1 December 2024
Welcome to the UNESCO Chair on Refugee Integration through Education, Language, and Arts (RIELA) 2024 advent calendar! Make sure to check back in every day from now until 24 December to "open" a winter-themed surprise from the RIELA team, research students, and Affiliate Artists.
For day 1, our Affiliate Artist Anton Floyd has kindly provided a series of beautiful haiku or single-breath poems, as well as two haiga with watercolour paintings by his wife, Carole Anne Floyd. All were written over a period of time on days when there were falls of snow where they live in West Cork. Enjoy!
first snow - lips tingle with a new story
(published by Irish Haiku Society - Shamrock Haiku Journal #33)
wren song
filling the frozen valley
the ping of crystal
(published by Arlen House 2016 in Between the Leaves - New Haiku Writing from Ireland)
solstice snowdrops - pangs of light
in first snow - shadows of migrant birds
lights coming on reveal a house in the snowscape
the thaw - snow cupped in field-hollows
memories of snowgeese in the white of this page
December rose mantled with snow
through the slush
blades of grass
slicing light
(published by Irish Haiku Society - Shamrock Haiku Journal #30)
Return to the advent calendar doors
2 December 2024
Day 2 of our advent calendar comes courtesy of UNESCO RIELA Visiting Academic Dilara Özel, who has generously shared the recipe for a delicious Turkish pumpkin dessert!
Pumpkin Dessert (Kabak Tatlısı)
Pumpkin dessert, known as kabak tatlısı, is a beloved treat in Turkey. Pumpkin itself offers numerous health benefits, and in Turkey, we prepare it by cooking it with sugar, then adding delicious toppings like tahini and clotted cream (kaymak). This dessert holds a special place for me because pumpkin is widely grown and enjoyed in my hometown of Sakarya, a region famous for its pumpkins. That makes kabak tatlısı even more meaningful to me! This dessert is incredibly easy to make, so today is the perfect day to try it and enjoy its unique flavor.
Ingredients
- 2 kg pumpkin
- 3 cups granulated sugar (adjust according to the sweetness of the pumpkin; if it’s less sweet, you can add more sugar)
- 1 cup crushed walnuts
- Tahini
- Kaymak
Recipe
Prepare the pumpkin: Start by peeling the pumpkin and removing the seeds. Slice it into thin pieces, and after washing, cut into chunks approximately 2-3 fingers in width and any desired length.
Layer with sugar: In a large, wide pot, layer the pumpkin pieces, sprinkling sugar between each layer. Make sure to use enough sugar to cover all pieces. Let the pumpkin sit overnight, allowing it to release its own juices.
Cook the pumpkin: Once the pumpkin has released its liquid, cook it on low heat without stirring. Allow it to cook in its own juice until the pieces soften and become slightly firm without falling apart.
Serve: Serve with a dollop of clotted cream (kaymak), a drizzle of tahini, and a sprinkle of chopped walnuts for added flavor and texture.
Chef’s Tip: For an extra-crispy texture, add 2-3 tablespoons of pekmez (grape molasses/ thick syrup of grape juice) during cooking. This enhances the flavor and adds a bit of crunch to the dish.
3 December 2024
With winter bugs and viruses in mind, our fab project manager Bella Hoogeveen has collected cold and flu remedies offered by participants at the UNESCO RIELA Online Spring School back in October for the third day of RIELA advent. Bella (along with other members of the RIELA team) was battling a nasty cold to make the Online Spring School happen, and the Zoom chats were flooded with messages of care throughout the week in response. We hope some of these remedies might help if you have a dose of the sniffles this month!
Thank you to our wonderfully kind Spring School community for your contributions. The call for contributions for the UNESCO RIELA Spring School 2025: The Arts of Integrating (May Peace Prevail) is out now - we would love to hear from you!
Elderberry cordial - pick lots of free elderberries; boil with lots of syrup or honey or sugar and spices. Keep in fridge and drink with hot water.
My Italian grandfather would fill a jar of runny honey with as much raw garlic as would fit, then leave it and eat the garlic-honey when he had colds
Also he would eat raw onions!
My Scottish side is all about hot toddies
Jaegermeister is my cough syrup
Pine syrup. Pick pine needles, fill a glass jar (old jam jar). Then fill jar with sugar. Put in a cupboard for about 6 months and forget about it. Then Tada - pine syrup. Also do same with rosehips - which are in season just now. Raw Rosehip Syrup is amazing and packed with vitamin c.
Black Spanish Radish, you have to turn it into a cup prick the end put raw honey inside put it on a bowl/cup so that the honey could drip down.
we also take a spoonful of carob syrup
And my ETN doctor (since I was child) tells me to take hot baths and have a humidifier apparently coughing eases with steam
Afternoon Bella, I hope you feel better and better by cat power. Buckwheat tea with roasted pine nuts also works for me as a treat and treatment for cold.
gargling salt in tepid water for sore throats!
Oranges
tumeric, ginger, lemons and oranges in a high speed blender-- miracle cure!
I swear by a flu bomb for most viral ailments
Eritrea remedy: Half a cup of honey (preferably wild) and half a cup of warm milk.
Onions onions onions
Boil onions with garlic, ginger, turmeric and make broth. Its magical,
I make ‘cold tea’ by drying mint and lime flowers (from lime tree) through the spring. It’s really good.
Elderberry jelly for colds
For Bella, Tawona, and Hyab, a cup of hot black sugar ginger tea and a grilled orange or a boiled pear is healing and delicious! Hope you feel better soon.
It is also important to get Vitamin D with K as well as Vit-C - to boost the immune system. Another remedy I use is Pelargonium Sidoides extract - a kind of geranium
A friend told me that when you boil dry figs with milk - simmer for a while then blend it
4 December 2024
Please enjoy this poem written by the inimitable Alison Phipps, UNESCO Chair on Refugee Integration through Education, Language, and Arts (RIELA).
Alison Swinfen
from 'Making Soup in a Storm', New Writing Scotland 24, 2006
5 December 2024
For day 5 of RIELA advent, we have an installation by one of our Affiliate Artists, Christina Kyriakidou. Christina is a multidisciplinary artist whose work focuses on consumer culture and how it interconnects with wastefulness and the constant reproduction and re-invention of our contemporary identities. While Christmas is a time of celebration (both religious and secular), reflection, and/or spirituality for many, it is also undeniably a time of mass consumerism in the Global North. Christina's contribution invites us to consider this, and to think about how we can approach the festive season in a more sustainable way.
The Christmas tree is up, just as consumer culture demands! Have you put yours up yet?
However, this is not just your usual Christmas tree. This is a trash installation that I first put up in December 2017 when I was still an art student exploring themes of overconsumption, waste, and excessive habits during the holidays. The tree is decorated with repurposed Christmas trash and small ceramic sculptures, symbolising the connection between consumerism and waste.
The Christmas market is a perfect example of the superficiality of today’s materialism, long disconnected from the original ‘Christmas spirit'. It is evident that Christmas time has nowadays become a vehicle by which mass production of unnecessary, overpriced goods thrives. Humanitarian principles and morals are being buried under sterile consumerism that is in fact harmful to the environment and ourselves. This time of year amplifies self-indulgence, unhealthy coping mechanisms, and the creation of false needs, as people turn to instant gratification through goods to fill emotional voids in times of uncertainty. Meanwhile, the majority of our western world still remains blissfully oblivious towards ongoing humanitarian crises that are in desperate need of our full attention and resources.
I found Anna the doll several years ago discarded and broken and made her part of this installation. Once sold for £25 and made by workers earning just £5 a day, she was quickly broken and trashed; a poignant symbol of wasteful consumption. She now bears an “honest price” tag, highlighting the disparity behind such products.
[Sources: 'Dark truth of Disney's Frozen fairytale'; 'Santa's Workshop: Inside China's Slave Labour Toy Factories'; 'Slavery in supply chains'.]
Christmas has become a formal holiday centered around excessive consumption. If you don’t buy, eat, drink, or spend extravagantly, you’re seen as an outsider. Having worked in hospitality for years, I have witnessed the dark side of this consumerism and it can feel dehumanising, as if you’re being "consumed" too. Anyone who has worked in a client-facing role during Christmas can probably relate. For me, it's a materialistic celebration that generates unnecessary waste, and thus I chose to represent it with this installation.
Lastly, I value sustainability in all aspects of life; living frugally, without harming, exploiting or annihilating in order to gain more. Life is richer when lived slowly and mindfully, appreciating small, meaningful moments instead of being caught in the grind of constant consumption and distraction. If we must overspend this Christmas, let it be on things that matter: shared experiences and important causes, while we set ourselves free from the hoarder mentality we've been conditioned to.
6 December 2024
Today we give you a poem by Lemn Sissay from his collection Let the Light Pour In (Canongate Books, 2023). This is one of Esa Aldegheri's favourite poems, for when light and strength feel scarce - we hope that it can offer you some light if you need it.
7 December 2024
Today's contribution comes from RIELA PhD student and Affiliate Artist Hannah Rose Thomas. Hannah has kindly shared one of the portraits from her amazing book Tears of Gold, which presents her paintings of Yazidi women who escaped ISIS captivity, Rohingya women who fled violence in Myanmar, and Nigerian women who survived Boko Haram violence, alongside their own words, stories, and self-portraits. A final chapter features portraits and stories of Afghan, Ukrainian, Uyghur, and Palestinian women.
The war is endless and thousands of people there are waiting to be heard in prayer. My mother and I were among them. It is a traumatic experience to have to leave home without a plan.
Maria and her mother Nadiia were living in Kyiv when the war began on February 24, 2022. Maria awoke to her mother screaming: "Masha, wake up! The war has started." Initially they were in denial, but after twelve sleepless days and nights hiding in their basement as a bomb shelter, they decided to leave the country and seek refuge in the United Kingdom.
Since the onset of the Russian invasion, one-third of Ukrainians have been forced from their homes. This is the largest movement of refugees in Europe since World War II, with nearly eight million refugees from Ukraine spread across Europe. There has been an outpouring of support, which has led many to hope that this has set a precedent for treating all refugees more humanely. If nothing else, it has exposed the politicised, and often discriminatory, nature of refugee protection. Refugees arriving in Europe from the Middle East, Asia, and Africa are far more likely to face border violence, detention, and drawn-out asylum procedures. Who are we to determine which refugees are worthy of compassion? As Maria herself expresses it: "It does not matter what nationality you are; what matters is what you are doing in this present moment. For humanity has no geography and kindness has no nationality."
Thomas, H. R. (2024) Tears of Gold: Portraits of Yazidi, Rohingya, and Nigerian Women. Walden, NY: Plough Publishing House.
8 December 2024
Today's advent treat comes all the way from sunny Cameroon! RIELA Affiliate Artist Geraldine Sinyuy has written a joyful poem about what this time of year is like where she lives in North West Cameroon, giving those of us in the Northern Hemisphere a welcome reprieve from cloudy grey skies. Enjoy!
N.B.: The Harmattan is a season in West Africa that occurs between the end of November and the middle of March. It is characterized by the dry and dusty northeasterly trade wind, of the same name, which blows from the Sahara over West Africa into the Gulf of Guinea (Wikipedia).
This poem is inspired by nature around me in the last quarter of the year. I live almost in the countryside where nature responses very positively to seasons. This is the period when plants flower announcing the beginning of the dry season. During this time, the earth is baked dry, drought sets in, beetles appear on wild flowers, dragon flies crisscross the city square and the untarred roads become very dusty.
The gentle wind swiftly slides over trees,
And makes whispering sounds over trees and reeds,
The soft sweet wind caresses my ears, my cheeks and forehead
And my skirt flirts along with the passing wind.
I squint my eyes and smile
As the happy dust, rising for the first-time above ground level,
Kisses my eyes, my neck and settles down,
As I shield my eyes from sand and dust.
I leave footprints on the dusty powdery road,
Knowing the wind will soon sweep them away,
I glide upon the hot-baked rocks,
Like a bee upon a flower glides
Slurping nectar from flower to flower.
I lie down flat on my back, with my face to the sky
And I feel the crackling dry grass tell stories of dehydration underneath me
And the harder twigs massage my back, free acupuncture therapy,
Nature’s gift to my aching back,
And the sun sends sharp arrows of light rays into my expectant eyes
And e-xay the resilience of my eyes to vehement light.
And as one in love at first sight, I squint my eyes every now and then,
And spread my arms to embrace the warmth of the sun rays.
On this side of the hill there’s a special kind of magical music,
A blend of jazz, blues and reggae mixed with rhumba,
Sung by the birds, the bees, the beetles and bumble bees,
That makes me begin to hug the grass for a dance,
Tossing my head backwards and swaying sidewards.
The fragrance from the wild flowers flows through my nostrils
And sends signals to my sensory nerves,
And at this moment, I am thankful for harmattan
And thankful ‘cause harmattan announces Christmas.
By Geraldine Sinyuy
9 December 2024
Today we bring you an image from RIELA Affiliate Artist Pieter van der Houwen's new photography book The Complicit Camera. This book offers the reader a unique insight into the mechanisms of the media industry. Focusing on thirty-three of his own photographs, Pieter provides us with a personal account of how his “African” images were often framed to fit an existing European narrative. He is brutally honest about his own culpability; however, he cannot stress enough that this book should not be regarded as an apology. The Complicit Camera should be seen as a personal reflection on his work and how it interacted with the media industry.
Former child soldier Watanga Football association. Monrovia Liberia
Recently released: The Complicit Camera (ZAM Magazine, 2024)
As soon as a photograph enters the public domain, the original intentions of its maker seem to disappear from sight. This creates an image economy, more than an image culture. And that culture is still dominated by white, Western perceptions.
10 December 2024
On day 10 of RIELA advent, we have a song selected by our PhD student Pinar Aksu. It's a song from the '70s by Turkish singer-songwriter Şenay called Hayat Bayram Olsa which is about life being a festival full of laughter and joy.
Take a couple of minutes to listen to the song with a cup of tea or coffee, and read the lyrics alongside in Turkish or English. We hope you enjoy it!
Şenay - Hayat Bayram Olsa (1972)
Türkçe şarkı sözleri
Şu dünyadaki en mutlu kişi
Mutluluk verendir
Şu dünyadaki sevilen kişi
Sevmeyi bilendir
Şu dünyadaki en güçlü kişi
Güçlükten gelendir
Şu dünyadaki en bilgin kişi
Kendini bilendir
Bütün dünya buna inansa
Bir inansa
Hayat bayram olsa
İnsanlar el ele tutuşsa
Birlik olsa
Uzansak sonsuza
Şu dünyadaki en olgun kişi
Acıya gülendir
Şu dünyadaki en soylu kişi
İnsafa gelendir
Şu dünyadaki en zengin kişi
Gönül fethedendir
Şu dünyadaki en üstün kişi
İnsanı sevendir
Bütün dünya buna inansa
Bir inansa
Hayat bayram olsa
İnsanlar el ele tutuşsa
Birlik olsa
Uzansak sonsuza
English lyrics
[Verse 1]
The happiest person in this world is the one who gives happiness
The loved one in this world is the one who knows how to love
The most strong person in this world is the who had difficulties
The most knowledgeable person in this world is the one who know themself
[Chorus]
If the whole world believed it
I wish they would, life would become a festival
I wish the people hold hands, become united
Wе would go forever
If the wholе world believed it
I wish they would, life would become a festival
I wish the people hold hands, become united
We would go forever
[Verse 2]
The most mature person in this world is the one who laughs at the pain
The noblest person in this world is the one who is merciful
The richest person in this world is the one who captures the hearts
The highest person in this world is the one who loves people
[Chorus]
If the whole world believed it
I wish they would, life would become a festival
I wish the people hold hands, become united
We would go forever
If the whole world believed it
I wish they would, life would become a festival
I wish the people hold hands, become united
We would go forever
If the whole world believed it
I wish they would, life would become a festival
I wish the people hold hands, become united
We would go forever
If the whole world believed it
I wish they would, life would become a festival
I wish the people hold hands, become united
We would go forever
Return to the advent calendar doors
11 December 2024
Today we give you another beautiful poem by Alison Phipps. Enjoy!
Alison Phipps
12 December 2024
It was Human Rights Day on 10 December, and it was also the publication day of Cultures of Sustainable Peace: Conflict Transformation, Gender-Based Violence, Decolonial Praxes, edited by Hyab Yohannes, Alison Phipps and Tawona Sitholé, which is an output from the AHRC/GCRF-funded CUSP Network Plus. Today's advent treat is the editors' blog about the book originally published on the Multilingual Matters website.
Sustainable Peacebuilding: The Work of Ordinary People
Following two devastating world wars, the cry of ‘never again’ resonated across the world, leading to the creation of the United Nations and its many agencies, including UNESCO, all aimed at safeguarding human dignity and upholding international peace. Over time, various treaties and conventions, such as the Geneva Conventions and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, have strengthened this framework, striving to regulate the conduct of war and protect individuals and communities from violence. Yet, peace remains elusive in many parts of the world, where war and violence have increasingly become the precarious norm, determining who survives and who faces brutality with impunity for the perpetrators.
This book shifts the focus of peacebuilding from nation-states and international organisations to the ordinary people who are the founders and foundations of lasting peace. From childhoods spent in the shadows of shantytowns in Zimbabwe to forced marriages in Ghana, femicide in Mexico, gender-based violence in Morocco, and the ongoing genocide in Gaza, one common thread runs through these experiences: an irreducible desire to be free and live in a culture of sustainable peace. This book is born out of that unyielding longing for freedom and the pervasive violence that has devastated lives, livelihoods, and relationships. However, it does not dwell on this precarious reality. Instead, it explores ways to transcend that reality through creative and imaginative practices of peace, multilinguality, and mutuality. Despite the geographical and temporal distances, these stories envision the creation of human communities based on cultures of peace, resisting war, destruction, and gendered violence. The collective voice of our partners and contributors underscores the importance of documenting peace in times of genocide, femicide, and ‘scholasticide’ – themes that inspired the book’s title. The book’s distinct purpose is to envision peace and clear pathways toward decolonial possibilities.
Like the people whose stories we share, the book itself (and the words within it) has survived war, famine, natural disasters, drug cartels, religious oppression, femicide, and ongoing genocide. Some contributors did not survive, and their work is recognised posthumously. The book also survived the UKRI GCRF funding cuts, which sought to make this work impossible.
We acknowledge that the survival of this work was made possible by the colleagues who ensured it came to fruition. The lead editors would have been redundant, and the contributors to this volume would have lost their livelihoods overnight due to the cuts, had the University of Glasgow not stepped into the breach and campaigners ensured the restitution of funds.
Many authors in this book, despite facing persecution for accepting and then losing ODA money, have contributed invaluable insights. We are deeply grateful to the colleagues, including the reviewers, administrators, publishers, project leads, participants, and contributors, who make this work possible, often from behind the scenes, and are rarely given the recognition they deserve.
We also thank the copyeditors, whose understanding of our plea helped ensure that ‘Error 404’ did not erase the precious words in this book. For those unfamiliar with the term, Error 404 is a message that appears when a requested webpage cannot be found, often because the page has been deleted, removed, or blocked. This error frequently appeared in references to reports, briefs, and newsletters published online by universities, local authorities, and organisations in Gaza, which our contributors had cited in their chapters. As editors and contributors, we were baffled: Where have these stories gone? They seem to have vanished from the online world, a phenomenon akin to epistemicide or the erasure of knowledge and the means of knowing.
Thanks to the understanding and generosity of our copyeditors and publishers, these words now exist in the pages of this book, as well as in the memories of those authors who are still alive. When words disappear from online sources, our colleagues and contributors become the bearers of these words. They are the ones who can attest to their existence, and their intellect and memories have become the remaining archives. We trust in their knowledge and recollections. We refuse to be complicit in the erasure of these words. We cherish them as the last traces of what once existed but has now disappeared.
You will find these words in the book – words like hope, justice, education, peace, culture, and more. In these dark times, these words may seem fleeting, but we believe they must never be abandoned or allowed to disappear. Even in the darkest of times, we shall continue to utter them as our last words and practise them as precious foundations for human relations.
The book is dedicated to our colleague Refaat Al Areer, who was assassinated by the Israeli forces for his attempts to use his scholarship to make a sustainable peace. His work informed this book.
For more information about this book please see the Multilingual Matters website. The book is available open access here.
If you found this interesting, you might also like Meeting the Needs of Reunited Refugee Families by Sarah Cox.
13 December 2024
Today is Saint Lucy's Day, which is a Christian feast day celebrated by many in Scandinavia, Italy and Saint Lucia. Esa Aldegheri has shared her recipe for delicious Gatti di Santa Lucia / Lussenkatter / St Lucy's cats, which is a sweet saffron bread associated with the day.
Made some and they look amazing? Tag us in your photos on Bluesky and Instagram!
Waking up with warm sunshine in the dark-cold of December: that’s what it feels like to prepare these.
The 13th December is the feast of Santa Lucia, whose name comes from the Latin for ‘light’. In Italy, children are given oranges and sweet cakes learn “Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia, il giorno più corto che ci sia” (St Lucy, St Lucy, the shortest day of all) (yes, it isn’t actually the shortest day, but the rhyme is good and, well, any excuse for cake). In Sweden, young girls wear crowns of candles and bring sweet cakes to their family. So, brightness and sweetness! Plenty of both in this recipe:
Makes 12
Ingredients:
- 300ml milk
- 75g unsalted butter
- 0.5g saffron threads, or cumin also works
- 500g strong white bread flour
- 100g caster sugar
- 7g yeast
- 1tsp salt
- Egg for glazing
- Raisins for decoration
Method:
- Heat the butter and milk gently until the butter melts (do not let it boil), then add the saffron (or cumin) and mix until it is all dissolved and golden. Leave to cool a bit – you want it lukewarm, not hot, or it will zap the yeast.
- Mix the flour, sugar, yeast and salt.
- Make a well in the middle and add the milk. Stir it all in so it makes a sticky dough.
- Knead for about 10 minutes.
- Cover and leave in a warm place until doubled in size (about an hour).
- Knock back the dough gently and divide into 12 equal portion. Roll each portion into a thin sausage shape and then make them into an “S”, curling up the ends into spirals (see photo).
- Cover the wee golden spirals and leave to prove, until doubled in size. Or you could make these in the evening and leave overnight in the fridge – then you can have them warm for an amazing breakfast.
- When ready to bake, put a raisin in each spiral and brush with beaten egg. You could add some sugar or crushed cardamom or cinnamon to the glaze.
- Bake at 180 degrees for about 15 minutes.
Best eaten on the day they are made!
14 December 2024
Today we bring you a fascinating and uplifting collection of proverbs and an image by RIELA Affiliate Artist Brice Catherin. Enjoy!
Still image from Tente 2, Dreaming Restlessly @Brice Catherin.
The baLafuni is a matriarchal and nomadic tribe of sorceresses that roams the remotest and northernmost lands of present Zambia. Zambian ethnographer Afulodidim Nikefolosi and French tourist Brice Catherin have collected some of their proverbs, presented here in Bemba, English and French.
For more information about the baLafuni and the authors, you can visit this page.
Their work is published in French by the quarterly art magazine Mon Lapin Quotidien and will be available in English when an anglophone publisher finds it.
Atemwa ukuloka ku loka, nomba ku’ishiba apa kuleka.
Any storm that wants to storm should do it convincingly, and also know when to stop.
Toute tempête qui veut tempêter doit le faire de manière convaincante et savoir quand s’arrêter.
*
Amakasa ya matwi ya fwaika amenso ya matako.
Feet of the ears need eyes of the ass.
Pieds des oreilles ont besoin d’yeux du cul.
*
Kalale, kalale mukolwe abombe.
Go sleep, go sleep so the cockerel can work.
Va dormir, va dormir pour que le coq puisse travailler.
*
Kanwa tasambilisha Sakapili icisungu.
Laughing at the annual language sophistication ceremony won’t teach you Shakespeare English.
Ce n’est pas en riant de la cérémonie annuelle de sophistication linguistique que vous apprendrez l’anglais de Shakespeare.
15 December 2024
Today we have a poem shared by our PhD student Hsiao-Chiang Wang (Hope), which was written collectively at the UNESCO RIELA Spring School in May.
The call for contributions for the UNESCO RIELA Spring School 2025: The Arts of Integrating (May Peace Prevail) is out now - we would love to hear from you!
A Poem for Travellers
天有擾嚷遮蔽日
地有翻騰顛覆時
行路難，難行路，路實難行
雷風疾雨不終朝
撥得雲開見清明
安此身，此身安，於此安身
萬礫千石壓不住
一枝青苗向天歌
(The sky is sometimes noisy
The earth is turbulent and overturned
The road is hard to walk
The road is hard to walk
The road is so hard to walk
Thunderstorms and rain have will end one day
Clear the clouds and see the clear sky
With wisdom in mind
With Peace in mind
With hope in mind
Thousands of rubble and rocks cannot hold it down
The buds sing to the sky)
Standing in front of the war with no winner
We are warriors who do not fight
We are scared, but we share
We are deprived, but we never disappear
We are tired, but we will try and try
Try to build a home with no fear
Raise a child with no scar
Heal a heart with no wound
Hope a world without wars
By Hope Wang and Andreas Liu
16 December 2024
Sweet treats are a necessity at this time of year to lift your mood on the cold and dark days, so our administrator Rebecca Rae has shared their favourite gingerbread recipe (taken from the BBC Good Food website).
Made some and they look amazing? Tag us in your photos on Bluesky and Instagram!
I'm not much of a baker (I was infamously not even allowed to stir my childhood best friend's cake batter after causing several baking mishaps in her kitchen), but I'm a fiend for gingerbread biscuits at this time of year, so last December I decided to brave the kitchen and give baking a go again. To my delight, the gingerbread turned out really well! I wanted to share the recipe I used for anyone else who feels like they "can't bake" - it's super easy and, most importantly, good fun.
Ingredients
- 100g salted butter
- 3 tbsp golden syrup
- 100g dark muscovado sugar
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tbsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg (optional)
- 225g plain flour
- 50g icing sugar (decorating/writing icing tubes will also do!)
Method
- Heat the butter, syrup and sugar together in a small pan until melted, stirring occasionally. Set aside to cool slightly.
- Mix together the bicarb, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg (if using) and flour in a large bowl. Pour in the buttery syrup mixture and stir to combine, then use your hands to bring together to form a dough. Add up to 1 tbsp of milk to combine if needed. The dough will be soft at this point, but it’ll firm up in the fridge.
- Put the dough on a sheet of baking parchment, shape into a rectangle, and lay another sheet of parchment on top of it. Roll the dough out to a thickness of ½cm. Transfer to a baking sheet to keep it flat, leaving the parchment in place, then chill in the fridge for 1 hr.
- Heat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5 and line a large baking sheet with more baking parchment. Remove the dough from the fridge and cut out shapes using a cookie cutter or a sharp knife. Get creative - you could make little winter creatures, or cut holes in the dough to thread ribbon through and hang from your Christmas tree!
- Place the shapes, spread apart, on the lined baking sheet, and bake for 10-12 mins. (Depending on the size of the shapes you have made, they might need a few minutes more or less cooking in the oven.) Leave to cool completely on the baking sheet.
- Meanwhile, if you are making your own icing, mix the icing sugar with 1-2 tbsp water – you want to create a consistency that’s thick and pipeable, and not too thin or it will run. Decorate the cooled biscuits with the icing using a piping bag with a thin nozzle. Find out how to make a piping bag here.
Et voilà, you have delicious gingerbread to give as a gift, or simply to satisfy your own snacking needs! They will be good to eat for a few weeks if stored in an airtight container, but mine never seem to last longer than a couple of days...
17 December 2024
Today's contribution to the RIELA advent calendar comes from our Affiliate Artist Erdem Avşar. Erdem recently began a series on the RIELA blog called 'Here to Make a Mess': Transnational Conversations with Theatre-makers, and this second installment reminds us of sunnier times during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival earlier this year. Enjoy!
'Here to Make a Mess': Transnational Conversations with Theatre-makers #2
Since Here to Make a Mess, a collection of video performances I commissioned from a group of international theatre-makers, opened at UNESCO RIELA’s Spring School 24, I have been having conversations with performers, writers, translators and dramaturges about pretty much anything and everything: writing, the state of the world, migration, transnationality, languages – the list goes on. Not wanting to keep those conversations to myself, thanks to Bella Hoogeveen, they will now be published periodically here at UNESCO RIELA’s blog.
Here to Make a Mess #2:
Dirmit: In Conversation with Nezaket Erden
The second conversation is with Turkish theatre-maker Nezaket Erden. This one is a throwback to August 2024 and Fringe. Turkish theatre-maker and performer Nezaket Erden and director Hakan Emre Ünal brought their brilliant solo performance Dirmit, adapted from Latife Tekin’s novel Dear Shameless Death, to Fringe and I had the chance to ask them how they were finding it.
Nezaket Erden as Dirmit (photo by Çağla Uçak)
Dirmit has been talked about in Turkey for years; it has its own following. You’ve obviously done many interviews with your team. But, this is not really an interview and I’d rather focus more on Dirmit and Edinburgh. How did you decide to bring Dirmit to the Fringe?
Thank you. Yes, as you said, over the years we’ve reached a very large audience in Turkey and had incredible encounters of all sorts. We’ve performed in villages, alternative stages, and some of the biggest venues in the country. Over the years, we’ve also performed the play in different cities in Germany, London, and the Netherlands. Seeing that we could connect with people from various cultures through our play, and realizing that Dear Shameless Death—and consequently, the play Dirmit—is universal, we started dreaming about taking it to the Fringe. There are people here from all over the world—not just audiences but also creators, writers, and directors from many different cultures. We are thinking about how we can connect with them through the play and expand its reach even further.
As part of the UNESCO RIELA team and as artists, we often think about building intercultural and transnational relationships and how those relationships could be part of a meaningful and sustainable ecology. The play has just premiered in Scotland, I know, but what are your initial impressions so far?
So far, we’ve performed five shows. There are six more to go. While the venue we’re performing in suits the spirit of the play, technically, it’s not ideal—especially for the audience to follow the surtitles. The first two days were spent trying to solve these practical issues. As you know, performances are scheduled back-to-back, and we have only ten minutes after the previous play to set up for ours. We spend that time rearranging the seating and figuring out how to make it easier for the audience to follow the surtitles. Aside from these technical problems, the audience has generally been a mixed group—half who speak Turkish and half who don’t. Since I’m used to performing in larger venues for predominantly Turkish audiences, my relationship with the audience has naturally been very different here. But this relationship is also very strong, and I’m getting more used to it each day.
I’m curious about the audience’s reactions too. How does it feel to perform with surtitles, for example? I saw a tweet from a Scottish critic who called Dirmit ‘a story that needs to be told’—I came across it by chance, and I was delighted! How do you feel about the story’s urgency being recognised here as well?
Latife Tekin’s book has been translated into many languages and has garnered attention worldwide. Most recently, it was even featured in The Guardian’s selection. So, we already knew that the story was universal because of the interest the book had received. However, performing a play with surtitles—especially one so reliant on language—worried us. These concerns only increased because of the technical challenges I mentioned earlier. But with every performance, we discover and learn something new. We adjust the surtitles and explore how to adapt some moments—removing certain parts or translating the more verbal sections into movements and physical expressions. The sixth show we’ll perform tomorrow is vastly different from the first one we performed here. Revisiting and reworking a play we’ve been performing for so long has been a rewarding process in its own way.
So far, we’ve observed that people born and raised in Scotland or England find the story dark and quite impactful. Meanwhile, individuals of Nigerian, Serbian, Italian, or Japanese descent living here—those who resonate with the folk elements in the story—experience the sorrow and humour almost as audiences from Turkey would. The audience is very diverse, and since I perform by looking directly into their eyes, I can feel all their reactions simultaneously. This new way of connecting with the audience is something I’m learning here. But the most touching moment so far was hugging and crying with a Nigerian woman. Even with all the challenges, moments like that make this journey feel worthwhile.
Nezaket Erden as Dirmit (photo by Çağla Uçak)
Is this your first time in Edinburgh, then? Apart from Dirmit, how are you finding the city? The Fringe can be quite challenging indeed — particularly with its budget demands and the difficulty of finding an audience. What are some of the things that you find exciting? And maybe other practical things that you find a little bit challenging?
This is our first time in Edinburgh. The city is beautiful, like something out of a fairy tale. The Fringe atmosphere is also very vibrant, but we haven’t had much chance to enjoy it yet. I’d say we’re mostly enduring its difficulties. It’s very expensive here, especially during the festival—rents, for instance, go up. Personally, working to condense the play into 60 minutes and continually refining it has taken a lot of time. I’ve been handing out flyers and inviting people to our shows. We watch other performances whenever we can. Finding an audience for your play is very difficult here. Everywhere you turn, there’s a show. Some plays are performed for just one person; others don’t get any audience at all. Everyone is handing out flyers in the streets! At first, we were a bit shy about this, but we’ve opened up now. We’re trying to connect with people and tell them about the play. We also realized how little we knew about marketing and became acutely aware of our shortcomings. But we’ve found a lot of inspiration here.
Emre has been volunteering at the venue where we’re performing for the past three weeks. His experience has been completely different—it feels like we’ve gone back to our university theatre days, rebuilding everything from scratch in a new language and culture.
Dirmit has been performed in small venues, outdoors, and now at C Venues. Nezaket, as an actor, how do you adapt to different spaces? And as tradition dictates, I MUST ask: what are your future plans? I’m especially curious about potential international plans. Do you think you’ll return to Edinburgh?
Since Dirmit began, I’ve performed in such a variety of venues and conditions that I’ve developed significant experience in adapting to any situation. I try to embrace the venue’s advantages and disadvantages and build my performance accordingly. Emre, as a director, is especially good at identifying aspects of a space that help me mentally and emotionally adapt to it. For example, the stage we’re performing on now truly feels like the single-room house Dirmit lived in.
Just before coming here, I performed for over 2,000 people in an open-air venue in Izmir and 4,000 people in Harbiye. The transition was, of course, stark, but I adapted quickly. As Emre said, ‘It feels like I’ve gone back to where I started’ but my sister Emine told me, ‘No, you haven’t gone back. Dirmit is embarking on a brand-new journey. You’re just at the beginning of this new path.’ That perspective really helped me. We might not fully understand everything about this experience until it’s complete, but we definitely want to return here—under different circumstances and with all the knowledge we’ve gained.
We’ve dreamed of bringing [our other play] What’s Going to Happen to Yusuf Umut? here, as it fits the spirit of Fringe perfectly. Another dream of mine, which I’m not sure will happen but which I don’t want to leave untried, is performing Dirmit in English. Maybe next year. I want to remove the barrier of surtitles entirely. We also hope to return with a venue that understands our potential and gives our play the value it deserves, along with better promotion and conditions. As my sister said, ‘We’re just at the beginning of this new path...’
Nezaket Erden (right) and Hakan Emre Ünal in Edinburgh
18 December 2024
Happy International Migrants Day! To celebrate, we bring you Tawona Sitholé's radio play Afamba Apota which was released earlier this year.
Afamba apota is a Zimbabwean proverb recited to remind ourselves of the unpredictability of going on a journey. This radio play is a playful look at the important matter of migration, through the fictitious voice of self-proclaimed master documentary maker Paul Lamont as he enters the migration corridor and meets the inhabitants. Afamba Apota was an output of the UKRI GCRF Migration for Development and Equality (MIDEQ) Hub. Sit down to listen with a cup of tea/coffee, or play through your earphones while you're out and about, and enjoy!
Afamba Apota
19 December 2024
Today's advent treat is another beautiful poem by RIELA Affiliate Artist Anton Floyd.
(Published in Live Encounters an on-line poetry journal - December 2020)
20 December 2024
To mark International Human Solidarity Day, today we are resharing the landmark New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy 2024 and Delivery Plan 2024 to 2026. Led jointly by the Scottish Government, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) and the Scottish Refugee Council, the strategy supports the integration of refugees, people seeking asylum and other forced migrants within Scotland’s communities.
The RIELA team were heavily involved in the Strategy and Delivery Plan, with Alison Phipps Chairing the New Scots Core Group, and both were launched at the University of Glasgow on 19 August. You can find out more about the event by reading Esa Aldegheri's blog below, as well as watching the short event summary video.
Celebrating the New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy and Delivery Plan
Clockwise from top-left: Hyab Yohannes (UNESCO RIELA); Maryhill Integration Network Joyous Choir; Pinar Aksu (UNESCO RIELA/Maryhill Integration Network); Tawona Sitholé (UNESCO RIELA); Rachel Sandison (University of Glasgow), Alison Phipps (UNESCO RIELA), Kaukab Stewart MSP, Maureen Chalmers (COSLA) and Sabir Zazai (Scottish Refugee Council); Esa Aldegheri (UNESCO RIELA)
The work of building integration happens daily, quietly, steadily. It is creative and perseverant in the face of challenges. It involves many different people. It takes time; much of the time it goes uncelebrated. We see the results of integration in communities where people live together with dignity and peace, but we seldom stop to praise the people and the work behind these results. Celebration is important, though. When we gather to celebrate we also reinforce connections, mark what has been achieved, acknowledge what has helped, and reflect on what we need to move forward.
And so the launch and celebration of the updated New Scots* Refugee Integration Strategy (NSRIS) and Delivery Plan was welcomed and attended by many. This integration strategy is internationally praised for its supportive approach to integration and is recognised across Scotland as a key framework enabling the work of individuals and organisations throughout the nation. Since it was first launched in 2014, the NSRIS has been updated and adapted to changing times and needs; it is now in its third version. This has involved years of dedicated work by a partnership which involves the Scottish Refugee Council, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) and the Scottish Government, with Prof. Alison Phipps as independent chair.
The team at the UNESCO Chair for Refugee Integration through Education, Language, and Arts (RIELA) has also been involved in shaping the evolving Strategy and Delivery Plan through a key research report on the local and international dimensions of integrating refugees in Scotland, co-authored by Prof. Phipps, Dr Esa Aldegheri and Dr Dan Fisher. This report reviewed what has worked and not worked in integration policy and practice from 2014 to 2022; presented new ways of understanding integration; and made many (70!) recommendations which significantly inform the updated NSRIS 3.
One key recommendation is the importance of understanding integration as a multifaceted, complex process which must be restorative to work: successful integration must seek to redress harm and restore human dignity. Another essential recommendation, recognised in the NSRIS 3, is that work supporting integration needs to be intercultural, multilingual and trauma informed. The report also recognises the challenges, particularly around resources and funding, which make such work difficult; and highlights the abundant resources of knowledge, community, connections and expertise which exist in communities across Scotland – and in particular amongst New Scots, who carry unique expertise and experience.
This experience was recognised during the event celebrating NSRIS 3: we listened to stories of New Scots from Afghanistan, Ukraine, Yemen and Zimbabwe who shared how their lived experience and work in building integration has been supported by the NSRIS. Facilitated by Dr Esa Aldegheri of UNESCO RIELA, people shared objects which showed some of the tangible results of integration: a beautiful quilt, embroidered by New Scots and people from receiving communities, proudly declaring ‘Aye Welcome Refugees’; photos of a community garden where New Scots grow the food they miss from home and meet new people. The Joyous Choir from Maryhill Integration Network sang and moved many to tears. We also heard words from politicians, people working in community organisations, lawyers, activists. There were New Scots, Old Scots, Old New Scots and even guests from London, all generously compèred by Prof. Alison Phipps. There was poetry from Dr Tawona Ganyamatopé Sitholé, Artist in Residence at UNESCO RIELA. There was, throughout, much applause.
There were also stark reminders of the real and ongoing challenges affecting integration – particularly those linked to scarcity of funding. During her speech, the Minister for Equalities announced that a pilot project which was to provide free bus travel for people seeking asylum had been scrapped. This announcement was made with great reluctance and was met with equally great concern. Nobody present wanted this to be happening, but it was now yet another thing to be added to the long list of challenges to integration. [NB: The Scottish Government has recommitted to extending free bus travel to people seeking asylum since this blog was originally published on 9 September.]
Despite the challenges, the fact that we were gathered in celebration helped people to connect and find ways to approach challenges. Dr Hyab Yohannes of UNESCO RIELA and Pinar Aksu of Maryhill Integration Network contributed final reflections and reactions. People shared resources of networks, knowledge and skills throughout the event - supported by the knowledge that Scotland has a dedicated strategy which actively welcomes New Scots and supports integration. Conversations were already starting to explore how best to move forward in the daily, quiet, perseverant, creative work which is building integration.
*The term 'New Scots' includes people who have been granted refugee status or another form of humanitarian protection, and their dependents; people seeking asylum and people seeking protection as a result of displacement, exploitation or political persecution; as well as those whose application for asylum has been refused, but who remain in Scotland. It also includes people who are or may become stateless and in need of international protection.
21 December 2024
Today is the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, the shortest day of the year. We are sharing Alison Phipps' recipe for winter balm, in which time is an ingredient as important as any of the plants and oils, to remind you of the inevitable changing of the seasons - it won't be this dark forever.
Take a year to prepare. A slow craft for seasons of dark and light.
Collect a jam jar. Ask the neighbours.
Add cloves, cinnamon sticks, dried orange peel. Cardamon.Maybe rosehips gathered at the winter solstice, sweetest when frosted.
Fill the jar with oil – sweet almond or sunflower – something that speaks of summer.
Place on a window ledge or in a cupboard.
Label and date.
Forget about it.
In March and April (September and October in the temperate South), sow marigold seeds (calendula) and pot on and plant out when the frosts are done. Let them grow in between things. A bit like weeds.
In April and May (in the North), pick daisies. Add to the forgot jar of oil and spices. Daisies are good for bruises and circulation.
Come back at high summer and strain the oil from the spices and daisies into a glass bottle, again, ask the neighbours or save your own.
Begin to save small jam jars, those wee ones you get if you order a scone.
When the marigolds flower, pick them and dry them on a piece of newspaper in a window which is in the sun.
Around September (March in the South), place dried marigold flowers in sweet almond oil.
In December, drain the richly amber oil, scented with spices.
Add essential oils of your choice.
Put in a pretty bottle with a pretty label and use as a skin oil.
Or, melt two table spoons of beeswax in a bain marie, and add around 6 tablespoons of oil. Pour melted liquid into those clean, steralised wee jam jars you collected and give a Winter Balm.
22 December 2024
Today's contribution comes from RIELA Affiliate Artist Paria Goodarzi. We invite you to take some time to read Paria's poem and reflect while watching the accompanying video (best viewed in full screen).
Border is a rotten word,
It is like a cliff.
You will fall when you try to escape it.
Borderless means nothing to me,
Because there has always been a border.
Borderless means going everywhere I want,
Communicating freely.
What happens if I step over the line?
Can it be my land?
I like my eyes more,
They are my means of communication with others.
Even if I don’t speak,
I can touch nature with my eyes.
What border means to me
Is the feeling of leaving—
Moving towards an unknown destination,
Wrapped in a shroud of uncertainty.
I will make my own eternal freeway.
I should walk as long as I am safe
From collision with the ground.
So I am on my way,
Searching for the promised land.
I manage to reach it hand.
Finally, side by side,
We are moving towards the free path,
Safe from a crash,
In silence.
UNESCO RIELA advent calendar 2024 day 22
By Paria Goodarzi
23 December 2024
Today we're looking forward to New Year's Eve with Dilara Özel, who has shared a fun Turkish New Year tradition!
In Turkey, belly dancing is a traditional and popular part of New Year’s celebrations. It's a custom to welcome the New Year with lively dance, and as the clock strikes midnight, it’s common to see belly dancers performing on TV, at hotel parties, or wherever people are celebrating. This tradition of having a dancer entertain the crowd brings joy and excitement to the night, setting a festive tone as everyone dances into the New Year.
If you’d like to bring this same festive spirit to your New Year’s celebration and add a spark of excitement to your party, try learning a few moves from the video series below! Surprise your family or friends by breaking out some belly dancing moves when the clock strikes midnight—it’s a fun way to welcome the New Year together!
Pro Tip: For an extra flair, tie a hip scarf with bells and tassels around your waist; it will highlight your hip movements and make the dance look even more dynamic.
24 December 2024
Merry Christmas from the UNESCO RIELA team!
Speakers and languages, in order of appearance:
- Rebecca Rae - intro
- Esa Aldegheri - Italian
- Bella Hoogeveen - Dutch
- Hyab Yohannes - Blin
- Rebecca Rae - Spanish
- Alison Phipps - Scottish Gaelic, German, French & English