Event Details

Bridging Worlds: Enclosures and OpeningsJames Fox in conversation with members of the community and artists from Lancaster and Morecambe district’s refugee and asylum seeker communityJoin us for the launch of an exhibition celebrating art work from our doctoral colleague and contributions from members of the local refugee community...

Bridging Worlds: Enclosures and Openings

James Fox in conversation with members of the community and artists from Lancaster and Morecambe district’s refugee and asylum seeker community

Join us for the launch of an exhibition celebrating art work from our doctoral colleague and contributions from members of the local refugee community.

Launch is on Monday 9 June, 2-3 pm, In person

Venue: Library foyer near the entrance to the library and the exhibition space under the stairwell

Exhibition runs from Monday 9 June till Friday 20 June in the library exhibition space under the stairwell

Free, no registration required, just turn up! Refreshments will be provided for the launch. Please promote in your networks.

This event is one of three events associated with Lancaster University as part of Refugee Week 2025!

Details of the exhibition:

This is a mixed media exhibition that delves into the interwoven histories of colonialism, land ownership, and environmental transformation. Drawing from recent research, the works explore themes such as the global movement of people, commodities, the socio-economic consequences of land enclosure, and ecological concerns. Through an examination of land wealth, the works interrogate and reframe legacies, highlighting acts of creative resistance. The exhibition aims to offer a space for imagining new configurations of land and belonging, where art practice serves as a conduit for restorative narratives and the cultivation of alternative futures.

This exhibition enters into a conversation with work produced by refugees and asylum seekers, making connections within a global community united in ideas of displacement, belonging, and justice. By allowing creativity to break down barriers larger than language, it aims to build bridges to a brighter, more inclusive future.

Details of contributors:

James Fox:

His practice has developed over thirty years of working as an artist, educator, and researcher, with a sustained focus on textiles as both medium and methodology. He has exhibited nationally and internationally, and has undertaken numerous commissions and residencies with museums, galleries, and cultural institutions.

Key commissions include projects for the Harris Museum and Gallery, Buckinghamshire Museum, Blackwell Arts and Crafts House, and the British Textile Biennial, where he has collaborated with actor Maxine Peake. Most recently, he was commissioned to create textile works for Ken Loach’s film The Old Oak. These diverse projects reflect an ongoing interest in material histories, collective memory, and the social and political dimensions of making.

In addition to his artistic practice, he is currently undertaking a PhD in Art at Lancaster University. His research critically engages with the intersections of craft, resistance, and spatial politics, with particular attention to the role of embroidery in shaping counter narratives and reimagining futures.

Somayeh Roostaei, Eleanor Denvir and Members of local refugee and asylum seeker community:

The images are from various art workshops that local educational group Global Link has been running since 2024 and which are funded by the Lancashire County Council Refugee Integration Team.

Participants attended the Migration Art course for women with artist Somayeh Roostaei, who is currently doing her Masters in Lancaster University, and group facilitator Eleanor Denvir. The participants live in the Lancaster District, and have moved to the area from other countries, mostly through forced migration.

The organisers used pastels, chalk, watercolour pencils and paints on paper and card with different surface textures, encouraging freedom of movement and expression with the different media. They used a variety of methods to prepare the participants, that reflect the underlying purpose of aiding participants' sense of engaged presence, confidence, self-acceptance and freedom in themselves and their lives in their new environments.