Fun at Fusion

In 2004, Fusion Arts worked with Asylum Welcome, an Oxford-based support service for young refugees and asylum seekers, to deliver free art classes to the Wednesday Club, a group of refugee children aged 5-13.

As well as using mixed media such as video and digital photography, the classes explored traditional playground games and songs such as hopscotch, freeze-tag, and clapping songs through movement and dance, while also encouraging participants to share new games and songs from their own culture.

Providing a regular safe place for the group to meet and engage with the arts in a structured way, the classes fostered cultural recognition as well as a sense of value and belonging within the community. By providing the experience of meeting targets and achieving results collectively, the classes also enhanced self-confidence and self-expression. The series culminated in a final presentation or performance by the participants for their carers and parents.