1 April 2010

MEDIA RELEASE

OPTIMISM IN A NEW LAND
THE STORIES OF YOUNG PEOPLE WITH REFUGEE BACKGROUNDS, AT TE PAPA

The Mixing Room: Stories from Young Refugees in New Zealand (http://www.tepapa.govt.nz/refugees/) opens in Te Papa’s Community Gallery, Level 4, on Saturday April 10. The exhibition will be launched with performances and a panel discussion. Admission is free.

The Mixing Room presents the settlement stories of refugee background youth in New Zealand and represents diverse cultures, backgrounds, and experiences. The stories have come from the main areas of refugee settlement in New Zealand (Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch, and Palmerston North) through twelve workshops facilitated by Te Papa.

‘The majority of The Mixing Room’s content has been developed by more than seventy young people with refugee backgrounds from around New Zealand,’ said Ms Michelle Hippolite, Te Papa’s Acting Chief Executive and Kaihautū.

‘Using various art forms, these inspirational young people tell of their lives in New Zealand and the challenges they face settling into this country while looking to the future with hope.’

The Mixing Room presents poetry, drama, dance, documentaries, artwork, and photography via three interactive multimedia tables. There are three themes: Freedom (examining some of the opportunities presented by life in New Zealand); Connection (exploring the connections to family, culture, and the wider Kiwi community); and Challenge (looking at the sometimes conflicting demands of these young peoples’ home and school/work lives). A timeline shows the first arrivals of each ethnic group from the late nineteenth century, when refugees first starting arriving in New Zealand in significant numbers. Images and quotes on the walls of the exhibition present what it means and feels to be a refugee, and reflect New Zealand’s humanitarian role in re-settling refugees.

‘The philosophy of the Community Gallery is to give communities a space to tell their stories,’ said Stephanie Gibson, Curator History at Te Papa.

‘With this exhibition, Te Papa also helped develop these young peoples’ skills and capabilities by giving them the tools to tell their stories through artistic media – something they agreed transcended language and culture.’

The Mixing Room: Stories from Young Refugees in New Zealand will be on display until 2013. Further information about the exhibition and events follows the media release.

The Mixing Room: Stories from Young Refugees in New Zealand
10 April 2010 – 2013
Community Gallery, Level 4
Te Papa
Free Admission

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OPENING DAY PERFORMANCES – SATURDAY 10 APRIL

11:30am Myanmar Youth Group (MYG)
The Myanmar Youth Group will present four different kinds of traditional dance from Myanmar, a traditional fashion show, and a group song. The group’s aims are to maintain the culture and tradition of Myanmar, to promote and exhibit the talent of young people from Myanmar, and to maintain unity among Myanmar young people from different backgrounds or races.
12pm Abdalla Gabriel poetry reading
Abdalla now lives in Upper Hutt. He uses poetry to help him work through his experiences of fleeing war-torn Sudan, and growing up in refugee camps. His poetry speaks of isolation, confusion, and a sometimes negative reception in his new country. Abdalla has come a long way. He has his own 30-minute world music show on Access Radio on Wednesday afternoons, and dreams of performing in his own rap group when he leaves the station at the end of April. Abdalla feels lucky to be in New Zealand, although he does feel stressed about the future.
’But at least I can sleep … I can relax with no fear.’
12.30pm Red and crew
Redelong Tsounga (Red) was born in the Congo and came to New Zealand as a refugee.
'I am inspired by the music of Usher, Akon, Bob Marley, and many other singers who influenced my music taste, and I want to earn my living by playing and performing. I started to write songs as a way of expressing my thoughts or my experiences, things that I had been through. As music and dancing go along together, I also dance. My dance crew is C4Boys Entertainment. The members are Anael Mouitis, Christopher Malamba, and Martiniquai Ibouanga. We basically do African dance which is known in Palmy as Hippy Hippy Shake. I’m Red – I am the Exile! I will be performing the song 'I'm an exile' with the help of Pixie, James, Cio and other dancers. Also I will be performing three other songs. One relates to the theme of Te Papa connecting cultures, and is called 'shake your body dance' and the other two are 'Anecdote' and '2010'.
1.15pm The Mixing Room Workshop Panel
How do you get teenagers to give up their evenings and weekends to go to a poetry-writing workshop? Join Concept Developer Kristelle Plimmer and some of the tutors and workshop participants as they discuss the processes Te Papa used to develop the content of The Mixing Room.

BACKGROUND

The Mixing Room: Stories from Young Refugees in New Zealand has been developed in consultation with a Youth Reference Group whom Te Papa met with once a fortnight. Te Papa also met bi-monthly with a Reference Group made up of Wellington-based community leaders and experts to brief them on the direction of the exhibition.

Te Papa staff also met and worked with people from refugee background communities in the main centres of refugee re-settlement: Auckland, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Wellington, Nelson, and Christchurch; and the government and non-government agencies who work in the refugee sector.

For more information on the exhibition development, visit: http://sites.tepapa.govt.nz/refugeesblog/the-project/

See a video made by Bhutanese, Congolese, and Rwandan youth here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQNZaWZiAZY&feature=PlayList&p=3600271C7EE2B351&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=2
See Red’s music video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqA6ko9W7hs
See Martine’s poem here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO0xN-rgO1A

The Community Gallery, Level 4, Te Papa
Te Papa’s Community Gallery is part of the Passports exhibition. It tells the stories of the many communities that make up New Zealand.
Every 2–3 years, a community is given the opportunity to present its story. Te Papa develops each exhibition in close cooperation with that community.
The Community Gallery has so far featured the Chinese, Dutch, Indian, Italian, and Scottish communities of New Zealand.

ENDS