Tony Gammidge is an artist, filmmaker and animator as well as a state registered art therapist. At this event Tony will share the insights and methodologies he uses in his practice, as well as show work made during his residency at Fabrica and screen animation films made with participants at Freedom From Torture, Art Refuge and perhaps even within the prison service.
This two-part event is aimed at anyone with an interest in how the arts can explore themes of loss, resilience and human connection and empathy in the context of the trauma of forced exile and migration.

The evening comprises of a short ‘community table’ workshop from 5-6pm, followed by an artist talk with films, images and discussion, 6.30-7.30pm.

‘The process of art making and storytelling is a human activity which enables us to imagine and empathise with others’.

For his residency at Fabrica, Tony has been running ‘community table’ sessions during May and June 2022 mostly working in small scale with drawing and painting on 35mm slides which are then projected large whilst sitting round the ‘community table’. This process initiates conversation and dialogue in a very particular and unique way. Using his own and participants’ personal experience and memories of home (and its absence), he has been exploring the idea of a ‘ghost home’, one that survives in some form internally in the body or through memory but might be lost externally or in solid form.

‘My residency has been exploring, with the use of images, animation and art processes, the idea of home and what it means to us. From there we can begin to imagine, at least in part what it would feel like to lose it, and thereby consider the experiences of those exiled from their own homes and homelands’.

Taking place during Refugee Week 2022 (20-26 June), this event is linked to a series of region-wide community table events organised by Art Refuge for Refugee Week, a UK-wide festival celebrating the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees and people seeking sanctuary.