inés Jabares-Pita, Enda Walsh, Gillian Tan, Hiran Abeysekera, Shelley Maxwell, Sirine Saba, Sung Im Her, Tanya Moodie and Vera Chok.

We are also presenting an online symposium on INTERNATIONAL FESTIVALS AND PLACE MAKING later in the year, bringing together artists from five international festivals with specific focus on community participation. And we’re thrilled to commission the development of a digital MIGRANT ARTIST HUB - a searchable database register of all migrant creatives in the UK, in collaboration with leading digital strategist Eva Liparova.

Finally, we are so proud to continue our workshops for PROJEKT ENCOUNTER, our creative engagement programme for refugees, asylum seekers and migrants with no previous experience of theatre, delivered in partnership with the University of Kent.

Join us in our mission to create bold and generous theatre for local and global audiences!

Join PROJEKT EUROPA for UBUNTU, a free zoom session for migrant artists on Sunday 25 February, 10-11am GMT led by artist and facilitator Rudzani Moleya.

This is a space where migrant artists and creatives can express themselves, build relationships, reflect on their experiences and aspirations, and collaborate on artistic projects. It is a dynamic space that responds to the evolving needs and desires of the participants, who are invited to shape it according to their preferences. It is also a space for communal conversation, where we can discuss not only our professional challenges and achievements, but also our personal joys and struggles as human beings.

This is a bi-monthly session with subsequent dates 28 April, 28 July, 29th Sep and 30th Nov.

Ubuntu is an ancient African word meaning 'humanity to others'. It is often described as reminding us that 'I am what I am because of who we all are'.

To register, head over to our Eventbrite page

Co-created Performance and Community Collaboration

- a panel conversation

On March 1st we hosted an inspiring online conversation on experimental community-led practice, together with five internationally renowned artists who specialise in innovative participatory work.

The fantastic speakers were: Hope Azeda (RW), Darren O’Donnell (CA), Samara Hersch (AU), Bassam Ghazi (DE) and Maya Zbib (LB) - see more about them and their practice below the video.

Now you can watch the recording of this surprising and generous talk right here!

We are thrilled to announce the new programme for 2023/24 – our most ambitious one yet!

Over the next 12 months we are collaborating with Bristol Old Vic, Belgrade Coventry, Royal & Derngate, Rich Mix, Coney and The Marlowe Theatre to deliver a packed programme aimed at internationalising the theatre industry by championing and platforming the work of first-generation migrant communities and artists around the UK. 

From Canterbury to Coventry, from Bristol to Northampton to London, the UK is bursting with talent from around the world. We will continue to support, inspire and empower migrant artists and theatre makers to claim their space, tell their stories and make their mark. We are proud to create & present theatre that is thrillingly international and unapologetically migrant - global theatre, locally made.”

- artistic director Maria Aberg

the projects

The programme includes: 

  • three performance projects (LET YOUR HANDS SING IN THE SILENCE, THEMBA LO HAMBO and DESIRE MAPS)

  • PRACTICE LAB - a year-long talent development programme for migrant artists at Rich Mix in London 

  • a new edition of our migrant mentorship scheme PROJEKT EMPOWER (with mentors including Chipo Chung, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Pooja Ghai and Roxana Silbert, and a selection panel including Low Kee Hong, creative director at The Factory/MIF) 

  • PROJEKT ELEVATE, our national micro-commissioning scheme in partnership with Bristol Old Vic and Belgrade Coventry

Seagulls and Tangerines

Join us on Saturday 18th February at 2.30 for the final presentation of the work of PROJEKT ENCOUNTER, our 20-week community engagement programme for first generation migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in Kent!

PROJEKT ENCOUNTER is a celebration of cultures, languages and experiences. Participants from over 11 nationalities including Ukrainian, Iranian, Iraqi, Honduran, Afghani, Egyptian, Kurdish, Sudanese and Namibian have joined, meeting every Wednesday since October 2022 to create work together.

Announcing a new bursary scheme for emerging migrant producers!

We are thrilled to be partnering with CGO to offer a new scheme to support and develop the career of a first-generation migrant producer.

This bursary scheme will award one aspiring migrant producer a fully funded place on the CGO Diploma in Creative Producing and a 16-week paid work placement with PROJEKT EUROPA in 2023. 

Deadline for applications is January 18 2023 - for more information on how to apply, click here!

We’ve been shortlisted!

Art Explora – Académie des beaux-arts European Award 2022 is the leading European award championing new dialogues between the arts and audiences.

Open to all non-profit European cultural organisations, the European Award encourages new forms of audience engagement and participation in arts and culture, supporting innovative projects, across all art forms, that can be shared, replicated and scaled across Europe.

We are thrilled to have been shortlisted among 5 other organisations to develop our dream project: to empower migrant community ensembles around the UK and Europe to directly commission the artists they collaborate with and make work which centres migrant voices and experiences on our main stages.

But there’s more – we’re also in the running for the Audience Choice Award, which allows the public to vote for their favourite idea and give one project the chance to win €10,000!

Please support us and vote now - voting is open between Oct 27th and Nov 9th:

Art Explora European Award 2022

PROJEKT CELEBRATE

…took place on July 31st and it was a fantastic day - HUGE thank you to all the brilliant artists, partners and collaborators who joined us in London to celebrate the work we’ve done so far and to dream big for the future. It was a joy to gather so many inspirational migrant theatre makers in the same room - here’s to many more chances to connect!

For videos, photos and more, head over here!