Refugee and Migrant Centre and Wolverhampton City of Sanctuary with Vimal Korpal and Kremena Dimitrova
Vimal Korpal worked with the Refugee and Migrant Centre and Wolverhampton City of Sanctuary to meet new arrivals to the area and city . He collected stories and poems from people he met through these organisations as well as those who are business owners in Whitmore Reans . Vimal asked open questions to discover more about the experiences of the people he met :
• What does home mean to you ?
• What issues did you face when you tried to settle ?
• What things would you like to see in
Whitmore Reans area ?
• What do you like about this area ?
• What ’ s your favourite food ?
• What role does spirituality play in your life ?
• What does Newhampton Arts Centre offer ?
• What would you like to see more of at Newhampton Arts Centre ?
Vimal created a walking tour around the Whitmore Reans area to share these stories , which took people on a journey visiting a gurdwara , a Kurdish store , a Persian rug shop , a traditional Asian clothing store selling salwars and kameez , a short stroll through West Park , winding through the back streets with a visit to a good old British pub . Lydia ’ s story was also shared as a film showing on the screen within the exhibition , and all of the interviews Vimal filmed will be part of the digital project archive . A map of the walk was created by Kremena Dimitrova and included patterns inspired by Persian Rugs . Kremena also co-facilitated a workshop with Vimal at the City of Sanctuary drop-in , with illustrations by participants included in both the walk map and the overall project map that she created for the exhibition .
People Vimal interviewed said they want and need :
• A place open to all ;
• A place for information – what is going on in the community ;
• A drop-in centre ;
• A place for free Wi-Fi ;
• A place where children can go and integrate with other children from different communities and play ;
• Little taster courses – maybe building , electrician , mechanical , hairdressing ;
• Social groups that cater for the children so the parents can participate ;
• Something that gives people inner strength .
Image by Chanphiphat Janthra
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