Midsummer: Threads of Courage

This Refugee Week Baltic is collaborating with Friends of the Earth, Walking With, Green Heart Collective, and Tynemouth Together with Refugees to explore the theme of courage and connection through creative activities and textiles. 

This free public event invites you to come together with friends, family and community on the Midsummer evening to enjoy delicious food, inspiring conversation, creative workshops and live music, brought to you by a diverse range of creatives and collaborators.

As dusk settles, Walking With and Tynemouth Together With Refugees will present Threads of Courage - a striking fashion showcase where tradition meets contemporary design. Featuring exquisite traditional dress, a bold collection of kimono-inspired garments and some innovative upcycling, the show weaves together powerful stories of resilience from across our communities.

Rooted in a shared vision of our North East as a welcoming, inclusive cultural hub, this creative collaboration brings people together through style & craftsmanship. 

Creative Workshops
16:00 - 19:00
 

Flower Crown making

Weave and wear a unique flower crown using a selection of foraged wildflowers and foliage, supported by Roxana Caplan who is part of Common C Collective. 

Henna Designs

Relax and enjoy beautiful body art, with henna designs by Esraa Abdeen. 

Jewellery Making

Find inspiration from Sunderland-born artist Sophie Lisa Beresford and her range of jewellery which expresses her North East style and spirit. Create your own statement jewellery piece using colour, shape and materials to represent you and your style story.

 Cups of Tea & Tatreez Tree

Learn about embroidery techniques, motifs and traditions from around the world, including Palestine, Afghanistan, Sir Lanka, Hong Kong and the North East.

Alongside cups of tea and conversation, explore cross-cultural approaches to needlework, stitching your own panel which will be sewn together to create a large tapestry, presented at the Threads of Courage fashion show. Led by artists including Shekiba Lufi and Suhana Jalaldeen.

Community Meal
18:00 - 19:00

Take a seat at our Midsummer banquet, talk to your neighbour and enjoy a variety of dishes from chefs representing global cuisines, with food from Samosa Sisters, Suhana Jalaldeenand Kaltouma Hasaballa. 

Music 
16:00 - 20:30

Enjoy amazing music that will get you dancing.

From 4pm, Carlos Delgado and friends blend Africa’s traditional music with the world's modern sounds. 

Dance into the sunset with Crossings Band, a ten-piece world music band who build bridges through music and get everyone moving with their mix of grooves and melodies from West & South Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe, & NE England.

Threads of Courage Fashion Show
19:00 - 20:00

Threads of Courage features traditional clothes modelled by people with refugee and asylum-seeking experience, showcasing their countries of origin through textiles and storytelling. Alongside these, there will be kimono style garments designed and made by various community groups in North Tyneside. Each kimono is uniquely different, with a range of diverse embroidery and printmaking techniques, and vibrant colour schemes. 

Threads of Courage highlights the Refugee Week theme of Courage, celebrating the bravery of the models as they take to the catwalk and share their culture, home, journey and creativity through their style and story. 

The Fashion Show has been supported by textile artists Tracy Affleck and Annie Sheridan, who have facilitated the making of the kimonos, and will be brought to life on the night by Amy Golding, an award-winning theatre director and artist, and compere for the show. 

Here, fashion is more than fabric — it is a statement of courage, unity, and hope.