PRESENTATION MADE AT THE 6 TH EUROPEAN FORUM ON MUSIC WROCLAW, POLAND / 19 22 MAY 2016 MUSIC MAKES A DIFFERENCE: WORKING WITH REFUGEES SARAH HICKSON THE CALAIS SESSIONS Hello everyone. My name is Sarah Hickson and I m delighted to be here to talk about The Calais Sessions. I m a freelance photographer and arts consultant with a background in the performing arts as a producer in both large institutions and small artist-led companies. I now concentrate mostly on my photographic work, the main focus of which is in the arts and cultural sector. Since December 2015 I ve been involved as a photographer on a collaborative music-based project called The Calais Sessions in the refugee camps in Northern France. You may have already seen the article about this initiative and some of my photographs in the magazine in your conference pack. I ve travelled on three separate visits to the camp in Calais known as the Jungle to document the work of The Calais Sessions and to tell visual stories about the project and the people involved. The Calais Sessions is a collective of musicians and music industry professionals from the UK who use the universal language of music to empower and entertain refugees in the Jungle by facilitating a shared space for making music.
The project was set up by Vanessa Lucas-Smith, the cellist from the Allegri String Quartet and a brilliant creative entrepreneur. The Calais Sessions is a grass-roots organization with very little funding. Some money has been raised through crowd funding and donations, but the trips are run on as small a budget as possible, with those involved giving voluntarily of their time. We go to Calais for short trips of 2-3 days at a time about once every 4-6 weeks, depending largely on the availability of those involved who fit the visits around their professional commitments. The team travels with a colourful array of instruments and sound gear. Darbuka drums and guitars are particularly popular calling cards and as we wander through the camp we connect with musicians, hear their stories and see where there are opportunities to collaborate. We set up a makeshift recording studio in which to capture tracks, as well as an informal space for performing. Both spaces are set up by experienced sound engineers who have to contend with the noise of a chugging generator outside the door, heavy-duty tarpaulins flapping in the wind and often the patter of rain on a corrugated plastic roof. Despite all these distractions, for a few hours the universal language of music connects, builds friendships, and provides some respite from the harsh reality of daily life in the Jungle. The UK-based musicians who are involved with The Calais Sessions come from many different cultural and musical backgrounds. Examples of musicians who have joined The Calais Sessions include Bogdan - a Romanian violinist, members of the Balkan, folk-inspired dance band Molotov Jukebox led by Natalia (who is perhaps better known to many people from her roles in Harry Potter films and Game of Thrones ), members of the UK Gospel Choir called Get Gospel, an Arabic flautist and
percussionist from Syria, a classically trained viola player and composer, Sola Akingbola a Nigerian percussionist & member of the band Jamiroquai and his own collective Critical Mass, a Spanish guitar and vocal duo, a Kurdish singer, singersongwriters, folk, jazz and rock guitarists and bass players. Musicians currently living in the Jungle who have played with The Calais Sessions include traditional singers from Kuwait and Syria, a dambura player from Afghanistan, Sudanese drummers, women singers from the Ethiopian & Eritrean Protestant church, Kurdish percussionists, an Iraqi rapper, and many budding guitarists and drummers. Some of the tracks made with The Calais Sessions have been recorded in the Jungle for an album, which is to be released next month. Tracks include traditional songs from Syria, pop tracks from Afghanistan, Sudanese drumming, a re-working of a Bollywood inspired classic, American folk tunes, gospel songs and Eritrean hymns of praise. The unifying factor that brings all these artists together wherever they come from is a musical passion, curiosity and imagination.
Photo: DSC_9581 Sarah Hickson The simple wooden shelter The Calais Sessions use as a makeshift recording studio is normally a designated space for language lessons or other classes. When it s not being used for teaching, it s a reading room, or a warm and dry space to sit, chat, and just hang out. The arrival of musicians and instruments in the Jungle always attracts a crowd, and so the studio becomes an informal meeting place for many different people, languages and cultures.
Photo: DSC_0704 Sarah Hickson Abdullah is a Kuwaiti Bedoon. The Bedoon have no passports, and no right to education, health care, housing or work, and are often marginalized and persecuted. The generosity with which Abdullah shared his music and stories, and the beauty of his singing was one of many memorable experiences on my first trip with The Calais Sessions.
Photo: DSC_0827 Sarah Hickson In the shelter next to the Kabul Café in what used to be the heart of the Southern area of the camp before it was bulldozed earlier this year, traditional fabrics lined the walls and ceilings, and rugs covered the seating area around the edge of the room. Cigarette smoke hung in the air. Urged on by the clapping and drumming, young men got up to dance, whilst others joined in the singing. The faces of these young men, stranded in Calais, lit up.
Photo: DSC_7174 Sarah Hickson Ismail is from Afghanistan. He s an accomplished singer, and plays the dambora, a traditional, two-stringed, long-necked lute. Ismail told us through an interpreter the harrowing story of why he fled Afghanistan with his wife and children. He rolled up his right sleeve to reveal burn scars, explaining that the Taliban plunged his arm into scalding water to prevent him from playing. He also showed us a gunshot wound to his stomach. As he recorded in the makeshift studio in the Calais Jungle, Ismail was completely immersed in the music animated and exuberant one moment, reflective and absorbed the next.
Photo: DSC_4346 Sarah Hickson David Wilson, who was involved in setting up the Pavarotti Centre in Bosnia 20 years ago, came to the Jungle with The Calais Sessions last month. Here I photographed him and an Ethiopian man called Assi quietly exchanging musical skills. David taught Assi the chords of C, G, A and F, after which Assi showed David how to play Ethiopian pentatonic scales.
Photo: DSC_0780 Sarah Hickson The environment of the camps is fragile and volatile - the constant movement of displaced peoples, the insecurity of life in the camp, the uncertainty of the future of the camp itself, the lack of resources and basic facilities, not to mention the extremely anxious state of mind of many of the people living at the camp, not knowing what lies ahead for themselves and their families. In winter it was particularly inhospitable, the main road through the camp was thick with grey, sticky mud and deep puddles. What always strikes me about this project is that it focuses on connection rather than difference. The stories about the refugee crisis we see in the media have a tendency to emphasise the other, the sense of us and them. The Calais Sessions facilitates meaningful and beautiful exchanges through music, friendship and shared moments of creativity. The strength of the human spirit and the need to connect shines through in the toughest of circumstances.
I ll leave you with just a few other images: The outside of The Calais Sessions makeshift recording studio: Photo: DSC_9885 Sarah Hickson Portrait of Sudanese guitarist during The Calais Sessions workshop: Photo: DSC_4326 Sarah Hickson
Musicians from The Calais Sessions walking through the Jungle Photo: DSC_9149 Sarah Hickson Musician dancing with guitar during The Calais Sessions workshop Photo: DSC_9673 Sarah Hickson
You can see short video clips and read more about the project on The Calais Sessions website, as well as on my blog. Here are the links: http://www.thecalaissessions.com http://sarahhickson.tumblr.com The album The Calais Sessions will be available to buy and for download next month. Sarah Hickson, 22 May 2016