Celebrating Sanctuary Birmingham has received a Heritage Fund grant of £55,600 for an exciting heritage project, We Are Birmingham 2022. Made possible only by money raised by National Lottery players, the project showcases 20 years of social impact work with musicians, artists and communities from refugee and migrant backgrounds and represents the diversity and culture of Birmingham in 2022.
Supported through The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the project will:
- Create a space for local communities to creatively explore what Birmingham’s history of diversity and sanctuary means to them.
- Invite people and communities, predominantly those who arrived over the last 20 years, to document themselves with self portraits in collaboration with Birmingham based photographer, Brian Homer, who’s previous work includes ‘Handsworth Self Portraits’.
- Dig through the CSB archive of World Music performances; Refugee Week Festivals; and artist and community work to create a short documentary celebrating 20 years of world music heritage in Birmingham.
- Produce gigs, events and celebrations across the city throughout the year for all to join.
Commenting on the award Rachael Cox, Programme Manager said
We are really excited to receive this funding support for the first time thanks to National Lottery players. Marking our 20th Anniversary is a great way to document our place in the history of Birmingham and that of the artists and communities we work with – because we all make up Birmingham in 2022 and this is what we aim to represent .
To find out more about CSB visit www.celebrating-sanctuary.org.uk and follow @celebratingsanctuarybirmingham on Instagram or @celsancfest on Facebook.