Creative Reflections

February’s walk and Zoom was my first experience of the Walking Inquiry and my introduction to the concept of Indefinite Detention. In my ignorance, I had no idea that people could be held indefinitely and no idea at the torturous conditions people are forced to survive in detention. In one of the films we watched one person described the lights being on day and night - not even afforded the opportunity for rest or good sleep. My walk allowed me to process some of the things that I’d heard on the film clips. Connecting via Zoom later that evening, in spite of the reason we were connecting there was such warmth and welcome amongst strangers. It was a privilege to share the space with people with lived experience and those lobbying for change. What I’ve taken away is the shocking UNwelcome we provide people in the UK on top of the challenges that people have endured trying to reach the country. It highlighted the conscious political power involved in keeping such structures in place and perpetuating such a hostile environment in a country that thinks of itself as progressive.

I was invited to facilitate a creative session with the GDWG and was able to express some of this in my artwork too. I was imagining what a world without detention could look like and kept finding myself asking - what if we WELCOMED everyone who arrived here?

The GDWG warmly welcomed me into their group. It was a generous space, with people reflecting on their own experiences as well as their hopes for the future through collage and drawing. There was much reflection on times when we were able to walk together and the hope to do that again soon. Connection and creativity championed here, again leaving me questioning what a different world we would live in if connection and creativity were at the centre of how we experience migration.

—Steph Turner