Journeys Festival International started in Leicester in 2013 and has gone from strength to strength ever since, developing projects (and the Festival) alongside an outstanding network of partners, artist and participants. 2016 saw the expansion of the Festival into new locations (Manchester and Portsmouth) and an extended programme of activity in Leicester, thanks to funding through Arts Council England’s ‘Ambition for Excellence’.
Last year’s Journeys Festival Portsmouth was a great success, mixing thought provoking photography and film installations, workshops, performances, readings, street art and more. The festival returns to Portsmouth from the 19th to the 29th of October.
Look Up in Portsmouth
Journeys Festival International is excited to bring its high impact outdoor exhibition ‘Look Up’ back to Portsmouth as part of the 2017 festival programme. An outdoor exhibition installed on the exterior of prominent buildings around the city, Look Up provides a unique opportunity for artists engaging with refugee and asylum seeker themes to have their work shown in one of the most visible strands of Journeys Festival International. Last year, Portsmouth was pleased to receive the work of Nikos Papadopolous, with eye catching Playmobil inspired scenes of refugees and asylum seekers seen on iconic buildings throughout the city. This year the Festival is bringing the work of Natalia Michalska and Majid Dhana, two locally based artists, to the forefront of Portsmouth’s skyline.
As part of this year’s Look Up, both artists will have a 6 week residency and 6 week exhibition with Aspex Gallery, opening on the 19th October featuring a live Q&A with Natalia and Majid. They will also each lead an Art Walk during Journeys Festival International, a chance to hear directly from the artists about their practice. Tony Spencer, Exhibition & Gallery Manager at Aspex Gallery had this to say about the project:
“Look Up transforms the City of Portsmouth, creating an enriching portrayal and celebration of cultural diversity. The local artists, who exhibit their projects not only make us conscious of the scale and impact of a global refugee crisis, they also remind us of relevant situations concerning those who are displaced and the impact of our compassionate support.“
Find out more information on Majid’s work here and visit Natalia’s website here.
Journeys Festival Portsmouth runs from 19th – 29th October, with events taking a place across the whole city. See the website for more details:
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