Stories of Migration
Migration is often in the news, yet some voices are rarely heard: those of migrants themselves.
Stories of Migration brought their dramatic experiences and extraordinary journeys to life. The exhibition showcased the innovative storytelling of SOAS-based, not-for-profit organisation, PositiveNegatives, over the last 12 years.
Over a dozen comics and animations, illustrated by a diverse, global community of artists were exhibited. Each project was developed with leading academic institutions and humanitarian organisations. Together, the work demonstrated how visual arts can give complex research greater impact.
The power of illustration was highlighted by pulling out emotive and engaging elements from each project. It was a voyage of discovery, spanning three aspects of migration; home, the journey, and the destination. There were also glimpses behind the scenes, with archival ‘making of’ materials, featuring research photos and handcrafted illustrations.
The exhibit was peppered with questions such as: What does it mean to be equal? Is more always better? What makes a decent life? These connected to the Animated Learning section, PositiveNegatives’ new educational content, developed with Lifeworlds Learning and officially launched during the exhibition.
Stories of Migration was co-curated by Daniel Locke and Dr Benjamin Worku-Dix
Special thanks to: John Hollingworth MBE, Prof. Laura Hammond and Prof. Heaven Crawley
And thank you to everyone who generously gave their time and entrusted us with their stories over the years, which were the basis of the exhibition and PositiveNegatives.
Photographs of the exhibition at SOAS Gallery
Selected media coverage of Stories of Migration
Read all the stories exhibited on the PositiveNegatives website
- Unstoppable Beat
- The Story of Migration
- The Boy with More?
- Life on the Move + Making of film
- North Star Fading
- Dear Habib
- A Perilous Journey
- Vanni
- Nadai’s Story
- Migration Rhythms
- Into our own Hands
- An Empty Promise
- Where Do I live?
Animated Learning Workshops
Throughout the duration of the exhibition, PositiveNegatives educational initiative Animated Learning with partners Lifeworlds Learning ran workshops for 16-19 year old students and educators from schools across London.
The workshops were created in support of the Stories of Migration exhibition and explored narratives of migration and mobility, providing space for students and their educators to explore their own and others’ understanding of this highly relevant issue.
The workshops were kindly funded by the SOAS Impact Accelerator Account (IAA)
Some comments from the guest book
- Bought me close to tears. I loved the art of storytelling. Thank you
- Such a contrast from the stories portrayed in the media
- Powerful animations and interesting way to show the stories
- Brilliant work! Feeling very moved. Loved seeing the W.I.P. drawings
- Good to focus on this issue [migration] in such an accessible way
- Much needed and full of considered reflection
- Really thought-provoking. Makes you realise the untold feelings and journeys faced by migrants.
Projects within the exhibition were developed with and funded by:
SOAS University of London, University College London (UCL), University of Sussex, Coventry University, Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), Overseas Development Institute (ODI), London International Development Centre (LIDC), UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), European Research Council (ERC), Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), Arts Council England (ACE), Care International, Danish Refugee Council (DRC), Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), Nobel Peace Centre, United Nations (UN) and The Allan & Nesta Ferguson Charitable Trust