A MANUAL FOR REFUGEE SERVICE WORKERS AND REFUGEE ARTISTS

Developed by: The Institute for Cultural Partnerships

Writers: Kate Modic, Folklorist

Ron Kirby, Director, Refugee and Immigration Services

FOREWORD

Several years ago, a unique configuration of state programs facilitated the development of this exciting project. At the time, as Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Heritage Affairs Commission (PHAC), I had the pleasure of overseeing the State Folk life Program, directed by Amy Skillman and the Office of Refugee and Immigration Programs, directed by Ron Kirby. The work of both programs within the commission framework of the PHAC enabled us to identify new approaches and explore new opportunities for cross-program fertilization.

One of the collaborative efforts led us to look more closely at the role of culture in refugee resettlement. The more we looked, the more evidence we gathered that treating culture and traditional arts as an integral part of the refugee experience contributes to successful resettlement at both the individual and community levels. As we interacted with artists, community leaders and refugee workers throughout Pennsylvania and the mid-Atlantic region, we realized that we needed to develop a conference to mobilize this interest and energy.

Our conference on Refugee Arts and Community Stability was held in July, 1995, in Philadelphia and funded by the Office of Refugee Resettlement, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, the Fund for Folk Culture, and PECO. The conference addressed issues of arts, cultural heritage, and community in the context of the refugee resettlement program. The conference was extremely successful and has been called historic and a landmark by those in attendance.

Out of this conference was born the Refugee Arts and Community Stability Project, with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Fund for Folk Culture. This project, based on the innovative work of the original conference and has encouraged resettlement agencies, refugee service providers, artists, community leaders, and cultural specialists in the mid-Atlantic region to work together towards a greater role for arts and cultural heritage in the resettlement process. The region has also seen increased support for individual artists to continue their artistic and cultural traditions.

A number of participants in the 1995 Conference noted the lack of any information on refugee traditional arts and the need for refugee workers to have some guidance if they were to identify and assist refugee artists. As a result, the development of a refugee arts manual became a project goal. At a subsequent mini-conference on refugee arts convened by the Institute of Cultural Partnerships in Newark, New Jersey on August 15th- 17th, 1997, participants reviewed an early draft of this manual and suggested a number of changes. Participants suggested a more practical hands-on approach as well as a section for the refugee artists themselves. These ideas and others have been incorporated into this version of the manual.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .iv

Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Why Involve Refugee Agencies? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Purpose of the Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Folk life and Traditional Arts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Fine Arts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Section 2 - Arts in the Resettlement Process . . . . . . . . . . 9

Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Beyond Basic Survival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
The Initial Stages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Expanding on Intake Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Early Questions to Ask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Discovering Your Creative Talents . . . . . . . . . . 17
The Transition Period: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Additional Questions to Ask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
Section 3 - Facilitating Connections to Resources . . . . . . . 23

Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Arts Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Community Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Funding and Other Supporting Organizations . . . . . . . . 29
Supplies and Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Section 4 - Identifying Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Art as a Cultural Concept . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Identifying and Interviewing Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Needs Assessment of Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Needs Assessment Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Section 5 - For Refugee Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Refugee Artists' Self-Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40
Some Common Concerns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Documenting Art Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Applying for an Arts Grant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Appendix A

Art Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Appendix B

Community Foundations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58

1. INTRODUCTION

A. Why Involve Resettlement Agencies?

This manual is built on a simple premise: Early recognition by resettlement agency workers, church sponsors, service providers and others of the creative talents and the cultural heritage of refugees will have a very positive impact on the resettlement process. We believe that arts and culture does play an important role in refugee resettlement, and that attention to this area will benefit the individual refugee, the family, and the refugee community through:

Increased self-esteem and confidence
Strengthened community development
Hastened employment and self-sufficiency
Refugee voluntary agencies and refugee service providers are well aware of the trauma of immigration. Refugees come from backgrounds of conflict—wars, political turmoil and religious persecution. Newcomers to the U.S. experience a powerful sense of dislocation. Many have lost friends and family members, their homes, their professions, and other important parts of their lives. After arriving in the United States, they are expected to “become Americans” within the initial period of resettlement, to adapt swiftly to their new environment, and to quickly find a job. This stress often results in feelings of low self-esteem, depression, and even despair. How can service providers address an individual's self-esteem, self-worth, and self-confidence—the intangible yet crucial components to a person's well-being and ultimately successful resettlement? We propose a focus on the creative talents and cultural resources of refugees as a valid strategy towards reaching this goal.

Many refugees have had to stop creating their art while wars and political problems disrupted their lives. They have put aside their musical instruments, their paint brushes, their colorful yarn waiting for a calmer time to become inspired again. Others have sung, danced, or

created finely crafted handmade objects even while warfare surrounded them. Some refugees have even developed new creative talents to help express themselves throughout their ordeals. Here in the United States, refugees often want to return to a “normal” way of life, to create their various art forms or to organize and participate in celebrations. Their cultural traditions, especially their traditional arts, provide a logical format for doing this.

“What people must understand is that this art is not just decoration, it forms and shapes the human being. If you can come from a country where children are starving to death, and then you come to this country which is so rich, you simply cannot explain why children are shooting each other. The reason must be that they don't have their culture. Your culture makes you think like a human being.” — Tesfaye Tessema, Ethiopian Traditional Artist (Folk Arts in the Classroom).

In its many forms and manifestations, artistic expression can actually benefit refugees in a number of ways by addressing problems that refugees constantly encounter, such as those dealing with mental health, self-esteem, family stability, community building, and integration into American society. Many problems and conflicts exist for refugees in this country— depression, unemployment or unsatisfactory employment, being viewed as “different” because of religious beliefs, language, or customs. Participation in the arts, as artist or audience, is a way for refugees to maintain their sense of self, their cultural identity, and to pass on their heritage. Involvement in the arts ultimately leads to stronger feelings of self-esteem for the individual, draws family members together, affects community formation, and can actively contribute to American society as a whole.

Purpose and Use of the Manual

The purpose of this manual is to provide guidance and practical information to refugee service providers and others in order to help them identify refugees with artistic or traditional skills and talents, and then direct them to the proper resources. Ultimately, refugee service providers will help refugees use their artistic and traditional knowledge in a number of ways: 1) to directly apply their artistic skills; 2) to transfer artistic skills to a new yet related employment situation; 3) to maintain and pass on their cultural heritage; or 4) to create small business enterprises. Many organizations that serve refugees also serve newly arriving immigrants. This manual will be a very useful tool in serving immigrants with creative skills as well. We have included a brief section in this manual for refugees themselves so they can do a self-assessment and see what steps can be taken to help make some connections to resources here in the United States.

For the sake of brevity, the manual uses the term refugee artist rather broadly to include refugees with creative and artistic skills, whether learned formally or informally. While we know that there are many types of artists in the different refugee communities who deserve attention, recognition, and assistance, this manual is geared towards traditional artists, people who have learned their arts, crafts, music, or dance from family or community members. Other artists will also benefit from this information.

Although we do provide you with examples and definitions of traditional arts and fine arts, for the purposes of this manual, we are not asking refugee service providers to distinguish between a fine artist, a traditional artist, a skilled craft person, or artisan. Rather, we hope this manual can be a viable tool to give a refugee worker or volunteer a little knowledge and confidence to assist a few more refugees down the road to greater self-esteem and self-sufficiency. The manual’s authors and many collaborators hope that the ideas, suggestions, and resources we have provided will strengthen the focus on refugee arts and cultural heritage in the resettlement process.

In Section 2, Arts in Resettlement, we divide the resettlement process into two stages: the initial stage which includes the initial resettlement and the transition period which follows the first six months or so of resettlement and continues for the period that an agency remains active with the refugee. However, each refugee artist will present different issues that may or may not fit into any specified time frame or sequence of events.

The manual provides relevant arts-related information as well as questions to ask in each stage of resettlement (especially at intake and during needs assessment interviews). The manual provides refugee services workers with practical information and ideas, and directs the worker and the refugee to the appropriate resources.

Obviously, this manual can be very useful in working with refugees who have been in this country for many years. The focus of this project was to offer practical assistance at the initial stages of resettlement when refugees are in close connection with a number of supporting organizations and to assist resettlement agencies and service providers incorporate arts and culture as an important component of their resettlement planning.

Each section of manual can be used individually. For that reason, some information will appear in more than one section. Cross-references are provided to help you locate relevant information in other sections.

The last part of this manual is addressed to refugee artists, in particular. This section, in conjunction with the rest of the manual, should provide refugee artists with strategies for becoming connected to traditional arts networks, to other important resources, and to ways in which to document their art for future funding ventures. When necessary, parts or all of this section should be translated either verbally or in written form by a caseworker or another individual proficient in the refugee's language.

This manual does not try to describe or give examples of the arts or traditions of specific groups of refugees. The information contained in this manual is generic and designed to be useful for any ethnic, national or cultural group arriving in this country. Information on art and cultural traditions for specific groups can be obtained at various local or state art organizations, especially those with folklorists on staff. ICP has New Arrival Profiles available on Kurdish and Somali refugees and these profiles do contain art and cultural information specific to those groups.

A. 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.

PREFACE

Methodology

This manual is informed by interviews with refugee artists and informal conversations with refugee resettlement workers in three Pennsylvania cities (Harrisburg, Erie, and Pittsburgh) during the months of May and June, 1997. We conducted intensive fieldwork for two weeks in each city. These cities were chosen because of the high concentration of refugees being resettled in them—mostly Bosnians, people from former Soviet republics, Kurds, Iraqis, and Africans (from Sudan, Somalia, and Liberia).

Most resettlement workers were intrigued by the project, although some weren't aware of what traditional arts existed in the different cultural groups. Even caseworkers from a particular culture didn't always know who the artists were within their own community. Refugee workers who were familiar with a few artists learned about their art by chance: from home visits in which they happened to notice and ask about a special handmade item, or from their client's family sponsor or church. A few of these refugee workers saw the value in their clients' artistic knowledge and had already thought about connecting them with local arts agencies.

Refugee job specialists, resettlement coordinators, and case workers provided us with names of initial contacts within the various refugee communities. We were able to interview approximately eight individuals in Harrisburg, twenty-two in Erie, and over twenty-five in Pittsburgh. A number of the artists were academically trained. The most difficult to find were the traditional artists. We met painters, dancers, musicians, seamstresses, women who crochet, do needlepoint, embroider, weave shoes for summer, knit special socks for winter, men who work with wood as carvers, carpenters, and model builders. Almost everyone identified making special foods from their culture as something they could do. In all of the cities, refugees welcomed us into their homes and patiently explained their art, told us what they would need to continue doing their art, and occasionally gave us their opinions on the best ways to reach out to artists within their communities. The field documentation for this project is available at ICP’s Folk life Archives in Harrisburg.