Beyond Survival: Where Art, Identity and Opportunity Meet
Beyond Survival is an international creative exchange connecting refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced people in Nigeria and the United Kingdom through art. The project challenges the idea that displacement defines a person’s future, using creativity to celebrate resilience, identity and human potential.
At the heart of the project are two inspiring young leaders: OG Abbah, who built a music career after growing up in a Nigerian IDP camp, and Bethlehem, a young Ethiopian migrant and community advocate in the UK. Their stories reflect the power of creativity, determination and opportunity to transform lives.
Through 12 free creative workshops, 20 participants from Nigeria and the UK will explore painting, drawing, sculpture and textile art, working alongside professional artists. Using recycled materials such as paper, plastics and discarded objects, they will create artworks exploring displacement, belonging, environmental sustainability and freedom of expression.
The project will culminate in a free, month-long public exhibition at Artcore Gallery in Derby, showcasing participant creations alongside works by commissioned artists. The programme will also feature interactive workshops, artist talks, creative activities, fashion showcases and musical performances, bringing participants and local communities together through shared experiences.
Beyond the exhibition, the project will preserve these stories through a documentary film, an online gallery, social media content and a printed publication.
More than an artistic showcase, Beyond Survival challenges audiences to look beyond the labels associated with displacement and recognise the talent, ambition and contributions of displaced people.
Rather than asking only what these communities need, the project invites us to ask a more powerful question: What can they create, contribute and become when given the opportunity?
Because when opportunity crosses borders, talent can transform lives.
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