A record 65 million people around the world were forced to leave home last year, leaving one in every 113 people a refugee, internally displaced or seeking asylum. Of those, 21.6 million are refugees and half are children.

These people arrive to a very uncertain environment carrying with them experiences of persecution, violence, and separation, and they often enter into conflicting new dynamics in the country of reception.

Art Lab for All promotes the contribution of Arts and Culture in these scenarios. By providing access to artistic means, Art Lab for All facilitates social integration and collective reflection. Our activities are mainly directed toward children and young people, especially newcomers. We work with creative workshops based on drawing, photography, video, dance, and performance art. These workshops reinforce mutual empathy and caring, and contribute to a sense of belonging based on respect and solidarity.

Art Lab for All sees integration as a two-way process where both the people arriving to a new environment and the people receiving new members of society must adapt to new conditions and create new social dynamics together. Art Lab for All believes in the social benefits of inclusive societies such as nurturing communities that utilize different approaches and perspectives to encourage creativity, tolerance and mutual curiosity.

Performance project 2015, at RFSL.