Culture, Arts and Refugees

What does A Sense of Belonging have to say?

The role of culture and arts activity in social policy agendas has been generating wider interest for more than a decade. In Britain we have witnessed increasing activity in health, justice and social inclusion; internationally, in human development programmes.

It’s inevitable that arts and cultural approaches have also been applied in the context of refugees and asylum seekers – as probably one of the most inflammatory social policy issues at this time - as a means of addressing the disadvantage and poverty faced by refugees and asylum seekers, but also as a mechanism for building cohesion and tolerance within host communities and influencing wider public opinion.

The twin issues of inclusion and integration are the objects of A Sense of Belonging, which has attempted through a process of research of ‘grassroots’ practice and outcomes, to explore how and why arts and cultural activities can make a difference to experience of resettlement in Britain, and to the adaptation and response within British society to refugees and asylum seekers. The principle areas of the report are as follows:

Culture, arts and social change

The starting point for the publication is a brief analysis of the broader context and history of the role of arts and culture in social policy. There has been increasing recognition of the value of cultural and creative approaches to social policy objectives since the early 1990s, and a long history of research and action, especially in the international development arena.

Several influential international publications in 2004 have intensified the debate about the importance of culture as a dimension of social development. These focus on the more expansive territory of culture as values, beliefs and ways of living, within which arts activity can have a powerful purpose as a means of connecting to underlying cultures, and generating communication, dialogue and expression.

A narrow interpretation of the field of culture as relating purely to ‘arts’ activity ignores the interplay between arts and wider cultures, and the profoundly important and unequalled role artistic expression can play as a channel for social communications.

The challenge to this work in Britain has stemmed partly from lack of ‘hard’ evidence of impact, if there ever such a thing is obtainable in any social field, and also from anxieties within the cultural sector about the ‘instrumentalisation’ of arts through its partnership with social agendas. These fears are generally unfounded because lessons from international experience have taught us that the corruption and manipulation of arts activities to achieve prescribed targets generally works against community participation and successful social outcomes. Insofar as social impacts can ever be proven, this report is an effort to contribute some additional data to the current body of knowledge.

Cultural foundations for integration

The publication explores the cultural and creative needs of refugees and asylum seekers which stem from their fundamental cultural rights. Participation in cultural life has particular significance for refugees and asylum seekers because of the cultural limbo in which they have been flung by the circumstances of exile and migration. They may have already experienced cultural persecution or exclusion; may be going through a process of ‘cultural bereavement’, in addition to which they often experience an acute period of cultural adjustment to a new society and cultures.

It argues that a failure to acknowledge the cultural dimension of integration may lead ‘cultural exclusion’which can threaten the sense of identity,well-being, mental health and social participation of refugees and asylum seekers.A failure to address the cultural dimension of integration may have a
corresponding negative impact on host communities, which may feel threatened and resist the integration of new arrivals. Creating an environment where these multiple identities can flourish and be valued is important to reducing conflict and promoting cohesion. Often cultural and arts projects offer a route to the creation of a non-threatening space in which this can happen.

Current thinking on integration

Recent research has found that human relationships – yielding friendship, tolerance and a sense of belonging - are the key to integration. Integration is seen as a two-way, multidimensional, longterm process that calls for adjustment by refugees and asylum seekers and the host community. But this process is not expected to imply a loss of cultural heritage on either side. It is about enabling a process of change through which both ‘sides’ can learn about the cultures and backgrounds of the other. Though there has been little research on the area, the use of arts and culture in integration is increasingly acknowledged as important. It would appear that there are four main strands to the cultural dimension of integration:

• Being able to maintain cultural practice and identity.
• Developing an understanding of the culture and values of the host society.
• Having access to participation in the cultural life of the host society.
• Host communities gaining an understanding and appreciation of the culture and values of refugees/asylum seekers.
  

Ten examples of innovative practice using arts and culture in integration are provided by the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE).

Integration in the UK

Considerable development in immigration policy in the UK since 2000 have resulted in increasing discussion and debate about integration. A new government strategy on integration, Integration Matters, was published in draft format in 2004. This recognised the challenges for community cohesion which the wider dispersal of refugees and asylum seekers had created.The new strategy sought to enable refugees and asylum seekers to:

• Achieve their full potential as members of British society.
• Contribute fully to the community.
• Access the public services to which they are entitled.
  

Central to the strategy is the Indicators of Integration (IoI) Framework, which aims to provide a common and coherent framework for evaluating integration through the attainment of basic ‘means and markers’ of integration – such as employment and education – the development of social connections, acquisition of skills and knowledge and access to basic rights and entitlements. The role of cultural and arts activities in the context of this personal dynamic of achievement, inclusion and integration has again been recognised, particularly around the development of social connections.

There is some ‘read across’ between the integration strategy and Home Office strategy on building cohesive communities.Arts and culture often have common objectives in serving both ends, and their role is just beginning to enter into policy thinking on achieving cohesive communities.

The research findings - How arts and cultural projects contribute to integration

The findings from A Sense of Belonging stem from outline analysis of 76 projects and more detailed analysis of 33 projects.

Data on the geographical spread of projects indicates some weak correlation with areas of highest regional dispersal of refugees and asylum seekers, though there was a concentration of projects in London.

Analysis of participation indicated that the a high proportion of participants were refugee and asylum seeker children and young people, through most projects were directed at mixed groups.

Analysis of partnerships across different social sector agencies found that local education authorities, local authorities, refugee service agencies and regional strategic bodies were significant partners for arts and cultural projects with/about refugees and asylum seekers.

Findings from the 33 projects subjected to more detailed research indicated that the primary benefits for integration stemming from arts and cultural projects were:

• Promoting diversity and valuing cultural identity.
• Promoting personal development and well-being.
• Building dialogue, exchange and cohesion.
• Promoting positive images.
• Developing learning and skills.
• Improving access to public services.
  

This section concludes with an analysis of the contribution made by arts and cultural projects to integration and the principle objectives of the new UK integration strategy.

Learning Lessons

While there was an encouraging degree of recognition of the importance of culture and arts to integration, current involvement by policymakers and refugee service agencies appeared to be adhoc and short-term. There was a need for a better planned and well thought-out approach which considered organisational cultures, offered earlier cultural intervention, collected cultural data, provided longer-term funding, and welded a wider interpretation of culture into the indicators of integration framework.

In planning and implementing arts and cultural projects with refugees and asylum seekers, the 33 projects subjected to more detailed analysis contained some important lessons: Above all, there was a need for arts projects to be clear whether their work was addressing and serving refugees and asylum seekers or an external audience. In addressing the needs of refugees/asylum seekers, it was vital to consider the well-being, safety and security of participants.

Refugees and asylum seekers as artists had specific needs which had already been addressed in research by Arts Council England and Refugee Action. Some of the recommendations in that research are carried forward into this report. Around one third of projects in this study were directed at achieving professional arts outcomes, and more frequently projects served a wider range of social objectives.

This section explores the challenges and opportunities of building partnerships between the arts and social sector for the integration of refugees and asylum seekers and looks at previous models of good practice in developing partnerships.

In exploring monitoring and evaluation procedures, the report detected a weakness which was not unique to the use of arts with refugees and asylum seekers, but appeared to stem from inadequate professional development across the arts sector. It is a weakness which practitioners themselves noted in the research, though some good models of practice did nevertheless emerge.

Case studies

Finally, the report explores 14 case studies in greater detail providing information on the background, purpose and notional impacts of each project.