For Our Communities

Baltic is a Gallery of Sanctuary

Neighbourly works in collaboration with a long-standing and much valued local network of refugee support organisations and is informed by the Neighbourly Working Group, a group of people with lived experience of the UK asylum system, who meet every 2-3 months at Baltic and act as critical friends. Input from this group informs and guides our Neighbourly activities. 

In early 2022 we became the first Gallery of Sanctuary in England, awarded by City of Sanctuary UK. City of Sanctuary Awards recognise and celebrate organisations that go above and beyond to welcome people seeking sanctuary. 

As a Gallery of Sanctuary, we are part of a movement of welcome, embedding solidarity and compassion in our work to move towards a more welcoming UK for people rebuilding their lives here.

We achieve this in the following ways:

• Using our artistic platforms to communicate a positive vision of welcome, and raise awareness about migration and displacement, including exhibition We all came here from somewhere
• Creating purposeful spaces (offering support in resettling journeys) social spaces (facilitating social connections, opportunities for relationships of friendship and solidarity, and building empathy) and creative spaces (exploring trans-cultural ways of making, learning, eating and connecting.)
• Working closely with people who have lived experience of the UK asylum system, providing spaces and opportunities for people with lived refugee and asylum-seeking experience to lead, as well as to participate in arts and culture.
• Embedding inclusive and welcoming practices across our organisation, through an ongoing programme of staff training and learning. 
• Connecting and working closely with partners across different sectors of public action.

SkillsMatch Volunteering 

Delivered in partnership with the West End Refugee Service, SkillsMatch at Baltic offers a variety of volunteering opportunities for people seeking sanctuary in the North East. 

Volunteers for Baltic roles are recruited through the West End Refugee Service SkillsMatch portal. These are supported by the West End Refugee Service team to ensure that they speak to the skills, experiences and interests of asylum seekers and refugees, and offer valuable stepping-stones to rebuilding professional pursuits, building confidence, improving English and establishing friendships and networks.

To find out more about our available roles click here.

International Art Club

International Art Club is a weekly after-school workshop at Carr Hill Community Primary School for pupils. It brings together children from sanctuary-seeking families with school friends in the wider community. The club aims to build empathy and intercultural awareness, using art to explore ideas around culture and identity.

Holi Festival of Colours

Holi, a Hindu festival celebrating the arrival of spring is organised in partnership with Gem Arts. With a shared belief in the power of the arts to enrich the lives of individuals and communities through celebrating our shared cultural diversity, and a commitment to creating inclusive spaces for people to come together, Baltic and GemArts have welcomed over 20,000 to Holi since its inception in 2021. 

▶️ Watch video here

One-off Projects & Commissions

Alongside our ongoing engagement strands, which aim to provide regular and consistent support for individuals, and opportunities for community gathering, we often work responsively on one-off projects and commissions. These projects provide opportunities to work in partnership on a particular focus, often revolving around a question, social issue or creative idea emerging from conversations with people and partners. Projects have included the Murals Project with West End Refugee Service, Refugee Week activities and Counterpoints Arts.

West End Refugee Service Murals Project

Over the Autumn of 2021, we worked with the West End Refugee Service and artists from forced migration communities to create a series of colourful panels for their community garden. Working with print-maker Theresa Easton, the artists planned, designed, painted and installed the panels – a collaborative effort to bring vibrancy and a message of hope, welcome and togetherness to the garden.

The panels feature hearts, representing compassion for people fleeing war and persecution, bridges, to convey a sense of connection and togetherness across borders, and birds, to reflect journeys and migration. Collectively the panels are designed to brighten up the WERS garden; celebrate the skills, talents and contributions of artists with forced migration experience; provide a talking point in the garden for different groups; and convey a sense of hope and kindness to the surrounding community.

We installed the panels on a sunny day in January 2022, with food provided by the Samosa Sisters, a not for profit women’s organisation who support and empower vulnerable refugee women in the North-East, and footage was captured by filmmaker Tariq Ziad. Ideas for the murals came from a wide group of people at West End Refugee Service, and the final pieces were painted by Solomon Gebreyonas, Sadia Sikandar, Victoria Simanovski and Tran Bao-Long.

Hannah Barnes, Director of West End Refugee Service: “Thank you so much for the brilliant day today and for the beautiful mural panels! The work you have done with people has obviously made them feel part of something valuable and special, and we all love the huge difference the panels have made to the way the building feels on the outside!! It was so lovely to see everyone with their artworks today and talking about what they meant to them.”

▶️ Watch video here