// artists streaming in solidarity with refugee week //

As Covid-19 grips the world, those who are already precarious are finding their means to subsist is stretched to the limit. Refugees and asylum-seekers are among the most vulnerable to a crisis which disproportionately affects the poor and precarious. Issues such as substandard housing and limited access to healthcare and finance are exacerbating factors in a pandemic which reproduces societal inequalities. The struggles of refugees intersect those coming to prominence once again in the #BlackLivesMatter campaign: as the same systems of imperialism that produce these violences build securitised borders, split up families through deportations, and allow people to die whilst fleeing to safety.

In solidarity, SlipStream stands with Refugee Solidarity South East, a grassroots organisation formed recently in response to the pandemic. Based in South East London, and run entirely by volunteers, it operates as a model of providing support on an inter-local level, supporting refugees in the area with food and supplies to help weather the Covid-19 crisis, and aiding foreign organisations in areas less adjacent to sources of funding. So far they have supported organisations including Southwark Day Centre for Asylum Seekers, Lewisham Refugee and Migrant Network and Donate4Refugees.

Presenting a weekend of livestreams on Twitch.tv showcasing a selection of artists based in South East London and internationally, SlipStream will be raising money which will be donated in full to RSSE. Working across media formats including video, performance, radio, literary and sound art, the multiplicity of voices will be broadcasted in solidarity with the cause. The work diverges and then unexpectedly crosses, on terrains of the political, liminal and subconscious, and the critique of the status quo. As the current conditions restricting our ability to assemble in physical space impose upon the art world’s ability to function, the need for reaching audiences in alternative forms is ongoing.

A donation page will be live for the duration of the broadcasts, and viewers are kindly requested to donate according to their capacity.

Participating artists:

Abbas Zahedi
alex cruse
Alexandra Neuman
Asya Volodina
Beverley Gadsden
Carl Gent
Daniel V. Keller
Elaine Tam
Harriet Foyster
Kitty McKay
Kyle Kruse
Louis Mason
Louise Ashcroft
Maria Mahfooz
Michelle Williams Gamaker
Most Dismal Swamp
Natasha Eves
New Noveta
Rastko Novakovic
Roland Carline
Ross Hammond
Sabrina Mumtaz Hasan
Sara Drake & Nina Sarnelle
Sara Gulamali
Sara Rodrigues
Serra Tansel
Sofia Albina Novikoff Unger
William Kherbek
Yen Chun Lin
Yoojin Lee & Giuseppe Termine

June 19 & June 20 & June 21 @ 7 pm
link to event: https://www.twitch.tv/slipstreamtv

RSSE links:
https://www.instagram.com/refugeesolidarityse/?hl=en
https://www.facebook.com/RefugeeSolidaritySE/

Curated by Bianca Hlywa and James Hendrix Elsey, who thank you for your interest and support.