Refugee Week 16. – .22.06.2025

This June, Centrala is proud to join organisations across the UK in marking Refugee Week 2025, an annual national festival celebrating the contributions, creativity, and resilience of refugees and people seeking sanctuary. Held from 16–22 June, Refugee Week is an invitation to deepen our understanding of displacement and migration, and to stand in solidarity with those who have been forced to flee their homes.

Each year, Refugee Week adopts a central theme that encourages collective reflection and creative response. For 2025, the theme is “Community as a Superpower”, a powerful call to recognise the strength found in human connection, mutual support, and collective action. In the words of Bell Hooks, whose writing inspires this year’s theme:

“We can begin the process of making community wherever we are… by sharing a smile, a warm greeting, a bit of conversation; by doing a kind deed or by acknowledging kindness offered to us.”

At Centrala, this theme speaks directly to our mission. As a cultural hub and safe space for migrant communities in the Midlands, we see every day how community is shaped through shared culture, creativity, and mutual care. That belief sits at the heart of everything we do, and it is the foundation for our headline Refugee Week programme: Under the Same Sky.

Our headline event is Under the Same Sky, a group exhibition featuring seven migrant artists. The exhibition presents deeply personal reflections on migration, identity, and belonging, shaped around four curatorial themes: vulnerability and resilience, unfamiliar territories, solidarity and togetherness, and life in a foreign land.

This project is part of a wider initiative funded by Birmingham City Council’s Community Rescue Fund, launched in response to the racist riots that occurred in the city during the summer of 2024. The aim is to foster community cohesion between migrant and non-migrant communities through cultural expression and shared experience. Our exhibition and accompanying events provide a safe, creative space for connection, storytelling, and healing.

In addition to the exhibition, the week’s programme will include:

Alongside these events, we are also launching a social media and outreach campaign to promote anti-racist practices and amplify the voices of migrant communities affected by last year’s unrest. Our goal is to champion anti-racism and make space for dialogue, visibility, and change.

In a world where migration is often met with hostility, Refugee Week reminds us of our shared humanity. It encourages us to see beyond headlines and labels, to listen to each other’s stories, and to take steps, however small, toward more welcoming and inclusive communities.

Centrala remains committed to being a safe space for all. We believe that creativity and culture have the power to bridge divides and build lasting connections, and we are honoured to contribute to this year’s celebrations.

Cover image by Femi Amogunla

Funded by Birmingham City Council under the Community Recovery Fund