Is it the end of an era?

Winter solstice.

It's the end of the season, the end of the year, the end of the decade...

Is it the end of an era?

I listen to this song:

 'When The World Was At War We Kept Dancing'

- Lana Del Rey 

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Lyrics

Girls, don't forget your pearls
And all of your horses
As you make your way across the pond
Girls, don't forget your curls
And all of your corsets
Memorize them in a little song

Shake it up, throw your hands up and get loose
Cut a rug, lean into the fucking youth
Choreo, we just want the fucking truth
(Told by the frightened)

Is it the end of an era?
Is it the end of America?
Is it the end of an era?
Is it the end of America?

No, oh
It's only the beginning
If we hold on to hope
We'll have a happy ending
When the world was at war before
We just kept dancing
When the world was at war before
We just kept dancing

Boys, don't forget your toys
And take all of your money
If you find you're in a foreign land
Boys, don't make too much noise
And don't try to be funny
Other people may not understand

Shake it up, throw your hands up and get loose
Cut a rug, lean into the fucking youth
Choreo, we just want the fucking truth
(Told by the frightened)

Is it the end of an era?
Is it the end of America?
Is it the end of an era?
Is it the end of America?

No, oh
It's only the beginning
If we hold on to hope
We'll have a happy ending
When the world was at war before
We just kept dancing
When the world was at war before
We just kept dancing

And we'll do it again
Oh my god, did it from loving you (we'll do it again)
Oh my god, did it from loving you (we'll do it again)
Did it from, did it from loving you, when the world was at war (we'll do it again)

Is it the end of an era?
Is it the end of America?
Is it the end of an era?
Is it the end of America?

When the world was at war before
We just kept dancing
When the world was at war before
We just kept dancing

And we'll do it again
And we'll do it again

 

Songwriters: Dean Reid / Elizabeth Grant / Rick Nowels

Artist: Lana Del Rey

Album: Lust for Life

Released: 2017

Focus on Hayv Kahraman

As part of 'Still I Rise', the feminist exhibition at the Arnolfini gallery, I've fallen in love with a few wonderful female artists.

Here is one:

Hayv Kahraman was born in Baghdad, Iraq 1981, now lives and works in Los Angeles.

In her biography, she describes: "A vocabulary of narrative, memory and dynamics of non-fixity found in diasporic cultures are the essence of her visual language and the product of her experience as an Iraqi refugee/come émigré. The body as object and subject have a central role in her painting practice as she compositely embodies the artist herself and a collective."

Here is an amazingly inspiring interview:

Hayv Kahraman and "The Land of the Waqwaq"

Hayv Kahraman was in residence at Shangri La Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii, from March 16-31, 2019. 

During her residency, she was joined by her mother, Sizar Barzendji. In this interview, Kahraman and her mother discuss the inspiration behind her work created while in residence at Shangri La. 

Her exhibition, "To the Land of the Waqwaq," will be on view at the museum from March 29, 2019 - August 4, 3019. A concurrent exhibition of additional work by Kahraman, "Superfluous Bodies," is on view at the Honolulu Museum of Art.

And a more biographical interview:

Hayv Kahraman - at Art Dubai

The Third Line Gallery artist’s practice pulls on her personal experiences of migration to Europe (and then the United States), and reflects on the placelessness and experiences of the diaspora. The body as object and subject have a central role in her work with female figures featuring heavily in her paintings, reflecting on controversial issues of gender and the female identity.  

Art Dubai Portraits is a film series that provides a short perspective into the lives and workspaces of artists that are connected to the fair through its programming or participating galleries. The Art Dubai Portraits are produced in collaboration with Forward James Filmmakers.

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Yola, back in 2008, with Massive Attack

As she triumphed worldwide this year with her first solo album, I thought about this song, this tour, that Bristol-born Yola did with the ultimate Bristol band!

Extract from Massive Attack's performance at Glastonbury Festival in 2008:
'All I Want', featuring Yolanda Quartey, also known as Yola.

Massive Attack - 'All I Want' 

The song was written in 2008 as part of a project temporarily named 'The Weather Underground', an album that Massive Attack never released in the end, replaced by the fifth album, Heligoland.

Filmmakers for XR Act at Star Wars Premiere in London

British Filmmakers supporting Extinction Rebellion blocked the walk to the red carpet at the Star Wars London Premiere...

• A group of filmmakers from Extinction Rebellion UK - calling themselves Film Strike for Climate - occupied the red carpet at the Star Wars Premiere in London this evening
• They are calling for Hollywood’s film industry to use their immense influence and join Extinction Rebellion in Telling the Truth about the Climate and Ecological Emergency
• The action lasted only a few moments before activists were peacefully removed from the area

8 filmmakers from the Extinction Rebellion UK group, Film Strike for Climate, occupied the red carpet at the Star Wars European Premiere in London’s Leicester Square this evening, as some of Hollywood’s biggest stars arrive. 

Dressed as Rebel Alliance characters, they lay down on the carpet and called for Hollywood’s film industry to join Extinction Rebellion in their quest to tackle the greatest threat facing our planet: the Climate and Ecological Emergency.

People from across the UK took part in this dramatic plea to Hollywood to declare a Climate and Ecological Emergency and to use its enormous influence to Tell the Truth to their viewers. Several activists also held banners with the words ‘Culture Change not Climate Change,’ ‘Help us Hollywood, you’re our only hope’ and ‘Imagine Green New Worlds’. The group did not intend to shut down the premiere, but to make sure their message was heard.

The protest urged Hollywood to engage audiences in the immediate threats we face by helping Extinction Rebellion to Tell the Truth about the crisis. Organisers want industry leaders and stars of the silver screen to use the power of cinema to show a clear vision of a better and more just world, lighting the way to help guide society through the oncoming crises and man-made disasters. 

Alfie Warren-Knight, founder of #FilmStrikeforClimate, said: “At the world government summit in Dubai, Harrison Ford said ‘We are faced with, I believe, the greatest moral crisis of our time’. The film industry must use its influence and story-telling powers to help people around the world understand the urgency of the situation and to spark wide-spread public discussion about the climate and ecological emergency before it’s too late. It has shown in the past how it can mobilise around other important issues in society such as the #MeToo movement. The industry must show a brighter future is still possible, and inspire people to rise up against the ‘Evil Empire’ of ecocidal business-as-usual. We need radical culture and system change to prevent climate and ecological breakdown, and must join forces to improve our chances of a liveable future.”

Films can play a vital role in facilitating public discussion and changing attitudes and behaviours, as shown by films such as: Philadelphia, Biko, Blood Diamonds, Gorillas in the Mist, Blackfish and Supersize Me. Cultural figures are increasingly using their influence to draw attention to the climate emergency. Actor Mark Rylance resigned from the Royal Shakespeare Company over its BP sponsorship, and actress Jane Fonda has been arrested multiple times as part of climate strikes in the USA, but industry bodies are yet to make similar commitments.  

Ashley Joiner, Director of ‘Are You Proud’ - the LGBT rights history documentary - said: “Films have the power to transport us to new worlds, to educate us and open our eyes to new possibilities - that’s what Star Wars is all about! The responsibility is on us as artists to create work that educates on the realities and empowers audiences to make change. I fully support #filmstrikeforclimate and encourage the industry to do so too!”

Tom Richards, a respected wildlife film producer, said: “Like the rebels of the Star Wars movies, we are engaged in a struggle against the destructive and dark forces that are already killing countless people in the Global South and threatening civilizational collapse in the near future. We have no time to waste. So we have travelled here today to encourage the industry to become opinion-leaders and role models in climate justice and planetary protection. A better world is possible: one with cleaner air, wildlife saved from extinction, food security and more closely-knit supportive communities. Cinema can light the path to that future with its inspirational storytelling. Help us Hollywood! You’re our only hope!”

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More about Film Strike for Climate:

Film Strike for Climate is a campaign launched by members of Extinction Rebellion Filmmakers community and Greta Thunberg’s Youth Strike for Climate movement. 

This action is their second direct action as part of this campaign. The first one was a mass leafleting action, coupled with performances - a Star Wars themed orchestra outside the BBC Natural History Unit and beatboxers at the Bottleyard Film Studios. Call to action leaflets highlighting the parallels of the struggle of the climate and the Star Wars narrative were delivered to around 80 key film locations around the UK.

Film Strike for Climate also hosted a rogue roaming film festival - The Rebel Futures Film Festival - during Extinction Rebellion’s last mass Rebellion in October. Sue Clayton, director of The Stanstead 15, hosted a Radical Filmmaking Workshop. Director Ashley Joiner presented his LGBT rights activist history film outside the Home Office.

Its demands to all global film institutions are to:

1. Declare a Climate and Ecological Emergency.
2. Join and show solidarity with Greta Thunberg’s Youth Strike for Climate movement at all future Global Climate Strikes.
3. Help tell the truth, envision brighter futures and inspire positive climate and ecological action through its storytelling and globally influential networks.

About Extinction Rebellion

Time has almost entirely run out to address the ecological crisis which is upon us, including the 6th mass species extinction, global pollution, and abrupt, runaway climate change. Societal collapse and mass death are seen as inevitable by scientists and other credible voices, with human extinction also a possibility, if rapid action is not taken.

Extinction Rebellion believes it is a citizen’s duty to rebel, using peaceful civil disobedience, when faced with criminal inactivity by their Government.

Extinction Rebellion’s key demands are:

1. Government must tell the truth by declaring a climate and ecological emergency, working with other institutions to communicate the urgency for change.
2. Government must act now to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025.
3. Government must create and be led by the decisions of a Citizens’ Assembly on climate and ecological justice.

Arnolfini 2020: Angelica Mesiti + Amak Mahmoodian

The Arnolfini gallery in Bristol has just announced its programme for the first part of 2020!!

Two internationally renowned female artists, Angelica Mesiti and Amak Mahmoodian, who will come after the experience of 'Still I Rise', a large exhibition on feminisms, gender and resistance.

I've had the chance to meet Angelica and to listen to Amak recently, amazing prospects ahead! And more writing soon :).

Details here:

ASSEMBLY – ANGELICA MESITI

Saturday, 18th January 2020 to Sunday, 26th April 2020, 11:00 to 18:00
Open Tuesday - Sunday, closed on Mondays.
Free

An immersive video installation exploring a new democracy of movement, poetry, and song.

“At a time when the inhabitants of this planet are more mobile than ever before, non-verbal forms of creativity can facilitate profound interactions between strangers. This is the beating heart of Angelica Mesiti’s work. With great sensitivity, she has portrayed the talent and individuality of various members of migrant and refugee communities via performances of rare beauty.” – Jennifer Higgie for Frieze.

Angelica Mesiti’s three-channel video installation opens with the ‘Michela’, a 19th century machine modelled on a piano keyboard and used in the Italian senate for official parliamentary reporting, to ensure transparency within the democratic process. Here, Mesiti has re-purposed the Michela to translate an abstract musical score – a lilting thread of stops and starts, taken up by a shifting ensemble of musicians; zaffe drummers, Iranian santūr, choral ensembles, and dancers – a community of multiple ancestries that gather, grow, disassemble, and reunite. In ASSEMBLY, this communal gathering is a means for making those with authority recognise the collective power of the people.

“Through both the metaphor of translation and the act itself, I am exploring the very human and increasingly urgent need we have to assemble in a physical way, in a physical space, in these complex times,”  – Angelica Mesiti

ASSEMBLY originally formed part of an internationally acclaimed presentation at the Australian National Pavilion at the 2019 Venice Biennale. ASSEMBLY begins as an evolving set of translations from the written word to stenographic codes then music, and performance. Filmed in the Senate chambers of Italy and Australia, the three screens of ASSEMBLY travel through the corridors, meeting rooms and parliaments of government while performers, representing a multitude of ancestries, gather, disassemble and re-unite, demonstrating the strength and creativity of a plural community.

Angelica Mesiti’s ASSEMBLY lays out a series of foundational arguments for our Winter/Spring 2020 programme – that communication is difficult and requires an ongoing effort of clarification; that communities are ever-changing, with members joining and falling away constantly; that this rotation and change means the project of society is never fixed and must always be responsive; and that harmony is hard-fought, never guaranteed, and – in fact – in order to resist stasis, requires the risk of new sounds and new provocation.

ASSEMBLY was commissioned by the Australia Council for the Arts on the occasion of the 58th International Art Exhibition–La Biennale di Venezia, courtesy of the artist and Anna Schwartz Gallery, Australia and Galerie Allen, Paris.

Angelica Mesiti (b. 1976) lives and works between Paris and Sydney. She has previously held solo exhibitions at the Palais de Tokyo Paris, MAXXI Rome, Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montréal, O Space, Aarhus, Williams College Museum of Art Massachusetts, and Nikolaj Kunsthal Copenhagen. Her work is held in national and international collections including the National Gallery of Australia, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, FRAC Franche-Compté France, and Kadist Art Foundation Paris/San Francisco. ASSEMBLY was presented at Biennale, Venice in 2019.  Angelica Mesiti is represented in Australia by Anna Schwartz Gallery and in Paris by Galerie Allen.

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ZANJIR – AMAK MAHMOODIAN

Saturday, 18th January 2020 to Sunday, 22nd March 2020, 11:00 to 18:00

Open Tuesday - Sunday, closed on Mondays.

Free 

Amak Mahmoodian’s Zanjir (Translation: “chain”) presents a body of photographs that cross great distances – reaching through history to bring the earliest images of Iranian photography into the present, across oceans to invite Mahmoodian’s family and friends; and across the border between life and death.

In 2004, Mahmoodian visited the Golestan museum and undertook an archival research project lasting two years. The Golestan Archives are located in central Tehran, which was once a home for Qajars, the kings’ wives, Harem women, and their relatives. Mahmoodian uses selected historical photographs as masks, asking her loved ones to hold the prints in front of them, framing her own kingdom and centering the sorrow of separation she feels for them as she lives and works three thousand miles away.

Still
in front of him
(his Camera)
The power that keeps her still
is not inward
She
sitting on a chair
her hair
clipped to her scarf.

Amak Mahmoodian, excerpt from Zanjir

The images will be surrounded by fragments of an imagined conversation – between Amak, and Princess Taj al-Saltanah, an Iranian princess who lived at the end of the 19th century. Considered a trailblazer for women’s rights in 19th century Iran, she defied her family and government and advocated for equality and democracy. In al-Saltanah, Mahmoodian has found a mirror, and in each other, these women find the opportunity to be vulnerable; ruminating on their individual experiences of family, distance, powerlessness, yearning, and hope.

Amak Mahmoodian (b. 1980) is a photographer born in Shiraz and lives in Bristol, UK. In 2015, Mahmoodian completed a practice-based doctorate in photography at the University of South Wales, having previously studied at the Art University of Tehran. The artist’s work questions Western notions of identity, expressing personal stories that pertain to wider social issues which draw on her experiences in the Middle East, Asia and the West. Her previous project, Shenasnameh, has been widely exhibited internationally and the accompanying artist photobook won many awards and critical acclaim in publications as diverse as Time Magazine, Foam Magazine, and the Guardian.

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And here: https://arnolfini.org.uk/whatson/

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I've been chosen as the writer in residence as the Arnolfini art gallery, Bristol, to create a body of texts along their exhibition, 'Still I Rise' (September - December 2019).  The main themes are feminisms, gender and resistance.

'Still I Rise' – Writing for the Arnolfini:

Here is the first text:
Episode I - The Stories Women Carry
https://melissa-on-the-road.blogspot.com/2019/12/still-i-rise-writing-for-arnolfini.html

And the second:
Episode II - Women’s and Men’s Voices
 http://melissa-on-the-road.blogspot.com/2019/12/writing-around-still-i-rise-episode-2.html

Episode III to come soon.

And Episode IV later in January, once these two exhibitions have opened.






  

Friday 13 Dec. 2019: UK - Post-election summary

The British voted yesterday, Thursday, in the United Kingdom, in an early parliamentary election caused by the blockages on Brexit.
The final results came in this morning and the Conservatives were given a majority with a large lead: 364 seats.
Although the polls have multiplied since 2015, this election could be decisive for the implementation of Brexit.

The experts were waiting for a close call, maybe a 'hung parliament', with no majority.

But the results, on the contrary, revealed a comfortable advance for the Tories in power.

The Labour Party appears as the big loser of the election, with one of their lowest score since the Second World War...

As a result, the leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, has decided to not lead the party in the next election. He will only stay for now to lead a transition, he said.

The leader of the Liberal Democrats, Jo Swinson, also lost her own seat in Scotland and decided to quit, while her party has also been deserted by voters.

In Scotland, the independence party SNP retain a large lead, opening the way for a new referendum on their independence, and therefore a partition of the United Kingdom.


Many issues at stake, but Brexit dominated


The day of the election, for many voters, multiple issues were at stakes, I poke to a few of them in Bristol, and national questions were key for many: the fight against climate change, against austerity, public transport's and health budget, university fees ..

But the issues of Brexit now clearly appears at the main priority of the electoral campaign, and was for sure its raison d'être.

The primary objective of Prime Minister Boris Johnson was to obtain a clear result, to allow his party to push their policy to pursue Brexit.

Successful bet.

According to the former speaker of Parliament too, John Bercow, this is evidence that Brexit has dominated the concerns of voters. A sign in particular: the Brexit Party seems to have taken no seat, their voters having turned to the Conservatives.


Next step: Brexit... and more British divisions?


If the British are still very divided on the issue of Brexit, now remain very little space for the pro-EU.

It has been postponed until January 31, 2020 to allow this election ... It is likely that, for the first time, the date is finally respected. At the risk of paving the way for the independence of Scotland and therefore the end of the United Kingdom.


By Melissa Chemam

UK election day 12.12.2019

Mon dernier reportage - en français (translation at the bottom of the page)

Pour écouter: https://www.dw.com/fr/un-air-de-référendum-bis-sur-le-brexit/a-51648837

Un air de référendum bis sur le Brexit

Les législatives anticipées ont été fortement dominées par le débat sur le Brexit. Les résultats devraient indiquer si le Premier ministre Boris Johnson a des raisons de croire à la sortie du pays de l'Union européenne.

Les électeurs du Royaume-Uni étaient aux urnes ce jeudi (12.12.). Il s'agit d'un scrutin essentiel pour l'avenir du pays car les Britanniques choisissent entre le Brexit de Boris Johnson ou un nouveau référendum sur la sortie de l'Union européenne avec l'opposant Jeremy Corbyn.

Dès l'accomplissement de leur devoir civique, certains électeurs ne cachaient pas qu'ils ont été influencés par le débat actuel du Brexit. "On a voté pour que le Brexit ait lieu", avoue un électeur soutenu par une femme pour qui il y en a "vraiment assez après trois ans de rien d'autre sauf ça".  

Pour d'autres, les enjeux sont multiples

Même si la discussion sur la pertinence de la sortie de la Grande Bretagne de l'Union européenne s'est invitée dans ces élections législatives anticipées, un autre électeur interrogé à Bristol estime qu'il y a beaucoup d'autres préoccupations et que pour lui "le plus important est la crise climatique qui affecte le monde entier".

"La question des bourses universitaires et des frais d'inscription est plus importante", confie un jeune étudiant qui pense que "seul le parti travailliste semble y répondre".

Christian Weale, membre du mouvement "We Deserve Better" tient à sanctionner le gouvernement sortant de Boris Johnson. Selon lui, il est plus que probable que le parti conservateur va à nouveau former un gouvernement. "Mais nous essayons de réduire sa majorité, pour lui demander des comptes sur ses politiques et ses actions. Le principal problème pour moi est la façon dont la campagne a été menée : elle a été basée sur une série de mensonges… Et au-delà de cela, je suis vraiment inquiet pour les droits de l'homme. En tant qu'activiste, je suis vraiment inquiet et je pense que nous vivons une crise nationale", conclut-il.

Les Conservateurs en tête des sondages

Selon Paula Surridge, politologue à l'université de Bristol, "les derniers sondages montrent qu'il y aura probablement une majorité conservatrice, et dans ce cas ils pourront pousser leur politique pour poursuivre le Brexit mais il se pourrait qu'il y ait un parlement suspendu, sans majorité, et dans ce cas ils auront un problème car aucun autre parti ne veut plus s'allier avec eux. Donc ils auraient alors du mal à former un gouvernement".

Les résultats sont attendus vendredi matin (13.12.) et pour l'instant le Brexit est toujours prévu pour le 31 janvier 2020.

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Translation:

"The early elections were strongly dominated by the debate on Brexit. The results should indicate whether Prime Minister Boris Johnson has reason to believe the country's exit from the European Union.

Voters from the UK were at the polls this Thursday (12.12.). This is an essential ballot for the future of the country as the British choose between the Brexit of Boris Johnson or a new referendum on the exit of the European Union with the opponent Jeremy Corbyn.

As soon as they fulfilled their civic duty, some voters did not hide the fact that they were influenced by the current Brexit debate. "We voted for the Brexit to take place," admits an elector supported by a woman for whom there is "really enough after three years of nothing but that".

For others, the stakes are multiple

Even if the debate on the relevance of Britain's exit from the European Union was invited in these early elections, another voter interviewed in Bristol believes there are many other concerns and that for him "the most important is the climate crisis that affects the whole world".

"The question of university scholarships and registration fees is more important," says a young student who thinks that "only the Labor Party seems to respond."

Christian Weale, a member of the "We Deserve Better" movement wants to sanction the outgoing government of Boris Johnson. According to him, it is more than likely that the Conservative party will again form a government. "But we are trying to reduce his majority, to hold him accountable for his policies and actions.The main problem for me is the way the campaign was conducted: it was based on a series of lies ... And beyond I am really worried about human rights and as an activist, I am really worried and I think we are living in a national crisis, "he says.

Conservatives top polls

According to Paula Surridge, a political scientist at the University of Bristol, "the latest polls show that there will probably be a conservative majority, and in this case they can push their policy to pursue the Brexit but there may be a parliament suspended, without a majority, and in this case they will have a problem because no other party does not want to ally with them anymore, so they would have a hard time forming a government ".

The results are expected Friday morning (13.12.) And for now the Brexit is still scheduled for 31 January 2020.

Pour écouter: https://www.dw.com/fr/un-air-de-référendum-bis-sur-le-brexit/a-51648837

UK: New migrant scandal...

   My first column on migration in The Independent - Indy Voices:

https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/immigration-migrants-refugees-home-office-hostile-environment-a9241246.html

The Home Office's ‘advice sessions’ expose the sinister trickery of the hostile environment

Such trickery will not prevent people from coming to the UK. It will simply make them more vulnerable while they are here.

Melissa Chemam5 hours ago

• Melissa Chemam

2019 has seen Britain become an increasingly hostile environment for immigrants.

A couple of cases struck me in particular. In August, Anna Amato, an Italian woman who has lived in the UK for 52 of her 55 years, was refused her settled status. Then in November, Hubert Howard died three weeks after being granted British citizenship – 59 years after arriving in UK as part of the Windrush generation.

Yet while these cases of outright refusal of legal status are well-known, what is less so are the many subtle and insidious ways the Home Office makes immigrants feel unwelcome and unsafe.

One of these ways was exposed on Monday, when the Financial Times reported on the work of the Home Office’s invitingly-named National Community Engagement Team (NCET).

According to the FT, NCET has been holding a number of “advice sessions” aimed at immigrants, and advertised as a “valuable opportunity to learn more about what support is available to local people who may feel they are in vulnerable circumstances”, such as “people who had been victims of modern slavery or other crimes.”

Yet the FT revealed that, rather than pointing these vulnerable people in the direction of help, these advice sessions were an opportunity for Home Office agents to urge illegal immigrants “to return to their home countries”. In other words, the government has been exploiting the very vulnerability it claimed to address in order to uproot migrants.

What is particularly galling is that many of these “advise sessions” – at least twenty of which have been held to date – have been held in places of worship. At one such event, a legal adviser told the FT that the NCET team “appeared to be using trusted and public community spaces to ‘trick’ vulnerable migrant victims of crime into making themselves known to immigration officials,” thus “corrupting spaces that should be safe for victims.”

Yet while shocking, NCET exemplifies the sinister, deceptive tactics that, in the twelve years I have been reporting on migration, I have seen used increasingly across the world. Take the hundreds who enrolled in the University of Farmington, a fake university created by the US Department of Homeland Security to apprehend people committing immigration fraud (up to 250 people have been deported as a result of the sting). 

The case of the NCET shows how cruel our immigration system has become. Such cruelty will not prevent people from coming to the UK. It will simply make them more vulnerable while they are here. Many people come to Britain because they see our country as morally upstanding. The Home Office’s cheap trickery has proven them wrong.  

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@melissachemam

 Melissa Chemam is freelance journalist, associate lecturer in journalism at UWE Bristol and author of the book Massive Attack - Out of the Comfort Zone (2019). She has reported on migrations issues in East/Central Africa and Western Europe for the BBC World Service and other international broadcasters for many years.