Syrian Voices
Part of the Humanities Cultural Programme, one of the founding stones for the
future Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities.
Primary Investigator
Mehreen Saigol
Partner Organisations:
“I think it’s good in this research that you’re doing that you are giving people a platform to express themselves as they wish to be seen or considered.” (Yazan, Syrian Voices Participant)
SYRIAN VOICES is a new community history and documentary film project seeing the Syrian crisis from the unique perspectives of refugees now settled in the UK.
The project fulfils the urgent need to witness the humanitarian catastrophe through individual stories of conflict, diaspora and perceptions of life in the UK. Syrians from diverse backgrounds and all walks of life candidly share their experiences. Using filmed testimonies, zoom recordings, home videos and photographs, Syrian Voices offers an insight into what it means to be a war refugee living in the UK today.
It is hoped the archive of over 50 interviews will become an institutional resource for researchers in the future.
Contact:
Syrian Voices: info@syrianvoices.org.uk
“It wasn’t my choice to become a refugee, it’s never a choice. It’s something you are forced into” (Abdurahman, 24)
The Syrian conflict represents one of the most significant humanitarian crises of the 21st Century. Since 2012 around 12 million Syrians have fled their homes and some 30,000 have resettled in the UK. Syrian Voices listens to the incredible stories of some of those who are now rebuilding their lives here. Participants come from a diverse range of backgrounds and regions of Syria. They include a Devon farmer, a Surrey dentist, a fireman in East Anglia, a computer games tester in Glasgow, an NHS porter in Penarth and an actress in London. This diversity of experience offers a nuanced picture of the way conflict impacts individual lives.
The project actively engages with the local and wider community and shares insights and skills through a series of community events and workshops. It is hoped that the materials gathered will form part of a lasting institutional digital archive and resource for historians in the future. It also invites members of the community to contribute their own stories and experiences so as to widen archival access and creation.
