I met Carlton Classe, a film maker, at a conference on diversity and the arts in Oslo, Norway. I had been invited by TrAP (Transnational Arts Production) to talk about how to engage more and diverse audiences in museums. He sent me his film about Somali youth in Norway. Thank you Carlton.
Category: Worldwide Stories
AND STILL I RISE
Different people from different countries,
Sitting together
Homeless people
Wearing ragged clothing
AND STILL I RISE
Crying children
Desperate for food
Orphan child
AND STILL I RISE
Sound of desperation
Taste of determination
Explosion of landmine
Smell of death
AND STILL I RISE
Rap from young refugee from the Congo, created for the Te Papa Museum, Wellington, New Zealand
Among the crowd of souls
Perhaps one day I shall go out into the quietened city and recognise myself among the crowds of souls
I will say to them, ‘Hey look there goes the man I really am.
Will they dare to acknowledge me?
No one responds. There is silence ………
Then the world moves on restlessly
making its love,
greed, pride and money, minding its business,
Shamelessly I close my eyes, then rest my mouth
Silence is the only language that does not need an interpreter.
Poem by Abdalla Gabriel, young refugee from Sudan created for the Mixing Room at Te Papa Museum, Wellington, New Zealand
Child Migrant Stories 