A film of remembrance to mark the 25th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide that took place on 11th July 1995.
The film lasts approximately 15 minutes. Watch some or all of it and come back for more. Please share with your family and friends.
Created by over 70 participants in Kirklees and Leeds during lockdown, when a group of refugees and migrants, families, students and artists from Leeds and Kirklees created cubes inspired by Rahat Lokum (Bosnian Turkish Delight) to remember the sweetness of 25 of the 8,372 men and boys murdered at Srebrenica.
The group also thought about missed loved ones during lockdown. This lyrical film of remembrance is an unfolding of the cubes, drawings, thoughts and reflections, with music from Bosnian composer Sanja Cin.
A project initiated by 6 Million+ Charitable Trust in partnership with Creative Scene.
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(Sep '24)projects / UpdateOctober – December 2023
Participants old and new came to venues in Huddersfield and Mirfield to explore ideas for a festival in 2024, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of 6 million+ Charitable Trust. Everyone created scrapbook pages of images and words representing unique aspects of their different culture and countries, and enjoyed a printmaking workshop with Karen Stansfield, to explore those themes further. And of course, all of this was accompanied by shared food. Thank you to the Brelms Trust for making this possible.
January – April 2024
Working with artist Marianne Matusz, refugees from Ukraine, Sudan, Kurdish Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan, Bosnia and those who have Jewish heritage, created Tibetan style prayer flags and dramatised a collectively written poem on the HMD theme of the Fragility of Freedom.
This was movingly performed and warmly received at the Holocaust Memorial Day event organised by Holocaust Centre North at the University of Huddersfield.
Refugee artists and participants initiated a Spacehive Campaign to raise money for Dear Sunflowers – a community arts and performance project celebrating the life of Ukrainian artist Maria Prymachenko. Ukrainians and people from many other countries and cultures plan to work together on this.
May – August 2024
Sunflowers: As a result of an intense programme of writing, rehearsal and making sessions during May and June, the colourful, musical and vibrant Dear Sunflower parades and performances in Holmfirth and Dewsbury were incredibly successful, attracting considerable press and media coverage. There were over 50 people in the cast and choir, and 200 people took part in the parades.
Lawrence Batley: We also contributed to the Lawrence Batley Theatre’s event to celebrate becoming a Theatre of Sanctuary in June! Fatima and Hussain performed some Kurdish songs and the Ukrainian bird of peace flew in the courtyard.
Srebrenica: The 6 million+ family and friends created an online ceremonial lighting of candles to mark the anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, shared on facebook.
Party: Over 80 people attended the Trust’s 10th birthday party in Huddersfield. The food was delicious (special thanks to Fatima) and people shared song, poetry and dance. [...]
(Aug '23)projects / UpdateWe were approached by the New Vic Theatre team to be the hosts of an amazing play called My Thousand Year Old Land to mark the Remembering Srebrenica anniversary. To accompany this, 6 million+ participants designed and created a beautiful mosaic made out of flowers, with the Srebrenica flower at its centre, surrounded by flowers from the many different cultures represented in our group. A new song was co-written with Bosnian musician Sanja Cin. Ukrainian singer Natalia Mirkun and local musician Andy Burton worked with the group to practice the song. The song and the mosaic, together with clay tiles made by everyone, were shared with the audience, after the performance of the play.
Many thanks to Kirklees Council and the Brelms Trust for making this very special process possible. [...]
(Jan '23)projects / UpdateOver forty of us enjoyed a festive party together in Dewsbury. For some people pass the parcel was a whole new experience! Everyone brought wonderful food and songs to share.
As well as celebrating together, we talked about ideas for the future: printing workshops, writing and performance towards Holocaust Memorial Day in January.
Almost 50 participants attended 5 printing workshops with artist Karen Stansfield, assisted by Mohanned from Syria, making portraits of one another as survivors, victims, rescuers and/or community builders.
Karen also worked with the BIASAN women’s refugee group in Bradford with the support of Aber. The portraits and writing were on display at the Extraordinary People (HMD) event at Dewsbury Town Hall. Mohanned and Emiras’ paintings were exhibited at the event.
Participants were also involved in animating the Weeping Sisters, offering messages for the future and lighting candles of remembrance. They served delicious and very welcome teas and coffees from many cultures at the end of the event. We were very happy to welcome Ukrainain refugees to the event. [...]
(Nov '22)projects / UpdateMembers of the 6 million+ family, Fatima, Hussain, Dieudonne and Emira were interviewed and recorded for the TOWNSOUNDS project as part of Kirklees Year of Music. Townsounds is a snapshot of Huddersfield’s musical heritage – past and present – charting how music-making in the town strengthened not only the town’s civic identity, but also social networks and notions of community.
Hussain and Fatima performing at the Carry My Story event
Photographer: Malcom Johnson
Participants have continued to enjoy the Unmasking Pain creative arts workshops together, led by 6 million+ artists and Balbir Singh Dance Company in Huddersfield spaces. Anyone managing any sort of long term pain and their friends and family members have been welcome. The group produced poetry in Arabic and English, puppets, movement patterns, drawings and putting music to words with Bobak the saxophone player.
An Unmasking Pain exhibition opened in the Piazza, Huddersfield. Many of our friends and participants were featured. The exhibition will travel to Leeds and Durham. [...]
(Sep '22)projects2022 saw five of our Weeping Sisters travel to Scarborough to be part of this lovely festival all things big – and our sisters fitted right in!
We shared stories, music and theatre to encourage people to think about and empathise with asylum seekers throughout the last century.
Zenobia, our Syrian Weeping Sister, took the chance to stand by the sea and commemorate all those who have lost their lives trying to reach safety.
Zenobia on the beach
Images courtesy of Big Ideas By The Sea and Matt Cooper [...]