A MANUAL FOR REFUGEE SERVICE WORKERS AND REFUGEE ARTISTS

CHAPTER 2. ARTS IN RESETTLEMENT

A. SUMMARY

The Refugee Arts and Community Stability Project has shown that increased recognition and sensitivity to arts and culture can help strengthen refugee families and communities, and therefore substantially add to the total resettlement effort.

Recognition of arts and traditions should began as early as possible in the resettlement process so that the worker can identify creative refugees and offer ideas and direction to them as an integral part of the initial resettlement plan.

Folk and traditional arts is be defined very broadly and includes a very large number of activities not generally considered art by many people. Many refugees have training in the fine arts and the manual also provides assistance for working with these refugees.

Refugee workers can integrate suggestions from this manual into their own planning and programs. Social and economic benefits, along with community building, are persuasive arguments for including arts and cultural concerns in initial resettlement planning.

While only a few refugees will initially become self-sufficient using their creative skills, improved self-esteem and mental health are among the many important benefits obtained when refugees are encouraged to continue with their traditions.

In many cases, major beneficiaries of arts and cultural programs are refugee women and the elderly. Through traditional arts, many women and the elderly have found not only greater self-esteem, but a tangible means to contribute to their family.

Refugee community-based organizations, particularly many mutual assistance associations (MAAs), have an interest in maintaining traditions. More emphasis on the arts and culture in resettlement may provide opportunities for collaborations between resettlement agencies and refugee community-based organizations.

Since many arts and cultural activities do not require proficiency in English, such programs may lead to a much greater involvement for otherwise difficult to reach refugees with very limited English speaking proficiency. ESL programs may provide opportunities to work in cultural-related exercises that will generate greater interest among some students.

B. BEYOND BASIC SURVIVAL

Although newly arrived refugees are considered to be in “survival mode,” that doesn't mean that they are not ready or interested in continuing to be creative. It's true that most refugees need more time to adjust to living in another culture. But depending on factors such as resettlement situation, personality, or experience living abroad, refugees are ready to think beyond basic survival needs at different points in the resettlement process. Some refugees are ready to continue creating their arts or crafts soon after they arrive. These are often refugees who are older, retired, and do not face the added pressure of finding employment. Or, they may be women staying at home to take care of children and the household who may find time to work on their traditional crafts at home.

People who are ready to practice their art early should be encouraged to do so. In many cultures, artistic expressions are crucial to the stability of the family and community. Those who need more time may first want to focus only on housing, schooling for children, and employment. After a period of time, they might feel ready to take on other parts of their lives, to return to a kind of normalcy that includes arts and cultural expressions.

Even without help from a resettlement agency or local arts organization, many refugee artists eventually find networks of their own and make their own contacts. But by directing refugees to contact people at arts agencies, you will help them gain access to information about funding or program opportunities more quickly and earlier.

C. THE INITIAL STAGE

Guidance for the Workers:

• Gather additional intake information to identify creative skills.
• Communicate to the refugee the importance of their traditional skills and talents.
• Encourage refugees to continue their work.
• Make good use of home visits to observe any creative activities or objects.
• Explore early assistance and resources through church and community groups, as well as local arts organizations.

Although refugee workers may not find it useful at this point to identify people with creative talents, there are actually a range of benefits to be had when the process is begun early. Newly arrived refugees, uncertain about their roles in a new country, should be assured that the knowledge they bring with them is valued in this country.

In order for a refugee to be able to adapt to his or her new surroundings and to be able to feel comfortable at home or at work, his or her own cultural knowledge and skills need to be recognized. Since refugee service providers want the new refugee's resettlement to be as easy as possible, learning about the refugee's own cultural knowledge becomes clearly an important part of the service provider's job. And once the service provider begins to understand the impact of cultural arts and traditions on a refugee's survival, learning about a refugee's creative skills become more relevant to the resettlement process.

It is important, therefore, for refugee service providers to explain to refugees that the culture they bring with them is just as valid and as important as the new one they will be living in. When refugees feel that they are respected as individuals and as members of a larger cultural group, they will be more willing to make the necessary adjustments and changes in their lives in order to survive in this culture.

For example, the growing and preparation of food can be a creative and artistic part of every culture group. It is often a part of a person's cultural background that survives long after other parts of the culture (such as language) are forgotten. If you know the culinary arts of the culture, you will be able to provide the ingredients to help refugees feel at home in a strange country. The growing of certain foods is a skill passed from generation to generation. Many refugees have turned this knowledge into micro-farming opportunities. In Philadelphia, an accomplished African-American city gardener has teamed with local refugees to develop new techniques so a number of very difficult to grow Asian delicacies are now available as ingredients for authentic Asian dishes.

Social and Economic Benefits - At the first intake interview, allow some time to introduce your agency’s interest in refugees' creative or artistic skills. Explain to your clients that continuing to create their music, dance, and crafts could help them to build their community, to feel more comfortable in their new culture, and could possibly be a way they could make a little money. Specifically ask what they brought with them; some may have brought special instruments or other tools of their craft.

Some creative talents might be useful in other areas of employment. For example, the ability to do fine hand work, such as needle work or wood work, could be applied to employment situations in which attention to detail is important. Emphasize, however, that they will need to find full-time employment in another area because it is difficult for anyone in America to support themselves through their art.

Some refugees in these early stages, especially those who cannot work due to disability, age, or the need for them to stay at home (mothers, for example), are ready and willing to continue creating their arts or crafts at home. If they don't have the pressure of finding a job right away, or if they are waiting to find a job, they could use these first few months to continue making and possibly even selling their crafts. Many women know how to crochet or knit. If you could direct them to the proper resources (where to buy thread, yarn, other materials) they could be making beautiful items and feel good about themselves for being productive; and they might eventually find people interested in buying what they make.

Some refugees may not even wish to attempt to market their items. For many refugees, making handmade items to give to people as gifts is even more important. For others, obtaining a certain material will be just the key to helping them feel productive within the family once again. Many Cambodian women, for example, found solace and renewed confidence only once they were able to return to their weaving.

One useful strategy for service providers is to incorporate arts and cultural traditions into the ESL curriculum and individual lessons. ESL classes can offer a comfortable setting for refugees to discuss their creative talents. Consider using the Discovering Your Hidden Talents in this section as a start. And teachers, do not forget to pass on to the caseworker any valuable information obtained in these exercises!

Mental Health - There are a number of reasons a focus on culturally-based creative knowledge is important. First of all, a refugee's mental health is an issue that is evident especially in the early phase of resettlement. Creative expression can help them work through the experiences they have had before and during their transition to living in the United States. For example, there are refugees who are better able to deal with their feelings about wars through depicting scenes from wars they have lived through in their art medium. Even refugees who have never created art before have found that taking up new art forms provides solace during emotionally difficult times. Women who have never crocheted, men who have never painted, individuals who have not expected to create poetry are finding that expressing themselves through art has helped them deal with their painful memories.

Community Building - Participation in various traditional art forms, including visual and performing arts, can help the new refugees maintain their culture and ultimately build stronger communities in the United States. They want to continue being creative in order to remember and to pass on to others in their community the positive parts of their recent history and cultural heritage.

In all stages of resettlement, cultural celebrations or other informal events can help to bring people together to work toward commonly-held goals. Refugee service providers could help organize ways for people who have expressed an interest in the arts to meet together, to exchange ideas about resources available to them, and then to plan possible events or educational programs. Refugee workers could recruit volunteers to help build arts committees. Explore early assistance and resources that may be available through church and community groups. There may be many as yet untapped volunteers who will come forward due to an interest in refugee arts such as their music, dance, drama, or handcrafts. A special committee could be developed around supplying refugee artists with donated material, for example.

The Home Visit - Once you have gained the interest of your clients and have spoken with them about their creative skills, you will be able to bring up the topic again during a home visit. See Section 4, Identifying Artists, particularly the section Interviewing Artists for guidance on approaches you could take once you have established that the refugee has an interest in pursuing his or her art or cultural activity.