This was an exhibition of artwork and poetry from the Year 6 pupils at Lord Street Primary, Colne. The work grew out of a series of workshops led by artist Daksha Patel.

Two Year 6 classes each spent a day visiting the Mid Pennine Gallery in Burnley to explore Refuge: Testimonies of a Lost Home by Yasmin Yaqub. This exhibition used the medium of photomontages and film to tell the stories of Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Manchester and its surrounding area. During their visit, the pupils enjoyed sketching images and ideas from the exhibition as well as beginning to discuss the theme and how they might feel and respond to becoming an asylum seeker.

The pupils then spent time working with Daksha, both in the Gallery and back at school, to create these beautiful photomontages. The photomontages use images from the surrounding area of Lord Street Primary School; text and images from newspapers; and charcoal, chalk and pencil rubbings and drawings.  

The poetry was also created during class time with school staff. Pupils chose between writing Narrative Poems which tell the stories of leaving home and seeking asylum and Acrostic Poems which spell related words with the first letter of each line.

Mid Pennine Arts were delighted by the way in which the children responded both to this difficult topic and also the challenging artwork. The quality of work which came out of the three days was extremely high.